Chapter 15 Section 1
Two Revolutions in Russia
A. The March Revolution
1. Long Term Unrest
a. The Duma had no real power.
b. The Czar relied on his secret police to impose his will.
c. The proletariat was a growing class of factory and railroad
workers.
d. Many of these factions working quietly under rigid discipline.
2. Impact of World War I
a. Like the Crimean war and Russo-Japanese war, Russia quickly
drained their resources.
b. The lack of military supplies demoralized the Russian armies.
c. Czar Nicholas went to the front lines to rally his troops and build
morale.
3. Rasputin
a. Gregory Rasputin “Holy Man.”
b. Alexandra relied on Rasputin’s advice.
c. A group of Russian nobles removed Rasputin.
4. Collapse of the Monarchy
a. By 1917, turmoil in the cities and the battlefront, brought chaos
within the government.
b. Soviets were councils of workers and soldiers that established
democracy in the government.
B. Lenin and the Bolsheviks
*Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov = Lenin
*Lenin experienced his brother death for his actions in plotting the
death of the Czar.
1. Early Career
a. Lenin learned about the Karl Marx
b. He was sent to Siberia for protesting socialist beliefs.
c. Exile to Switzerland….
2. A new view of Marx
a. Lenin adapted Marxist ideas to fit Russian conditions.
b. Lenin called for an elite group to lead the revolution and set up a
“dictatorship of the proletariat.”
c. Socialism can achieve higher wages, and social welfare
programs.
3. Lenin Returns From Exile
a. Lenin left Switzerland to return to Russia.
b. Lenin arrived in Petrograd and where he was met by activists.
C. The November Revolution
*Lenin promised “Peace, Land, and Bread.”
*Leon Trotsky was committed to Marxism….
1. The Bolshevik Takeover
a. Within days, the Bolsheviks attacked and destroyed the
provisional government.
2. The Bolsheviks in Charge
a. The Bolsheviks seized power in other major cities.
b. Moscow took a little longer to seize… eventually, Moscow
became the capital of Russia.
D. Russian Civil War
1. Opposing Forces
a. For three year, civil war continued mainly along the countryside.
b. “Reds” vs. “White”
c. Communists began to movement into western borders.
d. The Allies forces sent supplies and soldiers to Russia front to
support the “whites”
e. The communist launched the “Cheka”, their secret police.
f. Terrible fighting and execution took place between the groups.
2. War Communism
a. The Government took control over banks, mines, factories, and
railroads.
b. Trotsky turned the Red Army into an effective fighting force.
c. Commissars ensure party loyalty.
Chapter 15 Section 2
From Lenin to Stalin
A. Building the Communist Soviet Union
1. Government
a. Russia set up a Communist Government under a Constitution
that was both democratic and socialist.
b. Supreme Soviet was the elected legislative.
c. All political power, resources, and means of production would
belong to workers and peasants.
d. Formed the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic.
e. The political party used the army and secret police to enforce
their will.
2. Lenin’s NEP
a. New Economic Policy allowed some capitalistic investment.
b. Economic system would have collapsed unless the government
seized control.
c. Small business was permitted to make profits and the
government stopped squeezing peasants for grain.
d. Peasants were able to hold small plots of land.
e. Under Stalin, the NEP was only temporary.
3. Stalin Gains Power
a. Leon Trotsky was a brilliant Marxist thinker… many people
thought he would become the next leader of USSR.
b. Joseph Stalin used his party seat, the general secretary, to
position himself for party leader.
c. Stalin stripped Trotsky of his party membership, which he fled
to Mexico.
B. Stalin’s Five-Year Plans
*command economy = the government officials controlled all
basic economic decisions.
1. Mixed Industrial Results
a. Stalin set a high production goal for both industry and
agriculture.
b. Life didn’t improve for the majority of people.
2. Revolution in Agriculture
a. Peasant lost their farmers, and they live under state control
farmer.
b. Collectives farms were brought under peasants as a group.
c. All animals and equipment were turned over to the collective.
d. The state set all prices and controlled access to farm supplies.
3. A Ruthless Policy
a. Peasants resisted collectivization by destroying farms.
b. Stalin’s army eliminated the Kulaks, the wealthy peasants.
c. Peasants barely had enough food to feed themselves.
C. The Great Purge
1. 1934, Stalin launched the “Great Purges”, which removed all
enemies of the USSR
2. Many were forced to labor camps in Siberia
3. Stalin’s military leaders were included in the “Great Purges.”
D. Soviet Foreign Policy
1. Comintern = Warsaw Pact is alliance with countries to fight
against Imperialistic nations. (Democracy)
2. Red Scare of the 1920’s in the US
3. Western powers however did build an economic tie with USSR.
Chapter 15 Section 3
Life in a Totalitarian State
A. An Age of Totalitarian Control
*Totalitarian State is a one-party dictatorship attempts to
regulate every aspect of the lives of the citizens.
1. Terror
a. Stalin used his secret police to govern the people.
b. He censorship all the press.
2. Propaganda
a. Everything was promoted … Communist party.
3. Religion
a. Atheism is the belief that there is no god.
b. The Russian Orthodox Church was targeted by the communist
party for its strong ties to the Czar.
c. Church buildings were converted to government offices.
d. Other religious groups were persecuted.
B. Changes in Soviet Society
1. New Elite
a. Only a small number of people were permitted to join the party.
b. Soviet elites included industrial managers, military leaders, and
scientists.
c. They had a better standard of living.
2. Social Benefits and Drawbacks
a. Education
b. Health and Medical
c. Families lived in one room apartments.
3. Education
a. Schools were built to serve the State.
b. Education programs were designed to meet the needs of the
state.
4. Women
a. Alexandra Kollontai was the only female to serve in Lenin’s
government.
b. Women won equality under the law.
C. The Arts and the State
1. Socialist Realism
a. Socialist Realism was Stalin’s idea to build socialism by
showing life in a positive light.
2. Censorship
a. Government controlled what books were published, what music
was heard, and what works of art were displayed.
b. The Jewish poet, Osip Mandalstam, was imprisoned, tortured,
and exiled for writing critical comments about Stalin.