Russia

Notes Questions and Answers What internal and external forces weakened the government of Mexico and China int he opening decades of the 20th century and unleashed the forces of revolution? What key socialk groups were behind the revolutions in Mexico, China, and Russia, and why were they so important in each case? WHat similarities and differences cxan you identify among these three early revolutions in the 20th century?
 * 1. Read In Depth p.684 (A Century of Revolutions) take brief notes and answer the questions (5 points)**
 * Upheavasls were just the first waves of a revolutionary tide
 * Number of factors account for the successive surges of revolution
 * Rural discontent = crucial for preasant
 * Peasants were newly sporred by pressures of population growth
 * State forms incraesed taxers on peasantry
 * Rise of revolutionary movemetns was fed by Industrial Revolutiona dn the Western-centered, global market system
 * People thrown out of work by an influx of amchine manufactured goods
 * Peasants lost their land to moneylenders
 * Unemployed Western educated African and Asian = committed toindependence
 * Urban laboreres provided key support for revolutionary parties in many countries
 * Wotrld wars = fertile seedbeds of revolution
 * Returning soldier + neglected veterans = troops for leftist
 * "Visions of the good life in peasant communes or workers' utopias were a powerful driving force for revolutionary currents throughout the century from Mexico to China"
 * UNderlying intellectual climate
 * Notions of progress and a belief in the perfectibility of human society
 * Marx, Lenin, Mao Zedong and Ho Chi Minh = Communist leaders
 * New societies = justice and a decent livelihood
 * Extent to which higly competitive capitalist societies developed social welfare programs to curb social discontent
 * Mexico, Russia and China- reduce Westerne conomic controla dn cultural influence


 * 2. Take outline notes on Russia (25 points)**

Revolution in Russia: Liberalism to Communism Main Idea- Strikes and food riots broke out in Russia's capital, St. Petersburg Details
 * Revolution in Russia p.681-685
 * Alexander Kerensky
 * 1918-1921 Tsarist generals and peasants were against communist party in Russia
 * Lenin decareed land redistribution to peasantry and nationalism
 * Peasnts lowered gfood producion and goods sent to markets as rebellion
 * Famine and unemployment created economic hardship
 * Starts Civil War
 * Starts Civil War

Stabilization of Russia's Communist Regime Main Idea- Order was rrestored after teh revolution on several key foundations Details
 * Red Army
 * Military organization constructed under leadership of Leon Trosky, Bolshevik follower of Lenin
 * Made use of people of humble background
 * New Economic Policy
 * Initiated by Lenin
 * 1921
 * State continued to set basic economic policies, but efforts were now combined with individual initiative
 * Policy allowed food production to recover
 * Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
 * Federal system of socialist republics
 * Established in 1923
 * IN various ethnic regions of Russia
 * Firmly controlled by Communist party
 * Diminished nationalities protest under Bolsheviks
 * Dissovel 1991
 * Supreme Soviet
 * Parliament of Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
 * Elected by univesal suffrage
 * Actually controlle dby Communist party
 * Served ot ratify party decisions

Soviet Expirementation Main Idea- The mid 1920s constituted a lively, experimental epriod in Soviet history because of the joceying or power at the top of the power pyramid Details
 * Joseph Stalin
 * Successor to Lernin as head of the U.S.S.R.
 * Strongly nationalist view of communmism
 * Represented anti-Western strain of Russian tradition
 * Crushed opposition to his rule
 * Established series of five-year plans to replace New Economic Policy
 * Fostered agricultural collectivization
 * Led U.S.S.R. though WWII
 * Furthered cold war with western Europe and the US
 * Died in 1953
 * Comintern
 * International office of communism under U.S.S.R. dominance
 * Established to encourage the formation of Communist aprtries
 * In Europe and elsewhere
 * Collectivization
 * Creation of large, state run farms rather than individual holdings
 * Allowed more efficient control over peasnts
 * Thought often lowered food production
 * Part of Stalin's economic and political planning
 * Often adopted in other communist regimes

Industrialization and Recovery Main Idea- Japan's policies quelled the effects of the Depression for Japan even more fully than Hitler's policies were able to do for Germany Details
 * Stalinism in the Soviet Union p.698-703

Stalinism in the Soviet Union Main Idea- The Soviet Union was buffered from the Depression by its separate economy Details

Economic Policies Main Idea- A massive program to coleltivize agriculture began in 1928 Details
 * Five-Year Plans
 * Stalin's plans to hasten industrialization of U.S.S.R.
 * Constructed massive factories in metallurgy, mining, and elctric power
 * Led to massive state planned industrialization at cost of availabnility fo consumer products

Toward an Industrial Society Main Idea- The industrialization process in the Soviet Union produced many results similar to those int he West Details

Totalitarian Rule Main Idea- Stalinism instituted new controls over intellectual life Details
 * Socialist Realism
 * Attempt within the U.S.S.R.
 * To relate formal culture to the masses
 * To avoid the adoption fo western European cultural forms
 * Begun under Joseph Stalin
 * Fundamental method of Soviet fiction, arts, and literary criticism
 * Politburo
 * Executive committee of the Soviet Communist aprty
 * 20 members

// Eastern Europe After World War II: A Soviet Empire // The Soviet Union as Superpower Main Idea- Soviet foreign policy had several ingredients Details
 * Eastern Europe after WWII p.750-759

The New Soviet Empire in Eastern Europe Main Idea- Soviet Union developed increasing worlwide influece with trade and cultural missions on all inhabited continents and militaryalliences with some Asian, African, and Latin American nations Details
 * Berlin Wall
 * Built in 1961 to halt the flow of immigration from East Berlin to West Berlin
 * Immigration was in response to lack of consumer goods and close Soviet control of economy and politics
 * Torn down at end of cold war in 1991

Evolution of Domestic Policies Main Idea- Within the Soviet Union the Stalinist system remained intact during teh initial postwar years Details

// Soviet Culture: Promoting New Beliefs and Institutions // Economy and Society Main Idea- The Soviet Union became a fully industrial society between the 1920s and the 1950s Details
 * Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
 * Russian author critical of the Soviet regime but also of Western materialism
 * Published trilogy ont he Siberian prison camps
 * The Gulag Archipelago

De-Stalinization Main Idea- The rigid government apparatus created by Stalina dn sustained after WWII by frquent arrests and exiles tof orced labor camps was put toa mmajor test after Stalin's death. Details
 * Nikita Khrushchev
 * Stalin's successor as head of U.S.S.R.
 * From 1953-1964
 * Attacked Stalinism in 1956 for concentration of power and arbitrary dictatorship
 * Failure of SIberian development program and antagonism of Stalinists led to downfall

The Explosion of the 1980s and 1990s Main Idea- From 1985 onward the Soviet Union entered a period of intensive reform, soon matche dby a new political movements in eastern Europe that effectively dismantled the Soviet empire Details The Age of Reform Main Idea- Yet the Soviet system was not changeless, despite its heavy bureaucratization Details Dismantling the Soviet Empire Main Idea- Gorbachev's new approach, as the smaller states of eastern Europe uniformly pushed for greater independence and internal reforms Details Renewed Turmoil in the 1990s Main Idea- The uncertainties of the situation within the Soviet Union were confirmed when an attemnpted coup was mounted by military and police elements Details
 * Explosion of the 1980s and 1990s p.841-847
 * Mikhail Gorbachev
 * U.S.S.R. premier after 1985
 * Renewed attacks on Stalinism
 * urged reduction in nuclear armament
 * Proclaimed policies of glasnost and perestroika
 * Glasnost
 * Policy of openness or political liberation in Soviet Union
 * Put forward by Mikhail Gorbachev
 * In the late 1980s
 * Perestroika
 * Policy of Mikhail Gorbachev calling for economic resrtructuring int eh U.S.S.R.
 * In the alte 1980s
 * More leeway for private ownership and decentralized control in industry and agriculture
 * Boris Yeltsin
 * Russian leader who stood up to coup attempt in 1991 that woudl have displaced Gorbachev
 * President of the Russian republic following dissolution of Soviet Union

To receive full credit for your notes you must include the following terms/people in your notes. You must also include Main Ideas

//Kerensky, Lenin, Bolsheviks, Stalin, Collectivization, Soviets, Five-year plans, Socialist Realism, Khrushchev, Gorbachev, Glasnost, Perestroika, Yeltsin, Putin//

Joseph Stalin wanted to regain Russia's (USSR) land that was lost in the previous World War I, (The Great War) basically wanted to take over the world, little by little. To do this, he eliminated anyone who he thought would be more powerful than him, such as the important rulers in the Central Planning Committee. He also signed the Non-aggression Pact with Hitler to give him more time to build up his army. he also wanted to modernize the economy, build a strong military, spread the ideas of communism, increase the food supply, and increase raw material production. Stalin actively took over the economy. Stalinism refers to the policies and governmental philosophy of Joseph Stalin || Stalin's historical legacy is overwhelmingly negative. Although his policies transformed the USSR from an agrarian-based society into an industrialized nation with a powerful military arsenal, the transformation was accomplished at the cost of millions of lives. Stalin’s militant distrust of the West and his assertion of Soviet dominance in Eastern Europe gave rise to the Cold War. His purges of society through violent police terror left a permanent scar on the collective memory of the people under his rule. Although admired by some Russians, most would agree with the assessment in the West that Stalin was one of the cruelest dictators in history. ||
 * 3. Complete a leadership analysis of //__either__// Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin or Nikita Khrushchev (5 points)**
 * Name of Leader: Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin ||
 * Lifespan: Born December 18, 1878 and Died March 5th, 1953 (aged 74) || Title: First General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee ||
 * Country/Region: Russia || Years in Power: 1922 until his death in 1953 ||
 * Political, Social, & Economic Conditions Prior to Leaders Gaining Power:
 * Trotsky didn't attend Lenin's funeral.
 * Stalin provided the main speech at Lenin's funeral
 * Trotsky was a Menshevik until just before the revolution when he came over to the Bolshevik side.
 * Stalin had been a Bolshevik all along. Also, he had been on the Central Committee of Party before the revolution.
 * Trotsky was Jewish.
 * Stalin was a peasant and a 'people's person'
 * Trotsky was the leader of the Red Army and forced peasants to turn their grain over to it for cheap prices, which made him unpopular with
 * <span style="border-collapse: separate; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">the peasants.
 * <span style="border-collapse: separate; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Trotsky had little support in the party.
 * <span style="border-collapse: separate; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Stalin was filling Party posts with people loyal to him.
 * <span style="border-collapse: separate; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Trotsky believed in 'permanent revolution'
 * <span style="border-collapse: separate; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Stalin believed in 'socialism in one country' ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">Ideology, Motivation, Goals:
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">Significant Actions & Events During Term of Power:
 * <span style="border-collapse: separate; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">The annexation or incorporation of neighbouring countries into the Soviet Union whether they wanted it or not.
 * <span style="border-collapse: separate; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">The development of the Gulag system.
 * <span style="border-collapse: separate; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">The industrialisation of the USSR.
 * <span style="border-collapse: separate; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">The establishment of the NKVD (later to become the KGB).
 * <span style="border-collapse: separate; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">The great purges of counter-revolutionaries and other anti-soviet insurgents (real or imagined).
 * <span style="border-collapse: separate; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">The invasion of the USSR by Nazi Germany during WW2.
 * <span style="border-collapse: separate; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">The fight back and expulsion of the Nazis and the taking back of all lands previously occupied by the Nazis.
 * <span style="border-collapse: separate; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Despite the fact that he was a murderous and paranoid tyrant, everything he did was not bad.
 * <span style="border-collapse: separate; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">In the 30 odd years he held power, he took the USSR from wooden plough shares to nuclear weapons and a world power. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">Short-Term Effects: || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">Long-Term Effects:


 * 4. Write a thesis statement for the following questions (10 points)**


 * Analyze the changes and continuities in Russian political structure from 1914 to the present
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Russian political structure saw many changes in its type of government from 1914 to the present. Foreign policies given by the government showed different views while pressure stayed with each of the different governments.
 * Analyze the changes in Russian Society from 1914 to the present
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">From 1914 to the present, Russian society didn’t have much change as the government began to control society. Under pro-communist leaders, society was restricted and prohibited from becoming like the West.