One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich Russian History and Background Presentation

Russian History a la Ms. Minor 1917--Czar Nicholas II is ousted and later killed 1918—Civil War between Bolsheviks (communists) led by Lenin and Mensheviks (land owners) Nikolai Lenin emerges as the leader of Russia, with Trotsky and Stalin as possible successors.

Photos of the Revolution Lenin speaking to revolutionaries

Casualties of the Revolution

Tenets of Marxist Communism From each according to his ability, to each according to his need. An egalitarian, classless society, in which the people rule themselves. Religion is the opiate of the people A bloody revolution is the only means to spread communism. Communism cannot survive in isolation

Lenin’s Rule                                Lenin with Stalin. Lenin warned that Stalin was becoming too powerful and called for him to be removed.

Lenin Dies and Stalin Emerges 1924 Lenin dies, leaving Trotsky and Stalin to vie for power. Stalin wins; Trotsky leaves the country and is killed. Stalin rules with an iron fist (alleged to have killed 20 million people or more): Reign of Terror, Five-Year Plan, Kulak Uprising, Gulags.

Stalin and his buddies

Stalin’s Reign of Terror Rewrote Soviet histories rewritten to reflect well on him Allowed no one to oppose his decisions; jailed (sent to Gulags) or executed most of those who helped him rise to power. Used fear as motivator to industrialize. Russia went from third world to a military and industrial power in twenty years.

Stalin’s Five-Year Plan 1928—Forced Collectivization of Industry and Farming Results Production levels rose dramatically  Appalling human cost: discipline (sacked if late) secret police slave labor labor camps (for those who made mistakes) accidents & deaths (100,000 workers died building the Belomor Canal) few consumer goods poor housing wages FELL no human rights      

Kulak Uprising Kulaks, peasant families, were forced to surrender grain to government. In protest, kulaks burned their crops. Stalin ordered the military to burn or seize the crops and sent millions of kulaks to labor camps. This caused a massive famine that killed 7 million.

The Gulag System The Gulag was the government agency that administered the penal labor camps of the Soviet Union. "Gulag,” through metonymy, began to stand for the entire penal labor system in the USSR. People could be imprisoned in a Gulag camp for crimes such as unexcused absences from work, petty theft, or anti-government jokes. About half of the political prisoners were sent to Gulag prison camps without trial.

Soviet Show Trial

More Gulag Please? There were at least 476 separate camps, some of them comprising hundreds, even thousands of camp units. The most infamous complexes were those in Siberia. regions. More than 14 million (with some authors like Solzhenitsyn estimating the total at more than 40 million) people passed through the Gulag from 1929 to 1953, with a further 6 to 7 million being deported to remote areas of the USSR. According to Soviet data, a total of 1,053,829 people died in the GULAG from 1934 to 1953, not counting those who died in labor colonies. The total population of the camps varied from 510,307 (in 1934) to 1,727,970 (in 1953).

Life in the Gulag Gulag dormitory

No place like home…..

Gulag buildings

Prisoners working in Siberian Camp

Dorm in early morning

Working on a chain gang

Solzhenitsyn Born in Southern Russia in 1918. Fought in WWII as a commissioned artillery officer behind German lines; twice decorated for his bravery 1945 arrested and sentenced without trial for having criticized Stalin in some letters to a friend Spent next 8 years in prisons and gulags.