3.3 Russia, 1905–41

Depth Study: Russia, 1905‑1941

1. Why the period 1905‑1941 matters

• Marks the end of the Tsarist autocracy, the creation of the Soviet Union and its rise as a world super‑power.
• Explains the political, social and economic foundations of the 20th‑century world and the origins of the Cold War.
• Key syllabus questions addressed:
  • Why did the Tsarist regime collapse in 1917? – long‑term structural weaknesses combined with acute crises (1905 Revolution, WWI, 1917 revolts).
  • How effectively did the Provisional Government rule Russia in 1917? – brief, crisis‑ridden administration that failed to meet the demands for peace, land and food.
  • How did Stalin’s policies affect the Soviet Union? – rapid industrialisation and collectivisation transformed the economy but caused massive human loss and entrenched a repressive, centrally‑controlled state.

2. The 1905 Revolution – “The First Russian Revolution”

2.1 Causes

• Military defeat in the Russo‑Japanese War (1904‑05) – loss of prestige, huge indemnities and a surge of nationalist anger.
• Industrialisation created a growing urban proletariat facing low wages, long hours, unsafe conditions and no political voice.
• Peasant unrest over land shortages, high taxes and the incomplete emancipation of 1861.
• Political repression – absence of representative institutions, strict censorship and the secret police (Okhrana).

2.2 Key events

• 8 January 1905 – Bloody Sunday: peaceful march to the Winter Palace fired on (≈ 3 000 killed), igniting nationwide unrest.
• October 1905 – Stolypin’s Cabinet issues the October Manifesto, promising a State Duma and limited civil liberties.
• 1905‑1907 – Strikes, peasant uprisings and the formation of the Union of Soviet Workers (later the Bolshevik‑aligned trade‑union movement).

2.3 Outcomes and link to 1917

• Creation of the State Duma, but with a restricted franchise and the Tsar retaining the right to dissolve it or veto legislation.
• Stolypin’s reactionary policies (1906‑1911) – “Stolypin’s necktie” (summary executions) and agrarian reforms aimed at producing a loyal class of “kulaks”.
• The revolution exposed the fragility of autocratic rule, created a tradition of mass political mobilisation and showed that limited reforms could not restore legitimacy.
  Consequent impact: the failure of the 1905 reforms left a legacy of distrust in the monarchy and a more politically experienced working class, both of which became decisive factors in the 1917 collapses.

3. World War I (1914‑1918) – impact on Russia

• Mass mobilisation of peasants and workers produced severe food, fuel and clothing shortages on the home front.
• Military defeats – e.g., Battle of Tannenberg (1914) and the Brusilov Offensive (1916) – shattered the myth of Russian military superiority and eroded confidence in the Tsar.
• War‑weariness triggered strikes, desertions and the spontaneous formation of soldiers’ soviets (councils) demanding an end to the war.
• Economic strain led to inflation, collapse of the urban market system and a sharp rise in the cost of living, fueling popular discontent.

4. The 1917 Revolutions

4.1 February Revolution (March 1917, Gregorian calendar)

• Mass protests in Petrograd over food shortages and war casualties.
• Mutiny of the Petrograd garrison; Tsar Nicholas II abdicated on 15 March 1917.
• Formation of the Provisional Government (initially Prince Lvov, later Alexander Kerensky).

4.2 Dual power – Provisional Government vs. Soviets

• The Provisional Government held formal authority but lacked popular legitimacy.
• Workers’ and soldiers’ soviets, especially the Petrograd Soviet, proclaimed “all power to the Soviets” and acted as a parallel authority, organising strikes, distributing food and influencing policy.

4.3 Effectiveness of the Provisional Government

• Successes: kept Russia in the war long enough to avoid a total collapse, introduced some liberal reforms (freedom of speech, press, assembly).
• Failures (and why it is judged ineffective):
  • Continued participation in WWI – ignored the popular demand for “peace”.
  • Postponed land reform – alienated the peasantry.
  • Inability to solve food shortages – led to strikes and riots.
  • Dominated by liberal bourgeois interests, giving the Bolsheviks a clear contrast of “workers’ power”.
• These weaknesses created the political space that allowed the Bolsheviks to seize power in October.

4.4 October Revolution (7 November 1917, Gregorian calendar)

• Lenin and the Bolsheviks seized key points in Petrograd – telegraph office, railway stations and the Winter Palace.
• The Provisional Government was overthrown; the Bolsheviks proclaimed Soviet power – “All power to the Soviets”.
• Immediate actions: peace negotiations (Treaty of Brest‑Litovsk, 1918) and nationalisation of land and industry.

5. The Russian Civil War (1918‑1922)

5.1 Belligerents

• Reds – Bolshevik Red Army under Leon Trotsky’s command.
• Whites – Loose coalition of monarchists, liberal democrats, anti‑Bolshevik socialists and foreign interveners.
• Nationalist movements in Ukraine, the Caucasus, Central Asia and Siberia.

5.2 Reasons for Red victory

• Centralised command and political control via the Revolutionary Military Council.
• Control of major industrial centres, railways and the telegraph network.
• War Communism – grain requisitioning, nationalisation of industry and the Cheka’s brutal suppression of opposition.
• Effective propaganda promising “peace, land and bread”.

5.3 Human cost

• Estimated 7–12 million deaths (combat, famine, disease).
• 1921‑22 famine (especially in the Volga region) and a typhus epidemic added heavily to the death toll.
• Mass displacement of peasants, refugees and former soldiers.

6. Lenin’s New Economic Policy (NEP) – 1921‑1928

• Aims: revive the war‑torn economy, restore food supplies and regain popular support after the hardships of War Communism.
• Key features
  • Small private farms and a tax‑in‑kind (instead of grain requisitioning).
  • Limited private trade and small‑scale industry allowed to operate for profit.
  • State retained control of the “commanding heights” – heavy industry, transport, banking and foreign trade.
• Outcomes
  • Agricultural output rose sharply; food shortages eased.
  • Industrial growth slowed but stabilised; urban markets and consumer goods re‑emerged.
  • NEP ended after Lenin’s death (1924) as Stalin moved to rapid industrialisation.

7. Stalin’s rise to power (1924‑1929)

• Used his role as General Secretary to build a network of loyal party apparatchiks.
• Elimination of rivals
  • Trotsky expelled from the Party (1929) and later assassinated (1940).
  • Bukharin, Zinoviev and Kamenev removed during the “socialist‑industrialist” debate (1928‑29); Stalin argued the USSR could skip the capitalist stage.
• Control of the Communist Party apparatus and the secret police (NK VD) gave Stalin decisive authority over policy and personnel.
• Ideology of “Socialism in one country” shifted focus from international revolution to internal development.

8. Stalin’s Economic Policies

8.1 Collectivisation (1928‑1933)

• Motives: increase grain procurement for export, fund industrialisation and eliminate the “kulak” class as a potential source of resistance.
• Process
  • Forced consolidation of individual peasant farms into collective farms (kolkhozes) and state farms (sovkhozes).
  • “Dekulakisation” – deportations, imprisonment and executions of wealthier peasants.
• Consequences
  • Widespread peasant resistance; many farms were destroyed or abandoned.
  • Famine of 1932‑33, most severe in Ukraine (Holodomor) – 3‑4 million deaths; additional famine in the North Caucasus and Kazakhstan.
  • Disruption of agricultural productivity forced the state to increase grain exports to obtain foreign currency.

8.2 Five‑Year Plans (1928‑1941)

9. Political Repression – The Great Purge (1936‑1938)

• Show trials of former Bolshevik leaders (e.g., Zinoviev, Kamenev, Bukharin) used to demonstrate “enemy of the people” narratives.
• NK VD Order 00486 – “Operation of the Counter‑Intelligence Department” targeted former party members, military officers, intelligentsia and ordinary citizens.
• Estimated victims: 600 000–1 million executed; several million sent to Gulag labour camps.
• Impact on the Red Army: up to 30 % of senior officers removed, creating a leadership vacuum that weakened command structures at the outset of the German invasion in 1941.
• Created a climate of fear, eliminated potential opposition and reinforced Stalin’s total control.

10. Soviet Foreign Policy 1917‑1941

• Comintern (1919‑1943) – promoted world communism; funded and directed communist parties abroad.
• Treaty of Rapallo (1922) – restored diplomatic relations with Germany; both nations broke post‑World‑War isolation and began economic cooperation.
• Non‑Aggression Pact with Poland (1932) – short‑lived; Germany’s 1939 invasion nullified it.
• Molotov‑Ribbentrop Pact (23 August 1939)
  • Secret protocol divided Eastern Europe into German and Soviet spheres of influence.
  • Resulted in Soviet annexations of Eastern Poland, the Baltic states, Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina.

11. The Soviet Union and the Outbreak of World War II

• 30 June 1941 – Germany launches Operation Barbarossa, invading the Soviet Union.
• Initial Soviet losses were catastrophic: millions of casualties, loss of western industrial regions and massive refugee flows.
• Industrial evacuation: roughly 1 500 factories (≈ 17 million workers) moved east of the Urals, preserving the core of Soviet war production.
• Stalin’s wartime leadership – centralised command, strict discipline, total‑war mobilisation of the economy and society.
• Despite early setbacks, the relocated industry and the harsh Russian winter helped turn the tide in 1942‑43.

12. Synthesis – How 1905‑1941 shaped modern Russia

• Collapse of the Tsarist regime resulted from a combination of long‑term structural weaknesses (autocratic politics, agrarian inequality, industrial unrest) and short‑term crises (defeat in the Russo‑Japanese War, WWI military failures, food shortages and the inability of the Provisional Government to deliver peace and land reform). The 1905 Revolution acted as a crucial pre‑lude, exposing the limits of limited reform and creating a politically experienced working class that later drove the 1917 revolts.
• Stalin’s policies transformed the USSR into a major industrial and military power, but did so through forced collectivisation, massive repression and a culture of centralised authority that persisted throughout the Soviet era.
• The period laid the foundations for the USSR’s post‑war super‑power status, its territorial borders in Eastern Europe, and the political culture of authoritarian centralisation that continued to shape Russia after 1991.