1. Objectives:6.2 I A & C; 6.2 IV B (3rd, 4th, and 5th bullets);6.2 V B
AGENDA: Do Now, Russian Bolshevik Revolution PowerPoint and Guided Notes; Comparing Marxist Communism and Leninist Communism.
DO NOW: Define communism
Hmwk: Middle East Partition Map; Read &

2. The Russian Revolution 1917
What do you know about Russia prior to 1917? What type government? Industrialized or not? Middle class? Why were they considered backward compared to the rest of Europe?

3. Pre-Revolutionary Russia
Tsar Nicholas II – last Romanov ruler of Russia
Pre-Revolutionary Russia
Autocracy (means rule by one person)
Secret Police used against enemies of the Tsar
Russo-Japanese War (1905) – defeat led to political instability
Why is the Russo Japanese War embarrassing to Russia? How was the autocracy impacted by the Russo Japanese war?

4. SOCIAL
Although there was no more serfdom, life for peasants was difficult
Serfdom abolished in 1861 but problems do not go away (US and Jim Crow).
Why is it bad to not be industrialized at this time? (target for colonization)
Russia was not very industrialized, compared with the rest of Europe

5. Role of Rasputin
A mystic who “healed” the czar’s son who had hemophilia
Huge influence over royal family, bad reputation rubs off on royals
Hemophilia—you do not stop bleeding if you get cut.
He was a drunk and womanizer—close to tsarina.

6. WWI: The Last Straw
Russia suffered heavy casualties on the Eastern Front.
Peasants were angry about being conscripted into the army.
The army was badly equipped (shared rifles).
What little food, goods and raw materials were available were sent to the front so there were HUGE shortages in the cities (Total War)
Chaos meant people locally to tried take control and restore some order. Cities formed “soviets” – small revolutionary councils that tried to bring change and improvements

7. WWI: The Last Straw
Urban workers were unemployed by the thousands as factories shut down.
Socialists and Liberals started calling for an end to the war but Tsar Nicholas refused.
The Tsar even took over control of the army in 1915—he was then blamed for the heavy casualties.
The war led many to turn against the Tsar.
They wanted peace, land, and bread.

8. The Two Revolutions of 1917 Peace, Land And Bread!
February Revolution – Food riots lead Tsar to abdicate
October Revolution – Communists (known as Bolsheviks) take control w/ military coup. Exit War. (Treaty of Brest-Litovsk)
Lenin’s April Thesis
April Thesis called for : Immediate end to the war, Land to be taken from nobility and redistributed to peasants, Power to be given to the Soviets (end of provisional gvt.), Lenin was the leader of the Bolsheviks and travelled through cities rinling up the pople with cries for “Peace, Land, All power to the Soviets”
In november, 1917, Lenin and his Bolsheviks (especially Leon Trotksy) took control of key facilities in Petrograd, including railway stations, the post office, communications centres and the Winter Palace.

9. Lenin New Ruler of Russia
Lenin = Bolshevik (a Russian Communist) Wanted a “vanguard” to lead the revolution
Communism could be forced by the vanguard, even without urban factory workers

10. Results
Civil War in Russia until early 1920s – Commies versus everyone
New secret police: CHEKA (NKVD/KGB)
Communist rule in Russia (U.S.S.R.) from
Russians started the Civil War because there were groups that still opposed Lenin and his takeover of Russia. Many were unhappy due to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, which had shown the weakness of the Bolsheviks. Lenin put Leon Trotsky in charge of the Bolshevik armed forces. They were names after the party’s color– the “Reds.” The Whites opposed the Reds. Red had 5 million soldiers and won the civil war. Lenin adopted policy of War Communism to help the Red win and quickly spread communism throughout Russia. End up being a HUGE economic failure—resulted in poverty and famine = death. BUT it did help beat the Whites and consolidate Lenin’s power!!!! So ditched it and came up with ….NEP

11. Lenin’s Rule NEP – New Economic Policy
some capitalistic components (example: farmers could sell their crops)
Big, important industries were nationalized (owned by gov’t) (examples: trains, steel production)
Goal: Industrialize Russia
Lenin’s death – power struggle. Stalin wins.
NEP Goals: 1.To stimulate the rural economyLands were given to some farmers (These guys made up and new class of farmers—KULAKS- wealthy peasant farmers) 2. To stimulate the local economy, 3.To gain foreign investments into the Russian economy.
In 1921 they instituted the New Economic Policy (NEP) which allowed some freedom of production and trade. Still, it failed to solve the question how Russia (the Soviet Union) was going to reach the levels of industrialization and collectivized agriculture of which the revolutionaries had dreamed. The ruthlessness of the Russian Civil War combined with the magnificence of the dream of collectivization meant that many party members remained dissatisfied well into the 1920s, praying for the day they would be able to stage another revolution that would transport the country from semi-capitalism to communism. This, of course, laid the groundwork for Stalin’s rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s.
How does this differ from Marxist theory of communism?

12. Think of it as, “two steps forward, one step back,” Karl.
I’m not speaking to you, comrade traitor…
Explain the above image and captions.
Russia officially became the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in Lenin dies of a stroke, leaving no clear successor as Party head.

13. Russia officially became the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).
Stalin
Trotsky was tricked into not going to the funeral by the other man who would try to assume power in Russia…

14. Marxist Communism vs. Leninist Communism
Lenin and the Russian Revolution
How did the ideas of Marx and Engels influence Lenin?
Why do you think revolution took hold in Russia first instead of a more industrialized nation as Marx expected?
Do you think Lenin faithfully enacted Marx’s philosophy or was it something different?
What are the possible negative human consequences of a command economy vs. a free market economy?
What was the importance of World War I in the timing of the Russian revolution?
How did the history of events in Europe during the 19th century lead up to Lenin’s actions?
Why do you think Lenin’s actions were inspirational for socialist movements of the time?
Were the negative consequences of Lenin’s policies due to the ideas of socialism or the way that Lenin enacted them?