Russia Pre Revolution.

RUSSIA'S STATE

MARXIST THEORY

  • means of production are the resources used to provide food and goods. whoever owned those controlled society
  • communist manifesto urged workers to seize power by revolution.
  • economic change brought new classes to the forefront and overthrew the ruling class in a revolution.
  • Marx applied his beliefs particularly to Western countries in Europe rather than pre-determined everywhere.
  • written by Karl Marx (a german jew) in 1848. translated into russian in 1872. believed eurpoe to be within stage 4.
  • STAGE 1 Hunter Gatheras, no classes, or private property STAGE 2 imperialism, men to top and owning or aristocracy created. STAGE 3 feudalism, land owners exploiting the peasantry. STAGE 4 capitalism, merchants and bourgeoise obtained political control and exploited the workers. STAGE 5 socialism, control taken by workers sharing. STAGE 6, communism, everyone joins together, for common good and extraction of money: no more war or competition.

ROUTE TO COMMUNISM

DEFENITION: a theory or system of social organization in which all property is owned by the community and each person contributes and receives according to their ability and needs.

  1. FEUDALISM in which the government would be absolute monarchy. Revolutionary class gets wealthier and begins to break down rules of feudal society. Land ownership gets power.
  1. BOURGEOIS REVOLUTION in which growth and trade industry. Want to reshape society to suit them. Middle class takes power from monarch. Revolutions can be violent or slow.
  1. CAPITALISM in which parliamentary democracy with civil rights. middle classes are dominant, whereas peasants have to work long hours in poor conditions. Peasants grow in numbers, as goods are not shared.
  1. LENINS CHANGES 1, revolutions would be accomplished by a small group of dedicated revolutionaries. 2, believed revolution would cause a long period of conflict. Conflict would start in rural non-industrial areas of the country and then spread to more industrial areas. 3, didn't think middle classes could carry Russia through revolution. bourgeois and socialist revolution could be rolled into one.
  1. SOCIALISM is where workers would control the state, and exercises the dictatorship of proletariat. Factories would be owned as a collective by everybody. Social system would say that everybody is equal and there is no clear distinction between classes.
  1. TRANSFER TO COMMUNISM is a need for government declines because there are no competing classes.
  1. COMMUNISM in which there is no state just interested people maintaining day to day business. everybody is equal but there is an abundance of goods produced by machinery rather than workers labour. They take out what they need from a central pool and contribute to society.

COMMUNIST SOCIETY

No state, only people who care about day to day society. Believes that people should control production. Equality in all people who contribute what they can. Abundance of goods produced by machinery rather than workers so everybody has free time. There would be no competing classes.

LENIN CHANGES

acceptance of Trotsky's weakest link theory arguing that the revolution would occur in an underdeveloped country.

revolution completed by a small group of dedicated revolutionaries - developing conciseness of workers.

felt that due to the weak middle class in Russia, the working class could develop their own revolutionary government and rule the socialist and the bourgeoise revolutions into one.

trade unions established and strikes were made common. 2000 strikes in 1913.Clashes between state and workers could be deadly with 200 Gold Miners killed by government troops in 1912.

Russia retained serfdom until 1848, being a former surf defined the lives of individuals until 1917. Masses of Russia was predominantly agricultural, although, industry had grown such that in the later half of 9th century making Russia 5th largest industrial power by 1917. growth in coal, pig iron as well as 25,000 factories employing 3 million workers. St Petersburg and Moscow saw huge growth, the latter going from 1 million in 1900 to 2.4 million in 1916.


Russia covers 1/6 of globe surface. 2/3 of Russian land is inhospitable. out of the population of 185 million, less than half were Russian. There was a multitude of cultures, languages and customs

1912, Lena Gold Fields massacre, renewed industrial unrest. And then in 1914, first world war began

1906 April - fundamental laws affirm the autocracy. -> until 1911 programme of agrarian reform is attempted. -> until 1915, four state duma's meet but influence is controlled.

1905 January - Bloody Sunday massacre leads revolutionary acts. -> October St Petersburg soviet formed Tsar's October manifesto authorities elections to state duma.

changes to agriculture as well as peasants, post 1905. given opportunities to leave mires, and buy larger farming units which increased hereditary peasants ownership from 20% to around 50%. only 10% moved away from inefficient traditional traditional peasant farming. Many moved from overcrowded east and west to siberia in the north.

there had been a growing middle class, but they were lacking in political advancement despite having economic improvement. Peasant hierarchy was established by Kulak. Peasants moved from town to town looking for work. Tax burden fell on agricultural workers.

Russia was the only European country without a Parliament before 1905. 1917 Russia was an autocracy. The Tsar was the was the head of the Russian Orthodox Church and all of Russia was deemed his private property. Tsar was in control of Church appointments, religious education, finances and administration. The Tsar believed in ‘Divine Right to Rule’. Tsar Nicholas II subscribed directly to this ideology