Part 1: Russian Revolution and Communism

Part 2: Fascism and National Socialism

Theme: Alternatives to democracy and capitalism, and the role of terror and

oppression to seize and maintain governmental power

Lsn 11

Part 1: Russian Revolution and Communism

Lsn 11

Marx and Engels: Where we left off with Lsn 6

• In 1848, Marx and Engels wrote Manifesto of the Communist Party and aligned themselves with the communists who wanted to abolish private property and institute a radically egalitarian society

• (We’ll more fully discuss communism in Lesson 11)

Ivan III

• From 1462-1505, Ivan III (Ivan the Great) consolidated the Russian lands into a large and powerful state

• He recruited peasants with offers of freedom to settle in recently conquered lands and used them to further expand the empire (cossacks)

• Declared himself tsar which is the Russianized form of caesar– Claimed divine right and ruled both

as head of state and head of the church

Cossack on Horseback by Aleksander Orlowski

Ivan IV

• Reigned from 1533-1584 and was known as Ivan the Terrible

• Confiscated large estates and redistributed them among his supporters which became a new aristocracy called the oprichniki

• Oprichniki became Ivan’s private army and waged a terror campaign against suspected traitors

• When Ivan died in 1584, Russia plunged into chaos until the Romanov dynasty was established in 1613 and ruled until 1917

Nicholas II

• From 1894-1917, Nicholas II ruled by oppression and police control

• Suffered military defeats in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) which brought to a head simmering political and social discontent

Nicholas II

• In Jan 1905, soldiers killed 130 workers who were marching in protest to Nicholas’ rule– Sparked countrywide protests and forced some

concessions• Nicholas was further weakened by Russian

setbacks in World War I in 1916 and 1917– Disintegrating armies, mutinies, and food shortages

provoked a series of demonstrations and strikes in Petrograd

– Eventually troops mutinied– In 1917, Nicholas abdicated the throne, ending the

Romanov dynasty

Russian Revolution: the Soviets• “Soviets,” elected councils

that had first originated as strike committees in 1905, surfaced all over Russia and wielded considerable power through control of factories and segments of the military

• The Petrograd soviet demanded Russia pursue an immediate peace in World War I

• To reinforce this movement, the Germans transported Vladimir Lenin and other revolutionaries back to Russia

1921 poster declares, “Long live the Communist Councils!”

Vladimir Lenin (1870-1924)

• Lenin’s older brother had been arrested and hanged for plotting to assassinate the tsar

• Lenin was in exile in Switzerland were he studied Marxism and wrote political pamphlets

Communist Manifesto: Where we left off with Lsn 7

• All human history has been the history of struggle between social classes

• The future lay with the working classes because the laws of history dictated that capitalism would inexorably grind to a halt– Crises of overproduction, underconsumption,

and diminishing profits would undermine capitalism’s foundation

Communist Manifesto: Where we left off with Lsn 7

• At the same time, members of the constantly growing and thoroughly exploited proletariat would come to view the forcible overthrow of the existing system as their only alternative

• The socialist revolution would result in a “dictatorship of the proletariat,” which would abolish private property and destroy the capitalist order

• After the revolution, the state would wither away– Coercive institutions would disappear since there would no

longer be any exploitation of the working class

• Socialism would lead to a fair, just, and egalitarian society infinitely more humane than capitalism

Vladimir Lenin (1870-1924)

• In contrast to Marx, Lenin viewed the industrial working class as incapable of developing the proper revolutionary consciousness that would lead to effective political action

• The industrial proletariat would require the leadership of a well-organized and highly disciplined party to serve as the catalyst for revolution and the realization of a socialist society

• Lenin advocated transfer of legal authority to the soviets and uncompromising opposition to the war

Bolsheviks

• Lenin headed the Bolsheviks, the radical wing of the Russian Social Democratic Party

• The Bolsheviks capitalized on the government’s insistence on continuing the war, its inability to feed the population, and its refusal to undertake land reform

• Eventually the Bolsheviks gained control of the Petrograd soviet 1922 poster declaring

“Starvation is strangling Russia”

Bolsheviks

• On Oct 24-25, 1917, the Bolsheviks stormed the Winter Palace and seized control in a virtually bloodless insurrection

• The Bolsheviks ended Russia’s involvement in World War I by signing the treaty of Brest-Litorsk with Germany on March 3, 1918

Picture, purportedly original, but actually a reenactment,of the Bolshevik storming of the Winter Palace

Civil War

• The Bolsheviks and their opponents fought a civil war from 1918 to 1920

• Lenin established Moscow as his capital and initiated the “Red Terror” against the “Whites”– Secret police killed 200,000 of

Lenin’s opponents– In July 1918, the Bolsheviks

executed Nicholas II and his family to prevent them from being manipulated by the Whites

The Romanov Family

Civil War

• Britain, France, Japan, and the US all sent troops and supplies to aid the Whites but the Whites were defeated in 1920– 10 million are

estimated to have died in Russia’s civil war

1919 Bolshevik poster showing the three White generals as vicious dogs under the control of the US, France and Britain.  

War Communism

• During the civil war, the Bolsheviks adopted a hasty and unplanned course of nationalization called “war communism”– The Bolshevik government assumed control

or ownership of banks, industry, and privately held commercial property

– Landed estates and the property of monasteries and churches became national property

– Private trade was abolished

War Communism

• By 1920, industrial production had fallen to 1/10 its prewar level and agricultural output was down 50%– Workers went on

strike, demobilized soldiers flooded the workforce, peasants rebelled

– Lenin had to do something

1920 Bolshevik poster entitled “The Last Battle” shows a Red Army

soldier knocking a capitalist businessman off the world.

New Economic Policy

• Lenin realized he needed to win back the workers so he radically reversed war communism, implementing the “New Economic Policy” in 1921

• Temporarily restored the market economy and some private enterprise– However, Lenin died in 1924

before the plan could get a decent chance to work

• A struggle for power ensued and Joseph Stalin emerged in control in 1928

Lenin’s body on display in Moscow

Five Year Plan

• Stalin replaced Lenin’s New Economic Plan with his first Five-Year Plan in 1929– Designed to transform the Soviet Union from a predominantly

agricultural country to a leading industrial power– Set targets for increased productivity in all spheres of the

economy, especially heavy industry, at the expense of consumer goods

– Expropriated privately owned land to create collective or cooperate farm units whose profits were shared by farmers

• Even though consumer goods were almost non-existent, full employment in the midst of Global Depression made a centrally planned economy appear a viable alternative to some– Still there was resistance

The Great Purge

• Stalin consolidated power by inciting a civil war within his own party to remove opposition– Many peasants resisted the

Five Year Plan’s collectivization of the land

• Between 1935 and 1938 he removed all people suspected of opposition from their positions of authority– By 1939, 8 million Soviet

citizens were in labor camps and 3 million were dead Joseph Stalin

(1879-1953)

Soviet Labor Camp in Siberia

Part 2: Fascism and National Socialism

Lsn 11

Fascism

• Fascism was a reaction against both liberal democracy and the spread of socialism and communism

• In fascism, the state was primary and individuals were subordinate to the service of the state

• Emphasized a belligerent form of nationalism (chauvinism) and fear of foreigners (xenophobia)

• Maintained large and expensive military establishments, tried to organize much of public life along military lines, and showed a fondness for uniforms, parades, and monumental architecture

Fascism

• Political and economic frustrations created opportunities for fascism

• Popular in many European countries, Japan, China, South Africa, Brazil, Argentina, and several Arab nations

• Only in Italy and Germany did fascism overthrow a parliamentary system

• Common elements– Veneration of the state– Devotion to a strong

leader– Ultranationalism– Ethnocentrism– Militarism

Italy after World War I

• The conditions were right for fascism to take hold– Weak political

leadership and ineffective government

– Economic turmoil– Social discontent– Growing fear of

socialism– Disappointment over

Italy’s limited territorial gains from the Treaty of Versailles

Benito Mussolini• Began as a socialist

but came to think that World War I marked a turning point for Italy and something else was needed

• By 1921, had 35 fascists elected to the Italian parliament

• Used armed squads known as Blackshirts to threaten socialists Mussolini surrounded by

supporters

Benito Mussolini

• On Oct 28, 1922, Mussolini’s followers marched on Rome and the next day the King asked Mussolini to become Prime Minister and form a new government

• By 1926, Mussolini had seized total power as dictator and became Il Duce (“the leader”)

The Fascist State

• Mussolini– Eliminated all other political

parties– Curbed freedom of the

press– Outlawed free speech and

association– Crushed labor unions and

prohibited strikes– Allied himself with business

and landlord interests– Labeled Jews unpatriotic

and banned them from government employment

• Mussolini may have done many brutal and tyrannical things; he may have destroyed human freedom in Italy; he may have murdered and tortured citizens whose only crime was to oppose Mussolini; but one had to admit one thing about the Dictator: he “made the trains run on time.”– Ashley Montagu and

Edward Darling

Mussolini and Hitler

• Mussolini became friends with Adolf Hitler and in 1936 declared world history would revolve around a Rome-Berlin axis

• In May 1939, Mussolini and Hitler signed a ten-year Pact of Steel

Germany after World War I

• Treaty of Versailles imposed a harsh peace on Germany– Red areas represent

losses in German territory

• Hyperinflation wiped out the savings of the middle class

• Political infighting– In steps Hitler

Rise of Hitler

• From 1919 to 1923, Hitler began advancing the agenda of a Nazi Party which claimed:– Germany suffered unbearably in WWI from losses of

territory, national shame, and casualties• Enemies from within (Jews, Bolshevists, Jewish Bolshevists,

and liberal republicans) helped bring Germany to defeat– The Treaty of Versailles is unfair and its enforcers are

criminals• Reparations are extortion• Disarmament terms are unequal• The new states, especially Poland, came from historic

German soil• A disarmed Germany is prey to her predatory neighbors

(Poland, Russia, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Austria, France)

Rise of Hitler

• Through emotional speeches, Hitler began to build a following

• On Nov 19, 1923 he felt strong enough for a coup (the Beer Hall Putsch), but he was unsuccessful and was sentenced to five years in jail– He served nine months– While in prison he wrote

Mein Kampf, his political manifesto

Rise of Hitler

• The world economic crisis of 1929 gave Hitler another chance to seize power– Unemployment :

1,320,000 in 1929 – 3 million in 1930 – 4.5 million in 1931– Over 6 million in

early 1932

Rise of Hitler

• In July 1932 the Nazi Party won 37.3% of the vote (230 parliamentary seats) and became the largest party in the Reichstag– The Communist Party also

did well and fear of communism reinforced Hitler’s appeal

– On Jan 30, 1933, Hitler became chancellor

Dec 21, 1931

Rebirth of Germany

• Between Jan 1933 and July 1936, Hitler restored Germany’s prosperity, destroyed all opposition, recreated a spectacular army, and outmaneuvered the repressive treaty provisions

• When Paul von Hindenburg, the German President, died, Hitler combined the offices of President and Chancellor into Fuhrer and became both head of the government and head of state

Rebirth of Germany

• Hitler reinstituted conscription (after France doubled the length of its conscripts’ service) and in March 1936 was strong enough to reoccupy the Rhineland

• In June 1934, Hitler purged many of his paramilitary and the SS rose up to replace them

Germany under Hitler

• Declared a national state of emergency• Eliminated all opposition• Outlawed all other political parties and made the

National Socialist Party (Nazis) the only legal party

• Replaced the federal structure with a highly centralized state

• Eliminated trade unions and collective bargaining; prohibited strikes and lockouts

• Took control of all police forces

Germany under Hitler

• Launched a campaign to increase births of “racially valuable” children– Awarded the Honor Cross of

German Mother to mothers with more than four children

– Instituted compulsory sterilization for those with “hereditarily determined sicknesses”

• Aborted the “hereditary ill” and racial aliens and euthanized others considered racially impure

– Initiated the Nuremberg Laws in 1935 to systematically suppress the Jewish population (anti-Semitism)

Prelude to World War II

• We’ll come back to Stalin, Mussolini, and Hitler when we discuss World War II in Lessons 19-21

Next

• Part 1: Map Quiz• Part 2: Nationalism• Part 3: International

Organizations