Tuesday, February 25, 2014

1. Tuesday, February 25, 2014 Reflection #1: Revolutions “political power grows out of the barrel of a gun”. -Mao Zedong, Chinese Communist leader “Victory attained by violence is tantamount [the same as] to a defeat for it is momentary”. -Mohandas Gandhi, leader of the independence movement in India For the following quotes, answer the following questions about both: #1 what does Mao Zedon’s quote mean to you? #2 what does Mohandas Gandhi’s quote mean to you? #3 which quote do you agree with? Why? What do you think this quote means?

2. 14.1 Revolutions in Russia Spring 2014

3. Setting the Stage Russian Revolution was a long time coming Oppressive rule of most 19th century czars caused social unrest for decades 1881—revolutionaries assassinated reform-minded Czar Alexander II

4. Czars Resist Change • Alexander III takes power • Stopped reforms • Strict censorship & secret police watched citizens • Oppressed all non-Russians, especially Jews • Pogroms—organized violence against Jews • Citizens destroyed homes, stores, synagogues • Nicholas II, his son, continued this harsh rule

5. Russia Industrializes Slower than other countries, but by 1900 was #4 in steel production Built Trans-Siberian Railway, the longest continuous rail line in the world Terrible & dangerous living & working conditions Unions were outlawed

7. Russia Industrializes Cont. • Revolutionaries worked together to improve conditions & followed Karl Marx’s teachings • The Bolsheviks, wanted drastic action & would sacrifice anything for the revolution • Led by a ruthless & skilled speaker, Vladimir Lenin • Lenin fled after the Czar cracked down

8. Crisis at Home and Abroad • 1904-1917 series of crises that showed the Czar’s weaknesses & revolutionaries took power • The Russo-Japanese War • Russia lost to Japan for control of Manchuria  revolt • Bloody Sunday (1905)---military killed hundreds of workers who had gathered to ask for relief

10. Crises at Home and Abroad Cont. • WWI: The Final Blow • Russia unprepared for war economically & militarily • Czar lost control of Russia, soldiers wouldn’t fight, people were starving • Czar’s wife fell under the influence of an odd monk named Rasputin, who spread corruption throughout the gov’t

11. The March Revolution • March 1917--women textile workers started a strike protesting against working conditions & an end to WWI • Soldiers later joined in • Czar Nicholas II forced to step down & replaced by a provisional gov’t led by Alexander Kerensky, who kept Russia in WWI • Soviets, or local councils of workers, peasants, & soldiers were formed to further a Communist revolution • Lenin returns to Russia

12. The Bolshevik Revolution • The Soviets supported Lenin & the Bolsheviks, rallying behind his slogan of “Peace, Land, and Bread” • Nov. 1917, another workers strike kicked Kerensky’s provisional gov’t out • Lenin took over • Gave land to peasants & factories to workers • Signed treaty of Brest-Litovsk, ending the war with Germany • Germany given Russian land

13. The Bolshevik Revolution Cont. • Civil war starts due to loss of land & rise of Bolsheviks –lasts 2 years • “Red” Bolsheviks vs “White” Russians • Fighting and famine followed killing 15 million Russians • Lenin’s Red Army won

14. Lenin Restores Order • Creates “New Economic Plan” • Some private ownership of property • Gov’t controls major industry • Sets up the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR or Soviet Union) • Renames Bolsheviks the Communist Party & adopted a true dictatorship

15. Stalin Becomes Dictator • Lenin died in 1924 & Joseph Stalin took power • Stalin meaning “man of steel” in Russian • Was cold, hard, & impersonal