RUSSIAN REVOLUTION STUDY GUIDE

CH. 28 

soviet – Council of workers and soldiers.  The Bolsheviks, a radical socialist group, took charge of the new Russian government.

command economy – An economy in which government officials make all basic economic decisions.  The Soviet Union developed a command economy under Stalin.

collective – Large farms owned and operated by peasants as a group.  Peasants were forced to work on collectives; they were allowed to keep their houses and personal belongings, but all farm animals and implements were to be turned over to the collective.

kulak – Wealthy peasants.  The Soviet Union, under Stalin, confiscated kulaks’ land and sent them to labor camps.

totalitarian state – A one party dictatorship attempts to regulate every aspect of the lives of its citizens.  To ensure Stalin’s power, secret police, censorship, and terror were used.

socialist realism – A style that glorifies the communist life from a positive aspect.  Their overall message, though, had been to promote hope in a socialist future.

Lenin – Leader of the Bolshevik party who had seized power and made himself dictator of the Soviet Union.  He led the Soviets through the first years of rule under Communism.

Osip Mandelstam – A Jewish poet who was imprisoned, tortured, and exiled for composing a satirical verse about Stalin.  Out of fear for his wife’s safety, he composed “Ode to Stalin.”

Nicholas II – Last Russian Czar who supported Russia’s involvement in the First World War.  It ultimately proved to be his downfall, and he would lose power in March 1917.

Gregory Rasputin – An illiterate Siberian peasant who gained influence over the Russian royal family by healing the hemophiliac Prince Alexis through hypnosis.  The nephew of the Czar fed him poison cakes and wine, shot him twice, clubbed him, and he eventually died from drowning.

Joseph Stalin – General Secretary of the Communist Party who competed, and eventually won out, for power with Leon Trotsky.  He became a ruthless dictator who promoted censorship and fascism.

Anna Akhmatova – One of Russia’s greatest poets who did not stress communist ideals.  Her works weren’t published because of censorship, but they were later told by friends who had memorized them.

Mikhail Sholokhov – A Russian writer who described the civil war in his novel And Quiet Flows the Don.  He was able to pass the Communist Censors and was one of the few Soviet writers to win the Nobel Prize for literature.

Leon Trotsky – Lenin’s “right hand man” who competed with Stalin for control of the USSR after Lenin’s death, but was forced into exile by Stalin and assassinated in Mexico.  He was a brilliant Marxist thinker, a skillful speaker, and an architect of the Bolshevik Revolution.

Socialist revolution – Revolution to change the economy from capitalist to socialist.  Lenin didn’t regard gradual change through reform as change enough, and only supported a total revolution.

Bolshevik Revolution – Originally a soviet group, they quickly rose to power and overthrew the provisional government to take power for themselves..  The Communist Party was formed out of the Bolshevik Revolution.

Lenin's New Economic Policy – It allowed some capitalist ventures, but the state kept control of banks, foreign trade, and large industries.  Small businesses were allowed to reopen for private profit.

Stalin's 5 Year Plan – Stalin’s five year plan set out to make the Soviet Union into a modern industrial power.  It aimed at building heavy industry, improving transportation, and increasing farm output.

The arts under Stalin – The arts under Stalin were censored and manipulated.  The arts were under firm control of the state.

List three causes of the 1917 revolution in Russia – Three causes for the Russian Revolution were: discontent with the ruling Romanov dynasty, a weak economy and food shortage, and prolonged participation in WWI.  All of these factors contributed to the Russian Revolution in 1917.