The Rise of Communism and the Fall of the Tsars

1. Communist Russia The Rise of Communism and the Fall of the Tsars

2. Tsarist Russia • Ruled by a Tsar (emperor, a slavian word meaning Caesar) • Tsarist rule began when Ivan the Terrible crowned himself Tsar of all Russia • Spanned approximately 4,046,856 km2 under Ivan the Terrible’s rule making it the biggest empire at the time • Heir of the Byzantine empire

3. Fall of the Tsars • There were several communist parties in Russia. One of the most popular was the Social Democratic Party • The Social Democratic Party split into two groups in 1903, the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks • The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, wanted to seize power by force while the Mensheviks wanted to gradually reform the country • During World War I, there were a series of strikes in Russia because of the war leading to the February 1917 Revolution which caused Tsar Nicholas II to abdicate

4. Rise of the Soviets • A Provisional Government was set up to run the country until elections could be held after the abdication of the Tsar • The Provisional Government became very unpopular because of it’s decision to continue fighting in WWI as well as the increasing influence of the Soviets, groups of Russian workers and peasants that decided to govern an area themselves • In October 1917, General Kornilov ,unsatisfied with the Provisional Government, tried to overthrow the Provisional Government. The Government asked the Bolshevik Petrograd Soviet to help them. With weapons supplied by the government, the Soviet’s Red Army were able to defeat Kornilov’s army. • Lenin saw this as a sign of weakness and used the Red Army to overthrow the Provisional Government.

5. The USSR • Lenin made Leon Trotsky in charge of the Red Army and sent him to sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with the Germans • A civil war between the Bolshevik’s Red Army and the Anti-Bolshevik White Army officially began 1918 • The Red Army were very disciplined and united under Trotsky’s leadership unlike the White Army which composed of people of different ideologies • The Red Army won the war in 1921 and in 1924 despite it’s fewer numbers, all former territories of the Russian Empire were combined to form the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) or Soviet Union and the Bolshevik party was renamed the Communist party

6. Rise of Stalin • In 1920, Lenin feared Trotsky was starting to oppose him so he decided to give Joseph Stalin, who he considered a loyal ally, increasingly more power until he eventually became the General Secretary of the Communist party • Lenin did not actually know Stalin personally very well. When Lenin was forced into semi-retirement due to a stroke, Stalin would frequently visit him and act as his intermediary with the world. Lenin and Stalin argued about many things during these visits and started disliking him. In his testament, Lenin suggested removing Stalin from his post. • After Lenin’s death, Stalin had the testament’s contents only known to very few people and had all those who he thought as a threat either executed, imprisoned or exiled from the country. One of these exiles being Leon Trotsky who was one of his biggest enemies.

7. Stalin’s Changes • Stalin wanted to modernise and develop the Soviet Union into a country even greater than the UK or the USA and he did this by highly industrialising the country • Stalin ordered the construction of many new towns and factories and implemented 5 –Year plans • Each plan would focus on improving a certain industry • The first plan focused on heavy industries such as iron and steel • The second plan also focused on heavy industries but gave much more attention to industries that produced goods such as clothing

8. Stalin’s purges • The streets were filled with posters and fliers all filled with propaganda • Stalin ordered a number of “purges”. In these “purges” massive numbers of people that Stalin thought were a threat were arrested and either imprisoned, executed or exiled. • Stalin had much of the media censored and had most of his controversial actions censored out of books • Stalin controlled and limited religious actions

9. Even though Stalin was not the best the best leader in the world, he still tried his best to defend his country when Hitler’s army came knocking at his doors.

10. Quiz! 1.Who was the first Tsar of all Russia? Ivan IV the Terrible 2.What caused Tsar Nicholas II to abdicate? A series of strikes in Russia 3. Why did General Kornilov decide to overthrow the government? Because he was not satisfied with the government 4.Why did the Red Army win against the larger numbered White Army? Because they were much more disciplined and united

11. Quiz! 5.How was Stalin able to keep his post even though Lenin suggested removing him? He made the contents of the testament known only to very few people, with most of them being his supporters 6.How did Stalin try to modernise the Soviet Union? Through 5 -Year plans and the construction of new towns and factories 7. What would happen during one of Stalin’s “purges” “Threats” were either executed, imprisoned or exiled