Russia: Political and Economic Change

AP COMPARATIVE GOVERNMENT

Change

  Unlike Britain, Russia has had major difficulties with gradual change   Even reform based leaders such as Peter the Great and Catherine the Great resorted to force in order to keep their power if political winds shifted against them Alexander II, who freed Russian serfs and used local assemblies and was assassinated by revolutionaries in 1881  Tsars tried to solidify their power but with the Bolshevik revolution, the last Tsar was executed and communism was instituted Russian History is characterized by three different time periods:    A Long period of autocratic rule by tsars 20 th century rule by the Communist Party An abrupt regime change to democracy and a free market in 1991

Tsarist Rule

   The first tsars were princes of Moscow who gained power by cooperating with Mongol rulers  As the Mongol’s weakened tsars took power and wanted to extend the traditions of the Roman empire Tsars were very autocratic and controlled their lands in order to protect them from outside invasions  The tsars adopted the Russian Orthodox Church a very strict alternative version of Catholicism Because of Russia's massive land mass, they were easily separated from the West and were able to develop a very unique culture

Western influence

   Tsar Peter the Great was the first ruler to introduce western technology and culture to increase Russia’s power and influence  To accomplish this feat Peter brought engineers, carpenters, and architects to Russia Catherine the Great , a former German, further Peter’s push for change  Catherine was able to help Russia gain a warm water port in the Black Sea   She became an enlightened despot , one who ruled with absolute power, with the good of the country in mind Both Peter and Catherine pushed for reform while also keeping true to the Slavic roots of Russia  Catherine was also very interested in the enlightenment but did not use those teachings as part of her rule Neither were able to squelch the rising revolutionary movements of the 1800’s

Nineteenth century tsars

    In 1812 Napoleon invaded Russia and brought western influence with him   Alexander I put this attack down, but the Russian empire incurred great cost It also pushed Russian rulers to resist western philosophies with greater zeal The Decembrist Revolt of 1825 pitted those who wanted western reform to take place  This revolt was put down by Nicholas I The Crimean War pushed for reform with the Tsars as citizens were beginning to view them as ineffectual leaders  To stop this tide of mistrust, tsars started using secret police to put down dissenters Alexander II is later assassinated after instituting the use of assemblies and freeing serfs (it was thought that these actions were not enough)

Revolution

 The Revolution of 1917 was preempted by the poor leadership of Tsar Nicholas II and his inability to control the armies  A small revolution sparked in 1905 but was quickly put down  By 1917 the state had officially collapsed by the end of world War I with soldiers defecting in mass scale

Lenin and the Bolsheviks

   In 1905, with Marxist revolution not taking place in industrialized societies, Vladimir Lenin changed the meaning of Marxism  Lenin argued that democratic centralism , or a “vanguard” leadership, would lead the revolution in the name of the people Lenin’s followers became known as the Bolsheviks  This group took control of the government in 1917 and instituted their principles of democratic centralism In 1918 a civil war broke out between the White army , led by Russian military leaders and funded by the Allied powers, and the Red Army led by Lenin  The Reds won and in 1920 Lenin instituted his New Economic Policy  The New economic policy allowed for private ownership of industry to exist under centralized leadership  Lenin died shortly after in 1924

Stalinism

   Stalin instituted reforms that vastly changed Lenin’s implementation of democratic centralism  Stalin led the Communist Part to the center of control and instituted a party state  Only 7% of the Soviet population was allowed to actually join the Party, whilst the rest were forced to follow their rules Top government officials, who moved up the ranks through nomenklatura , maid up the ranks of the Central Committee  The Central Committee was made up of 300 party leaders that met twice a year and ran the government in between Politburo sessions The Politburo was a group of about twelve men who ran the country  The head of the Politburo is the general secretary  The general secretary assumes full control for the country

Stalinism

  Under Stalin the USSR practiced collectivization and industrialization (aka Stalinism)  Private land ownership was done away with and collective farms were established   These farms were supposed to be state run and more efficient Those who refused to give up control of their land, aka kulaks, forced into labor camps or into cities were With control over agriculture Stalin implemented his first Five Year Plan   Stalin set ambitious goals for production of heavy industry, oil, steel and electricity The Gosplan , or Central State Planning Commission, was tasked with enforcing these policies

Stalinism

  Stalin’s foreign policy revolved around supporting his “socialism in one country” movement.   Stalin tried to ignore the fascists, signed non-aggression pacts with them, but after Nazi attacks eventually helps the Allied forces in WWII After WWII the cold war starts Stalin eventually turns against many in his own party fearing disloyalty  Stalin kills millions of citizens trying to rid his country of dissenters, killing people within the Politburo and Central Committee.

Reform

  Nikita Khrushchev was chosen as the party secretary and premier of the USSR after Stalin's death  Khrushchev gave what is known as the “secret speech” in which Khrushchev used a letter written by Lenin that was critical of Stalin  This letter was central to the cause of destalinization Khrushchev called for less censorship of the press, decentralization of economic policy-making, and the restructuring of collective farms  He also called for “peaceful coexistence” or a relaxation of tensions between the U.S. and USSR  Khrushchev’s policies were generally ineffective and because of his failure with the Cuban Missile Crisis Khrushchev was replaced by Leonid Brezhnev  Brezhnev ended the reforms implemented by Khrushchev

Reform

 Mikhail Gorbachev took power of the USSR in 1985     Gorbachev pushed for westernization on a variety of fronts Glasnost This was the concept of more open conversation about political, social, and economic issues Democratization Gorbachev believed the he could keep the old Soviet structure and include a bit of democracy into the system  This failed dramatically Perestroika This was Gorbachev’s most radical and least successful program. This was the privatization of many economic functions and a push towards a more free market economy.

 Reforms included some privately owned companies, penalties for under performing state factories, leasing of farm land outside collective farms, price reforms, and encouragement of joint ventures with foreign companies

Coup and Revolution

   In August of 1991 “conservatives” from the Politburo led a coup d'état that tried to remove Gorbachev from office  The coup d'état failed after the military defected to support a protest against the coup The protestors, led by Boris Yeltsin , stopped the coup and shortly after was elected as president of the new Russian Republic  Under Yeltsin the Constitution of 1993 branch government was created and put for a three  President   Prime-minister along with the lower legislative house known as the Duma Constitutional Court The Russian economy did not react well to Yeltsin’s “ shock therapy ”  Putin succeeded Yeltsin in 2000 and proceeded much more conservatively than Yeltsin had during his presidency