Overview of Russian History through the Stalinist Era

1. Russia:
A Brief Political History
Comparative
Government & Politics

2. Россия

4. Russia

5. America
and
Russia
from
Alex de Toqueville’s
Democracy in America
(1839)

6. America and
Russia
from De Toqueville’s
Democracy in America
(1839)
There are now two great nations
in the world which, starting from
different points, seem to be
advancing toward the same goal –
the Russians and
the Anglo-Americans.

7. America and Russia
from De Toqueville’s
Democracy in America (1839)
Both have grown in obscurity, and while
the world's attention was occupied
elsewhere,
they have suddenly taken their place
among the leading nations,
making the world take note of their birth
and of their greatness almost at the
same instant.

8. America and Russia
from De Toqueville’s Democracy in America (1839)
All other peoples seem to have nearly reached
their natural limits and to need nothing but to
preserve them;
but these two are growing. All the others have
halted or advanced only through great
exertions;
they alone march easily and quickly forward
along a path whose end no eye can yet see.

9. America and Russia
from De Toqueville’s Democracy in America (1839)
The American fights against natural
obstacles; the Russian is at grips with men.
The former combats the wilderness and
barbarism;
the latter, civilization with all its arms.
America's conquests are made with the
plowshare,
Russia's with the sword.

10. America and Russia
from De Toqueville’s Democracy in America (1839)
To attain their aims,
the former relies on personal interest and
gives free scope to the unguided strength
and common sense of individuals.
The latter in a sense concentrates the
whole power of society in one man.

11. America and Russia
from De Toqueville’s Democracy in America (1839)
One has freedom as the principal means of
action;
the other has servitude.
Their point of departure is different and their
paths diverse;
nevertheless, each seems called by some
secret design of Providence one day to hold
in its hands the destinies of half the world.

12. Invasion
Russia’s political history began w/ invasion :
• 800s Varangian Vikings
• 1237-1240 MMongolongol
IInvasionnvasion: Genghis Khan’s
forces push from North China across the
Asian continent to take Moscow
– Tatars: a Turkish people also invading Russia –
became agents/administrators for Mongols

13. Characteristics & Themes
Pervading Russian History
1. Backwardness – technological, social
2. Closed to West – . . . except sometimes
& at times, not so much
1. Invasions / fear of invasions /
xenophobia / paranoia
2. Alternating periods of repression
followed feeble efforts at reform
3. Nearly no cultural history of democracy

14. 1240-1480 Mongol/Tatar Rule
• Brutal invasion
• Russia “hibernated”
• During this period
the rest of Europe
enjoyed the high
middle ages and then
the beginning of
the Renaissance
Russia slept through the Renaissance and
missed it and its benefits

15. Paleolithic Europe
inhabited originally
by
“indigenous”
matriarchal
semi-agrarian
tribes
• worshipped
'Mother Earth',
• spoke unknown
languages.

17. Indo-Europeans
• Semi-nomadic, Horses,
mounted warriors
• Patriarchal –
• a Pantheon of nature
gods, of whom 'Father-
in-Sky' was chief
• Proto-Indo-European
= ancestor of nearly all
modern So.West Asian,
Indian, Iranian, and
European languages,
as well as many now
extinct languages.

18. Indo-
European
Language
tree

20. Slavic Groups

21. Slavs
As late as late 8th
Century Slavs were still
• nearly Neolithic
• subsistence farmers
• living on the fringe of the forest
• Remote from . . . Everything
• Lagging behind . . . Everyone
BUT, then . . . a new force arrived

23. VaRangian Vikings
Connecting Baltic Sea &Black Sea,
Viking traders & adventurers followed the Rivers:
Dnieper, Don, & Volga & connecting waterways,
southeastward through what is today Russia .
Established fortified
trading posts (gorodyi)
& secure depots along
their river routes to and
from Byzantium.

27. TThehe RRusus
• 1st
“Russian” monarchic dynasty,
• local Slavs called them, the Rus,
• one of these Viking trade centers
grew into the kingdom of Kiev -

28. RuRikR
• Novgorod
• about 860

29. The Rus prospered, progressed & expanded

31. Rome was not the source of Russian
civilization,
• Russia never comprised any part of the
Western Roman Empire
• Russia had No Roman Roads, no Roman
Aqueducts,no Roman Law, nor Roman
Christianity
• Russia’s path was different
• Russia did NOT develop along the
same track as Western Europe

32. Ancient
For Russia, traditional historic divisions
of European studies don’t work:
Classical
Medieval
Renaissance
Modern

33. Russian history
is more fittingly divided into periods
corresponding to epochs in
which various cities served as
capital of the Russian state –

34. Russian history is more fittingly divided into
periods corresponding to epochs in which
various cities served as
capital of the Russian state –
Kiev, Moscow, St. Petersburg,
and Moscow again.
From first “Russian” state originating
about end of 9th
century around Kiev,
Russian history has essentially been
a tale of three cities

35. Epochs of Russian History
Each capital
commanded a sprawling,
& expanding Slavic empire
on the eastern periphery of Europe,
each of these 3 Russian cities
left its indelible unique mark
on modern Russian culture.

36. Russian proverb:
KievKiev
was
the
MOTHE
R
of
Russia;

37. MoscowMoscow itsits HEARTHEART;

38. St. Petersburg
its
Head.

39. The Rus became increasingly more
connected w/ the
2 Great Civilizations still
extant at the close of
the 1st
millennium AD
• the ByzantineByzantine EmpireEmpire &
• IslamicIslamic EmpiresEmpires

40. Looked to monotheistic faiths as basis for a unified state
accepted Eastern Orthodox Christianity
for himself & for his people.
Prince Vladimir, 988
Christianity became the
common faith and the
resulting common culture
were most important
factors which helped to
weld and temper
the rising Russian state
and national identity.

41. Christianity became the common faith
and resulting common culture were most important factors
which helped to weld and temper
the rising Russian state and national identity.
Prince Vladimir, 988
Orthodoxy
provided the Rus
a degree of
homogeneity and
a more clearly
defined national
identity

43. Saints Cyrill & Methodius
Slavs were an illiterate culture
Prechristian Russian
Byzantine monks, created a Slavic alphabet
derived from Greek letters & some Hebrew.
Cyrillic - sped the spread of Christianity
among the Rus.

46. Translate words 1-6 from Cyrillic and into Roman letters
and English language.
1. Америка
2. Россйя
3. Цар Иван Грознйк
4. Kpemлйн
5. Катарина Болшоя
6. Сталин
7.And now, using Cyrillic letters . . . .
write the sounds of your full name

47. But,
• But they did NOT
live happily
ever. . . . .
Hey, . . .
What’s all that
smoke and dust on
the eastern
horizon?

49. Mongol Hordes
Mongol Hordes occupy and dominate Russia for the

52. Early Empire
• Ivan III - “gathering of
Russian land”
• Moscow becomes a
powerful state
• Cossacks
(Turkish word = “free
men” - peasants help
expand borders
• Adopted Byzantine
traditions - 3rd
Rome

53. Ivan III Vasilevich (Ivan the Great)
• Grand Dukes of Moscow had been attempting for
years to overthrow the Mongols
• Ivan the Great first subjugated some surrounding
cities & autonomous provinces
• 1480 refused to pay tribute demanded by Mongols
(Tatars).
• Russians freed themselves from Mongol
overlordship.
• Ivan the Great became the 1st
national sovereign,
(but not the first tsar. )
. . . that would be his grandson

54. Ivan the Terrible
• Ivan III’s grandson
• Began “assemblies of the land”
- groups informing Tsar
• Military & aristocratic elite
(boyars) threatened his power
• Oprichnina - centralized power, created
strategic network by which Ivan challenged
the old nobility - created a govt. loyal to HIM
• Granted new powers, Tsar Ivan hunted & killed
“traitors,” enemies, & innocents

56. Ivan the Terrible
• Oprichnina
• Russia in
disarray
• Kinda his own
fault
• Died with no heir
• punishable by
death to mention
"Oprichnina"
• Civil War
• Polish invasion

59. Openness to the West
• Romanov Dynasty begins in 1613, when
Russian independence is restored
• First 3 Romanovs work to “catch up” Russia
with Europe:
– Organized/modernized trade and commerce
– Efforts toward education & chronicling histories
– Bringing in European artists

60. Opening to the West
Tsar Peter the Great 1689-1725
– Traveled widely;
– preference for things
Western;
– contempt for Russian
backwardness
– “Westernizing”
– Modernized expansionistic
army
– Table of Ranks - linked
positions in gov’t to
performance & merit
– Built St. Petersburg – the
Window on the West

61. Reform, then Repression
• 1762-1796 Catherine the
Great (Царина, tsarina,
czarina)
• Initially “open”,
progressive
• reforms . . . But then….
• French Revolution,
– rebellion at home
– led her to become more
oppressive

62. Russian E x p a n s i o n
• The Russian empire would stand until 1991
• Orthodox rivalry w/ Poland Catholic brings
acquisition of Ukraine, partition of Poland
• In South, grab lands from the Ottomans
- Crimean War
• In East, Russians displace natives,
– take Manchuria
• Claimed Alaska, visited California & Hawaii

65. Russian Life
• Orthodox Christianity controlled by Czar -
Caesaropapism
• Almost completely agrarian
• Most peasants still tied to the land,
– Czars created laws that backed land owning
aristocracy (boyars) - - - WHY?

66. History of Autocracy
Russia had a history of autocracy – meaning the
ruler had unlimited power and could use it as
they pleased.
In 1881 Alexander III came to power. His father
Alexander II had been a more liberal ruler and
was killed by a revolutionary. Alexander III
thought if he strengthened the “autocracy,
orthodoxy, and nationality” this would make
Russia a better place.

67. Alexander III
Alexander III implemented strict
censorship
He created a secret police force (the
Okhrana) to hunt down his enemies –
executed, or exiled to Siberia.
He tried to encourage Russian culture
by suppressing all languages but
Russian and making strict rules by
which minority nationalities (such as
the Jewish people) had to live.

68. Nicholas II
Nicholas became tsar in
1894 and wanted to
stick to his father’s
ways.
He completely ignored
many of the changes
that were taking place in
Russia.

69. Nicholas II - the last Czar
• ruled 1894 until abdication
15 Mar (ides of March) 1917
• a Bad start – the
Khodynka Tragedy
– 1,389 people trampled to
death, 1,300 injured.
• Russo-Japanese War
(8 Feb. 1904 – 5 Sept. 1905)

70. Russia and Industrialization
Russia was growing in terms of industrialization,
but still lagged behind the rest of Europe.
One of the tsar’s ministers began a program to
industrialize Russia and this resulted in the
building of the Trans – Siberian railroad and
made Russia one of the top producers of steel.
The growth of factories and industrialization
brought many problems (remember: Great
Britain and the Industrial Revolution).

73. The Russo-Japanese War
•involved not only the two warring
countries, but also China, Korea,
Europe, & the United States
•set the balance of power in the
Pacific for next century.
•The war & the treaty signaled
emergence of Japan as a world
power.
•Because of the role played by Pres.
Theodore Roosevelt, the U.S.A
became a significant force in
world diplomacy
•Teddy Roosevelt was awarded the
Nobel Peace Prize in 1906

74. Nicholas II - the last Czar
• Russo-Japanese War
(8 Feb. 1904 – 5 Sept. 1905)
• Bloody Sunday, Jan. 1905
• Rising dissatisfaction . . .
• Duma concessions
• Okhrana repressions

75. the Russian “Revolution of
1905” paved the way
for the Russian
Revolutions of 1917, the
ones that really made a
difference.

76. World War
• Tsar Nicky’s lethal failure
• mid-1915, Nicholas
made disastrous decision to take
direct command of Russian armies.
– From then on, every military failure was . . . HIS

77. Russian failures in World War One:
Russian armies suffered many defeats and casualties
Russian army lost confidence in the Tsar.

79. Q5: Russia financed WWI by:
Securing foreign loans
Increasing taxes
Increasing the supply of
paper money
What effects do you
think the last two
methods had on
Russian workers?

80. Breaking Down the Numbers
Average worker’s wage in 1917
was 5 roubles a day. This
would buy you:
1917
1/3
bag/flour
3/4
bag/potatoes
1914
2
bags/flour
5
bags/potatoe
s
5 kg/meat 0.8 kg/meat
0 200 400 600 800 1000
Peasant
Uprisings
1914
1915
1916
1917
(to
June)
0 500 1000 1500
Worker
Strikes
1914
1915
1916
1917
(Jan-
Feb)

81. Czar’s
support
evaporates
Actually Two
Revolutions in
1917 the First
One was
Won by the
White
Army the
Second by

82. Dec. 1916, Rasputin was murdered . . .
several times

83. February
Revolution
Women, soldiers,
sailors, workers
together march in
Petrograd
“Bread for All”
“Down with
Monarchy”
“Peace Now”
Mob violence -
police do not stop
it – they join in
Duma leaders
vacate Tsar abdicates

84. Provisional Government
– Temporary Democracy
Kerensky is Prime Minister
War continues
Whoops!!

85. How important was WWI
in the collapse of the Czarist regime?
Historians have furiously debated this question since the
revolution took place. There are two main views:
View 1: The Czar’s regime was relatively stable up to
1914, though it had some important problems. Czarist
Russia was making steady progress towards becoming a
modern state, but this progress was destroyed by War, a
War so severe that it also brought down Germany,
Austria-Hungary, & the Ottoman Turks as well.
View 2: The regime in Russia was cursed with a weak
Czar, a backward economy and aristocrats who were not
prepared to share their power and privileges with the
millions of ordinary Russians. Revolution for Russia was
only a matter of time. The War did not cause it, although
it speeded up the process.
Work in pairs. One of you find all of the evidence to support view 1, while the
other student does the same for view 2.

86. Focus Task B: Why was the March 1917 revolution
successful?
The Tsar faced a major revolution in 1905 but he survived. Why was 1917
different? What was he not able to survive in 1917?
Here are eight factors contributing to the Tsar’s abdication in March 1917:
Failures in war
Mutiny of the army
Duma setting up alternative government
Discontent in the countryside
Formation of soviets
Strikes
Food shortages
The Tsarina and Rasputin
In pairs write 20 words explaining how each factor contributed to the Tsar’s
collapse.
Discuss the following points, then write 20 words for each point:
Which factors were present in 1905?
Were these factors more or less serious than in 1905?
Which factors were not present in 1905?
Were the new factors decisive in making the March 1917 revolution successful?

87. Bolsheviks
• Vladimir Illyich Ulyanov
- aka
Lenin

88. Lenin
Exiled by Czar’s
Okhrana.
Leader of Bolsheviks.
1917 - WWI German
gov’t brought Lenin back
to Russia on a special
train
Lenin’s “April Theses”:
All power to the
soviets!
Peace, land, &
bread!

89. The Bolshevik Revolution: October 1917
War failures steadily eroded
support for Provisional Gov’ t
Lenin’s April Theses -
Bolsheviks obtained support
Army desertions increased.
October 1917, Bolshevik’s
Red Guard, led by Leon
Trotstky overthrew
Kerensky’s Provisional
Democratic Gov’ t.
The Provisional
Gov’t is overthrown.
The cause for which the
people have fought: the
immediate proposal of a
democratic peace, the
end of land owner’s
rights, worker’s control
over production, the
creation of a Soviet
gov’t. Long live the
revolution of workers,
soldiers & peasants.
Proclamation of the Petrograd Soviet, 8

90. Lenin’s Communist Government

91. Elections to the Constituent
Assembly
Free elections in late
1917.
Bolsheviks (supported
by workers mainly) did
not gain a majority.
The Socialist
Revolutionaries
(supported by peasants
mainly) were biggest
party in the Assembly.
Lenin sent the Red
Guard to close down the
Assembly
instituted gov’t of the
Congress of Soviets
Forced out other
parties and political
views
Bolsheviks
Dictatorship:
led by Lenin

93. Marxism
Believed humanity was changing,
Industrialization was to blame. Horrified
by working conditions.
Capitalists were getting richer than
workers creating a significant gap
between the two
Believed one of the following would
happen:
Rich must distribute wealth
A worker led violent revolution

94. Leninism
Lenin was fascinated by
industrialization, wanted
to bring those changes
to Russia
Lenin differed from Marx
in his belief that the
world wide communist
revolution had to be
led by a power elite
forcing it forward – not
just the common people
on their own.

95. Leninism
Communist Party was only party
allowed.
The use of threat, force & terror
through the secret police (Cheka)
was necessary and good for the
cause
Used slogans, include “Bread, Land,
Peace!” and “All Power to the
Soviets.”

96. The ChekaThe Cheka (or secret police)(or secret police)
In December 1917 Lenin set up a
secret police force known as the
Cheka. Cheka agents spied on the
Russian people in factories and
villages.
Anyone suspected of being anti-
Communist could be arrested,
tortured and executed without a trial.
When opponents tried to assassinate
Lenin in 1918, he launched the Red
Terror campaign against his enemies.
It is said that 50,000 people were
arrested and executed in this period.

97. Russian Civil War 1918-1922
• Bolsheviks and their Red Army
• Mensheviks (Whites) – any combination of
the opposition – disunited, disorganized,
well, . . . doomed

98. The Civil War: Politics
Gov’t in hands of Congress
of Soviets(mainly Bolsheviks)
Civil War:
The Whites (a coalition of
opposers of the Revolution)
The Red Army
By 1921 Bolsheviks controlled Russia.
Reds won the war because:
forced peasants & workers to hand
over food and factories to the Red
Army and rationed supplies.
The Red Terror developed by the
Cheka (secret police) mantained
strict control
Propaganda convinced population
that, should Whites’ win, it meant a
return to the Czar, landlords,. . . the
Old Regime.
Reds were united . . . while the
Whites were a coalition with
conflicting aims.
The Czar & family were executed.

99. The United States intervened in the Russian Civil War
between 1918 and 1920.
The stated objectives: support democratic forces in Russia.
assist the Czech Legion in Siberia,
reopen the Eastern Front against the Germans

100. The Civil War’s Economy:
War Communism
War Communism:
harsh economic measures
adopted by the Bolsheviks
during the Civil War.
Objectives:
put Communist theories into
practice
by sharing out the wealth
among Russian people.
to supply the Red Army
during the Civil War.

102. the Civil War
Peasants didn’t want to
produce more as the
surplus was taken by
the government.
Food shortages + bad
weather = Famines
1920-21 7 million died
Military Mutiny in the
Kronstadt naval base.
Lenin ceases War
Communism.

103. War communism
The NEP - НЭП
Новая
экономическая
политика

104. The New Economic Policy (NEP)
1921: Lenin decides to bring
back capitalism for some
sections.
Peasants are allowed to sell
surplus grain for profit but
paying a tax on what they
produce.
Small factories were handed
back into private ownership.
The most important
industries were still
controlled by the state.
Production increased.
“The Russia of the NEP will
become Socialist Russia”
(Lenin)

105. Under the NEP
The Soviet promise of modernization rested on one main issue,
transforming the USSR into a modern industrialized society
to do so the Soviet Union had to reshape preexisting structures,
agricultural system and
the class structure that surrounded it.
the state was forced to backpedal away from Communist ideals:
embraced a more liberal approach to modernizing the economy.
Soviet state abandoned idea of nationalizing industries.
Soviet gov’t promoted and reformed the private sector
severely cut the central govt budget.
The Soviet Union welcomed foreign investment
The NEP was primarily a pragmatic agricultural policy.
Privately, Lenin considered the NEP a strategic retreat

108. You’d even hate it if you didn’t have money

111. 1924: After Lenin’s death - a problem of
leadership between Zinoviev, Kamenev, Bukharin,
Stalin, Trotsky

112. Lenin's Last Years (December
1922 - January 1924)
1
9
2
2
1923 1924

113. СТАЛИН
STALI
N

114. The Stalinist Era:
Stalin gets rid of his opponents
by accusing them of treason and executing them.
Monopoly of Power - held only by Stalin.
No opposition is allowed
Socialism in One Country - before spreading
Revolution worldwide

115. Civil War followed the Revolutions
Summary:
The Revolution in 1905 was unsuccessful
The first Revolution in 1917 was won by the
Socialist Provisional Government they
stayed in power eight months
Overthrown by the Bolsheviks during the
October Revolution led by Lenin, Trotsky
Followed by three years of Civil War – The
Red versus the White

116. Economy: Industrialization
The Government
establishes the targets:
propaganda, fines and
punishments if they were
not achieved.
Unemployment was non-
existent. Women into
industry.
Forced work for political
opponents (canal, roads…)
Education was free and
compulsory.
Housing was provided by
the state.

117. Public Works - built by forced labor

118. Economy: Collectivization
Kolhoz: joint farm formed by
all the lands put together.
Animals and tools are put
together. Machines are
provided by the government.
90% of production is sold to
the state and the profits are
shared among the farmers;
only 10% of production is
allowed to be used to feed the
kolhoz’s farmers.
Food production fell. Famine
between 1932-33
(Holodomor)

119. Collectivization Propaganda

120. Holodomor
Ukraine’s
forced famine
8 million dead in Ukraine
another
1.5 million in Kazakhstan
1932-33

121. Domestic Policy
Controlling people so
that they would be
afraid even to think of
opposing Stalin.
Secret police (OGPU /
NKVD) crushes
opposition inside the
party, the army or the
country.
Gulag: government
system that
administered forced
labour camps

122. 1936 Constitution
The USSR: federation of 11
republics.
The Union has the power to
declare war, plan the
economy, control the army…
The Republics have
autonomy in administration
and culture
The Union is controlled by
the Communist Party and
the Soviets (elected every 4
years by universal suffrage
over candidates proposed by
the party).
A cartoon published by Russian exiles
in Paris in 1936. The Title of the cartoon
is "The Stalinist Constitution (Law)".

123. Domestic Policy: The Purges

124. The Soviet State’s massive collectivization efforts
caused famines in the early 1930s,
wiped out entire rural populations
not only in Ukraine and Kazakhstan, but also the
Volga & North Caucasus, & Central Asian regions
A total of 14 million people are believed to have
died as a direct result of collectivization
harvests and livestock
were requisitioned en masse,
leading to severe food shortages and
starvation.

125. Millions more died in
Stalin’s purges of the late
1930s,
and millions more in the
forced deportations
during and after World
War II.
.
Hundreds of thousands of Crimean Tatars, Kalmyks,
Chechens, Ingush, Balkars, Karachais, Volga Germans,”
Meskhetian Turks
-- virtually any non-Slavic group -- were murdered by
the thousands as a result of aggressive resettlements at the
hands of an increasingly paranoid and sadistic Stalinist
regime.

126. The GULAG

127. The Cult of Personality - Stalin
Stalin was portrayed to the
people as a selfless,
brilliant, compassionate
leader.

128. Наше Дело Правое
Враг Будет Разбит
Победа Будет За Нами!
Our Cause Is Right
The Enemy Will Be Smashed
Victory Will Be Ours!
TOTALITARIANISM

129. The Cult to Stalin
history was rewritten – inconvenient truths & figures
deleted so that Stalin was held out as equal w/ Lenin -
the two were the only real heroes of the Revolution
Lenin and Trotsky celebrate
the 2nd anniversary of the
Russian Revolution in Red
Square
Lenin still celebrates . . .
but Trotsky has been
airbrushed out

130. Propaganda
Stalin and Yegoda in the
Moscow-Volga Canal
Stalin in the Moscow-Volga Canal.
Yegoda has been removed

132. Statistics vary, but some historians estimate
that by the mid-1950s as many as 56 million
people were killed as a result of Stalin’s
deportations, repressions, purges, murder
and collectivization.
56 Million?
The sickening scope of Stalin’s State-
sponsored violence was so stunning that
taking an historically accurate measure of his
victims, the perpetrators, and the motivations
will never be fully accurate . . . or even
possible.