The chapter “Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution” explores how socialist ideas spread in 19th-century Europe and led to one of the most significant political events in world history—the Russian Revolution of 1917. It explains the conditions in Russia under the Tsar, the rise of Lenin and the Bolsheviks, and the establishment of a socialist state.
Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution Class 9 Notes
The Age of Social Change
After the French Revolution the people of Europe are thinking about freedom, equality, and change in the society; people want to build a better society. Before the 1700s, society was controlled by kings, nobles, and the church. The people are divided into social classes known as estates. There are three different groups with different opinions:
- Liberals: They want a government elected by the people, and they are not supporting voting rights for women.
- Radicals: They want significant changes and equal voting rights for everyone, including women.
- Conservatives: They don’t want major changes; they want to protect old traditions, but they accept some changes as long as they don’t destroy the past.
Industrial Society and Social Change
This is a time when the big changes were done in Europe: new cities and factories were built, railways expanded, and the Industrial Revolution began. Industrialisation brought men, women, and children to factories. Work hours were often long, and wages were poor. Unemployment was common, particularly during times of low demand for industrial goods. Housing and sanitation were problems since towns were growing rapidly.
Liberals and radicals are finding ways to solve these problems.
They believe that everyone should have a chance to succeed, not only rich nobles. After 1815 many liberals, radicals, and nationalists want to end monarchy; they want to build a nation where all citizens have equal rights.
Support for Socialism
By the 1870s, socialist ideas had become popular in Europe, and socialists formed an international group called the Second International. The workers of England and Germany started to create associations for better living and working conditions like shorter working hours, and demanding the right to vote. In Germany workers supported the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and helped the SPD to win seats in parliament. In 1905 socialists and trade unionists formed the Labour Party in Britain and the Socialist Party in France.
Before 1914 socialists did not run any government in Europe, but their ideas were powerful and helped to make new laws to improve the life of workers and poor people. Still, most governments were led by conservatives, liberals, or radicals — not socialists.
The Russian Revolution
In Russia in 1917 there were two major events was the February Revolution and the October Revolution. During the February Revolution, Tsar Nicholas II gave up his throne and that was the end of monarchy and in the October Revolution, the Bolsheviks took control of the government. These two events together are known as the Russian Revolution. Let us look at Russia a few years before the revolution.
Russia Before the Revolution (1914)
In 1914, Tsar Nicholas II ruled a very large empire. The empire included Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Finland, Baltic countries like Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, and parts of Central Asia and the Caucasus like Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Most people from this country followed the Russian Orthodox Church, but there were also some people from other religions, like Muslims, Catholics, Protestants, and Buddhists.
Economy and Society
At the beginning of the twentieth century, 85% of Russian people were farmers. At that time, Russia was a major exporter of grain.
Before the Russian Revolution, a big part of the land was owned by the nobles, the Tsar (king), and the church. Peasants (farmers) worked on nobles land. Peasants wanted their own land; due to that, the peasants protested by not paying rent or sometimes fighting with landlords. Some of the area peasants shared land through a commune system called “mir,” which was divided based on each family’s needs. Factories were mostly found in St. Petersburg and Moscow. In the 1890s factory growth increased with the help of railroad expansion and foreign investment.
Most of the factories were owned by private businessmen. The government only supervised them; in factories the wages of workers are less and working hours are more. Workers do not have proper living places; they live in crowded rooms. Women workers earned less money than men. Big strikes happened in 1896-97 in the textile industry and in 1902 in the metal industry.
Socialism in Russia
Before 1914 all political parties were illegal in Russia. In 1898 socialists who followed Karl Marx’s ideas started the Russian Social Democratic Workers Party (RSDWP). At that time the RSDWP party was illegal; they worked secretly to publish a newspaper and to organise strikes to spread their ideas.
In some Russian villages peasants shared their land with others; this means that they are dividing the land fairly among the families. Because of this, some socialists thought that the peasants were already acting like socialists and they could lead the revolution to change the country. In 1900 they started a group called the Socialist Revolutionary Party. The motive of this party is to take land from the rich nobles and give it to the peasants (farmers).
However, Lenin disagreed with this view. He believed that all peasants were not the same; some are rich, and some are poor. Because of this, the party split into two groups. Lenin’s group was called the Bolsheviks, and the Mensheviks were another group. Lenin’s group wanted a small, disciplined, and strict party, but on the other hand, the Mensheviks wanted a large party open to everyonewho wanted to support socialism.
A Turbulent Time: The 1905 Revolution
Russia was an autocracy; it means that the Tsar had all the power and didn’t have to share power with any parliament. Many groups, like liberals, social democrats, and socialist revolutionaries, wanted the change in the government. Poland and Muslim areas like Jadidists also supported these changes.
Why Did the Revolution Start?
In 1904, the prices of the product increased, but the salaries did not; due to that, the workers are not happy. When the four workers were fired from a factory, 110,000 workers in St. Petersburg went on strike; they wanted better salaries, improved working conditions, and shorter working hours.
Bloody Sunday (22 January 1905)
On 22 January 1905, a peaceful protest led by Father Gapon marched toward the Winter Palace, but they were attacked by the police; over 100 people were killed, and many were injured. This is known as Bloody Sunday. This started the 1905 Revolution. Now the protest started all over Russia. Students left colleges, and middle-class workers like doctors and lawyers formed the Union of Unions to demand a new government. The Tsar agreed to create a Duma (a kind of parliament), but he dissolved the first Duma in 75 days and the second one within three months. Later he changed the voting rules to fill the third Duma with people who supported him. Revolutionaries were kept out, and most political activity became illegal again.
The First World War and the Russian Empire
In 1914, war broke out between two European alliances – Germany, Austria and Turkey (the Central powers) and France, Britain and Russia (later Italy and Romania). Each country had a global empire and the war was fought outside Europe as well as in Europe. This was the First World War.
In Russia, the war was initially popular and people rallied around Tsar Nicholas II. As the war continued, though, the Tsar refused to consult the main parties in the Duma. Support wore thin. The First World War on the ‘eastern front’ differed from that on the ‘western front’. Russia’s armies lost badly in Germany and Austria between 1914 and 1916. There were over 7 million casualties by 1917. As they retreated, the Russian army destroyed crops and buildings to prevent the enemy from being able to live off the land.
The destruction of crops and buildings led to over 3 million refugees in Russia. The situation discredited the government and the Tsar. Soldiers did not wish to fight such a war As a result, there were labour shortages and small workshops producing essentials were shut down. Large supplies of grain were sent to feed the army. For the people in the cities, bread and flour became scarce. By the winter of 1916, riots at bread shops were common.
The February Revolution in Petrograd
The February Revolution began on February 23, 1917. After World War I, Russia faced severe social and economic issues. Due to shortage of food, there was a large-scale protest in the streets of Petrograd. there were large-scale protests and violent battles with the police and the Russian monarch’s allies. Even the Russian military sided with the demonstrators. Thousands of people died as a result of the protest. All of these events contributed to Tsar Nicholas II’s resignation, which put an end to the Russian Empire.
- 1917 – Food shartages in the workers quarters.
- 22 February 1917 – Workers from 50 factories went on strike. Women took the lead in several factory strikes. This came to be called the International Women’s Day.
- Due to Official buildings were surrounded by workers, the government imposed a curfew.
- On Sunday, 25 February, the government suspended the Duma.
- On the 27th, the Police Headquarters were ransacked.
- People raising slogans about bread, wages, better hours and democracy. The government tried to control the situation and called out the cavalry once again.
- The cavalry refrained from opening fire on the protesters. After an officer was shot at a regiment’s barracks, three other regiments mutinied and decided to support the striking workers.
- The very next day, a delegation went to see the Tsar. Military commanders advised him to abdicate.
- Soviet leaders and Duma leaders formed a Provisional Government to run the country.
- Russia’s future would be decided by a constituent assembly, elected on the basis of universal adult suffrage.
After February
- Liberals and socialists worked towards an elected government.
- Restrictions on public meetings and associations were removed.
- In industrial areas, factory committees were formed which began questioning the way industrialists ran their factories.
- Trade unions grew in number. Soldiers’ committees were formed in the army.
- Countryside, peasants and their Socialist Revolutionary leaders pressed for a redistribution of land. Land committees were formed to handle this.
The Revolution of October 1917
The October Revolution was a major event that took place in Russia 1917. It was led by two men, Lenin and Trotsky, and many people joined because they believed in them. This signified the beginning of Lenin’s rule over the Bolshevik-led Soviet. The Bolshevik Party afterwards changed its name to the Russian Communist Party.
What Changed after October?
- In November 1917, industry and banking were nationalized.
- Land was deemed to be social property, and nobility-owned land might be seized by peasants.
- The Bolshevik Party was renamed the Russian Communist Party (Bolshevik)
- Elections for the Constituent Assembly were held in November 1917.
- Russia merged into a single-party system.
- After October 1917, innovations started in the arts and architecture.
The Civil War
The communist Red Army of the Bolsheviks and the non-Bolshevik White Army fought each other in the Russian Civil War. While there were some clashes in the north, most of the fighting took place in southern and eastern Russia. Additionally, the Baltic states were a threat to the Red Army since they wanted independence. In the end, the Red Army won against the White Army, creating the Soviet Union.
Making a Socialist Society
- Banks and industry remained nationalized during the civil war.
- Peasants were permitted to cultivate the land.
- The introduction of a centralized planning method.
- Officials focused on the economy’s functioning and established goals for a five-year time frame.
- The government set all prices throughout the first two “Plans” to encourage industrial development (1927-1932 and 1933-1938).
- Centralised planning led to economic growth.
- An educational system was established, and plans were made to allow manufacturing employees and peasants to enroll in universities.
- In workplaces, crèches were set up for the kids of female workers.
Stalin and Collective Farming
The availability of food had become a serious issue in Soviet Russia’s towns by 1927–1928. Despite the government setting the prices at which grain must be sold, the peasants refused to sell their grain to government buyers at these rates.
The Global Influence of the Russian Revolution and the USSR
Like the Communist Party of Great Britain, communist parties were founded in several nations. At the Conference of the Peoples of the East, non-Russians from outside the USSR participated (1920). The Comintern was established by the Bolsheviks (an international union of pro-Bolshevik socialist parties). Socialism had a global face and international grandeur thanks to the USSR before the Second World War began. The USSR emerged into a major power as a result of the expansion of its industries, agriculture, and food production. The USSR’s status as a socialist nation had deteriorated by the turn of the 20th century.
Many people in Europe wanted fairness and equality. The Tsar ruled and didn’t listen to the people. After war, protests, and food shortages, the Tsar lost power. In 1917 Lenin took control and started a government based on socialism.
What is Russian Revolution Class 9 notes?
The Russian Revolution was a series of events in 1917 that ended the rule of Tsar Nicholas II and led to the rise of socialism in Russia.
Socialists opposed private property. They each had a unique outlook on the future. Some supported cooperatives, while others insisted that governments must support them. The addition that the industrial society was a capitalist society that was not profitable for everyone was made by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.
Socialists opposed private property and believed that it was the underlying source of all social ills. They believed that although property created jobs, it benefited the owners personally rather than the people who helped to make the property profitable.
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