SSmidterm1

Alexandra Kollontai

"On Party Unity" Alexandra Kollontai - women in the top ranks of the Communist party in a time ruled by men -head of the trade unions -born into an aristocratic background -involved in revolutionary politics -menshivik in 1913 but switches sides in 1917 with trotsky -free love believer, marriage is a chain, the way that men hold women down -demands that workers control the factories, we need to deliver on the promise that we made -lenin has no interest on this type of thing, building a dictatorship -central committee: politburo - smaller body within the central committee that essentially made the decisions in the civil war -after her speech, the politburo meets to remove her from her position of power -she is essentially speaking for the worker's opposition: many of them will be arrested at this point → lenin can now embark on what he wants to do: make a more open economy and give people more economic incentives, and clamp down on dissent politically (no more moments like Kollontai, no more groups that can cause problems within the partY) -"On Party Unity" - says it will now be illegal for any group within the party to object to the policies of the party leadership -we are outlawing factions - any group objecting -as individuals you can object, but any group is illegal *when they pass this in the politburo, there is a realization that anyone could be accused of being part of a faction* -very, very dangerous document -lenin is right and everyone else is wrong, and you must have to learn to accept that

Peter Tkachev

(1844-1886) was a revolutionary Russian writer. Had the elitist notion that new men will form a single group together that will work to create peasant uprising. Considered by Vladimir Lenin to be required reading for his Bolshevik followers. Tkachev called for a proletarian revolution tomorrow, claiming that to wait for private property-mindedness to sink deeper within the Russian population was unacceptable; instead, a revolutionary jump must be made over all intermediate socioeconomic stages (Tkachev parted with the Marxists on this point).

terror famine

-1931: resistance from peasants grows and push back -screw the party -wreck machinery -especially resist in Ukraine -1932: as harvest comes in, Cheka you must take it, make it a crime for Cheka to eat food -we are going to stop peasant resistance by starving them to death -terror famine -use of random, large scale violence to change peoples' behavior The Soviet famine of 1932-33 affected the major grain-producing areas of the Soviet Union, leading to millions of deaths in those areas and severe food shortage throughout the USSR. The famine was the result of the actions of the Soviet state in the implementation of forced collectivization, in economic planning, and political repression in the countryside.

Sergei Witte

A supporter of Alexander III, he was influential during the reign of Nicholas II. Devoted adherer of the absolute monarchy. After being appointed Finance Minister (1892) Sergei Witte became one of the most influential figures in the Imperial political arena. 891 HUGE famine in Russia, lots of people die because Russia sold grain but the harvest was terrible, but they sold their grain anyway AND THEN starved Witte - intelligent -planned to industrialize -focuses initially on railroads -got wheat into cities and other countries -stimulate coal/steel industry -built many railroads, trans-siberian (largest ever) -modern banking system -increased education -using ALL gov $$, industrialization from the top *in Europe came from bourqusie* In 1894-1895 Witte was able to stabilize the ruble. In 1987 he implemented a reform of the national currency. The ruble was provided with the gold standard and remained absolutely stable until WWI. presided over extensive industrialization and the management of various railroad lines. He framed the October Manifesto of 1905

trotsky-martov debate??

Alexander Rabinowitch, Martov's resolution: formation of Democratic government, a government of all socialist parties. Menshiviks, SR's and Bolsheviks to come together to make this democratic government. Why didnt this come to pass? Lenin and Trotsky were determined not to let this happen, they wanted a complete Bolshevik rule. Trotsky's response: we won this - for power, not you. Lenin let left SR's to help but knew they weren't really included ???

the vangaurd

Armed dictatorship of the proletariat -no private property, nobody owns the land/factories anymore -everything is shared and redistributed to everyone -no more money -if you have it, you can exploit those who don't -the government controls distribution -no market, do not go into a store because you have no $ anymore → therefore people cannot exploit each other anymore → this is in the transitional phase → Lenin: The state and revolution, august-september 1917 , vanguardism is a strategy whereby the most class-conscious and politically advanced sections of the proletariat or working class, described as the revolutionary vanguard, form organizations in order to draw larger sections of the working class towards revolutionary politics and serve as manifestations of proletarian political power against its class enemies. If the party is successful in this goal, on the eve of revolution, a critical mass of the working class population would be prepared to usher forth the transformation of society In Lenin's view, after the revolution the working class would implement the dictatorship of the proletariat to rule the new worker's state through the first phase of communism, socialism. Here it can be said that the vanguard disappears, as all of society now consists of revolutionaries

petrograd soviet

During the revolutionary days, the council tried to extend its jurisdiction nationwide as a rival power center to the Provisional Government, creating Dual power. Its committees were key components during the Russian Revolution and some of them led the armed revolt of October Revolution. The soviet was established in March 1917 after the February Revolution as a representative body of the city's workers and soldiers, while the city already had its well established city council, the Saint Petersburg City Duma (Central Duma). The Petrograd Soviet developed into an alternate source of authority to the Provisional Government under (Prince) Georgy Lvov and later Alexander Kerensky. This created a situation described as dvoevlastie (dual power), in which the Petrograd Soviet competed for legitimacy with the Provisional Government until the October Revolution.

order #1

Issued March 1, 1917 (O.S.) and was the first official decree of The Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies. The order was issued following the February Revolution. The order instructed soldiers and sailors to obey their officers and the Provisional Government only if their orders did not contradict the decrees of the Petrograd Soviet. It also called on units to elect representatives to the Soviet and for each unit to elect a committee which would run the unit. he goal of those who issued the order was to restore discipline to the army and address the problem of how to deal with officers who were said to be returning to their units after the February Revolution yet were continuing to lord it over and abuse their troops

Nicholas II

His reign saw the fall of the Russian Empire from being one of the foremost great powers of the world to economic and military collapse. Due to the Khodynka Tragedy, anti-Semitic pogroms, Bloody Sunday, the violent suppression of the 1905 Revolution, the execution of political opponents and of his perceived responsibility for the Russo-Japanese War, he was given the nickname Nicholas the Bloody. Early 1917 workers go on strike because they do not have enough food and by that time Tsar Nicholas II is hopeless. Strikes occur Feb/March 1917 Duma (Parliament) steps in: Nicholas II deposed, no more autocracy. Incompetent, incapable, Nicholas does not fight it, gives up. imprisoned. In the spring of 1918, Nicholas was handed over to the local Ural Soviet; with the approval of Lenin, Nicholas and his family were eventually executed by theBolsheviks on the night of 16-17 July 1918.

April Theses

Lenin 1917 -first part of Lenin's plan to take power and implement strategy -if I come to power, we will leave the war -Bolsheviks only party that wants to stop fighting -offering to the peasants: land*******, bread, peace -what does he offer the workers? -control of industry, take over the factories, get rid of your owner -all power to soviets - also known as workers council -no power to provisional government (duma) Although some Bolsheviks still had reservations about the program, the concepts contained in the theses became very popular among the workers and soldiers of Petrograd It was not until October, however, that Lenin's party was able to begin implementation of its program and seize power from the Provisional Government in the name of the Soviets.

"Socialism in one country"

Lenin's death scares people -Stalin understands this best, levitates Lenin up to higher up power → why Petrigrad gets changed to Leningrad -people want a god, Stalin provides it to them Cult of lenin One big idea stalin ever has: "socialism in one country" → focus on building socialism, communism in Soviet Union, don't go chasing world revolution, focus resources here The theory held that given the defeat of all the communist revolutions in Europe in 1917-1921 except Russia's, the Soviet Union should begin to strengthen itself internally. That turn toward national communism was a shift from the previously held Marxist position that socialism must be established globally (world communism)

Zemstvos

Local councils and independent judiciarys to protect private property so the government could not take it away. Had two levels, the canton and the province, composed of delegates representing the peasant village communes. Generally dominated by nobility, they suffered after 1890 from legislation that restricted their authority, low budget, and administrative control. Did help to provide elementary schools, health care, and agricultural techniques. In 1917, reorganized on a democratic basis and abolished later that year after Bolshevik party came into power.

October Manifesto

Oct. 30 [Oct. 17, Old Style], 1905), in Russian history, document issued by the emperor Nicholas II that in effect marked the end of unlimited autocracy in Russia and ushered in an era of constitutional monarchy. Threatened by the events of the Russian Revolution of 1905, Nicholas faced the choice of establishing a military dictatorship or granting a constitution. Although both the tsar and his advising minister Sergey Yulyevich, Count Witte, had reservations about the latter option, it was determined to be tactically the better choice. Nicholas thus issued the October Manifesto, which promised to guarantee civil liberties (e.g., freedom of speech, press, and assembly), to establish a broad franchise, and to create a legislative body (the Duma) whose members would be popularly elected and whose approval would be necessary before the enactment of any legislation. On April 23, 1906, the Fundamental Laws, which were to serve as a constitution, were promulgated. The Duma that was created had two houses rather than one, however, and members of only one of them were to be popularly elected. Further, the Duma had only limited control over the budget and none at all over the executive branch of the government. In addition, the civil rights and suffrage rights granted by the Fundamental Laws were far more limited than those promised by the manifesto.

Peter the Great

Peter inherited (in 1696) a nation that was severely underdeveloped compared to other European countries. While the Renaissance and Reformation swept through Europe, Russia rejected and remained isolated from modernization. Peter undertook extensive reforms: overcame opposition from the country's medieval aristocracy, created a strong navy, reorganized his army according to Western standards, secularized schools, administered greater control over the reactionary Orthodox church, and introduced new territorial divisions of the country. In 1712, Peter established the city of St. Petersburg and moved the capital there from its former locations in Moscow. He was known to be cruel and his high taxes created various reforms that led to revolts from citizens.

Sergei Nechaev

Proposes there is a revolutionary morality = end is so perfect that *any means* taken to get there are OK, goodbye normal morality, violence is okay, if you don't do EVERYTHING you can, then that is immoral. The Nihilist movement was an 1860s Russian cultural movement which questioned the validity of all existing moral values and institutions. It is derived from the Latin word "Nihil," which means "nothing." After the killing of Tsar Alexander II, Nihilists were known throughout Europe as proponents of the use of violence as the primary tool for political change. Known for his single-minded pursuit of revolution by any means necessary, including political violence.

Mensheviks

Russian: One of the Minority, non-Leninist wing of the Russian Social-Democratic Workers' Party, emerged in 1904 after a dispute in the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) between Vladimir Lenin and Julius Martov, leading to the party splitting into two factions, one being the Mensheviks and the other being the Bolsheviks. The dispute originated at the Second Congress of the RSDLP, ostensibly over minor issues of party organization. Martov's supporters, who were in the minority in a crucial vote on the question of party membership, came to be called Mensheviks, derived from the Russian word меньшинство (minority), whereas Lenin's adherents were known as Bolsheviks, from большинство (majority).[3][4][5][6][7] Neither side held a consistent majority over the course of the congress. The split proved to be long-standing and had to do both with pragmatic issues based in history, such as the failed revolution of 1905, and theoretical issues of class leadership, class alliances, and interpretations of historical materialism. While both factions believed that a "bourgeois democratic" revolution was necessary, the Mensheviks generally tended to be more moderate and were more positive towards the liberal opposition and the dominant peasant-based Socialist Revolutionary party.[8][9] Although they assumed leading roles in the soviets and provisional governments, created after the February Revolution (1917), and formally set up their own party in August, they were not sufficiently united to maintain a dominant position in the political developments of 1917. After the Bolshevik Revolution (October), they attempted to form a legal opposition but in 1922 were permanently suppressed; many Mensheviks went into exile.

Konstantin Pobedonostev

Served for Alexander the III's chief advisor and Nicholas II Was a retractionary, create secret police: Okhrana. Came to be the symbol of Russian monarchal absolutism. Denounced the 18th-century Enlightenment view of the perfectibility of man. Strongly supported paternalistic and authoritarian government. He looked upon each nation as being based on the land, the family, and the national church, and he regarded the maintenance of stability as the principal purpose of government. He sought to defend Russia and the Russian Orthodox church and promoted the rapid expansion of primary education in parish schools He tried also to prohibit and to banish all foreign influences, especially western European ideas concerning constitutional and democratic government.

cheka

The All-Russian Emergency Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution and Sabotage: The Cheka, Dec. 1917 Known as "The Cheka" Lenin brings back this secret police Tries to get rid of bourgeoisie and to build a communist utopia The Russian Civil War had made it clear that not everyone in what was to become the USSR favoured Lenin and the Bolsheviks being in power. The main task of the Cheka was to hunt out what became known as "enemies of the state" and to deal with them. This led to what became known as the "Red Terror". While in theory the Cheka had to operate by the letter of the law, this was not the case and such was its power that no one could do anything about it if they were arrested for being an 'enemy of the state'. The Cheka became judge, jury and invariably executioner. In 1929 a former member of the Cheka stated that he believed that it had executed 50,000 people.

worker peasant alliance

The Development of Capitalism in Russia was an early economic work by Lenin written whilst he was in exile in Siberia. In it Lenin attacked the Populist claim that Russia could avoid the stage of capitalism, and that the rural commune could serve as the basis for communism. Instead Lenin argued that the rural communes had already been wiped out by capitalism and statistics showed the degree to which feudalism was already dying in Russia.[2] Lenin noted the growth of a national market for goods in Russia replacing local markets, the tendency to grow cash crops rather than rely on subsistence agriculture and a growth of individual rather than communal property ownership.[3] Lenin also noted the growth of class division amongst the peasants with a growing division between a landholding rural bourgeoise and a mostly landless rural proletariat recruited from a diminishing middle peasantry. Lenin saw a community of interest between rural and urban proletariat and the possibility of a worker peasant alliance against the representatives of capital

food dictatorship

The Kulaks were the richer peasants and the Bolsheviks did not like them and thought they hoarded grain to benefit from higher prices. To prevent this the government was prepared to use force. Lenin also sought to play off poorer peasants against the kulaks but this didn't work because such rivalries were not common. Hence, coercion was used. On 9th May 1918 the Food-Supplies Dictatorship was proclaimed and armed requisitioning of grain was made general policy. Orders issued in August 1918 by the people's commissar for food sanctioned the use of force. The use of force was brutal and counterproductive, because surpluses were confiscated and peasants only produced what they needed. By 1921 there was a national famine. The harvests of 1920 and 1921 were half those of 1913. Relief came mainly from the USA organised by the American Relief Association (ARA), but during the Civil War about 10 million died of which 5 million were due to starvation. The Food-Supplies Dictatorship established grain quotas for each district. In practice grain was expropriated indiscriminately, and many peasant households starved.By 1919 all large factories and mines had been nationalised. Within the party there was debate about the shape of economic policy. Left Bolsheviks, for example, Bukharin and Preobrazhensky, wanted war communism to continue, and Lenin favoured it. But the failure of the policy to revive the economy and anti-Bolshevik uprisings in 1920-1 made him change his course and he announced in March 1921 the New Economic Policy (NEP) at the 10th Party Conference.

provisional government

The Russian Revolution of February 1917 brought into power the Provisional Government, which promptly introduced freedom of speech and assembly and lifted the tsarist restrictions on minorities. he Russian Provisional Government (Russian: Временное правительство России, translit. Vremennoye pravitel'stvo Rossii) was a provisional government of the Russian Republic established immediately following the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II (March 15, 1917).[1][2] The intention of the provisional government was the organization of elections to the Russian Constituent Assembly and its convention. It abolished capital punishment, declared the independence of Poland, restored the constitution of Finland, established local government on a universal suffrage basis, conceded language rights to all the nationalities, confirmed liberty of speech, liberty of the Press, and liberty of assembly.[3] The provisional government lasted approximately eight months, and ceased to exist when theBolsheviks seized power after the October Revolution (or November 1917, depending on Calendar Dating Styles). According to Harold Whitmore Williams the history of eight months during which Russia was ruled by the Provisional Government was the history of the steady and systematic disorganisation of the army.[4]

Alexander II

The outcome of the Crimeon War (1854) exposed how weak and backwards Russia was, inspiring Alexander II towards domestic reforms. These included the emancipation (1861) of serfs, improvement of communications (railroad construction). Railroad construction quickened economic life in a feudal agricultural society. Joint stock companies and banking institutions developed. The movement of grain was facilitated. In 1881, Alexander the II is assassinated by revolutionary terrorists who hope by cutting off the head of the autocracy the system will end, but he is succeeded by his son, Alexander the III.

Okhrana

The secret police, an organization set up in 1881 in Russia after the assassination of Alexander II to maintain State security and suppress revolutionary activities, replaced after the Revolution of 1917 by the Cheka. founded to combat political terrorism and left-wing revolutionary activity. The group's principal mode of operation was through infiltration of labour unions, political parties, and, in at least two cases, newspapers: police agents were editors of the Marxist journals Nachalo (1899, "The Beginning") and, in 1912-13, of Pravda. The Okhranka was particularly active following the unsuccessful Russian Revolution of 1905. After the February 1917 Revolution the organization was abolished by the Provisional Government.

Nikolai Chernyshevsky

Was a populist member of the inteligentsia, radical journalist, and politican. Wrote a book entitled "what is to be done?" (1863). Described the "new men" - revolutionary superheroes, "perfect" people. The idealized image it offered of dedicated and self-sacrificing intellectuals transforming society by means of scientific knowledge served as a model of inspiration for Russia's revolutionary intelligentsia and Lenin. Condemned moderate reform, had a socialist vision. "What Is to Be Done" exacerbated the conflicts that eventually led to the Russian Revolution.

Great Reforms

Were an effort to dramatically change Russia. The Emancipation Act went into place February 19, 1861, abolishing serfdom under Alexander II. Were a major step in freeing of labor in Russia but also helped to undermine the already shaken economic foundations of Russia's landowning class. A new judicial system was put in place in 1864 and local governments were remodeled into local assemblies called zemstvos. This gradual introduction of self government improved local welfare and helped Russian villages although the reform failed in its ultimate goal of creating an economically viable class of peasant proprietors.

trade union consciousness

Writing about the wave of strikes in late nineteenth century Russia, Lenin states that "the history of all countries shows that the working class, exclusively by its own efforts, is able to develop only trade-union consciousness"; that is, combining into unions, etc. Socialist theory, however, in Russia, as elsewhere in Europe, was the product of the "educated representatives of the propertied classes", the intellectuals or "revolutionary socialist intellectuals". Lenin states that Marx and Engels themselves, the very founders of modern scientific socialism, belonged to this bourgeois intelligentsia In What Is to Be Done?, Lenin argues that the working class will not spontaneously become political simply by fighting economic battles with employers over wages,working hours and the like. To convert the working class to Marxism, Lenin insists that Marxists should form a political party, or "vanguard," of dedicated revolutionaries to spread Marxist political ideas among the workers. The pamphlet precipitated in part the split of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party(RSDLP) between Lenin's Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks

kulaks

category of affluent landlords in the later, According to the political theory of Marxism-Leninism of the early 20th century, the kulaks were class enemies of the poorer peasants. The word kulak originally referred to independent farmers in the Russian Empire who emerged from the peasantry and became wealthy following the Stolypin reform, which began in 1906. The label of kulak was broadened in 1918 to include any peasant who resisted handing over their grain to detachments from Moscow.[1] During 1929-1933, Stalin's leadership of the total campaign to collectivize the peasantry meant that "peasants with a couple of cows or five or six acres more than their neighbors" were being labeled "kulaks".[2]

war communism

economic policy applied by the Bolsheviks during the period of theRussian Civil War (1918-20). More exactly, the policy of War Communism lasted from June 1918 to March 1921. The policy's chief features were the expropriation of private business and the nationalization of industry throughout Soviet Russia, and the forced requisition of surplus grain and other food products from the peasantry by the state. These measures negatively affected both agricultural and industrial production. With no incentives to grow surplus grain (since it would just be confiscated), the peasants' production of it and other crops plummeted, with the result that starvation came to threaten many city dwellers was enforced by the Supreme Economic Council, known as the Vesenkha. It ended on March 21, 1921, with the beginning of the New Economic Policy (NEP), which lasted until 1928.

Bolshevik

majority", follows Lenin 1903: division in the Marxist movement Mensheviks v. Bolsheviks -the key point for Lenin: how do we get rid of the autocracy & get ourselves in power & skip over the step of bourqui-capitalism (Russian: "One of the Majority") , plural Bolsheviks, orBolsheviki, member of a wing of the Russian Social-Democratic Workers' Party, which, led by Lenin, seized control of the government in Russia (October 1917) and became the dominant political power. The group originated at the party's second congress (1903) when Lenin's followers, insisting that party membership be restricted to professional revolutionaries, won a temporary majority on the party's central committee and on the editorial board of its newspaper Iskra. In 1912 Lenin, leading a very small minority, formed a distinct Bolshevik organization, decisively (although not formally) splitting the Russian Social-Democratic Workers' Party. the Bolsheviks became increasingly popular among urban workers and soldiers in Russia after the February Revolution (1917), particularly after April, when Lenin returned to the country, demanding immediate peace and that the workers' councils, or Soviets, assume power. By October the Bolsheviks had majorities in the Petrograd (St. Petersburg) and Moscow Soviets; and when they overthrew the Provisional Government, the second Congress of Soviets (devoid of peasant deputies) approved the action and formally took control of the government. Immediately after the October Revolution, the Bolsheviks refused to share power with other revolutionary groups, with the exception of the Left Socialist Revolutionaries; eventually they suppressed all rival political organizations. They changed their name to Russian Communist Party (of Bolsheviks) in March 1918; to All-Union Communist Party (of Bolsheviks) in December 1925; and to Communist Party of the Soviet Union in October 1952.

Peter Stolypin

planned was nothing less than a major revolution in the countryside. Logic was on his side - the peasants were by nature conservative. Also by giving them the ownership of the land they worked, he would have been making them property owners. Such an elevation in their status would bring, so Stolypin believed, major support to the government and take away any semblance of support for what the Duma wanted. This, in turn, would strengthen autocracy in Russia - as the tsar would have the support of the majority of peasants and the power of the Duma would have been nullified. This is what Stolypin hoped for. However, he faced one huge problem - convincing others in the government that handing over land to the peasants was the way ahead. Some historians believe that if Stolypin had been able to introduce his land reforms and the peasants had ownership of their land, a large part of the anger that was building up against the government would have been dissipated. Other historians have argued that such reforms would have propelled Russia towards a revolution regardless, as the peasants would have wanted more, while the workers would have wanted some form of reform for themselves. This is all speculation as Stolypin's assassination meant that his land reforms were never introduced. Stolypin's time in government was a curious mix of desired for reform mixed with ardent repression of any unrest and Russification.

Julius Martov & Leon Trotsky

summer of 1903: meeting, congress, leaders of RDSP: Mortov and Trotsky → tell Lenin that he is setting up a dictatorship, socialism is not Marxist: are you trying to skip steps? Powerful criticism -the party splits: 2 groups Bolsheviks vs. Mensheviks (Martov and Trotsky) -Martov and Trotsky are always at a disadvantage because their method is not exciting Seen as the leader of the Mensheviks, Martov edited the journal Iskra from November, 1903 to its closure in October, 1905. Along with George Plekhanov and Leon Trotsky, he used the journal to attack Vladimir Lenin and the Bolsheviks. Communist Leon Trotsky helped ignite the Russian Revolution of 1917, and built the Red Army afterward. He was exiled and later assassinated by Soviet agents. During the early years of the Social Democratic Party, there were often disputes among the party's leadership over its form and strategy. Vladimir Lenin argued for a small party of professional revolutionaries who would lead a large contingent of non-party supporters. Julius Martov advocated for a larger, more democratic organization of supporters. Leon Trotsky tried to reconcile the two factions, resulting in numerous clashes with both groups' leaders. Many of the Social Democrats, including the ambitious Joseph Stalin, sided with Lenin. Trotsky's neutrality was seen as disloyal.

red guards

were paramilitary volunteer formations consisting mainly of factory workers, peasants, cossacks and partially of soldiers and sailors for "protection of the Soviet power". Red Guards were a transitional military force of the collapsing Imperial Russian Army and the base formations of Bolsheviks during the October Revolution and the first months of the Civil War. Most of them were formed in the time frame of the Russian Revolution of 1917 Under the influence of the Bolsheviks, the Red Guards played an important role in the defeat of the revolt led by General Lavr Kornilov in September, 1917. They also were used to seize control from theProvisional Government in November, 1917. It is estimated that by the end of the revolution there were 7,000 Red Guards in Russia.

the krondstandt rebellion

was a major unsuccessful uprising against the Bolsheviks in March 1921, during the later years of the Russian Civil War. Led by Stepan Petrichenko[1] and consisting of Russian sailors, soldiers, and civilians, the rebellion was one of the reasons for Vladimir Lenin's and the Communist Party's decision to loosen its control of the Russian economy by implementing the New Economic Policy (NEP) originated in Kronstadt, he rebellion was crushed by the Red Army after a 12-day military campaign, resulting in several thousand deaths. Kronstadt Provisional Revolutionary Committee - What are we fighting for? : -Russian communist party is not the defenders of the toilers, like they say they are -patience of the toilers has reached its end -okhrana have tried to stall a third revolution -no middle ground, victory or death

Russian-Japanese War

was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and Korea. Russia suffered numerous defeats by Japan, but Tsar Nicholas II was convinced that Russia would win and chose to remain engaged in the war; to preserve the dignity of Russia by averting a "humiliating peace". The war concluded with the Treaty of Portsmouth, mediated by US President Theodore Roosevelt. The complete victory of the Japanese military surprised world observers. The consequences transformed the balance of power in East Asia, resulting in a reassessment of Russo-Japanese War, (1904-05), military conflict in which a victorious Japan forced Russia to abandon its expansionist policy in the Far East, becoming the first Asian power in modern times to defeat a European power.

the gulag and slave labor

was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labour camp systems during the Stalin era, from the 1930s until the 1950s. ome 18 million passed through the prisons and camps of the Gulag. Under Stalin, labor camp prisoners became an important resource for the construction of many industries, including the nation's railways and roads, mining operations, and the timber industry. Millions suffered in the camps, many guilty of no crime. In the eyes of the authorities, a prisoner had almost no value. An unknown number well into the millions died in Gulag camps. Those who died of hunger, cold, and hard labor were easily replaced by new prisoners.