Russian and Soviet Union Timeline

Chloe Keegan

Ganley/Santos

History, E

March 20, 2017

The Interwar Period in Russia

1937

1921

1917

1928 - 1938

1894

1903

1914

The Great Purge

The Soviet Union Emerges

Stalin Dictatorship and Totalitarianism

Bolshevik Revolutionary Movements Begin

Russia faces the consequences of World War I

The Czar Steps Down

Russian Bolsheviks Rebel In October Revolution

Nicholas II becomes czar, continues the tradition of Russian autocracy.

• The March Revolution forced Nicholas II to surrender his throne.

• The former czar and his family were executed one year later. The deaths of the Romanovs put an end to the czarist rule that had gone on for centuries.

Stalin launched a campaign that was directed towards eliminating anyone who threatened his power.

• Thousands of old Bolsheviks were put on trial, and were either executed or sent to labor camps.
• By the end in 1938, Stalin had gained total control over the Soviet government and the Communist Party.
• Many estimate that Stalin was responsible for 8 million to 13 million deaths.

Bolsheviks - Extreme, supported a small number of radical revolutionaries, make any sacrifice for change.

Vladmir Lenin became the major leader of the group.

• Appealed to the people through an engaging personality and organization.
• Fled to Western Europe in the early 1900s to keep himself from being arrested by czarist regime.

• Police Terror - In a totalitarian state, the police serve the wishes of the government. They spy on civilians and intimidate them, sometimes even using brute force to achieve their goals.
• Stalin used his police force to create fear in the people. They used tanks and armored cars to stop riots, and arrested anyone who even spoke of disloyalty.

• Propaganda/Censorship - The use of biased or incomplete information is used to push people to believe a certain idea. Absolute control of all media enables this to happen.
• Stalin did not allow any media to be created that challenged the views of the state.

• Religious/Ethnic Persecution - “Enemies of the State” are often created to blame for things that have gone wrong in the past. These groups are usually easily identified and end up facing terror and violence as a result.
• Stalin wanted to replace religion with communism, and targeted religious groups. The Russian Orthodox Church was a major target of the persecution, and several churches and synagogues were destroyed. A majority of religious leaders were either put to death or sent to labor camps.

• Indoctrination - Totalitarian states rely heavily upon indoctrination, which is when instruction of the government’s beliefs is used to shape people’s minds. This is often carried out through the control of education, where the glorification of the leader and his policies is a top priority. Indoctrination is applied from a young age in order to convince citizens that their support of their leader is necessary.
• From a young age, children learned about the virtues of the Communist Party. Any professors or students who questioned these teachings were at risk of losing their jobs or imprisonment.

In March 1921, Lenin used a version of capitalism called the New Economic Policy (NEP).

• The reforms made allowed peasants to sell any surplus crops instead of being forced to give them to the government.
• The government still controlled major industries, but some small businesses were allowed to run under private ownership.
• By 1928 Russia’s economy was beginning to recover.

In 1922 Russia was renamed the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or the USSR.

• The Blosheviks renamed their party the Communist Party.
• The name originated from several writings of Karl Marx.

Russia was unprepared to handle the economic and military costs that were thrown at them.

• The Germans defeated them repeatedly, and before a year had passed more than 4 million Russian soldiers had been killed, captured, or wounded.
• The involvement in the war brought the weaknesses of the czarist and military leadership to light.

When Nicholas moves his headquarters to the war front in 1915, his wife Czarina Alexandra temporarily ran the government.

• She ignored the advisors, instead leaning towards the influence of a man named Rasputin, who claimed to have mystical healing powers.
• Rasputin, who opposed reform, began to make key political decisions.
• He was murdered in 1916 by a group of nobles who feared the power he had in the government.

1881 - Revolutionaries were angry over the slow pace of political change, and assassinated the reform-minded czar, Alexander II.

Alexander III succeeded his father and clung to the principles of autocracy.

• Anyone who questioned the absolute authority of the czar was considered dangerous.
• He used harsh measures to wipe out revolutionaries. These included censorship, secret police, and constant surveillance.

Nicholas II takes over soon after, and continues leading through these measures.

In April 1917, after many years of exile, Lenin returned to Russia. The German’s had allowed his return based on the thought that he and his Bolshevik supporters would cause conflict in Russia and hurt the war effort, henceforth benefiting them.

• Lenin and the Bolsheviks soon gain control of the soviets in several major Russian cities.
• He relied on ideas that empowered the people, gaining appeal through the slogan “Peace, Land, and Bread”

When the Winter Palace in Petrograd is stormed in November, the provisional government collapses.

• The Bolshevik Red Guards took over government offices and arrested the provisional leaders.
• Within days of the Bolshevik takeover, Lenin ordered that all farm land be returned and distributed amongst the peasants.

Stalin ensured his power through totalitarianism, which is when the government takes control over every aspect of public and private life. It challenges the values and morals of Western democracy.

In 1928, Stalin instituted a command economy, a system in which the government makes all economic decisions.

• The government limited the production of consumer goods, and people faced several shortages as a result.

Lenin speaking during the October Revolution

Propaganda used during The Great Purge

Propaganda glorifying Stalin

The Romanov Family

Citations

Grigori Rasputin

Vladmir Lenin

Nicholas II of Russia

Late 1800s

1917

1918 - 1920

1905

1928

Bloody Sunday

Russian Civil War

A Provisional Government is Instituted

Stalin Takes Power

Revolutionary Movements Grow

Stalin's Agricultural Revolution

March Revolution

Female textile workers in Petrograd held a city-wide strike.

• Throughout the next five days, shortages of bread and fuel caused riots.
• Nearly 200,000 people gathered in the streets and opposed the autocracy and the war publicly.
• Soldiers originally followed orders and shot at the rioters, but eventually joined them in the protests.

Rapid industrialization stirred discontent among people of Russia.

• Growth factors brought new problems such as low wages, harsh working conditions, child labor, outlawed trade unions.
• To try and gain power and make change, strikes were organized.

Several revolutionary movements began to grow.

• Marxism successfully established a following in Russia.
• Believed that the industrial class workers, the proletariat, would overthrow the czar and would take control of the country.
• In 1903, Russian Marxists split into two groups over revolutionary tactics.
• One of these groups was the Mensheviks - More moderate, wanted a broad base of popular support for the revolution.
• The other group was the Bolsheviks.

January 22, 1905, around 200,000 workers and their families marched towards the czar’s palace in St. Petersburg.

• They wanted to be provided with better working conditions, more freedom, and the ability to elect government officials.
• Nicholas II’s generals commanded soliders to fire on the crowd. More than 1,000 were wounded and several hundred were murdered.

The event was quickly named “Bloody Sunday”

In March 1918, Russia and Germany signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.

• Russia surrendered much of its land to Germany and its allies, which caused widespread anger amongst many Russians.
• The dislike of the Bolsheviks was based on their policies, as well as the murder of the Romanovs.

Those who opposed the Bolsheviks formed the White Army.

• The White Army was made up of very different groups, but they all shared the common dislike of the Bolsheviks.

The Red Army, led by Leon Trotsky, and the White Army engaged in a civil war from 1918 to 1920.

• Many Western Nations attempted to assist the White Army, but their measures were usually futile.
• Russian Revolutionaries used violence and terror as methods of control.
• Around 14 million Russians died in three years.
• The civil war led to a chaotic mess of famine and conflict.
• In the end, the Red Army won and seized all power.

After Lenin had a stroke in 1922, efforts to find a new leader for the Communist Party were set in motion.

• The two main men in consideration were Joseph Stalin and Leon Trotsky.

Stalin embarked on a ruthless climb to the head of the government between 1922 and 1927.

• Stalin was cold and harsh, and even Lenin thought he was dangerous.
• He worked behind the scenes to move supporters of his into positions of power.
• By 1928,Stalin had full control of the government and Trotsky was forced into exile in 1929, leaving Stalin completely unopposed and unthreatened.

The Revolutionary movements had succeeded in overthrowing the czar, but it hadn’t been able to create a stable and strong government to replace it.

• Leaders of Duma created a provisional government, or a temporary government, to fill the role.
• Government headed by Alexander Kerensky.
• Kerensky’s decision to continue Russian participation in World War I cost him the support of both the soldiers and civilians.

As the war continued, conditions in Russia got significantly worse.

• Peasants demanded land and radicalism increased among city workers.
• Socialist revolutionaries who were competing for power formed Soviets.
• Local councils consisting of workers, peasants, and soldiers competing for revolutionary socialist change.

The government seized over 25 million privately owned lands.

• They were combined into large government owned properties, called collective farms.
• Families worked tirelessly on these farms, producing food for the state.

Many peasants fought the government’s attempts to take their land by killing livestock and destroying crops.

• Between 5 million and 10 million peasants died as a result of the agricultural revolution.
• By 1938, as many as 90% of all peasants lived on collective farms.

The March Revolution

A group of Russian women working on a collective farm

The massacre on Bloody Sunday

Propaganda advocating for the White Army

Alexander Kerensky

Joseph Stalin

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