Post on 12-Apr-2017
transcript
Russia: A Brief Political History
Comparative Government & Politics
Россия
Russia
America and
Russiafrom
Alex de Toqueville’sDemocracy in America
(1839)
America and Russia
from De Toqueville’sDemocracy 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.
America and Russiafrom 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.
America and Russiafrom 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.
America and Russiafrom 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.
America and Russiafrom 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.
America and Russiafrom 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.
InvasionRussia’s political history began w/ invasion :• 800s Varangian Vikings
• 1237-1240 MMongol ongol 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
Characteristics & ThemesPervading Russian History
1. Backwardness – technological, social2. Closed to West – . . . except sometimes
& at times, not so much1. Invasions / fear of invasions /
xenophobia / paranoia2. Alternating periods of repression
followed feeble efforts at reform3. Nearly no cultural history of democracy
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
Paleolithic Europe inhabited originally
by“indigenous”
matriarchal semi-agrarian
tribes• worshipped
'Mother Earth',• spoke unknown
languages.
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.
Indo-European Language tree
Slavic Groups
SlavsAs 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
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.
TThehe RRusus• 1st “Russian” monarchic dynasty,• local Slavs called them, the Rus,• one of these Viking trade centers
grew into the kingdom of Kiev -
Rurikr• Novgorod• about 860
The Rus prospered, progressed & expanded
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
Ancient
For Russia, traditional historic divisions of European studies don’t work:
Classical
Medieval Renaissance
Modern
Russian historyis more fittingly divided into periods
corresponding to epochs in which various cities served as capital of the Russian state –
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
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.
Russian proverb:
KievKiev was the MOTHER of Russia;
Moscow Moscow its its HEARTHEART;
St. Petersburg its
Head.
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
Looked to monotheistic faiths as basis for a unified stateaccepted 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.
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 anda more clearly defined national identity
Saints Cyrill & MethodiusSlavs 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.
Translate words 1-6 from Cyrillic and into Roman letters and English language.
1. Америка2. Россйя3. Цар Иван Грознйк 4. Kpemлйн5. Катарина Болшоя6. Сталин
7.And now, using Cyrillic letters . . . .write the sounds of your full name
But,
• But they did NOT live happily ever. . . . .
Hey, . . . What’s all that
smoke and dust on the eastern horizon?
Mongol Hordes
Mongol Hordes occupy and dominate Russia for the
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
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
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
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
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
Opening to the WestTsar 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
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
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
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?
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.
Alexander IIIAlexander III implemented strict censorshipHe 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.
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.
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)
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).
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
Nicholas II - the last Czar
• Russo-Japanese War(8 Feb. 1904 – 5 Sept. 1905)
• Bloody Sunday, Jan. 1905• Rising dissatisfaction . . .• Duma concessions• Okhrana repressions
the Russian “Revolution of 1905” paved the way for the Russian Revolutions of 1917, the ones that really made a difference.
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
Russian failures in World War One:Russian armies suffered many defeats and casualtiesRussian army lost confidence in the Tsar.
Q5: Russia financed WWI by:
Securing foreign loansIncreasing taxesIncreasing the supply of
paper money
What effects do you think the last two methods had on Russian workers?
Breaking Down the NumbersAverage 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
PeasantUprisings
1914
1915
1916
1917(toJune)
0 500 1000 1500
WorkerStrikes
1914
1915
1916
1917(Jan-Feb)
Czar’s support
evaporatesActually Two Revolutions in 1917 the First One wasWon by the White Army the Second byThe Red Army
Socialists versus Communists
Dec. 1916, Rasputin was murdered . . . several times
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
Provisional Government – Temporary Democracy
Kerensky is Prime Minister War continues
Whoops!!
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.
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 warMutiny of the armyDuma setting up alternative governmentDiscontent in the countrysideFormation of sovietsStrikesFood shortagesThe 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?
Bolsheviks• Vladimir Illyich Ulyanov
- aka
Lenin
LeninExiled by Czar’s Okhrana. Leader of Bolsheviks. 1917 - WWI German gov’t brought Lenin back to Russia on a special trainLenin’s “April Theses”:
All power to the soviets!Peace, land, & bread!
The Bolshevik Revolution: October 1917
War failures steadily eroded support for Provisional Gov’ tLenin’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 November 1917
Lenin’s Communist Government
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 Assemblyinstituted gov’t of the Congress of Soviets Forced out other parties and political viewsBolsheviks Dictatorship:
led by Lenin
MarxismBelieved 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 wealthA worker led violent revolution
LeninismLenin was fascinated by industrialization, wanted to bring those changes to RussiaLenin 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.
LeninismCommunist Party was only party allowed.The use of threat, force & terror through the secret police (Cheka) was necessary and good for the causeUsed slogans, include “Bread, Land, Peace!” and “All Power to the Soviets.”
The Cheka The 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.
Russian Civil War 1918-1922• Bolsheviks and their Red Army• Mensheviks (Whites) – any combination of
the opposition – disunited, disorganized, well, . . . doomed
The Civil War: PoliticsGov’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 controlPropaganda 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.
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
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 practiceby sharing out the wealth among Russian people.to supply the Red Army during the Civil War.
the Civil WarPeasants didn’t want to produce more as the surplus was taken by the government.Food shortages + bad weather = Famines1920-21 7 million diedMilitary Mutiny in the Kronstadt naval base.Lenin ceases War Communism.
War communismThe NEP - НЭП Новая экономическая политика
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)
Under the NEPThe 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 sectorseverely 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
You’d even hate it if you didn’t have money
1924: After Lenin’s death - a problem of leadership between Zinoviev, Kamenev, Bukharin, Stalin, Trotsky
Lenin's Last Years (December 1922 - January 1924)
1922
1923 1924
СТАЛИН
STALIN
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 allowedSocialism in One Country - before spreading Revolution worldwide
Civil War followed the Revolutions
Summary:The Revolution in 1905 was unsuccessfulThe 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
Economy: IndustrializationThe 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.
Public Works - built by forced labor
Economy: CollectivizationKolhoz: 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)
Collectivization Propaganda
Holodomor Ukraine’s forced famine
8 million dead in Ukraine another1.5 million in Kazakhstan
1932-33
Domestic PolicyControlling 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
1936 ConstitutionThe 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 cultureThe 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)".
Domestic Policy: The Purges
The Soviet State’s massive collectivization efforts caused famines in the early 1930s,
wiped out entire rural populationsnot 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.
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.
The GULAG
The Cult of Personality - StalinStalin was portrayed to the people as a selfless, brilliant, compassionate leader.
Наше Дело ПравоеВраг Будет РазбитПобеда Будет За Нами!
Our Cause Is RightThe Enemy Will Be SmashedVictory Will Be Ours!
TOTALITARIANISM
The Cult to Stalinhistory 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
Propaganda
Stalin and Yegoda in the Moscow-Volga Canal
Stalin in the Moscow-Volga Canal. Yegoda has been removed
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.