The Russian Revolution and the USSR: A Historical Overview

Posted on Nov 9, 2024 in History

The Russian Revolution and the USSR

Introduction

The Russian Revolution of 1917 was a major historical event that gave rise to a new country, the USSR, a communist society. This country became the first and largest socialist country in the world until its dissolution in 1991. The Russian Revolution shares similarities with the French Revolution of 1789, for example, the influence of both spread outside their borders. However, while the French Revolution meant the transition from absolutism to a liberal system (it was a political revolution), in Russia, the shift was to a socialist state (it was more of a social than a political revolution).

Location of Russia Before the Revolution

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Russia was very backward politically, economically, and socially. Economically, Russia was in a situation of poverty and backwardness compared to most European countries. Capitalism had developed only in some cities, and the majority of the population was rural. Agricultural properties were almost all owned by the nobility, and many peasants lived in serfdom without property rights. The economic and social system was more typical of the old regime, and industrialization began only in certain geographical areas, and in many cases, it was due to foreign capital.

Politically, Russia was still a kind of absolute autocratic monarchy, meaning that the Tsar or Emperor was also the head of the Orthodox Church. The Tsar’s power was absolute and supported by the army and the Church. Opposition to the Tsar and the general situation in Russia was comprised of four groups:

  • Populists: Peasant movements that demanded a fairer distribution of land ownership.
  • Liberal parties or groups: Members were middle class who wanted to end the privileges of the nobility to have more economic and political power.
  • Anarchists: Formed by workers and peasants. They had significant importance in Russia and often acted violently, with terrorist attacks.
  • Marxists: Members were workers from the city, but there were two currents:
    • Mensheviks (or minority) wanted a moderate revolution led by the bourgeoisie, without creating a workers’ state.
    • Bolsheviks (or majority) were more radical and disciplined and followed strict Marxist theories. Their intention was to make a socialist revolution led by the proletariat. Its main leader was Vladimir Ilich Ulianov, better known as Lenin.

The Revolution of 1905

This revolution, although it did not succeed, was a first warning of what would happen in 1917. Economic changes, poverty, and the actions of different opposition groups against Tsarism created a general climate of discontent and protest. The main demands of the population could be summarized as a fair distribution of wealth, basic rights and freedoms for the people, and a more liberal political system, without absolutism.

This situation caused a series of demonstrations and popular protests, which were eventually suppressed by the army and the Tsar’s promises to make changes in the country. This revolution of 1905 saw the emergence of Soviets or councils, popular assemblies formed by workers and peasants that directed and organized the masses.

The Revolution of 1917

February Revolution

After the Revolution of 1905, the Tsar established a legislative assembly called the Duma and tried to make changes in land ownership. But these changes were not very successful and proved insufficient for the opposition. The situation worsened dramatically since 1914 when Russia took part in World War I as an ally of Britain and France. The war was a disaster for Russia, with significant defeats that hurt the economy even more. There was a lack of food, and the military defeats and loss of life increased the population’s opposition to the Tsar’s policies, thus breaking out a new revolution in St. Petersburg in February 1917.

The direct cause of this revolution was the disastrous situation caused by the war, but we must not forget the distant causes provoked by the economic, political, and social situation prior to the war, as well as the actions of opposition groups.

The revolution began when people took to the streets demanding an end to the war, and the workers began a general strike, which was supported by soldiers. The Soviets, formed by workers, peasants, and soldiers, also began to direct and organize the masses. With almost the entire country against him, the Tsar was forced to abdicate. The Duma, or legislature, took over the government, which began to carry out political (freedoms) and social (improving the situation of workers) reforms, but decided to continue in World War I, so many people began to follow the instructions of the Soviets rather than the new government.

In this situation, a Menshevik (moderate) was appointed president of the government, who was expected to carry out more profound reforms and leave the war. Meanwhile, Lenin and the Bolsheviks were gaining strength, especially among the working class and the Soviets. Lenin always advocated that the February Revolution was inadequate and had to be followed by:

  • Immediately abandoning World War I.
  • Overthrowing the moderate government.
  • Carrying out a proletarian revolution that would seize power.

This thinking led to a confrontation between Lenin and Kerensky, but the Bolsheviks gained power mainly because Kerensky did not abandon the war. When the Bolsheviks were able to control the Soviets in St. Petersburg and Moscow, Lenin said that the time had come to overthrow Kerensky’s government by force and make a workers’ revolution.

October Revolution

This was the most important moment of the entire Russian Revolution, and the one that turned Russia into a new socialist state inspired by Marxist ideology. Lenin called for the people to revolt in October 1917 and began an uprising led by the Soviets, which were controlled by the Bolsheviks (the one in St. Petersburg was led by Trotsky, a Bolshevik who contributed to Lenin’s collective). The army and navy stopped, and armed workers stormed the Winter Palace (seat of government). Kerensky managed to escape, and Lenin took power. His first mission was to organize a new socialist state.

Therefore, a government called the Council of People’s Commissars was organized, headed by Lenin, with executive power. The congress that brought together all the Soviets came to be called the Supreme Soviet and had legislative power. All these institutions, following the idea of the dictatorship of the proletariat, were controlled by the Bolshevik party, which from 1918 became known as the Communist Party.

The first measures of the new government were the following:

  • Expropriation of lands from the nobility, church, and crown, which were given to the peasants.
  • Self-determination for the peoples that were part of the former Russian Empire.
  • Workers would control the companies where they worked.
  • Banks ceased to be private and passed into the hands of the state.

Moreover, a priority measure was to abandon World War I. Lenin signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany, in which Russia lost huge territories: Finland, Poland, the Baltic republics, and Ukraine. This also meant losing the economic resources that existed in these territories. Although it was a bad treaty for Russia, Lenin was forced to sign it because of the continuing military defeats and to leave the war as soon as possible. Another notable fact was that the capital of Russia moved from St. Petersburg to Moscow.

The Civil War (1918-1922)

The Revolution had triumphed in much of Russia, but other areas fought against the Bolsheviks. In this way, a civil war erupted between the Bolshevik government and the resistance, formed by the Tsar, part of the army, and the privileged classes (church and nobility). These formed the White Army, which had the support of capitalist powers (Britain, USA, France), who did not want the triumph of a socialist revolution in Europe.

Meanwhile, the Bolshevik government had to reorganize a new army to defend the revolution. Trotsky was in charge of forming the new Red Army, which had political commissars to ensure that the soldiers followed the communist ideology. Shortly after the war began, the Bolsheviks executed the Tsar and his family.

After invading Ukraine, the civil war ended with the victory of the Red Army (1921). In the midst of the civil war, with the country divided and isolated from its foreign enemies, the economic situation became critical. For this reason, the Bolshevik government imposed war communism, consisting of a series of very strict measures based on state control of the economy: all businesses, including trade, industry, and transport, were nationalized; all trade union rights were banned; workers and peasants had to obey the orders of the government as if they were soldiers. These measures led to such radical rejection by the population that when the war ended, Lenin’s economic policy was modified to avoid losing popular support.

The NEP and the USSR

The new Russian economy was based on the NEP (New Economic Policy), whose main feature was that it combined a state-controlled economy with some types of private capitalist property, although this was raised as a temporary solution, since the idea was the total disappearance of private property in the long term. What they wanted to achieve with the NEP was to increase production as rapidly as possible, ease the living conditions of the population, and win government support from the largest possible number of people.

Another important fact was that in 1922 Russia became the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), which the republics that were part of the old Russian Empire could join. They all did except the three Baltic states. The communist party controlled all aspects of the political and social life of the new Soviet Union.

With the excuse of exercising the dictatorship of the proletariat and the country’s internal and external problems, many basic freedoms disappeared or were limited: freedom of the press, expression, religion, etc., so the USSR became a non-democratic country. The Communist Party was the only one allowed and represented in the new Soviet Union.

Within the Communist Party, there were two currents: Lenin and Trotsky defended that the revolution had to be extended outside Russia, to most European countries. Others, such as Joseph Stalin, thought that the best thing was to ensure the internal consolidation of communism in Russia.

When Lenin died in 1924, there was a real division within the party to see who would be his successor and what measures would be taken on certain issues:

  • The NEP (which some party members were against).
  • Foreign policy (expansion of the revolution to foreign countries or not).
  • Strong state and party control over society (which were almost the same thing).
  • The gradual disappearance of democratic elements of the system due to the dictatorship of the proletariat.

It seemed that Trotsky would succeed Lenin as leader, but ultimately Stalin, working behind the scenes, achieved greater support and was named Party President in 1928. Trotsky became his enemy and was deported to Siberia and later expelled from the country.

The Stalinist Era

Stalin ruled the USSR almost completely from 1928 until his death in 1953. His period marked the beginning of a centralist government in the USSR because Stalin was a true dictator who imposed an authoritarian model of power, both in the state and in the Communist Party.

Economy

In economic and social terms, Stalin’s goal was to create a society and an economy without any private property or industry. To do this, the NEP was removed, and the five-year plans and collectivization of the entire economy were created instead.

The five-year plans represented complete state control of the economy and focused on agriculture and industry, especially heavy industry. To do this, these two sectors had to be collectivized. The capital required to boost industry came from other sectors (agriculture, mining, etc.). So there were almost no resources left for workers to improve their living standards. The state kept almost all the profits to further enhance industry.

Agriculture was fully collectivized. To do this, they created kolkhozes, collective farms owned by the state, where peasants self-governed to work the lands. The state controlled agricultural production. All these economic changes were difficult at first: some peasants who owned private lands and enjoyed a better position (such as kulaks) opposed collective forms of work but were severely punished, and in the first years, there were times of scarcity and lack of results. However, over the years and with new five-year plans, the USSR began to become an important agricultural and industrial power.

Domestic Policy

The Party and the State became the same thing in practice, all strongly controlled by Stalin. Dissenting opinions were forbidden, and all party members were forced to follow the official party line, which was that of its maximum leader, Stalin. The dictatorship of the proletariat became the reality of Stalin’s dictatorship over the proletariat.

His despotic character and the fact that the USSR was the only communist country in the world led Stalin to see enemies everywhere, both inside and outside the country. As a result, Stalin began a process of eliminating all political rivals or any suspected enemy of the revolution. Over the years, these persecutions worsened and gave rise to what are called the purges, a period of terror in which thousands of suspects were imprisoned, deported, or executed for the mere fact of having ideas different from those of Stalin. The purges affected both members of the party itself, as well as the army and the general population. It is estimated that nearly three million Russians died as victims of Stalinist terror. One of them was Trotsky, Stalin’s enemy, who despite living abroad was murdered by order of Stalin.

Other aspects of political life in the USSR were propaganda in favor of socialism and criticizing its enemies (fascism and capitalism) and the cult of personality of Stalin, whose figure and images were constantly present and venerated almost as if he were a god, and his decisions could never be questioned. The first USSR constitution was also drafted, in which it was stated that the Soviets were the political basis of the country. But these were no longer free but were under the control of the party. In the elections to choose the members of the Soviets, only members of the Communist Party could stand, and of course, they followed the official line.

To conclude, Stalin’s dictatorship also affected some nationalist regions of the USSR, as defenders of the right to self-determination were also repressed by Stalin.

Foreign Policy

At the international level, the newly created USSR was initially isolated from the rest of the world powers since they were all capitalist and considered the socialist revolution a threat. For several years, countries like Britain tried to fight against the revolution but were finally forced to acknowledge the victory of socialism.

One of Stalin’s concerns was to defend the USSR from possible attacks by enemies, as it was the only country in the world with this socioeconomic system. For this reason, Stalin tried to minimize his international relations and even considered withdrawing the USSR from the League of Nations, but that ultimately did not happen, and the USSR remained sufficiently armed.

The situation changed with the arrival of the fascist regimes in Italy and especially in Germany because they were radical enemies of Soviet socialism. This caused Stalin to try to join any alliance or pact against fascist countries. For example, the USSR intervened in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), supporting the government of the Spanish Republic against General Franco’s coup d’état, which had fascist tendencies.

However, the USSR continued to find little support among Western democratic countries for two basic reasons: they were capitalist countries and distrustful of socialism, and democratic countries rejected Stalin’s dictatorship. Thus, surprisingly, Stalin ended up making a pact with Hitler, curiously his main enemy. This surprising move had several reasons:

  • Only a dictator like Hitler could be capable of signing a deal with another dictator like Stalin, even though one was fascist and the other communist.
  • Stalin considered that, given Hitler’s increasingly aggressive policy, there was a risk that he would attack the USSR, so it was best to appease his enemy.
  • Finally, these two dictators had in common their interest in occupying Poland, so signing a pact to divide it if they invaded it would be beneficial.

In 1939, Hitler and Stalin signed the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact. Only a month later, World War II began when Hitler attacked Poland with the peace of mind of knowing that the USSR would not intervene in its defense, but quite the opposite. Taking advantage of the German attack, Stalin also invaded the eastern part of Poland, and the two dictators divided this country. This “pact of convenience” between the two dictators who actually hated each other ended in 1941 when Hitler attacked the USSR, which forever changed the course of the war.