THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION

RUSSIA BEFORE THE USSR

• Ruled by monarchs (czars or tsars) since 1547

• Last czar: Nicholas II (ruled 1894-1917)

•Why revolt?

• Poverty and famine

•WWI urbanization, poor living conditions, massive loss of life

• Nicholas II was a poor leader

• Huge social and economic inequality

• Brutal state oppression

1917: TWO REVOLUTIONS

• February Revolution

•Massive strike by workers

• Army abandons the Tsar

• Tsar Nicholas abdicates; later executed

• Two governments – moderates and Bolsheviks

•October Revolution

•Bolshevik Party takes over the government by force

•Vladimir Lenin becomes head of government

•Goal: establish a socialist state

THE RUSSIAN CIVIL WAR

•Date: 1918-1921

•War for control of Russia between:

•Reds – Bolshevik Party

•Whites – moderates and conservatives

• Foreign powers (including the US) invaded to support the Whites

•Reds won and established the USSR

THE UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS

• Founded 1922

•Russia + 14 other countries

• Economic structure: communist (state ownership of means of production)

• Political structure: single-party state (run by the Communist Party)

WAIT! WHAT’S COMMUNISM?• Old economic system was capitalism –

private ownership of the means of production

• Business produces what consumers want

• Wealthy minority gets most of the profit

• New economic system was communism – state ownership of the means of production

• Much closer to economic equality

• More power for the state

• But how to get workers to produce…?

Karl Marx and his magnificent beard

SIMULATION RULES, ROUND 1: INCOME

• I’ll give you a starting endowment of pennies

• You can earn more pennies by playing rock-paper-scissors with other students

• The loser gives the winner one penny

• Keep playing until you’re out of pennies

• Sit down when you’re out of pennies

• No exchanging pennies, except as the result of rock-paper-scissors games

• Whoever finishes with the most pennies will earn 5 merits

SURPRISE!

• The Communists have taken power in a revolution led by the charismatic working-class hero Premier Lam. The benevolent Premier Lam has announced a policy of redistributing wealth equally to all members of society.

SIMULATION RULES, ROUND 2: CAPITALIST PRODUCTION

• Your new job is to create paper airplanes

• Three students work in a factory owned by Simone

• Simone pays Ms. Lam for supplies (paper) and sets wages, hours, working conditions, etc.

• The rest of the class are consumers – they want to buy paper airplanes

• Fun fact: the cost of living is 3 pennies

SURPRISE!

• The Communists have taken power in a revolution led by the charismatic working-class hero Premier Lam. The benevolent Premier Lam has announced a policy of manufacturing all paper airplanes in a factory owned by the state.

SIMULATION RULES, ROUND 3: COMMUNIST PRODUCTION

• Everyone now works in a factory owned by the government

• The government has hired Simone as manager

• Everyone is guaranteed a job

• Everyone is guaranteed a salary of 4 pennies (except Simone, who gets 5 pennies); the cost of living is still 3 pennies

• The government (that’s me) sets quotas for Simone to fulfill

THE CAPITALIST ECONOMY

• Individuals own the means of production

• High degree of inequality between people

• Consumers decide what is produced

• Owners of the means of production (e.g., machines in factories) earn profit

• Goods are allocated according to who can afford them

THE COMMUNIST ECONOMY (IN THEORY)

• The workers own the means of production

• Minimal inequality

• The workers decide what is produced

• Profits belong to the workers collectively

• Goods are allocated according to who needs them

“From each according to his ability; to each according to his need”

THE SOVIET ECONOMY UNDER STALIN

• Means of production are owned by the state

• Limited inequality – but Communist Party members are much better off

• The state decides what to produce

• Heavy emphasis on industry and military production

• The state earns profits

• Goods are allocated according to the state’s decisions