Soviet/Russian Development in Comparative Perspective Russia was relatively backward in late 19th and early 20th C As was Japan in the mid-19th C  Czarist system Agriculture—serfs not emancipated until 1861 Little industrial development

Russia Faces Severe Military Threats Repeatedly defeat in war Crimean War 1956 Russo-Japanese War 1905 WW I,  High human, material cost  But retained sovereignty

Soviet/Russian Development in Comparative Perspective Soviet Union succeeds in catching up  Successful industrialization Military implications

Soviet/Russian Development in Comparative Perspective Soviet Union:  WWII Allied victory Victory Parade, Red Square 1945

Soviet/Russian Development in Comparative Perspective Soviet Union:  Dominates Eastern Europe, Soviet Bloc

Soviet/Russian Development in Comparative Perspective Soviet Union:  Superpower status First person in space

Soviet/Russian Development in Comparative Perspective How did Russia “catch up”?  What factors would Gerschenkron consider?  What would Gerschenkron predict?

Soviet/Russian Development in Comparative Perspective How did Russia “catch up”?  What factors would Gerschenkron consider? Timing Global technological frontier Speed Capital requirements Key institutions Justifying ideology

Origins of Soviet System Social base for appeal of Marxism- Leninism?  Slogan: “Peace, Land, and Bread”  Appeals to Soldiers Workers Peasants

Origins of Soviet System New kind of political party  Lenin, Bolshevik Party  Conspiratorial, vanguard party nascent working class; so activists organize ‘in the workers’ interest’  Democratic centralism party discipline on steroids

Stalin 1931 speech “One feature of the history of the old Russia was the continual beatings she suffered for falling behind, for her backwardness. …We are 50 or 100 years behind the advanced countries. We must make good this distance in ten years. Either we do it or they crush us.”

Goals of Soviet System Rapid industrialization for national defense  Through massive state control  Justified by ideology

Totalitarianism Charismatic leader Single dominant party Utopian, forward-looking ideology State control over all organized activity Arbitrary violence  terror

Totalitarianism Charismatic leader  Stalin (General Secretary ) Single dominant party  CPSU (Communist Party of Soviet Union) “vanguard party” “democratic centralism” Utopian, forward-looking ideology  Marxism-Leninism State control over all organized activity  “nomenklatura” list of positions—appointment controlled by party Arbitrary terror  Not just “enemies” but some loyal party members were purged, killed

“Catch-up” Economic Development: Planned Economy Contrast Japan and Soviet Union Contrast market and planned economies

Practice Short Answer Questions What are the defining elements of totalitarianism? What is nomenklatura, and why is it significant?