Liberals: Wanted a nation which tolerated all religions. They
argued for an elected Parliamentary government, subject to laws interpreted by
a well-trained judiciary that was Independent of rulers and officials. They
were not democrats.
Radicals: Wanted a nation in which government was based on the
majority of a country’s Population. They disliked concentration of property in
hands of a few, not the existence of private property.
Conservatives: They resisted change. After the revolution they started
accepting changeProvided it was slow and had links and respected the past.
THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION:
Economy and Society: Most of the Russian population were
agriculturalist. Industries were being set up which was mostly private property
of industrialists. Workers were divided into groups but they get united to
strike work when they were dissatisfied. Peasants had no respect for nobility,
very unlike the French peasant. Russian peasants were the only peasant
community which pooled their land and their commune divided it.
Socialism in Russia: All political parties were illegal in Russia
before 1914.
The Russian Socialist Democratic Labour Party
was formed in 1900. It struggled to give peasants their rights over land that
belonged to nobles. As land was divided among peasants periodically and it was
felt that peasants and not workers would be the main source of the revolution.
But Lenin did not agree with this as he felt that peasants were not one social
group. The party was divided into Bolsheviks and Mensheviks.
The 1905 Revolution: Russia was an autocracy. The Tsar was not
subject to the parliament. Liberals wanted to end this state of affairs. They
worked towards demanding a constitution during the Revolution of 1905.
Bloody Sunday: Prices of essential goods rose so quickly by 1904 that
the real wages declined by 20%. During this time, four members of the Putilov
Iron Works were dismissed. Action was called for. Over 110,000 workers in St.
Petersburg went on strike demanding a reduction in working hours and increase
in wages. This procession was attacked by the police and Cossacks. Over 100
workers were killed. Strikes took place as a reaction. People demanded a
constituent assembly. The Tsar allowed the creation of an elected consultative Parliament or Duma. The Tsar
dismissed the first Duma within 75 days and announced the election of a second
Duma.
The First World War and the Russian Empire : In Russia, the war was initially very popular
but later the support grew thin. Anti-German sentiments ran high. Russian
armies lost badly in Germany and Austria. There were 7 million casualties and 3
million refugees in Russia. The war also affected the industry. There was
labour shortage, railway lines were shut down and small workshops were closed
down. There was shortage of grain and hence of bread.
THE FEBRUARY REVOLUTION IN PETROGRAD EVENTS:
In the winter of 1917, Petrograd was grim.
There was food shortage in the workers’ quarters.
22 February: a lockout took place at a
factory. Workers of 50 other factories joined insympathy. Women also led and
participated in the strikes. This came to be called the International Women’s
Day An officer was shot at the barracks of a regiment and other regiments
mutinied, voting to join the striking workers gathered to form a soviet or
council. This was the Petrograd Soviet.A delegation went to meet the Tsar,
military commanders advised him to abdicate.The Tsar abdicated on 2nd March.
A Provincial Government was formed by the
Soviet and Duma leaders to run the country.The people involved were the
parliamentarians, workers, women workers, soldiers and military commanders.
Effects:
Restrictions on public meetings and
associations were removed.Soviets were set up everywhere.
In individual areas factory committees were
formed which began questioning the way industrialists ran their factories.
Soldiers’ committees were formed in the army.The provisional government saw its
power declining and Bolshevik influence grow. It decided to take stern measures
against the spreading discontent.It resisted attempts by workers to run
factories and arrested leaders.
Peasants and the socialist revolutionary
leaders pressed for a redistribution of land. Land committees were formed and
peasants seized land between July and September 1917.
OCTOBER REVOLUTION:
16th October 1917 — Lenin persuaded the
Petrograd Soviet and Bolshevik Party to agree to a socialist seizure of power.
A Military Revolutionary Committee was appointed by the Soviet to organise
seizure.
Uprising began on 24th October. Prime
Minister Kerenskii left the city to summon troops.Military men loyal to the
government seized the buildings of two Bolshevik newspapers. Progovernment
troops were sent to take over telephone and telegraph offices and protect the
Winter Palace.In response Military Revolutionary Committee ordered to seize
government offices and arrest the ministers.The ‘Aurora’ ship shelled the
Winter Palace. Other ships took over strategic points.By night the city had
been taken over and ministers had surrendered.
All Russian Congress of Soviets in Petrograd
approved the Bolshevik action.Heavy fighting in Moscow by December, the
Bolsheviks controlled the Moscow - Petrograd area. The people involved were
Lenin, the Bolsheviks, and troops (pro-government).
Effects
Most of the industries and banks were
nationalised in November 1917.Land was declared social property and peasants
were allowed to seize the land of the nobility.Use of old titles was banned.New
uniforms were designed for the army and officials.Russia became a one party
state.Trade unions were kept under party control.A process of centralised
planning was introduced. This led to economic growth.Industrial production
increased.An extended schooling system developed.Collectivisation of farms
started.
The Civil War- When the Bolsheviks ordered land redistribution; the
Russian army began to break up. Non-Bolshevik socialists, liberals and
supporters of autocracy condemned the Bolshevik uprising. They were supported
by French, American, British and Japanese troops. All these fought a war with
the Bolsheviks.
Making a Socialist Society — The Bolsheviks kept industries and banks
nationalised during the civil war. A process of centralised planning was
introduced. Rapid construction and industrialisation started. An extended
schooling system developed.
Stalin and Collective Farming — Stalin believed that rich peasants and
traders stocked supplies to create shortage of grains. Hence, collectivisation
was the need of the hour. This system would also help to modernise farms. Those
farmers who resisted collectivisation were punished, deported or exiled.
GLOBAL INFLUENCE:
By the 1950s, it was recognised in the
country and outside that everything was not in keeping with the ideals of the
Russian revolution. Though its industries and agriculture had developed and the
poor were being fed, the essential freedom to its citizens was being denied.
However, it was recognised that social ideals still enjoyed respect among the
Russians. But in each country the ideas of socialism were rethought in a
variety of different ways.
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