Establishment of Communism

in Russia

Russian Revolution to World War

II

1917-1937

War turns in Central Power’s

Favor • 1917

• Germans capture Russian City of Riga

• Eastern Front collapsing

• Famine in Russia and dissent in Russian

Ranks

Germany’s Secret Weapon

• Vladimir Lenin

• Had been exiled from

Russia

• Germans smuggle Lenin

back into Russia to have

him start Revolution

against Russian Tsar

• Begins group of

Communists called

Bolsheviks

Russian Revolution

February Revolution

• Feb 28, 1917

• Russian people upset

with war

• Duma calls for Tsar to

abdicate

• Monarchy replaced by

Provisional Government

October Revolution

• Oct 24, 1917

• Workers of Petrograd

begin rebellions

• Bolsheviks rose up and

occupied St. Petersburg

Treaty of Brest-

Litovsk

• March 3, 1918

• Treaty signed by Russians and

Germans

• Russians Surrender

• Give up most of European Lands

• Negated later by Treaty of

Versailles

Russian Civil War

• 1919 - 1921

• Bolsheviks – Led by Lenin

• Mensheviks – Led by Lavr Kornilov

• Monarchists – supporters of Tsar

• Foreign Nations – Americans and British

• Bolsheviks win

Death of Lenin • Jan 21, 1924 died from

complications from 3

strokes

• Considered father of

Communism in Russia

• Cult established

around Lenin

– Gave him “Christ-Like”

status

Leon Trotsky

• Appointed by Lenin

as “War Commissar”

• Hand picked

successor of Lenin

• Stalin built support

within party and out

maneuvered Trotsky

• Killed in 1940

Joseph Stalin

• Born Iosif

Vissarionovich

Dzhugashvili in

Georgia

• Appointed General

Secretary of

Communist Party

Lenin’s last Will

In 1923 Lenin Wrote in

his Last Will that

“the comrades find a

way to remove Stalin”

Stalin vs. Trotsky • Stalin was able to prevent Lenin’s will from

getting publicized

• Stalin used position to gain support and

make contacts with top ranking officials

• Trotsky weakened by religion and

intellectual arrogance

• Trotsky outmaneuvered so runs to Mexico

• Remained opposed to Stalin

Stalin Secures Power

• Without Trotsky Stalin was virtually

unopposed

• Completely controlled Soviet Union by

1929

Stalin’s Image

• Tried to portray himself as Lenin’s true pick

for successor

– Would be displayed next to Lenin after Death

• Tried to convince people he was like a father

to the people

In the following pictures explain what

each image is trying to portray

Socialist Realism

Central Questions

How would Stalin be able to use the

combination of these types of propaganda

and strict censorship?

Are there similar examples of propaganda

that can be found in Modern America?

American Realism

Modern Propaganda

Stalin Actuality

• Very very Paranoid

• Embarked on Great Purge

– Army Officer Corps

– Political Opponents

– Anyone who Spoke out against Stalin

– Friends and Family

– Average citizens

Sentencing

• Exiled to Gulags in Siberia

– Work Camps

– Comparable to Concentration Camps

– Used as part of “forced Modernization”

• Execution

– On the Spot

– Trial

Gulags

Gulags

Execution

Purging the Empire

Effects

• Stalin Had to rebuild officer Corps

– Unprepared for WW2

• Massive death tolls for Soviet Union

– 20 million dead during WW2

– 3-12 million imprisoned

– Death tolls from Purge 500,000 to 2million