Revolution + Nationalism

Ch 30

1900-1939

Russia U.S.S.R.• Rule of

the Czars• Russia was an autocracy (a gov.’t in

which the ruler has unlimited power + uses it in an arbitrary manner)

• Anyone who questioned the czar’s authority, spoke a language other than Russian, or didn’t practice the Russian Orthodox Christian faith was considered dangerous

• Jews were especially persecuted• When Czar Nicholas II came into power,

Russia was modernizing, but it was still behind Western Europe

• He rapidly industrialized Russia• Led to bad living + working

conditions which angered many Russians

• of the Bolsheviks

• A group that followed the views of Karl Marx formed

• They believed industrial workers (proletariat) would overthrow the czar

• The radical Bolsheviks were willing to sacrifice everything to make that change

• Led by Vladimir Lenin

“Comrade Lenin Cleanses the Earth of Filth”, a Communist

poster from 1920.     

• Crises Cause the Czar to Lose Support

1. Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905)• Loses angered Russians

2. Bloody Sunday (Jan. 22, 1905)• 200,000 workers + their families

marched to the czar’s palace w/ a petition asking for better working conditions, more personal freedoms, + an elected national legislature

• Czar’s generals ordered soldiers to fire on the crowd + hundreds died

• Provoked violence + so Czar Nicholas II granted more personal freedom + created the Duma (Russian parliament) - which he would later dissolve

• 3. WWI – Russians suffered numerous defeats + casualties

• 4. Rasputin, a corrupt “holy man” was able to treat Prince Alexis (heir to the Russian throne) for his hemophilia. B/c of that, while the czar was fighting in WWI, the czarina let Rasputin make important political decisions

• He was despised by Russians + murdered

• The March Revolution

• 200,000 workers go out into the streets + protest the gov.’t

• Soldiers will side w/ them• Led to revolution + the abdication of

Czar Nicholas II (last czar of Russia)• A provisional gov.’t (temporary gov.’t)

was established. It was weak + kept Russia in WWI

• The Bolshevik Revolution

• (1918-1920) Lenin returned to Russia + led the Bolsheviks. They toppled the provisional gov.’t + took over

• Signed truce w/ Germany + surrendered a lot of land

• Russians angry + civil war breaks out

• The Red Army (Lenin’s Bolsheviks) fought against the White Army (Some supported a czarist gov.’t, some wanted democracy, + some were socialists who didn’t like Lenin)

• 14 mil Russians die from war + famine

• Red Army won

• Formation of the U.S.S.R.

• Lenin revived economy by establishing a socialist economy (system in which the gov.’t controls major industries)

• Lenin ordered the deaths of the czar + his family

• Lenin reorganized gov.’ts w/in the country + renames Russia the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR or Soviet Union)

• Bolsheviks rename themselves the Communist Party

End Section 1

30.2

Joseph Stalin takes power of USSR after Lenin + establishes a totalitarian state…

• Totalitarianism • A gov.’t that takes total, centralized, state control over every aspect of public + private life

• Totalitarian leaders appear to provide a sense of security + give direction for the future

• Challenges the highest values of Western democracies (reason, freedom, human dignity, + worth of individuals)

• Characteristics of a totalitarian gov.’t include: • Police Terror – crush opposition, spy +

intimidate, often use brutal methods• Indoctrination – instruction in the

gov.’t’s beliefs (control education to glorify the leader, his policies, + establish loyalty)

• Propaganda + Censorship – gov.’t controls media + only shows info that reflects positively on the gov.’t (much of it is lies)

• Religious or Ethnic Persecution – often create “enemies of the state” (someone to blame for any of the gov.’t’s failures), usually a member of a minority group who are often subjected to campaigns of terror

• Stalin Builds a Totalitarian State

• His secret police monitored phone lines, read mail, + planted informers everywhere

• In 1934, he launched the Great Purge, a campaign of terror to eliminate anyone who threatened his power (real or imagined)

• “enemies” were found guilty of “crimes against the state” + sent to labor camps or executed

• Controlled all sources of media + the arts – had to glorify Stalin + the USSR

• Controlled education from nursery schools to college

• Tried to achieve a atheist state by persecuting different faiths (many still clung to their religious beliefs though)

• Stalin Controls the Economy

• Proclaimed that USSR was far behind western powers in development + tried to close the gap quickly

• Established a command economy (system where the gov.’t makes all economic decisions)

• Sought to speed up industrialization w/ the 1st 5-year plan (plan for the development of the USSR). It set impossibly high goals for production for items like steel, coal, oil, etc…

• Led to shortages of consumer goods, + although most goals weren’t met, many gains were made.

• Launched a 2nd 5-year plan w/ similar results

• Also sought to control agricultural production• Seized private farms + combined them

into large, gov.’t owned farms called collective farms. The crops were given to the state to redistribute

• Effects on Society

• + Effects: • People became better educated +

mastered new technical skills• Women were treated more equally

• Many held important jobs (but typically not the best jobs)

• - Effects:• Personal freedoms limited, shortage

of consumer goods, dissent prohibited • Women, in addition to holding a full

time job, were still responsible for all housework + childcare

End Section 2

30.3

China• After the

Fall of the Emperor

• China had suffered years of humiliation by foreigners + experiences a in nationalism

• China’s last emperor is overthrown by nationalist gov.’t in 1911

• The Kuomintang (Nationalist Party of China – also known as Guomindang) come into power + establish a republic

• Supported modernization + nationalism

• The president isn’t strong enough to secure national unity + turns the gov.’t over to a general – chaos ensues

• He dies + civil war breaks out

• China supports Allies in WWI, but is angry when Treaty of Versailles gives lands it wanted to Japan

• Start to turn away from democracy in favor of communism

• of 2 Chinese Gov.’ts

• The Chinese Communist Party was organized in 1921, one of the founding members was Mao Zedong

• He wanted a communist revolution to begin in the country w/ the peasants as the revolutionaries

• A new leader in the Kuomintang, Chiang Kai-Shek (or Jiang Jieshi) promised democracy, but his gov.’t became increasingly corrupt + most peasants turn towards Mao’s communists

• (1927) Chiang’s Nationalist troops go into Chinese cities + killed many Communist leaders nearly wiping out the Communist Party in China

• (1928) Chiang became president of China – surviving Communists enraged

• Civil War • By 1930, civil war had broken out

• Mao + the Communists base themselves in the countryside + recruit peasants

• Frequently attacked by Chiang’s Nationalists, but never defeated

• 1933, Chiang + an army of 700,000 surrounded the Communists’ base. 100,000 communists fled + made a 6,000 mi journey called The Long March.

• Japanese Invade China

• While the Communists + Nationalists are fighting, the Japanese invade Manchuria (NE China) in 1931 – this is the beginning of WWII in Asia

• In 1937, Japan launches an all-out invasion of China (known as the 2nd Sino-Japanese War) + would eventually control a large part of China

• This would lead to a temporary truce b/w the Communists + the Nationalists as they united to fight the Japanese

End Section 3

30.4

India + SW Asia• India • Nationalism had been growing since mid 1800s.

Many Indians went to British schools + learned European views on nationalism + democracy. They took those ideas home w/ them.

• 2 groups had formed to promote Indian indep.:

1. Indian National Congress (or Congress Party) – Mostly Hindus

2. The Muslim League• During WWI, millions of Indians served in the

British Army w/ Britain’s promise of reforms leading to Indian indep. afterwards

• Britain didn’t keep its promise + Indian radicals commit acts of violence

• Britain passed the Rowlatt Acts (1919) which allowed the gov.’t to jail protestors w/o trial up to 2 yrs

• Amritsar Massacre

• To protest the Rowlatt Acts, 10,000 Hindu + Muslim Indians gathered at Amritsar + held a festival (non-violent, intended to pray, fast, + listen to political speeches)

• Most didn’t know public meetings were banned

• British commander thought they were openly defying the ban

• British ordered to fire on the crowd w/o warning for 10 min.

• 400 Indians died + 1,200 wounded• Immediately after, millions of

Indians begin to support the Nationalist movement

• British officers responsible weren’t punished

• Gandhi • Mohandas Gandhi became the leader of India’s indep. movement

• Became known as “Mahatma” (Great Soul)

• He urged a policy of noncooperation w/ British gov.’t

• (1920) Congress Party endorsed nonviolence + civil disobedience (deliberate + public refusal to obey an unjust law) to achieve indep.

• He called on Indians to refuse to attend gov.’t schools, not to pay British taxes, + boycott British goods esp. cloth which was very important to the British. He encouraged Indians to make their own cloth.

• (1930) He organized The Salt March in which he + his followers walked 240mi to the sea to make their own salt by collecting seawater + letting the water evaporate rather than buying salt + paying the British salt tax

• They then marched to a saltworks where the British processed salt, intending to shut it down but were brutally attacked by police

• Gandhi + 60,000 others were arrested

• (1935) Britain passed the Gov.’t of Indian Act which allowed local self-gov.t’ but not total indep.

• Turkey• Formerly Ottoman Empire, lost territory after WWI• 1919, Greeks invade Turkey but were defeated by

Turkish Nationalists led by Mustafa Kemal.• He then overthrew the sultan + became 1st

president of the Republic of Turkey-1st republic in SW Asia

• To modernize Turkey he:

1. Separated laws of Islam from laws of state

2. Abolished religious courts + created a legal system based on European law

3. Gave women right to vote + hold public office

4. Gov.’t funded industrialization• He also required Turks to dress in a more western

manner + changed the alphabet from Arabic to Latin• Kemal given the name Ataturk (Father of the Turks)

• Iran • Persia had been divided into British + Russian spheres of influence

• Britain tried to take over all of Persia during the Russian Revolution

• Triggered a Persian nationalist revolt

• Persian army officer Reza Pahlavi seized power

• To modernize his country he:

1. Established public schools

2. Built roads + RRs

3. Promoted industrialization

4. Extended women’s rights

- But he kept all the power

• He changed Persia’s name to Iran

• Saudi Arabia • In 1902, Abd Al-Aziz Ibn Saud unified Arabia + renamed it the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia after his family

• Carried on Islamic traditions• Modernization was limited

to religiously acceptable areas

• No efforts to practice democracy were made

End Section 4