CHAPTER 2

SOCIALISM IN EUROPE AND THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION CONCEPTS THE AGE OF SOCIAL CHANGE

CLASS-IX (HISTORY)

Q.1. Differentiate between the ideas of the liberals and radicals in Europe (take the time period as after the French Revolution).

Ans.1-The liberals did not believe in universal franchise. In contrast, radicals wanted a nation in which government was based on the majority of a country’s population.

2-Liberals felt men of prosperity mainly should have the vote. They did not want the vote for women. On the other hand the radicals supported women’s suffragette movements and opposed the privileges of great landowners and wealthy factory owners.

3-They were not against the existence of private property but disliked concentration of property in the hands of a few.

 Q2.Why did the Tsarist autocracy collapse in 1917?

The revolutionary movement in Russia had been growing when the 1905

Revolution broke out. On 9th January 1905, a mass of peaceful workers with

their wives and children was fired at in St. Petersburg while on its way to the

winter Palace to present a petition to the Czar. More than a thousand of them

were killed and thousands of others were wounded. This day is known as Bloody

Sunday. The news of the killings provoked unprecedented disturbance

throughout Russia. The 1905 Revolution proved to be a dress rehearsal of the

revolution that came in 1917. It aroused the people and prepared them for

revolution.

The Czar took Russia into the First World War. This proved fatal and

brought about the final breakdown of the Russia autocracy. By February 1917, 6,

00, 000 soldiers had been killed in the war. There was widespread discontent

throughout the empire as well as in the army. The condition was ripe for a

revolution.

Minor incidents usually set off revolutions. In the case of the Russian

Revolution, it was a demonstration by working class women trying to purchase

bread. A general strike of workers followed, in which soldiers and others soon

joined. On 12 March, 1917 the capital city of Petersburg fell into the hands of the

revolutionaries. Soon the revolutionaries took Moscow, the Czar gave up his

throne and the first Provisional Government was formed on 15th March 1917.

Q3. Why were socialists against private property and saw it as the root of all social ills?

Ans 1-. The people who propagated socialism said that individuals, who owned property, did provide employment to many people but they were concerned with personal gains only.

2- They did not bother about the welfare of the people.

3-They felt that if society controlled property, more attention would be paid to collective social interests.

Q4.What were the main charges brought about by the Bolsheviks

immediately after the October Revolution?

1. The congress of Soviets on 8th November 1917 issued a proclamation to all

peoples and belligerent state to open negotiations for a just peace without

annexation and indemnities. Russia withdrew from the war, through formal

peace was signed with Germany later, after ceding the territories that

Germany demanded as price for peace.

2. Following the decree on land, the estates of the landlords, the church and the

Tsar were confiscated and transferred to peasants’ societies to be allotted to

peasant families to be cultivated without hired lobour.

3. The control of industries was transferred to stop committees of workers.

4. By the middle of 1918, banks and insurance companies, large industries,

mines, water transport and railways were nationalised, foreign debts were

repudiated and foreign investments were confiscated.

5. A Declaration of the rights of Peoples was issued conferring the right of selfdetermination

upon all nationalities.

6. A new government called the council of People’s Commissors, headed by

Lenin was formed.

Q.5 Comment on the role of Vladimir Lenin in the revolution and his contribution to the economic policy.

Ans. 1.Vladimir Lenin played an important part in the Russian Revolution of 1917.

2. Lenin led the revolutionaries after the fall of the Tsar under Lenin’s leadership; the Bolshevik Party put forward clear policies to end the war.

3. Transfer land to the peasants and advance the slogan ‘All power to the Soviets’.

4. He was of the opinion that no genuine democracy could be established unless all the non-Russians were given equal rights.

5. These were the real objectives of the Russian Revolution and he fulfilled all these objectives. That is why Lenin’s name has become inseparable from the Russian Revolution.

Q.6 What were the immediate consequences of the Russian Revolution?

Ans.1. Most industries and banks were nationalised in November 1917.

2.       This meant the government took over the ownership and management. Land was declared social property.

3.       Peasants were allowed to seize the land of the nobility.

4.       In cities, Bolsheviks enforced the partition of large houses according to family requirements.

5.       They banned the use of old title of aristocracy.

Q.7 What conditions led to the Russian Civil War in 1918-1920? Write any three points.

Ans. (i) The Russian army began to break up after Bolsheviks ordered land redistribution. Soldiers who were mostly peasants wished to go home for the land redistribution.

(ii)Non Bolshevik Socialists, Liberals and supporters of autocracy condemned the Bolshevik uprising. Their leaders organised the troops to fight the Bolsheviks.

(iii) During 1918 and 1919, the ‘greens’ (Socialist Revolutionaries) and ‘whites’ (pro-Tsarists) controlled most of the Russian empire. They were backed by French, American, British and Japanese troops. As these troops and the Bolsheviks fought a civil war, looting, banditry and famine became common.

(iv)Supporters of private property among ‘whites’ took harsh steps against peasants who had seized land.

Q8. Explain Stalin’s collectivisation programme:

OR

 Discuss ‘Stalin’s Collectivisation Programme’.

 Ans. 1.Stalin felt that collectivisation would definitely solve the problem of shortage.

 2. From 1929 the Party forced the peasants to cultivate in collective farms (Kolkhoz).

3. The bulk of land and implements were transferred to the ownership of collective farms.

4. Peasants worked on the land and the Kolkhoz profit was shared.

 5. Enraged peasants resisted the authorities and destroyed their livestock. Between 1929 and 1931, the number of cattle decreased by 1/3.

Q.9 Why was the decision to collectivise farms taken?

Ans.1 It was thought that rich peasants and traders in the countryside were holding stocks in the hope of higher prices.

2. This created a shortage.

3. As shortage continued, the decision was taken to collectivise farms as Lenin felt that the small size of farms caused the shortage.                                  

4. They also felt that these small size farms could not be modernised.

5. They felt that the need of the hour was to develop modern farms and run them along industrial lines with machinery.

Q.10 What was the role of the Tsar in the peasant revolt of 1905? Discuss briefly.

Ans.1-During the 1905 Revolution, the Tsar allowed the creation of an elected consultative parliament or Duma. The Tsar dismissed it within 75 days and re-elected.

2-Second Duma: within 3 months. He did not want any questioning of his authority or any reduction in his power. He changed the voting laws and packed the third Duma with conservative politicians.

Q11. What is known as Bloody Sunday?

OR

Describe the incident known as ‘Bloody Sunday’.

Ans. 1. Over 110,000 workers in St. Petersburg went on strike in 1905, demanding a reduction in the working day to eight hours, an increase in wages and improvement in working conditions.

2. When this procession reached the Winter Palace it was attacked by the police and the Cossacks.

3. Over 100 workers were killed and about 300 wounded.

This incident, known as Bloody Sunday, started a series of events that became known as the 1905 Revolution.

Q12  What led to the divisions of Bolsheviks and Mensheviks?

1. Bolsheviks:

i. They were the major group of the workers of Russia, who under their

leader Lenin, believed in the revolutionary methods for bringing about

changes in the society and the state.

ii. They did not believe in the Party system Parliament and elections etc.

2. Mensheviks:

i. They believed in the Parliamentary system and participation in the

elections for running the state and society.

ii. They believed in party system like France and Germany which took parts

in the elections to the legislature of their country.

Q13.What effects did the war have on the industry of Russia?

Ans. Russian industries were very few in number and the country was cut off from other suppliers of industrial goods by German control of the Baltic Sea. Industrial equipment disintegrated more rapidly in Russia than elsewhere in Europe. By 1916 railway lines began to break down. Able bodied men were called up to the war. As a result, there were labour shortages and small workshops producing essential commodities were shut down.

Q14 What was the impact of the Russian Revolution over the globe?

The October of 1917 had a universal impact.

• The Russian Revolution was the first successful revolution in history which

proclaimed the building of a society-a society based on the principles of

equality-as its objective. The ideology gained its followers throughout the

globe.

• The Communist International was formed. It aimed to promote revolution on

an international scale.

• The International communist orgainisation was born under comintern which

decided on policies to be followed by all communist parties.

• The concept of democracy came to be redefined. It came to be increasingly

realized that for a democracy to be real, political rights without social and

economic rights were not enough.

• The idea of state playing an active role in regulation the economy and

planning the economy to improve the conditions of the people came to be

accepted universally. Universally, labour gained dignity.

• The popularity of socialism globally helped to check discriminations based on

race, colour and sex.

• The spread of socialistic ideas also helped in promoting internationalism.

• The Russian Revolution helped to end imperialism.

• The Russian revolution influenced the movements for independence in the

colonized words.

Q.15 What was the basic principle of the Marxist theory?

Ans. 1-Marx believed that the condition of workers could not improve as long as profit was accumulated by private capitalists.

2- Workers had to overthrow capitalism and the rule of private property.

3- Workers must construct a radically socialist society where all property was socially controlled. This would be a communist society and a Communist Party was the natural society of the future.

Q.16 Discuss briefly the Five Years Plans.

Ans. A process of centralised planning was introduced. Officials assessed how the economy could work and set targets for a five-year period, on this basis they made the five-year plans. The government fixed all prices to promote industrial growth during the first two plans (1927-32 and 1933-38) centralised planning led to economic growth.

Q.17 What were the social, economic and political conditions in Russia before 1905?

Ans. Social conditions: People of different social status, classes, religions and diverse nationalities were there. Imposition of Russian language was made to belittle the cultures of these people. Main groups of Russian population were farmers, workers, landowners, capitalists, industrialists and traders.

Economic conditions: 85 per cent of Russians were agriculturists. Agriculture provided employment to a vast population. Cultivators produced food for market as well as their own needs

Political conditions: Nobles got their power and position through their services to the Tsar, not through local popularity. This was unlike France where peasants respected nobles and fought for them. In Russia, peasants wanted the land of the nobles; they refused to pay rent and even murdered landlords.