SOCIALISM IN EUROPE AND THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION
I. The Age of Social Change
French Revolution (1789): Inspired ideas of liberty, equality, and fraternity.
Post-revolution debates on:
o Social structure
o Individual rights
o Power control
Rise of new political ideologies:
o Liberals: Wanted rights, religious tolerance, constitutional monarchy, but no universal suffrage.
o Radicals: Wanted broader suffrage (including women), opposed privileges of wealthy
landowners.
o Conservatives: Accepted gradual change with respect for tradition.
II. Industrial Society and Social Change
Industrial Revolution:
o Urbanisation and industrialisation led to poor living and working conditions.
o Long working hours, low wages, child labour, unsanitary cities.
Liberals and radicals sought reforms.
Workers and common people joined the demand for better conditions.
Nationalists and revolutionaries (e.g. Mazzini) promoted ideas of unity and equal rights.
III. The Coming of Socialism to Europe
Socialism emerged as a response to capitalist inequalities.
Core belief: Private property is root of social evils.
Different visions:
o Robert Owen: Cooperative community (New Harmony, USA).
o Louis Blanc: Government-supported cooperatives in France.
Karl Marx and Engels:
o Advocated overthrow of capitalism.
o Predicted formation of a classless, communist society.
o Believed in worker-led revolution and social ownership of property.
IV. Support for Socialism
Spread of socialist ideas by 1870s.
Second International (a socialist body) formed.
Workers’ associations:
o Demanded better wages, reduced hours, right to vote.
o Linked with SPD (Germany), Labour Party (Britain), Socialist Party (France).
Socialist parties influenced legislation but did not form governments till 1914.
V. The Russian Revolution
1. Russian Empire in 1914
Ruled by Tsar Nicholas II (autocracy).
Vast empire with diverse nationalities and religions.
2. Economy and Society
85% population agriculturists; peasants wanted land redistribution.
Industrialisation in pockets (St. Petersburg, Moscow).
Harsh working conditions, wage discrimination (especially women).
Peasants periodically redistributed land within their communes (mir).
3. Socialism in Russia
Political parties illegal until 1914.
Russian Social Democratic Workers Party (1898): Marxist.
Socialist Revolutionary Party: Wanted land redistribution to peasants.
Split into:
o Bolsheviks (Lenin): Wanted a small, disciplined party.
o Mensheviks: Wanted an open, mass-based party.
VI. The 1905 Revolution
Trigger: Bloody Sunday – massacre of workers marching to Winter Palace.
Demands: 8-hour workday, higher wages, constitution.
Result:
o Tsar reluctantly created Duma (Parliament), but later dissolved it.
o Continued repression of revolutionaries.
VII. First World War and Russia
Initial patriotic support faded due to:
o Heavy military losses
o Food and fuel shortages
o Inflation and poverty
Discontent grew against Tsarist rule.
VIII. The February Revolution 1917
Strikes led by women workers (International Women’s Day protest).
Army refused to suppress protestors.
Tsar abdicated (2 March 1917).
Formation of Provisional Government and Petrograd Soviet.
IX. After February: Lenin and the Bolsheviks
Lenin returns from exile, issues April Theses:
o End war
o Transfer land to peasants
o Nationalise banks
Bolsheviks gain popularity, especially among workers and soldiers.
Provisional Government loses support due to:
o Continued war effort
o Failure to redistribute land
X. The October Revolution 1917
Lenin and Trotsky plan uprising.
24–25 October: Military Revolutionary Committee seizes control of Petrograd.
Winter Palace captured; Provisional Government overthrown.
Bolsheviks take power.
XI. What Changed after October?
Land declared social property.
Banks and industries nationalised.
Titles of nobility abolished.
Creation of Cheka (secret police), censorship began.
New socialist art and education policies initiated.
XII. The Civil War (1918–1920)
Reds (Bolsheviks) vs Whites (Tsarists/liberals) and Greens (SRs/peasants).
Foreign powers (UK, France, USA) supported Whites.
Bolsheviks win by 1920.
USSR formed in 1922 with limited autonomy for non-Russian nationalities.
XIII. Making a Socialist Society
Introduced centralised planning and Five-Year Plans.
Emphasis on:
o Industrial growth (coal, steel, oil)
o Education, health care, childcare facilities
Harsh working conditions in early phases.
XIV. Stalinism and Collectivisation
Grain crisis (1927–28) led to forced collectivisation.
Peasants forced into kolkhoz (collective farms).
Kulaks (wealthy peasants) targeted, property seized.
Massive resistance and famine (1930–33: over 4 million died).
Dissenters imprisoned, exiled, or executed.
XV. Global Influence of the Russian Revolution
Inspired anti-colonial movements and socialist parties worldwide.
Communist Party of India formed in 1920s.
Indian thinkers (Tagore, Nehru, Usmani) impressed by USSR.
Comintern formed to spread revolution globally.
Later criticism of lack of freedoms under Soviet regime.
