The Russian Revolution &

Stalin’s Soviet Union

Russia Ruled by Czars

• Ruled Russia for 300 years (Czar = King)

• Believed in Absolute Rule (1 person has total power)

• Repression of People– Religious– Secret Police Force– Language– Education– Economic

The Bolshevik Revolution• Bolshevik = Radical

supporters of Communism wanted immediate change

• Acts of Revolution– Bloody Sunday (1905)– March Revolution (1917) =

(Forces the Czar from power)

• Russia leaves World War I (1917)

• Russian Civil War = 1918-1920 – 14 million dead– Bolsheviks Win

Lenin = Leader of the Bolsheviks

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)

• Russia becomes the USSR / Soviet Union

• Communism = Equal Society without class (no rich/poor)

• Lenin dies = Joseph Stalin gains control– Stalin means “Man of

Steel”

Totalitarian Russia

• Totalitarianism = Govt. controls every aspect of a persons life

• The Great Purge = Stalin wipes out “enemies of the state”– 13 Million Dead (1934-38)

• Command Economy = Govt. makes all economic decisions– 5 Year Plans = Raise industrial

production (Steel, Coal, Oil)

Stalin Gains Total Control

• Collective Farms = Land taken from peasants to form Govt. farms– Kulak resistance wiped out

(10 million dead)

• Positives =– Better education– Industry Grows– Equal rights for women

• Negatives outweigh positives– No personal freedom– Unfair court system