Russian Revolution: Tsarist Russia to Stalin
The Russian Revolution
Tsarist Russia
Autocratic system: The Orthodox Church supported the army, political police, and bureaucracy.
Political opposition to the Tsar (Nicholas II):
- Popular (anarchists), agrarian-based (giving rise to the Socialist Revolutionary Party (SRs)).
- Russian Social Democratic Labour Party:
- Mensheviks: Moderate supporters of a liberal revolution before the socialist revolution.
- Bolsheviks (Lenin): In favor of the proletarian and peasant revolution. Importance of a vanguard party.
- Constitutional Democratic Party (KD): Liberal principles (constitution, parliament).
The Revolution of 1905
Causes: Loss to Japan and Bloody Sunday (preceded by a general strike), violent repression by the army of a peaceful demonstration calling for reforms before the Winter Palace.
Consequences: Creation of the Duma (legislature) and the Soviet (Council of workers and soldiers) in St. Petersburg. Revolutionary organizing bodies and strikes.
February Revolution (1917)
Causes: General strike (economic difficulties of the war), joined by the troops.
Consequences: Abdication of Tsar Nicholas II. Provisional Government of Lvov and Kerensky, promising a parliamentary regime. Continuation of the war.
Dual power: The Duma (legal power) and the Soviets (real power).
The April Theses: End the war, no support for the government, proletarian revolution, republic of Soviets, nationalization of land and banking.
The October Revolution (1917) and the Civil War
The Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party, on October 10, decided to take power through armed insurrection. The Bolshevik militia (Trotsky) occupied key points in Petrograd, including the Winter Palace. Kerensky fled.
First Decrees: Decree on Peace (Brest-Litovsk), Decree on Land, Decree on Industrial Enterprises, Decree on Nationalities, nationalization of banks.
Civil War (1918-1921): Due to internal counter-revolutionary movements, and Menshevik and Socialist-liberal challenges to the Bolshevik regime. Victory of the Red Army against the Whites, with the support of peasants.
War Communism and the NEP
War Communism (1918-21): Political and economic state control (centralization and planning) during the Soviet civil war. Nationalization of industries and transport (mass production). Suppression of the free market. Requisitioning of agricultural products and grain trade monopoly.
The NEP (New Economic Policy) (1921-24): Abandonment of collectivist ideas in economics and return to transitional forms of controlled capitalism in order to stimulate production. Mixed economy (“state capitalism”). End of requisitions, land ownership, taxes in kind to the peasants, freedom of trade and currency, denationalization of enterprises (less than 21 workers). The state retained a monopoly on transport, foreign trade, banking, and large enterprises (self-administration).
The Institutionalization of the New Regime
It was organized as a federal republic (1918). The new union of republics (Ukraine, Belarus, etc.) led to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). In 1924, a new constitution was approved. The Soviets as basic cells of the state organization. Congress of Soviets. Central Committee and Supreme Soviet (Council of the Union and Council of Nationalities). Presidium or Council of People’s Commissars.
Stalin and Planning
In 1927, Stalin promoted the idea of economic planning.
The Five-Year Plans set out the objectives and resources that were used in the economy and the lines of social action and cultural education and health. Planned economy controlled by the state (production, investment, prices, wages).
- First Five-Year Plan (1928-1933): Achieving economic self-sufficiency in the country through rapid industrialization. Collectivization of agriculture: Kolkhoz and Sovkhoz. Priority to heavy industry and energy production. Nationalization of trade. Advertising campaign: Stakhanovism.
- Second Five-Year Plan (1933-37): Favored the production of energy, light industry, and consumer goods. Large industrial Combinat in the Urals and Siberia.
- Third Five-Year Plan (1938-42): Interrupted by World War II. Since 1939, war priorities. The USSR reached third place in the world economy.
Political purges: Purges (1936-39) and Gulags. Ideological control. Reinforced Party power and nomenclature (bureaucrats, economists, industrialists).