Russian Revolution and Global Upheaval: 1917-1932
The Russian Revolution (1917)
World War I and the February Revolution
The outbreak of World War I in 1917 exposed Russia’s unpreparedness for a prolonged conflict. The economy faltered, and the military suffered disastrous defeats. The mobilization of millions of peasants led to agricultural decline and widespread famine, fueling unrest among workers and peasants. This discredited Tsar Nicholas II and his government. Demoralized Soviets (councils of workers, peasants, and soldiers) demanded the Tsar’s withdrawal from the war and an end to autocracy. Bourgeois, peasant, and worker parties alike called for his abdication.
In February 1917, revolution erupted in St. Petersburg, toppling Tsarism. Power shifted to a provisional government led by Kerensky and supported by liberal parties in the Duma (parliament). This government initiated a series of reforms, and Russia became a democratic republic.
The October Revolution
Popular discontent grew, along with the influence of the Bolsheviks, who aimed to overthrow the provisional government and establish socialism. They envisioned a government of worker and peasant Soviets, promising peace, land redistribution, and worker control of factories. On October 25th, the Bolsheviks, propelled by the Soviets, seized power within ten days. With the support of the Congress of Soviets, Lenin formed a worker’s government.
The new Soviet government implemented revolutionary measures: land was expropriated and distributed among peasants, and factories came under the control of worker committees. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed with Germany in 1918.
The Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression
Prosperity and the Stock Market Boom
The 1920s witnessed increasing consumption and a booming stock market, particularly in the United States. This expansion stemmed from profound transformations in production, driven by innovations like Taylorism and Fordism. Increased productivity led to higher wages, while advertising, installment plans, and bank loans fueled mass consumption. This prosperity was reflected in a stock market boom, with rising share values driven by demand rather than actual profit increases. This speculative bubble led to frenzied investment, with many buyers purchasing stocks on credit.
Combating the Crisis of 1929
In 1932, one of the worst years of the Great Depression, Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt won the US presidential election. He proposed the New Deal, a program of state intervention to revive the economy and lift the country out of crisis.
The Scramble for Africa (1870-1885)
From 1870, the colonization of Africa accelerated rapidly and brutally. The entire continent, except for Liberia and Abyssinia, came under European control. Britain and France, with existing bases in Africa, aimed to create vast empires. Belgium’s King Leopold II acquired a colony along the Congo River. Germany and Italy joined the scramble later, leading to friction and the threat of military conflict. The Berlin Conference of 1885 established rules and divided Africa among the European powers.
The British and French Empires
The British Empire
By the late nineteenth century, Britain possessed the world’s largest colonial empire, spanning from India to Africa. Their goal was to control maritime trade routes, securing bases in the Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Pacific, and Mediterranean. India, the “jewel in the crown,” was Britain’s primary colony of exploitation. Its conquest, begun in the eighteenth century by the East India Company, eventually came under direct British rule. Queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India in 1876, and India became a vast market for British goods and a source of cheap raw materials.
The French Empire
France held the second-largest colonial empire, with territories in various regions, notably North Africa and Indochina. Their competition with the British Empire was particularly intense in Africa.