Europe: a Survey

- The landscape of countries with borders is a relatively new idea in the grand scheme of humanity

- Originally there were simplistic understanding of territory and ownership in the “Old World”- This is quite the contrast in comparison to the First Nations beliefs in North

America- These cultures did not use ownership, but rather a holistic understanding of

usage and cycles- The First Nations culture respected the Earth and its bounties,

understanding that within every decision comes an equal reaction.- Thus, the ideals of ownership can be pinpointed to European powers and their

hunger for power, order, and an odd sense of instilled Nationalism

The Main Players

- For our purposes, we will be observing a map of post World War One, or the “Great War”

- For major countries that you will need to know for this unit is as follows:1. Germany 9. The Netherlands 17.

Finland2. Austria 10. Denmark

18. Sweden3. Hungary 11. Italy

19. Norway4. United Kingdom 12. Russia

20. Poland 5. Croatia 13. Greece

21. Belarus6. Spain 14. Turkey

22. Ukraine7. France 15. Slovakia

23. Moldova8. Belgium 16. Ireland

24. Czech Republic

25. Romania26. Bulgaria27. Serbia28. Montenegro29. Estonia30. Latvia31. Lithuania32. Luxembourg33. Portugal34. Bosnia35. Macedonia36. Slovenia37. Albania38. San Marino39. Andorra40. Cyprus

- A majority of these countries did not exist, as we know them, at the end of World War One, but by studying these countries, particularly where they are found, we can begin to understand the internal conflicts that led to such atrocities - i.e. “The Great War”

- Many of these countries were the direct result of a minority populous within a larger empire that fought, and gained, their independence

- To understand all of this fully we will have to look into a few “isms”- Colonialism, Nationalism, Militarism,

Communism, Capitalism, Marxism, etc.

Colonialism: the practice of forcefully taking control of another area of land that is already occupied, then economically exploiting the area’s resources, and in some cases the people.

“Hey, that land over there looks pretty awesome. Let’s just take it and have no regard for the people already there!”

Nationalism: having an instilled sense of patriotism for your nation/country

“Whoa, bro. Canada is the freaking best! We rule at hockey, maple syrup, beavers, and maple leafs, so it would be best if, you know, we just got along. Sorry for being so aggressive.”

Capitalism: an economic and political theory where a nation’s trade system is controlled by private industry rather than the state. This system is used to generate profit, generally more so for those in the upper percentiles.

“Hey, could I trade you this computer for some groceries?”“Sorry, man, you need to purchase this with ‘money’ which is denoted as being ‘legal tender’. Although there is no actual standard placed on ‘money’, it is intrinsically worthless, and our society is the one that creates the ‘value’ of it, you need it to buy things.”

Militarism: when a nation believes, either induced by the government or the people, that it must have a strong military to defend national interests, or “promote” their interests in their colonies/ other areas.

“Well, if we can’t crush those around us with our sheer might, how would we get anything done?”

Socialism: a political and economical system where industry is controlled by the government rather than privatized.

“You know, a lot of people say that Canada has some socialist aspects, but they forget that I can go and get my feelings checked for free at the hospital.”

Communism: a political and economical paradigm where the state controls the resources of the country, and the the wealth is to be distributed equally amongst all the nations people.

“Look! I got two pounds of coal, four carrots, and an xbox!”“Yeah, man. Everyone did.”

Marxism: theories that were put forward by Karl Marx that are related to socialism and its related views. Marx’s theories would later serve as the basis for communism, a number of revolutions (Russia’s being one of the most famous), and a ideology that is known as the antithesis of capitalism.

“I would totally ask her out if it weren’t for her being part of the bourgeois crowd.”“Man! It doesn’t matter because classes don’t exist anymore! We are no longer part of the proletariat! Talk to anyone you want!”

Image Retrieved from: http://static01.nyt.com/images/2008/10/01/timestopics/romanovs_395.jpg

The topic of the Russian Revolution is as vast as the country itself, so to begin with here is a short history of how “Russia” came to be.

Originally known as the Kievan Rus, this loose amalgamation of peoples became the massive nation we know of today.

Video Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etmRI2_9Q_A

What the heck is a “Russia”?

Russia - 10.67 million sq miles ( 17 million kilometres)- 150 million people approx.- Before the end of WW1 the country was actually larger including:

- Finland - Kazakhstan

- Lithuania - Turkmenistan

- Latvia - Ukraine- Estonia - Tajikistan

Background to the Russian Revolution

- Like most events in history there are multiple issues and situations that lead to their beginnings

- The Russian Revolution began as an answer to the people’s frustrations with their government

- The people of Russia were oppressed severely (1825 - Decemberists Revolt), well into the 19th Century until Alexander II, the Tsar of Russia at the time, started “major” reforms across the country

- Alexander II was a liberal leader in comparison to the Tsars before him

- Alexander II attempted to listen to the people of his country, and in doing so he abolished serfdom in 1861- The practice of serfdom dates back to the Middle Age in

which most European nations practiced this form of government - most abandoned the practice 17th Century at the advent of the Renaissance

- Alexander II also had new reforms for the army and navy, and created the zemstva- the zemstva was a local political group that would control

education, relief payments, and other municipal issues as they arise

- These new reforms that Alexander II had brought in were liberal and revolutionary for the Tsarship, but were seen as lacklustre by radicals

- The people of Russia were actually forced into further bondage when serfdom was abolished- although the serfs were now free they had the choice to

either stay and work at the farms they were previously enslaved at, or sign into long-term, binding state mortgages

- Alexander II was well intentioned, but his reforms that were meant to appease the Russian people just enraged them further

Paranoia and War in Russia

- By the 1870’s, following Alexander II period of “reformation” paranoia and oppression set in

- The tension and dissent created by Alexander II reforms led to radicals assassination attempt on the Tsar’s life

- A bomb was planted and the Tsar’s carriage was destroyed - 1881

- The radical group that staged the assassination hoped for further reforms, but the opposite followed

- Alexander III, Alexander II son, came to power - he was paranoid, and damaged by the death of his father

- Alexander III repealed most of his father’s reforms and enforced “Russification”- “Russification” was a national program that promoted

purely Russian culture- This affected thousands of people from different cultures

that were under the rule of Russia- With the Industrial Revolution in full swing, Alexander III

introduced economic reforms in response to the changing “West” - Sergei Witte, Finance Minister helped modernize Russia

- Alex III died in 1894, Nicholas II, his eldest son, became Tsar

- 1904-1905 the Russo-Japanese War took place- Nicholas II wanted to expand Russian presence in Asia,

which would simultaneously provide an exhibit for Russian power - Russian Industrial Revolution!- this war failed miserably for the Russians- Nicholas II underestimated the power the Japanese

possessed- the defeat the Russians suffered embarrassed them on a

local and international scale leading to further dissent inside of Russia - Poor Judgement

- This set the tone of where Russia stood militarily going into WWI

Bloody Sunday and the 1905 Revolution

- Unlike Russia’s Western counterparts, working and industrial conditions continued to be abhorrent

- There were no laws concerning work, unions were suppressed, little was done for the benefit of the average worker

- Bloody Sunday began as a peaceful protest led by a group of steel workers that were angry with the economic conditions in Russia - the Russo-Japanese War was also causing economic issues due to their humiliating defeat

- January 9th, 1905 - thousands of steel workers marched on the Winter Palace, the home of the Tsar and his family, looking for positive reforms

- these workers were led by Georgy Gapon - he organized thousands of workers and put together a petition looking for better working/living conditions, wage increases, and other general reforms for the better of the working class (the proletariat)

- the Tsar was not present, not knowing how to properly handle the situation soldiers opened fire on the peaceful protesters

- this mishandling of the situation led to the working class going on massive strikes around the country, challenging the Tsarship and the Royal Families authority

- This act of violence set in motion the revolution of 1905- strikes across Russia were the initial response to “Bloody

Sunday” and within a month nearly a million workers were on strike

- with such a large body of workers striking there needed to be centralized organization

- this culminated in October, 1905 with the creation of the St. Petersburg Soviet

- this is where the Mensheviks, Bolsheviks and other anti-tsarist parties came to prominence

- 500 delegates were elected by 200,000 workers - The military also began losing trust in the Tsarship - mutinies

became more commonplace

Tsar Response?- In response to the creation of the Soviet and various mutinies

across Russia a representative Duma was to be created- the Duma was a to be an elected group that would represent

the people, but not threaten the Tsar’s power- thus the creation of such an entity would only appear to

give the average citizen power- This led to further anger from the proletariat- The October Manifesto followed promising sweeping reforms

in favour for the average citizen - This Manifesto was greeted by radicals and conservatives

alike

- with the October Manifesto in place it bought time for the Tsar and his Autocracy

- Rather than furthering liberal reform, Nicholas II issued a constitution of sorts that reinforced autocracy

- by 1907 radical groups had been suppressed into hiding- Although certain reforms such as the elected Duma actually

took place they were rigged in favour of the Tsar and his conservative confidants - three Duma elections from 1905 to 1907 - kept being dissolved until the third election where it benefitted the Tsar

- Between 1905 and 1911 Pyotr Stolypin led reforms for the betterment of the Tsar’s autocracy

- Stolypin dissolved the Duma until it worked for the Tsar- He also attempted to create a new affluent working class- This did not come to fruition at any large capacity, and by

1911 he was assassinated by an anti-tsarist terrorist group- By WW1, which began in 1914, unrest and dissent within

Russia was at its height which would culminate in the 1917 revolution of Russia leading to the destruction of the Tsar and their autocratic society and the creation of the USSR

Bolsheviks and Mensheviks

- Both the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks were socialist groups that found their roots in Marxism- Before the rise of these parties there were the Russian

Social Democratic Labour Party- Vladimir Lenin came to prominence challenging the Social

Democrats (SD’s) - he published a pamphlet, What is to be Done?

- The pamphlet described Lenin’s views of what a successful revolution would look like - the SD party was not going to be successful in Lenin’s view

- Lenin criticized the SD’s democratic policies, stating that a successful revolution needs a strong leader to centralize and organize the revolutions people and power

- Lenin’s ideals began to garner support from some SD supporters, while others stuck to more traditional views

- In 1903, Lenin called for a vote for leadership of the party- Lenin narrowly won, 24-20, due to support from the

young, radical politically involved- Those who voted for Lenin were then known as the

Bolsheviki, which means “majority”, and those who voted against were the Mensheviki, which means “minority”

- Although there was now a clear division between the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks they were still affiliated with one another due to their involvement with Social Democrats

- In 1905 during the Revolution and Tsarist retaliation both parties had to cooperate to succeed

- Between 1906 and 1912 there were numerous times the SD party attempted reunited, but failed due to Lenin’s unwillingness to compromise his ideals

- In 1912 the division became permanent between the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks - Lenin called for a vote where the Bolsheviks would separate from the Social Democrats- The two parties then existed as separate political entities

- During the next few years the Mensheviks were more visible politically- Many of the Bolsheviks were exiled or in hiding due to

their extreme views and anti-tsarist sentiment- The Mensheviks garners support from the urban working

class, worked closely with the Provisional Government, and during the 1905 Revolution were able to take a leading role- This was in part because Lenin was in exile at the time,

but the Mensheviks were able to lead for trade and workers unions, and creation of the St.Petersburg Soviet

- The Mensheviks ran into trouble due to their large group - there views began to differ because of their sheer size leading to issues and discontinuity in the party, which Lenin predicted

Lenin, Trotsky, and Stalin

Image Retrieved from: http://www.oldpicz.com/picz/2015/06/Leon-Trotsky-3.jpgImage Retrieved from:

Vladimir Lenin - Born Vladimir Ilich Ulyanov in 1870 in the town of Simbirsk- He was the leader of the Bolshevik Party, first leader of

Soviet Russia, as well as being one of the leaders of the Russian Revolution in 1917

- Lenin’s deep rooted socialist views began when he reached adulthood

- During much of Lenin’s adult life was spent as a wanted man due to his extreme views, which led to his capture and exile to Siberia in 1895

- Lenin spent three years in Siberia, and then again was exiled in 1900 spending time in various European cities

- It was while Lenin was in exile that he published his pamphlet, What is to be Done?

- Lenin’s strong convictions powered the Bolsheviks into prominence

- Lenin was intelligent, strong willed, and was able to find the usefulness in others - the Bolsheviks took advantage of the Mensheviks pushing them to prominence and leading them to the forefront of Russia after the 1917 Revolution

Leon Trotsky - Born in 1879, Trotsky played a crucial role in the Russian Revolution- Trotsky was Lenin’s second hand man until his death in 1924

- within that Trotsky was the mastermind behind the Bolsheviks planning

- In 1905 Trotsky was the chairman of the Petrograd Soviet- In 1918 led the peace talks with Germany, and later was

the military commissar of the Red Army during the Russian Civil War

- Trotsky was the socialist organization that Russia needed for Lenin’s plans to come true, but when Lenin’s health declined, Stalin exiled him, later being assassinated due to Stalin’s paranoia in 1940

Josef Stalin - Born in 1879 in the Russian province of Georgia - A paranoid man who would eventually claim power of the

Bolshevik party and the entirety of Russia- Stalin was weak militarily, but cunning politically- He was the secretary of the Bolshevik party, and while Lenin

was dying, and Trotsky off with the Red Army, Stalin was able to ally himself with very powerful individuals

- This will come into play later after the Death of Vladimir Lenin- Stalin can be known for his NEP’s, ruling with an iron

fist, and being a terrible leader militarily- The country listened because he was harsh

World War I and Russia

- The handling of WWI by Nicholas II was the final straw leading to the February Revolution, the July Days, and October Revolution of 1917

- Following the defeat of the Russians in the Russo-Japanese War it was evident that the Russians had issues militarily with their command and organization

- The Russian economy was also still struggling in its development causing sweeping recession and starvation due to the demand of the War effort

- Nicholas II did not expect there to be war between Russia and the Germans

- Wilhelm, the Kaiser of Germany, was Nicholas II cousin, but due to Russia being politically tied to Serbia, and Germany being allied with the Austro-Hungarian Empire it caused Russia to declare war on Austro-Hungary, thus Germany declared war on Russia

- Anti-Tsarist Sentiment was also at its height of the time when WWI began- Production slowed to a near halt with sweeping strikes

across Russia due to the abhorrent work conditions and wages

- At the advent of WWI in August of 1914, patriotism took hold of Russia staving off the political instability that had become commonplace

- Even with this newfound patriotism the war effort went poorly

- Just as in the Russo-Japanese War the commanding officers showed incompetency, this coupled with improper equipment production to support the war effort caused significant losses of Russian life

- by mid-1915 over 800,000 Russians had died and support was dwindling back home

- by 1916 the entirety of the Russian economy was in arrears: inflation rates caused widespread starvation and poverty

The February Revolution

- The downfall of the Romanov family, and the future Tsarship, began in February, 1917

- The February Revolution was a spur of the moment answer to Public distrust of the current government, not an organized insurrection as Lenin believed in

- As the insurrection took hold, Nicholas II was at the Eastern Front leading his failing army

- Rodzianko, who was the president of the Duma, called for the immediate return of Nicholas II to quell the insurrection

- Nicholas II thought this to be an overreaction and called for the dissolution of the Duma - This became a further issue for the Russian government

as the Duma denied the Tsar’s request- this also led to the Duma creating a representative

committee that later became the Provisional Government of Russia

- The Soviet of Petrograd, led by mainly Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries, garnered support from the proletariat

- The Tsar, attempting to save his throne, called for the Imperial Army to crush the insurrection, but the army, too, did not follow the Tsar’s leadership

- It was here that the Tsar lost his power- As Nicholas II was returning to Russia, the Duma met

Nicholas II and asked for his immediate abdication, which, although he hesitated at first, was given quickly

- On a train platform in Pskov the Russian Tsarship ended on March 2nd, 1917

- Hours after the signing of abdication the Provisional Government took ahold of Russia, but just as the Tsar crumbled, so too did the Provisional Government due to the mishandling of many issues

- The biggest mistake the Prov. Govt. made was to keep up with the war effort - Russia was unable to support such a commitment and soon the people distrusted the PG

- Alexander Kerensky came into power of the PG after a leaked document condemned the two previous leaders into resigning

- It was Kerensky who would lead the final days of the Provisional Government- His most important, and destructive, command was an

offensive in Galicia - this became known as the July Offensive which resulted in the loss of 400,000 Russian lives

- Kerensky scape-goated his command-in-chief and brought in Lavr Kornilov, which would later damn his position in Russia

The Kornilov Affair

- In August, 1917 Kornilov sought to place himself military dictator

- With the Russian army under his command, and “acting under the orders of Kerensky”, Kornilov was attempting to restore order in Petrograd- Although Kornilov was placed in power by the

Provisional Government, he felt at odds politically with them

- He was a traditionalist, supported the Tsar and the old order rather than the new order

- The actions of Kornilov have been open to interpretation for years, even to this day it is hard to determine where Kerensky and Kornilov stood morally

- Kornilov, supposedly acting under Kerensky’s orders, and with the backing of several prominent Russian nobles, sought to arrest the Bolsheviks, disperse the Petrograd Soviet, and restore the old order

- Kerensky, hearing the rumours of Kornilov and a possible military coup, fired Kornilov and asked for the Soviet to protect Russia’s government

- Kerensky was now at odds with both sides of the government, leading to the floundering of the Provisional government and the space for the Bolsheviks to rise to power

- The PG had armed the Red Army, the troops under Bolshevik leadership, which led to their own destruction as the Bolsheviks would seize this opportunity for control of Russia

- The Bolsheviks were able to garner much support with their anti-war campaign and by the end of September had 400,000 members and an army that was 100,000 strong setting the stage for yet another revolution in Russia

- Kerensky attempted to abate such a situation by declaring Russia a republic, but was unable to reverse the plans that were already set in motion

The October Revolution

- On October 25th, 1917 the Bolshevik Red Army, acting on behalf of the entire Soviet, stormed the Winter Palace in Petrograd and within hours had deposed the Provisional Government

- Although the Bolsheviks acted on behalf of the Soviet, which was also made up of Mensheviks, Lenin had no plans to share control of Russia with other parties

- With this began years of civil war, famine, and the Red Terror

- During the fleeting moments the PG were in power certain political prisoners were released- one such prisoner was Leon Trotsky- during this time period leading up to the October

Revolution, Lenin was out of the country hiding in Finland, but Trotsky was present and organizing the masses - on September 23rd, 1917, Trotsky was elected chairman of the Petrograd Soviet

- For the next month Trotsky and the Bolsheviks spent their time arming the Red Guards, and with the pseudo-protection of the PG were unopposed

- Soon the Military Revolutionary Committee was ran by Trotsky, and most of the army supported the Bolsheviks

- On October 24th, 1917, after a month of stagnation from the Provisional Government allowing the Bolsheviks to gain power, Kerensky called for the remaining loyal soldiers to arrest Trotsky and other Milrevcom members

- This failed for Kerensky and the PG as the Bolsheviks answered with a mass army marching on the Winter Palace- within four hours the Winter Palace had been taken and

Russia was now under the control of the Bolsheviks- The Soviet continued to meet while the fighting took place,

and it was here that the Mensheviks and moderate Social Revolutionaries claimed the Bolsheviks actions illegal

- This ended with the Mens. and SR’s walking out leaving power to the Bolsheviks completely

The New Government

- On October 26th the government of Russia was in place- the Provisional Government was deposed, and most

Bolshevik opposition willingly walked out of the Soviet leaving Lenin and his party in power

- The first two orders of business that came from the Bolsheviks were: 1. the Land Decree, and 2. the Peace Decree

- The Land Decree was to end privatization of land “forever” and effectively allow the citizens of Russia to seize the land back for their communes, but this had been happening for several months already

- the Peace Decree was to effectively end the war with Germany, which was one of the points the Bolsheviks were able to come to power under

- The Bolsheviks also set up the “Soviet People’s Commissars” or Sovnarkom- the Sovnarkom was a committee of 17 different positions,

each with their own responsibility- Lenin was the chairman, Trotsky the foreign affairs

minister, and Stalin the leader of nationalities- eventually the Sovnarkom came to rule the Central

Executive Committee, and in July, 1918 the first Soviet constitution was in place

- the Bolshevik party continued to meet annually under their Party Congresses- here they would bring up different issues and decide on

policies- March, 1918 - debated the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk- March, 1919 - elected the Politurbo, which was a five

man committee responsible for formulating policies- Party congresses were also used to announce new policies,

such as the New Economic Plan in 1921- Besides sweeping economic reforms and the signing of the

Brest-Litovsk treaty, the Bolsheviks were concerned with major social reform

- Alexandra Kollantai - a female leader within the Bolshevik Party

- the rights of women, like most other countries at the time, were especially abhorrent- women were paid lower wages, worked long hours, and

had little freedom within traditional marriages- in the latter part of 1918 Kollantai held a “women’s Soviet”,

and in 1919 the Zhenotdel was created, which was a government committee the was concerned with only Women’s affairs - the first ministry of its kind in the world

- Along with furthering Women’s rights, the Bolsheviks planned to better education amongst Russians

- A sweeping program for literacy was put in place- this had little effect until after the civil war- by the mid-1920’s literacy had increased significantly for

males and females, rivaling their western counterparts- Women’s work days were shortened to eight hours- Maternity leave programs were put in place with eight weeks

of paid leave- Pregnant women were not allowed to work overtime or night

shifts- Abortions were made legal to combat rampant unsafe home

procedures- Marriages and divorces were changed to make them more

comfortable and accessible for women as well

The Bolshevik’s Economic Policy

- When the Bolsheviks came to power they were left with a ruined economy due to the ongoing war effort

- The answer that Lenin created was based off of Karl Marx’s theories of Marxism- Lenin came up with a plan of “state capitalism” which

would allow the country to regain its economic footing, which is based upon Marx’s theories

- Marx believed that capitalism was a stepping stone to true socialism

- issues were met with Lenin’s plan of state capitalism because it combatted many of the socialist reforms they were attempting to meet

- the workers of factories were to take ahold of their factories and thus the economy, but this was not possible since capitalism ideals could not support this- this meant that the state would control the factories, rather

than the masses- Lenin also believed that after WWI, there would be socialist

revolutions in the West, but this would not come true

- the CHEKA was a secret police that was set up by the newly formed Bolshevik government following the October Revolution in 1917

- the purpose of the CHEKA was to combat political instability- due to constant political threat in Russia, the CHEKA was

very active- one thing to note is that unlike a normal police force, the

CHEKA acted outside of the law; they were able to investigate and arrest anyone they wanted

- This type of police force showed the paranoia of political figures in Russia

The CHEKA (later the KGB)

- the CHEKA was created by a decree on December 19th, 1917- this new police force was to combat anti-revolutionaries,

which became anyone against the Bolshevik party- Felix Dzerzhinsky was appointed the leader of the CHEKA,

and his ruthlessness was quick to come out- The CHEKA grew quickly because of the rise of anti-

Bolshevik sentiment, and by 1919 there were over 100,000 agents in the CHEKA

- The CHEKA was effective in its methods, but cruel- over several years it was confirmed that 12,000 people were

murdered, but that number is predicted as being much higher

The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

- this treaty would come as the effective end of WWI for Russia

- this treaty came at a cost for Russia - during the several weeks of negotiations, Russia eventually had to concede the Ukraine to Germany- originally this was seen as minimal loss because both

Trotsky and Lenin believed that socialist revolution was at the doorstep of Germany

- Germany was able to exploit the weakness of Russia and their new government by fraternizing with the Russian emissaries

- an ultimate was issued by the Germans in February, 1918, exploiting the weakness of the Russians, forcing major concessions of land

- there was much opposition to the concessions of the Brest-Litovsk treaty, but with the ending of the war the country was able to focus on rebuilding their economy

- After the Germans were defeated the concessions that the Russians had agreed to were null and void

- the Red Terror was a Bolshevik campaign to silence any and all anti-Bolshevik sentiment

- under Dzerzhinsky, the CHEKA played a large part in arresting, interrogating, and executing thousands of Russian dissidents

- this terror, and other issues such as the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, the ending of the Executive Committee of Commissars, and any type of democratic freedom that the public yearned for, a civil war was coming

The Red Terror

- In August, 1918, the Red Terror was in full swing as the “White Army” began formulate its ranks to challenge the Bolsheviks and their Red Army

- The Red Terror could be seen as either an answer to anti-Bolshevik rhetoric, or as an inevitable action due to Bolshevik views- As you can see, Russia history is full of political

instability and periods of enlightenment, as well as periods of oppression and darkness - The Red Terror was a period of oppression that could be seen as a necessary evil, or simply evil depending on your political views at the time

The Russian Civil War

- The Civil War came as an answer to the political strife in Russia (1918-1921)- there were so many different views within Russia that

there were three major armies that constituted this civil war

- there was the Red Army, the White Army, and the Green Army

- the Red Army constituted the Bolsheviks and their supporters

- The White Army constituted those that supported the Provisional Government, the Duma, and the remaining traditionalists who supported the Tsar

- There was a third group, dubbed the Green Army, whom decided to fight for their own interests- This group believed in neither the Red or White cause,

thus they formed a small army which did nothing more than cause small rows

Red vs. White

- The Red Army, under the control of Leon Trotsky was highly organized, well supplied, and unified through their political beliefs- The Bolsheviks controlled many of the major industrial

cities in Russia during the war causing their army to be better equipped than their challengers

- Under one leader who was able to create coordinated and efficient attacks and who were unified in beliefs, the Red Army had the upper hand

- The White Army was poorly supplied, disunified in beliefs, and refused to work together when planning out strategies- The only unifying structure that was in place was their

dislike of a Bolshevik Russia and little else- due to this rampant disunity, unwillingness to cooperate

together, and lack of any real access to weapons, or supply to create weapons, the White Army was doomed from the beginning

- The Green Army was never a threat to either the White Army, or the Red Army- What is important to note about them is their

dissatisfaction and their resulting actions

Image retrieved from: http://www.hubertlerch.com/images/Russia_CivilWar.GIF

- After the signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Russia was now at peace, but not for long

- With the returning of troops to Russia, the government in shambles, it was rife with political tensions

- This culminated with a Czech division of soldiers revolting against the Bolsheviks- with this insurgency from a handful of soldiers, a nation

decided to join - Enter the Russian Civil War

- By the end of the Russian Civil War fifteen million Russians were killed- That number is a mixture of both military personnel and

civilians- The White Army and the Green Army were defeated by

their own disunity, and the military prowess of Trotsky- Although the Bolsheviks had now won the war, they had an old

trouble to deal with: the Economy- The economy in Russia, by this point, has been in ruins

since the Crimean War, which ended in 1856- Although the Russians continued functions it simply

deteriorated to nothing by 1921

The Death of Lenin- After winning the Russian Civil War, Lenin’s health fell into

a dilapidated state- by this point, Lenin has realized the true strength of Stalin

- Although Trotsky would be the obvious choice to succeed Lenin and make his communist vision come true, Stalin had become too powerful

- Lenin was “Stalin”, if you will. He should have been “Russian” to get Trotsky in power. No one was “Lenin” him a hand, though. Eventually, Stalin came into power and Trotsky was unhappy, “‘Crimea’ river” Stalin exclaimed.

- In all seriousness, Lenin suffered from a number of strokes which led to his death

- Trotsky, understanding the power that Stalin had, was unable to take control of the Bolshevik Party

- This led to a new Russia under the control of Stalin- As for Trotsky, he escaped Russian and fled to Mexico- It was unsafe for Trotsky to stay anywhere near Russia

because Stalin viewed him as a powerful political threat- In 1940, Stalin’s CHEKA agents found Trotsky

- Trotsky was found, dead, with a ice pick in his head

The Rise of Stalin

- Although Stalin became the leader of the USSR, originally Stalin’s involvement was minimalistic and seemed to be an unlikely candidate as a successor for Lenin

- Stalin was a gruff man that came from a small town in Georgia (not Georgia the state)- He was tough, simple, and hard working- His primary role was as a financier - he staged bank

robberies which supplied the Bolsheviks with ample funds for their endeavours

- Trotsky was actually the logical choice for a successor, but Stalin was able to rout Trotsky’s power by gaining a large amount of supporters

- Stalin took advantage of his loyalty to the Bolshevik cause, but also called for all Provisional Government supporters to his cause

- With many supporters on his side, Lenin gone, and Trotsky fearing for his life he rose into power

- Under Stalin there was an era of fear (gulags) and NEP’s (New Economic Policies)- These economic policies did little for the Russian

economy as a whole - yes, industry thrived, but at a cost of human life

Effects in Modernity

- What became of the USSR?- The New Economic Policy- Cold War- Space Race- Economic Collapse- A “Democratic” Russia