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Question 1.
What were the social, economic and political conditions in Russia before 1905?
Answer:
The following were the social, economic and political conditions in Russia before 1905.
(a) Social Conditions: The majority religion was Russian Orthodox Christianity which had grown out of the Greek Orthodox Church. But the empire also included Catholics, Protestants, Muslims and Buddhists. The non-Russian nationalities were not treated equal to that of Russian nationalities. They were not given freedom to follow their culture and language. Workers were a divided group on the basis of skill and training. Peasants formed their group called commune or mir.
(b) Economic conditions: Majority of Russians were agriculturists. Grain was the main item of export from Russia. Industries were few. Prominent industrial areas were St Petersburg and Moscow. Much of the production was done by the craftsmen. There were large factories alongside the craft workshops. With the expansion of Russian rail network, foreign investment in factories grew. There was huge coal, iron and steel production. There were equal numbers of factory workers and craftsmen. The workers were exploited by capitalists who made their life miserable.
(c) Political Conditions: Russia was a monarchy. (Tsar Nicholas II ruled Russia and its empire that extended to current-day Finland, Lativia, Lithuania, Estonia, parts of Poland, Ukraine and Belarus. It stretched to the Pacific and comprised today’s Central Asian states, as well as Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan). The Tsars believed in the divine rights of kings. They were not responsible to the Parliament. All political parties were illegal in Russia.
Question 2.
In what ways was the working population in Russia different from other countries in Europe, before 1917?
Answer:
The working population in Russia was different from that of those in other countries in Europe before 1917 in the following ways.
(a) Vast majority of Russians were agriculturalists. This proportion was higher than in most European countries. In France and Germany this proportion was between 40% and 50%.
(b) The cultivators in Russia produced for the markets as well as for their own needs.
(c) Workers were a divided social group on the basis of skill. Metalworkers considered themselves aristocrats among other workers as their occupation demanded more training and skills.
(d) Peasants in Russia had no respect for the nobility. Nobles got their power and position through the Tsar and not through local popularity, whereas in countries like France, peasants respected nobles.
(e) In Russia, peasants had pooled their land together and divided the profits according to the family needs. In other parts of world, agriculture was done individually by the peasants.
Question 3.
Why did the Tsarist autocracy in Russia collapse in 1917?
Answer:
Anti-German sentiments in Russia were high owing to the First World War. Further, Tsarina Alexandra’s German origin and poor advisors made the autocracy unpopular. Russia suffered shocking defeats on the warfront with millions of casualties. Crops and buildings were destroyed by the Russian army to prevent enemy having any advantage. It led to millions of refugees. Tsar was being cursed for this situation. Food shortage led to people rioting for food. The Russian army too shifted its loyalty and began supporting the revolutionaries.
A lockout took place at a factory on the right bank of Neva river in •’sympathy with the workers on the left bank on 22nd February. Women led the way to strikes. The government imposed curfew. Later the government suspended the Duma which resulted in sharp protests. The demonstrators ransacked the Police Headquarters and raised slogans about bread, wages, better hours and democracy. The government called the cavalry but they refused to fire on the demonstrators. Soldiers and the striking workers gathered to form a ‘Soviet’ or ‘council’ in the building where the Duma met. This was the Petrograd Soviet.
The very next day, when a delegation went to see the Tsar, the military commanders advised the Tsar to abdicate. Soviet leaders and Duma leaders formed a Provisional Government to run the country. The Tsarist autocracy thus collapsed in February 1917.
Question 4.
Make two lists: one with the main events and effects of the February Revolution and the other with the main events and effects of the October Revolution. Write a paragraph on who was involved in each, who were the leaders and what the impact of each was on Soviet history.
Answer:
| Events | In the winter of 1917, the situation in Petrograd was grim. There was food shortage in the workers’ quarters. 22 February: Lockout took place at a factory. Workers of factories joined in sympathy. Women also led and participated in the strikes. This came to be called the International Women’s Day. The government imposed a curfew. 24, 25 February: The government called out the cavalry and police to keep an eye on them. 25 February: The government suspended the Duma and politicians spoke against this measure. The people were out with force once again. 27 February: The police headquarters were ransacked. Cavalry was called out again. An officer was shot at the barracks of a regiment and other regiments mutinied, voting to join the striking workers gathered to form a Soviet or council. This was the Petrograd Soviet. A delegation went to meet the Tsar. The military commanders advised him to abdicate. 2 March: The Tsar abdicated. A provisional government was formed by the Soviet and Duma leaders to run the country. |
| Effects | Restrictions on public meetings and associations were removed. Soviets were set up everywhere. In individual areas, factory committees were formed which began questioning the way industrialists ran their factories. Soldiers’ committees were formed in the army. The Provisional Government saw its power declining and Bolshevik influence grew. It decided to take stern measures against the spreading discontent. It resisted attempts by workers to run factories and arrested leaders. Peasants and the socialist revolutionary leaders pressed for a redistribution of land. Land committees were formed and peasants seized land between July and September 1917. |
No political party was involved in the February Revolution. It was a combined effort of the workers of fifty factories along with women who took up the leadership.
October Revolution:
| Events | 16th October 1917: Lenin persuaded the Petrograd Soviet and Bolshevik Party to agree to a socialist seizure of power. A Military Revolutionary Committee was appointed by the Soviet to organise seizure. 24th October: Uprising began. Prime Minister Kerenskii left the city to summon troops. Military men loyal to the government seized the buildings of two Bolshevik newspapers. Pro-government troops were sent to take over telephone and telegraph offices and protect the Winter Palace. In response Military Revolutionary Committee ordered to seize government offices and arrest ministers. The ‘Aurora’ ship shelled the Winter Palace. Other ships took over strategic points. By night, the city had been taken over and ministers had surrendered. All Russian Congress of Soviets in Petrograd approved the Bolshevik action. By December: Heavy fighting in Moscow. The Bolsheviks controlled the Moscow-Petrograd area. The people involved were Lenin, the Bolsheviks and pro-government troops. |
| Effects | Most industries and banks were nationalised in November 1917. Land was declared social property and peasants were allowed to seize the land of the nobility. Use of old titles was banned. New uniforms were designed for the army and officials. Russia became a one-party state. Trade unions were kept under party control. A process of centralised planning was introduced. This led to economic growth. Industrial production increased. An extended schooling system was developed. Collectivisation of farms started. |
Lenin led the October Revolution along with Leon Trotskii. Bolshevik supporters in army, Soviets and factories were mobilised for mass struggle. Lenin rose to power and set up a Bolshevik government in Soviet Russia.
Question 5.
What were the main changes brought about by the Bolsheviks immediately after the October Revolution?
Answer:
(a) Industries and banks were nationalised. This meant that the government now had their ownership and management. Land was declared social property and peasants were allowed to seize the land of the nobility. In cities, Bolsheviks enforced the partition of large houses according to family requirements.
(b) Use of the old titles of aristocracy was banned. New uniforms for the army and officials were designed.
(c) The Bolshevik Party was renamed as the Russian Communist Party (Bolshevik).
(d) Despite opposition by their political allies, the Bolsheviks made peace with Germany and withdrew from the First World War.
(e) In the later years, the Bolsheviks became the only party to participate in the elections to the All Russian Congress of Soviets. It became the Parliament of Russia.
Question 6.
Write a few lines to show what you know about:
(a) Kulaks
(b) the Duma
(c) women workers between 1900 and 1930
(d) the Liberals
(e) Stalin’s collectivisation programme
Answer:
(a) Kulaks: They were the well-to-do peasants who were supposed to be holding stocks in the hope
of higher prices. They were raided so that they may be eliminated in order to develop modern farms and establish state-controlled large farms.
(b) The Duma: The Duma was a consultative parliament that was created on the permission of the Tsar during the 1905 Revolution.
(c) Women workers between 1900 and 1930: Women made up 31% of the factory labour force, but were paid between 1/2 and 3/4 of a man’s wages. They actively led the strikes in many factories. They even worked in the collective farms.
(d) The Liberals: They were a group which looked to change society. They wanted a nation which tolerated all religions and opposed the uncontrolled power of dynastic rulers. They argued for a representative, elected parliamentary government subject to laws interpreted by a well-trained judiciary independent of rulers and officials.
(e) Stalin’s collectivisation programme: Stalin hoped to solve the problem of food shortage through combining small farms with large and modern farms. This was collectivisation programme that began in 1929. Peasants were forced to work in these state controlled collective farms called Kolkhoz.
Page 28
Activity 1. List two differences between the capitalist and socialist ideas of private property.
Answer The two differences are as follows:
(i) The capitalists believed that individuals owned private property whereas the socialists believed that all property belonged to the society as a whole, i.e., to the state.
(ii) The capitalists believed that the profits from the property should belong to the property’s owners, whereas the socialist believed that profits are due to the workers’ labour and so should be shared by them.
Page 28
Activity 1. Imagine that a meeting has been called in your area to discuss the socialist idea of doing away with private property and introducing collective ownership. Write the speech you would make at the meeting if you are
(a) A poor labourer working in the fields
(b) A medium-level landowner
(c) A house owner
Answer Respective Sample speeches are given below
(a) A Poor Labourer Working in the Fields : Dear friends, nature has not done any partiality in providing resources to everyone and so some people owning more land than others is incorrect. All the profits from our crops are the result of hard work done by people like me in planting seeds, watering the crops, keeping them free from weeds and harvesting them. So, I think we labourers should share in the profits made from sale of crops, instead of of getting a subsistence wage. To enable this, private ownership of property needs to be abolished and collective ownership of the fields by all the labourers who are working on it introduced.
(b) A Medium-Level Landowner : Respected friends, I do not agree that private ownership of property should be removed. It is not rational and will reduce the crop production. You will not try to increase crop production if the whole profit is not going to you. In fact, what should be done is the equitable distribution of land to all, so that only some people do not own large tracts of land, while others have to manage with small areas of land, or are deprived completely of any land ownership. So, all should be landowners so that everybody benefits.
(c) A House Owner : Friends, I think everybody should have the basic necessities of life like food, shelter and clothing, but not at the expense of other people’s property. Those who do not have land should be given the means to earn their livelihoods in whatever manner is convenient. We have earned our property through the sincere efforts of our ancestors and so we should not be deprived of the labour and wisdom of our forefathers in acquiring land. I think this is very reasonable.
Page 33
Activity 1. Why were there revolutionary disturbances in Russia in 1905? What were the demands of revolutionaries?
Answer The causes of the revolutionary disturbances in Russia in 1905 were
(i) Due to Russia’s defeat in the Russo-Japanese War in 1904, prices of essential goods rose dramatically, so that real wages declined by 20 per cent.
(ii) At the Putilov Iron Works, dismissal of some workers caused a strike.During the subsequent events, a procession of workers was attacked by police in which 100 workers died. This was known as Bloody Sunday.
(iii) Subsequently, strikes took place all over the country, resulting in the creation of an elected Parliament or Duma
The revolutionaries demanded a reduction in daily working hours to eight, increase in wages and improvement in working conditions.
Page 36
Activity 1. Look again at Source A and Box 1.
Source A
Alexander Shlyapnikov, a socialist worker of the time, gives us a description of how the meetings were organised: ‘Propaganda was done in the plants and shops on individual basis. There were also discussion circles… Legal meetings took place on matters concerning [official issues], but this activity was skilfully integrated into the general struggle for the liberation of the working class. Illegal meetings were… arranged on the spur of the moment but in an organised way during lunch, in evening break in front of the exit, in the yard or, in establishments with several floors, on the stairs The most alert workers would form a “plug” in the doorway, and the whole mass piled up in the exit. An agitator would get up right there on the spot. Management would contact the police on the telephone, but the speeches would have already been made and the necessary decision taken by the time they arrived ..’ Alexander Shlyapnikov, On the Eve of 1917. Reminiscences from the Revolutionary Underground.
Women in the February Revolution
Women workers, often … inspired their male co-workers .. At the Lorenz telephone factory,… Marfa Vasileva almost single handedly called a successful strike. Already that morning, in celebration of Women’s Day, women workers had presented red bows to the men … Then Marfa Vasileva, a milling machine operator stopped work and declared an impromptu strike. The workers on the floor were ready to support her … The foreman informed the management and sent her a loaf of bread, She took the bread but refused to go back to work. The administrator asked her again why she refused to work and she replied, “I cannot be the only one who is satiated when others are hungry”. Women workers from another section of the factory gathered around Marfa in support and gradually all the other women ceased working. Soon the men downed their tools as well and the entire crowd rushed onto the street.
From: Choi Chatterji, Celebrating Women (2002).
(a) List five changes in the mood of the workers.
Answer The changes in the mood of the workers were
(i) Earlier only meetings were being held in an organised manner. Now the workers just stopped work to press for their rights, like Marfa Vasileva did.
(ii) Earlier there is no mention of any women workers. But now a woman worker initiated the strike by stopping work.
(iii) Earlier there was no demonstration of unity between men and women workers. Now the women presented red bows to the men, showing the unity. Also, the men downed tools in support of the women who had gone on strike.
(iv) The mood of the workers was more determined now. They took action instead of just talking.
(v) Earlier work used to go on due to workers being afraid of some counter action from the management side, but now the work was stopped, showing the fearlessness of the workmen.
(b) Place yourself in the position of a woman who has seen both situations and write an account of what has changed.
Answer I have seen both situations and I feel that although earlier the workers gave vent to their problems by organising meetings only, now they are fearless, willing to sacrifice their job, rebellious and supporting each other’s action as well as cutting across gender differences.
Page 40
Activity 1. Read the two views on the revolution in the countryside. Imagine yourself to be a witness to the events. Write a short account from the standpoint of
(a) an owner of an Estate
(b) a small peasant
(c) journalist
Answer Sample accounts of the revolution are given below
(a) An Owner of an Estate: My property was taken over by my farm labourers. They spared me and my family, but now I am totally dependent on their mercy. They are not telling me anything about whether my property will be returned to me in the future or not.
(b) A Small Peasant : I am happy that together all of us labourers on this farm have taken it over and can now earn more by sharing the profits from the sale of the grain produced by us. Earlier the profits were all taken by the landowner without him doing any work. I salute the revolution, which has made our lives better.
(c) A Journalist : The news of the uprising has been welcomed in the rural areas by the peasants overpowering the landowners and taking over the running of the farms jointly. The orchards have been divided among the peasants who worked on them earlier, so that they can enjoy the profits from them. Surely the revolution has ushered in prosperity for the common man at the expense of the landowners.
Page 41
Activity 1. Why did people in Central Asia respond to the Russian Revolution in different ways?
Answer The people in Central Asia responded enthusiastically to the February 1917, Revolution because it freed them from the oppression of the Tsar’s reign so that they were masters of their land again. They expected to regain their autonomy.
However, they responded negatively to the October Revolution, as it brought violence, pillage, extra taxes and another dictatorial power to rule over them. They feared now that their autonomy would be lost.
Page 47
Activity 1. Compare the passages written by Shaukat Usmani and Rabindranath Tagore. Read them in relation to Sources C, D and E.
Source C
Dreams and Realities of a Soviet Childhood in 1933
Dear grandfather Kalinin
My family is large, there are four children. We don’t have a father – he died, fighting for the worker’s cause, and my mother… is ailing.. I want to study very much, but I cannot go to school. I had some old boots, but they are completely torn and no one can mend them. My mother is sick, we have no money and no bread, but I want to study very much… there stands before us the task of studying, studying and studying. That is what Vladimir Ilich Lenin said. ButI have to stop going to school. We have no relatives and there is no one to help us, so I have to go to work in a factory, to prevent the family from starving. Dear grandfather, I am 13, I study well and have no bad reports. I am in Class 5 .. Letter of 1933 from a 13-year-old worker to Kalinin, Soviet President
From: V. Sokolov (ed), Obshchestvo / Vlast, v 1930-ye gody (Moscow, 1997).
Source D
Official view of the opposition to collectivisation and the government response
“From the second half of February of this year, in various regions of the Ukraine… mass insurrections of the peasantry have taken place, caused by distortions of the Party’s line by a section of the lower ranks of the Party and the Soviet apparatus in the course of the introduction of collectivisation and preparatory work for the spring harvest. Within a short time, large scale activities from the above-mentioned regions carried over into neighbouring areas… and the most aggressive insurrections have taken place near the border.
The greater part of the peasant insurrections have been linked with outright demands for the return of collectivised stocks of grain, livestock and tools … Between 1st February and 15th March, 25,000 have been arrested … 656 have been executed, 3,673 have been imprisoned in labour camps and 5,580 exiled..’
Report of KM Karlson, President of the State Police Administration of the Ukraine to the Central Committee of the Communist Party, on 19 March 1930.
From: V. Sokolov (ed), Obshchestvo I Vlast, v 1930-ye gody
Source E
This is a letter written by a peasant who did not want to join the collective farm.
To the newspaper Krestianskaia Gazeta (Peasant Newspaper) .
I am a natural working peasant born in 1879.. there are 6 members in my family, my wife was born in 1881, my son is 16, two daughters 19, all three go to school, my sister is 71 From 1932, heavy taxes have been levied on me that I have found impossible. From 1935, local authorities have increased the taxes on me .. and I was unable to handle them and all my property was registered: my horse, cow, calf, sheep with lambs, all my implements, furniture and my reserve of wood for repair of buildings and they sold the lot for the taxes.In 1936, they sold two of my buildings.. the kolkhoz bought them. In 1937, of two huts I had, one was sold and one was confiscated…
Afanasi Dedorovich Frebenev, an independent cultivator.
From : V. Sokolov (ed), Obshchestvo I Vlast, v 1930-ye gody
(a) What did Indians find impressive about the USSR?
Answer At the time when both wrote these passages, India was ruled with an iron hand by the British. There were vast caste and class differences and the people were ignorant and backward. They were impressed by the fact that all persons in Russia were treated equally. In spite of them not being very prosperous, they were happily going about their work. Asians and Europeans mingled freely in Russia, whereas it was unthinkable in India at that time.
(b) What did the writers fail to notice?
Answer b What the two writers failed to notice was that essentially the people were not free to do as they liked. The Bolsheviks ruled like dictators and followed repressive policies to develop the nation quickly. The hard lives and poor working conditions of the people went unnoticed by these travellers.
Page 48
Activity 1. Imagine that you are a striking worker in 1905, who is being tried in court for your act of rebellion. Draft the speech you would make in your defence. Act out your speech for your class.
Answer Your honour and respected citizens, I have not committed any crime, although I am being tried for inciting rebellion. You know how the price of bread has gone up. My wages accordingly should have been increased so that my family does not starve. Now-a-days we only eat one meal in a day, as there is no money to buy more food. So what is wrong if I demand increase in wages?
I am forced to work 12 hours a day, which is inhuman. I have demanded an eight hour working day, which is quite reasonable. Have I committed a crime in that?
Now I leave it in your hand to decide whether I am a criminal or not.