File:Russian Rev Outline Handout.pdf

Russian Revolution Lesson Group Project Outline to Handout to class with Cathy's part censored

Civil War in Russia, Lenin Restores Order, and Totalitarianism in Russia: Joseph Stalin

Cathy's Part Censored

1. Leader V.I. Lenin died in 1924 launching power struggle to see who would be the next leader
   1. Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin were the two rivals competing for the top position.
   2. Both had helped in the revolution and in creating a Soviet state
   3. The winner in this struggle was Joseph Stalin – was cold and ruthless
   4. Stalin exiled Leon Trotsky in 1829
   5. Stalin was now a dictator with absolute power
2. Global Focus
   1. Stalin was focused on Russia, unlike Lenin and Trotsky who focused on a worldwide Communist Revolution
   2. Stalin aimed to perfect “Socialism in one country” and turned it into a totalitarian state
3. Totalitarianism
   1. Where the government takes complete, central control over every aspect of public and private life
   2. Leaders such a Stalin appear to provide a sense of security and direction for the future
   3. It challenges the basic values of democratic states and the thoughts of the Enlightenment -reason, freedom, human dignity, and the worth of the individual
4. Police State
   1. Not even the slightest bit of dissent was allowed, before the secret police arrested you
   2. You could be arrested for anything, at anytime.
   3. If there was even the slightest suspicion you were planning to overthrow the government-Gone!
   4. If you or your factory failed to meet your quota, Bye, bye
   5. If you were a police man and didn’t arrest enough criminals, you should be afraid of the knock on your door
5. Stalin arrested almost every Bolsheviks who participated in the revolution as well as almost every leader in Stalin’s government for “crimes against the Soviet state” - Great Purge
6. By now Stalin had complete control of the USSR
   1. However, at the cost of 8 to 13 million deaths
   2. Stalin became more powerful any of the previous Russia czars
7. Propaganda
   1. Stalin (and totalitarian governments) used Propaganda to spread their ideas
   2. Peasants were taught the ideals of communism
   3. Youth-groups “brainwashed” kids
   4. Sponsored socialist realism art
   5. Smiling workers doing their part
   6. Total Censorship of Media
8. Religious Persecution
   1. State encouraged (um, demanded) atheism
   2. Museums showing fallacy of religion
   3. Police destroyed churches and synagogues
   4. Persecuted religious leaders
   5. But people still clung to their faiths
   6. Russian Orthodox Church = major religion
9. Command Economy
   1. Stalin changed Lenin’s NEP to an economy where the state had complete control
      1. Political leaders identified economic needs and found ways to fulfilled them
   2. Stalin also wanted to catch up to Great Britain and Germany, as well as the rest of Europe, in industrialization
   3. Unlike democratic economic change, Stalin pushed this along at great costs to individuals
10. First Five Year Plan - 1928
    1. The government would take drastic steps promote rapid industrial growth and strengthen military defenses (remember just lost WWI)
    2. Set impossibly high quotas (or numeric goals) for the output of steel, coal, oil, and electricity
11. Workers Poor Lives
    1. The government controlled every aspect of worker’s lives
    2. Government chose the jobs, the hours you worked
    3. Food and supply shortages from rapid industrialization
    4. The Secret Police enforced all there rules
       1. Ready to imprison anyone for breaking them
    5. This forced labor had a gigantic toll on Soviet families and lives
12. The Agriculture Revolution
    1. The Agriculture Revolution was very successful, but far more brutal
    2. In 1928, Stalin began to seize 25 million private farms and combine them into huge collective farms. Peasants worked on these farms.
13. The Agriculture Revolution - Revolution
    1. The Peasants were angry because they had just won their land from the nobles.
    2. They revolted fiercely by destroying crops and livestock
    3. Stalin struck back with his secret police sending peasants to work at the threat of death
    4. Between 5 and 10 million peasants were killed with millions more sent to Siberia.
    5. The kulaks, wealthy peasants also revolted and their entire class was sent to death or work camps
    6. Success! - By 1938, 90% of peasants were now working on collective farms.
14. In 10 years:
    1. Wheat production was doubled due to collective farming
    2. Electricity production was up 800%
    3. Steel production increased from 4 to 18 million metric tons
    4. The USSR was becoming a major industrial power
15. In the Long Run
    1. Stalin responsible for Russia’s industrialization
    2. Russia was able to stand up to Germany in WWII
    3. Standards of living ultimately rose; people embraced science and technology
    4. Stalin changed Russia from an agricultural backwater into a world-power industrial giant
    5. But the people paid the price for these gains