CED ASSIGNMENT

Q1. Critically examine the system of War Communism in the Soviet Union.

Answer-

- Russian Revolution:
In 1917, two revolutions swept through Russia, ending centuries of imperial rule and
setting into motion political and social changes that would lead to the eventual
formation of the Soviet Union.
However, while the two revolutionary events took place within a few short months of
1917, social unrest in Russia had been brewing for many years before the events of that
year.
In the early 1900s, Russia was one of the most impoverished countries in Europe with an
enormous peasantry and a growing minority of poor industrial workers. Much of
Western Europe viewed Russia as an undeveloped, backwards society.
The Russian Empire practised serfdom—a form of feudalism in which landless peasants
were forced to serve the land-owning nobility—well into the nineteenth century. In
contrast, the practice had disappeared in most of Western Europe by the end of
the Middle Ages.
In 1861, the Russian Empire finally abolished serfdom. The emancipation of serfs would
influence the events leading up to the Russian Revolution by giving peasants more
freedom to organize.

-Causes of the Russian Revolution:

The Industrial Revolution gained a foothold in Russia much later than in Western Europe
and the United States. When it finally did, around the turn of the 20th century, it brought
with it immense social and political changes.
Between 1890 and 1910, for example, the population of major Russian cities such as St.
Petersburg and Moscow nearly doubled, resulting in overcrowding and destitute living
conditions for a new class of Russian industrial workers.
A population boom at the end of the 19th century, a harsh growing season due to
Russia’s northern climate, and a series of costly wars—starting with the Crimean War—
created frequent food shortages across the vast empire. Moreover, a famine in 1891-
1892 is estimated to have killed up to 400,000 Russians.
The devastating Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 further weakened Russia and the
position of ruler Czar Nicholas II. Russia suffered heavy losses of soldiers, ships, money
and international prestige in the war, ultimately losing it.
Many educated Russians, looking at social progress and scientific advancement in
Western Europe and North America, saw how growth in Russia was being hampered by
the monarchical rule of the czars and the czar’s supporters in the aristocratic class.

Russian Revolution of 1905:

Soon, large protests by Russian workers against the monarchy led to the Bloody Sunday
massacre of 1905. Hundreds of unarmed protesters were killed or wounded by the czar’s
troops.
The Bloody Sunday massacre sparked the Russian Revolution of 1905, during which
angry workers responded with a series of crippling strikes throughout the country. Farm
labourers and soldiers joined the cause, leading to the creation of worker-dominated
councils called “soviets.”
In one famous incident, the crew of the battleship Potemkin staged a successful mutiny
against their overbearing officers. Historians would later refer to the 1905 Russian
Revolution as ‘the Great Dress Rehearsal,” as it set the stage for the upheavals to come.

Nicholas II and World War I:

After the bloodshed of 1905 and Russia’s humiliating loss in the Russo-Japanese War,
Nicholas II promised greater freedom of speech and the formation of a representative
assembly, or Duma, to work toward reform.
Russia entered into World War I in August 1914 in support of the Serbs and their French
and British allies. Their involvement in the war would soon prove disastrous for the
Russian Empire.
Militarily, imperial Russia was no match for industrialized Germany, and Russian
casualties were greater than those sustained by any nation in any previous war. Food and
fuel shortages plagued Russia as inflation mounted. The already weak economy was
hopelessly disrupted by the costly war effort.
Czar Nicholas left the Russian capital of Petrograd (St. Petersburg) in 1915 to take
command of the Russian Army front. (The Russians had renamed the imperial city in
1914, because “St. Petersburg” sounded too German.)

February Revolution:
The February Revolution (known as such because of Russia’s use of the Julian calendar
until February 1918) began on March 8, 1917 (February 23 on the Julian calendar).
Demonstrators clamoring for bread took to the streets of Petrograd. Supported by huge
crowds of striking industrial workers, the protesters clashed with police but refused to
leave the streets.
On March 11, the troops of the Petrograd army garrison were called out to quell the
uprising. In some encounters, the regiments opened fire, killing demonstrators, but the
protesters kept to the streets and the troops began to waver.
The Duma formed a provisional government on March 12. A few days later, Czar Nicholas
abdicated the throne, ending centuries of Russian Romanov rule.

Alexander Kerensky:
The leaders of the provisional government, including young Russian lawyer Alexander
Kerensky, established a liberal program of rights such as freedom of speech, equality
before the law, and the right of unions to organize and strike. They opposed the violent
social revolution.
As minister of war, Kerensky continued the Russian war effort, even though Russian
involvement in World War I was enormously unpopular. This further exacerbated Russia’s
food supply problems. Unrest continued to grow as peasants looted farms and food riots
erupted in the cities.

Bolshevik Revolution
On November 6 and 7, 1917 (or October 24 and 25 on the Julian calendar, which is why
the event is often referred to as the October Revolution), leftist revolutionaries led by
Bolshevik Party leader Vladimir Lenin launched a nearly bloodless coup d’état against the
Duma’s provisional government.
The provisional government had been assembled by a group of leaders from Russia’s
bourgeois capitalist class. Lenin instead called for a Soviet government that would be
ruled directly by councils of soldiers, peasants and workers.
The Bolsheviks and their allies occupied government buildings and other strategic
locations in Petrograd, and soon formed a new government with Lenin as its head. Lenin
became the dictator of the world’s first communist state.

Russian Civil War

Civil War broke out in Russia in late 1917 after the Bolshevik Revolution. The warring
factions included the Red and White Armies.
The Red Army fought for Lenin’s Bolshevik government. The White Army represented a
large group of loosely allied forces, including monarchists, capitalists and supporters of
democratic socialism.
On July 16, 1918, the Romanovs were executed by the Bolsheviks. The Russian Civil War
ended in 1923 with Lenin’s Red Army claiming victory and establishing the Soviet Union.
After many years of violence and political unrest, the Russian Revolution paved the way
for the rise of communism as an influential political belief system around the world. It
set the stage for the rise of the Soviet Union as a world power that would go head-to-
head with the United States during the Cold War.

The Collapse of the Soviet Union:

After his inauguration in January 1989, George H.W. Bush did not automatically follow
the policy of his predecessor, Ronald Reagan, in dealing with Mikhail Gorbachev and the
Soviet Union. Instead, he ordered a strategic policy re-evaluation in order to establish his
own plan and methods for dealing with the Soviet Union and arms control.
Conditions in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, however, changed rapidly.
Gorbachev’s decision to loosen the Soviet yoke on the countries of Eastern Europe
created an independent, democratic momentum that led to the collapse of the Berlin
Wall in November 1989, and then the overthrow of Communist rule throughout Eastern
Europe. While Bush supported these independence movements, U.S. policy was reactive.
Bush chose to let events unfold organically, careful not to do anything to worsen
Gorbachev’s position.
With the policy review complete, and taking into account unfolding events in Europe,
Bush met with Gorbachev at Malta in early December 1989. They laid the groundwork
for finalizing START negotiations, completing the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty,
and they discussed the rapid changes in Eastern Europe. Bush encouraged Gorbachev’s
reform efforts, hoping that the Soviet leader would succeed in shifting the USSR toward
a democratic system and a market oriented economy.
Gorbachev’s decision to allow elections with a multi-party system and create a
presidency for the Soviet Union began a slow process of democratization that eventually
destabilized Communist control and contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Following the May 1990 elections, Gorbachev faced conflicting internal political
pressures: Boris Yeltsin and the pluralist movement advocated democratization and rapid
economic reforms while the hard-line Communist elite wanted to thwart Gorbachev’s
reform agenda.
Facing a growing schism between Yeltsin and Gorbachev, the Bush administration opted
to work primarily with Gorbachev because they viewed him as the more reliable partner
and because he made numerous concessions that promoted U.S. interests. Plans
proceeded to sign the START agreement. With the withdrawal of Red Army troops from
East Germany, Gorbachev agreed to German reunification and acquiesced when a newly
reunited Germany joined NATO. When Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, the United
States and the Soviet leadership worked together diplomatically to repel this attack.
Yet for all of those positive steps on the international stage, Gorbachev’s domestic
problems continued to mount. Additional challenges to Moscow’s control placed
pressure on Gorbachev and the Communist party to retain power in order to keep the
Soviet Union intact. After the demise of Communist regimes in Eastern Europe, the Baltic
States and the Caucasus demanded independence from Moscow. In January 1991,
violence erupted in Lithuania and Latvia. Soviet tanks intervened to halt the democratic
uprisings, a move that Bush resolutely condemned.
By 1991, the Bush administration reconsidered policy options in light of the growing level
of turmoil within the Soviet Union. Three basic options presented themselves. The
administration could continue to support Gorbachev in hopes of preventing Soviet
disintegration. Alternately, the United States could shift support to Yeltsin and the
leaders of the Republics and provide support for a controlled restructuring or possible
breakup of the Soviet Union. The final option consisted of lending conditional support to
Gorbachev, leveraging aid and assistance in return for more rapid and radical political
and economic reforms.
Unsure about how much political capital Gorbachev retained, Bush combined elements
of the second and third options. The Soviet nuclear arsenal was vast, as were Soviet
conventional forces, and further weakening of Gorbachev could derail further arms
control negotiations. To balance U.S. interests in relation to events in the Soviet Union,
and in order to demonstrate support for Gorbachev, Bush signed the START treaty at the
Moscow Summit in July 1991. Bush administration officials also, however, increased
contact with Yeltsin.
The unsuccessful August 1991 coup against Gorbachev sealed the fate of the Soviet
Union. Planned by hard-line Communists, the coup diminished Gorbachev’s power and
propelled Yeltsin and the democratic forces to the forefront of Soviet and Russian
politics. Bush publicly condemned the coup as “extra-constitutional,” but Gorbachev’s
weakened position became obvious to all. He resigned his leadership as head of the
Communist party shortly thereafter—separating the power of the party from that of the
presidency of the Soviet Union. The Central Committee was dissolved and Yeltsin banned
party activities. A few days after the coup, Ukraine and Belarus declared their
independence from the Soviet Union. The Baltic States, which had earlier declared their
independence, sought international recognition.
Amidst quick, dramatic changes across the landscape of the Soviet Union, Bush
administration officials prioritized the prevention of nuclear catastrophe, the curbing of
ethnic violence, and the stable transition to new political orders. On September 4, 1991,
Secretary of State James Baker articulated five basic principles that would guide U.S.
policy toward the emerging republics: self-determination consistent with democratic
principles, recognition of existing borders, support for democracy and rule of law,
preservation of human rights and rights of national minorities, and respect for
international law and obligations. The basic message was clear—if the new republics
could follow these principles, they could expect cooperation and assistance from the
United States. Baker met with Gorbachev and Yeltsin in an attempt to shore up the
economic situation and develop some formula for economic cooperation between the
republics and Russia, as well as to determine ways to allow political reforms to occur in a
regulated and peaceful manner. In early December, Yeltsin and the leaders of Ukraine
and Belarus met in Brest to form the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS),
effectively declaring the demise of the Soviet Union.
On December 25, 1991, the Soviet hammer and sickle flag lowered for the last time over
the Kremlin, thereafter replaced by the Russian tricolor. Earlier in the day, Mikhail
Gorbachev resigned his post as president of the Soviet Union, leaving Boris Yeltsin as
president of the newly independent Russian state. People all over the world watched in
amazement at this relatively peaceful transition from former Communist monolith into
multiple separate nations.
With the dissolution of Soviet Union, the main goal of the Bush administration was
economic and political stability and security for Russia, the Baltics, and the states of the
former Soviet Union. Bush recognized all 12 independent republics and established
diplomatic relations with Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan.
In February 1992, Baker visited the remaining republics and diplomatic relations were
established with Uzbekistan, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan. Civil war
in Georgia prevented its recognition and the establishment of diplomatic relations with
the United States until May 1992. Yeltsin met with Bush at Camp David in February 1992,
followed by a formal state visit to Washington in June. Leaders from Kazakhstan and
Ukraine visited Washington in May 1992.
During his visits to Washington, politics, economic reforms, and security issues
dominated the conversations between Yeltsin and Bush. Of paramount concern was
securing the nuclear arsenal of the former Soviet Union and making certain nuclear
weapons did not fall into the wrong hands. Baker made it clear that funding was
available from the United States to secure nuclear, chemical and biological weapons in
the former Soviet Union. The Nunn-Lugar Act established the Cooperative Threat
Reduction Program in November 1991 to fund the dismantling of weapons in the former
Soviet Union, in accordance with the START and INF Treaties and other agreements. Bush
and Baker also worked with Yeltsin and international organizations like the World Bank
and IMF to provide financial assistance and hopefully prevent a humanitarian crisis in
Russia.
The Soviet Union’s collapse not only threw economic systems and trade relations
throughout Eastern Europe into a tailspin, it also produced the upheaval in many Eastern
European countries and led to increased crime rates and corruption within the Russian
government. When the Soviet government fell, the Russian mafia, which had struggled
to survive during the height of communism, stepped in to fill the power void.
Government infrastructure—ranging from basic public utilities to police services—mostly
evaporated during the collapse. Additionally, government payroll services almost
completely disappeared, so ex-KGB officers, police officers and Soviet Army soldiers
flooded the mafia’s ranks in search of steady employment. Mafia oligarchs seized state-
owned assets and enterprises throughout Russia, such as telecommunications and
energy networks and industries, and the mafia extorted the public in exchange for
providing security and enforcing laws wherever the Russian government was unable to.
Though the current Russian administration has had some success combating organized
crime, the Russian mafia is still extremely powerful and well-connected. However, in an
autocratic society such as that of Russia, anyone who speaks in opposition to
government corruption will be arrested, exiled or even murdered under mysterious
circumstances. This oppression stymies Russia’s chances of establishing a true
democracy and allows government corruption to continue to expand.
The fall of the Soviet empire also had far-reaching effects on the world as a whole,
particularly among its former Soviet satellite nations. For some countries, such as
Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, oil and natural gas exports have created prosperity but have
also enabled corruption. Countries such as Lithuania and Latvia underwent dramatic
transformations by quickly turning to the West, adopting Western ideals and political
leanings, while other countries, such as Armenia and Tajikistan, have struggled to
flourish in the post-Soviet era and many citizens remain poverty-stricken while the states
and their politics remain in flux.
The Soviet Union’s collapse also affected countries outside the former Soviet bloc; for
instance, since the end of the Cold War, China has expanded to become a major world
superpower and the European Union has extended its influence into areas that Moscow
once controlled. In the quarter-century since the Soviet Union collapsed, U.S.-Russia
relations have been tenuous. While the United States under President Bill Clinton
provided assistance to Russia, policymakers at home feared Russia could re-emerge as an
enemy if nationalists were allowed to regain power.
US Power:
While the United States was able to become the dominant global superpower in the
years following the Soviet Union’s collapse, Russia has gained ground in the past several
years. A recent study by the U.S. Army War College’s Strategic Studies Institute indicates
that the United States’ power is declining because the world is entering a new phase in
which the authority of traditional governments worldwide is destabilizing, stating that
the United States “can no longer count on the unassailable position of dominance,
supremacy, or pre-eminence it enjoyed for the 20-plus years after the fall of the Soviet
Union.” The dissolution of the USSR left the U.S. as the only true world superpower,
freeing the U.S. government from the constraints imposed by the existence of any threat
from a powerful rival. This allowed the U.S. government to intervene militarily and
otherwise in foreign countries without fear of major retaliation.
Though the collapse of the Soviet Union allowed the United States to gain power, recent
years have seen Moscow take a stronger stance in world affairs—by forgiving $10 billion
of Soviet-era debt due from Pyongyang, for example, and selling oil to North Korea—in
an attempt to, as Samuel Ramani, journalist and international relations expert, noted in
the Washington Post, “once again project itself as a global power.” Achieving that
superpower status, according to Ramani, would make it far easier for Russia to directly
influence conflicts across the world.
By studying the immediate effects of the Soviet Union’s collapse, and keeping current on
the effects of post-Soviet development, historians and students can understand how the
end of the Cold War, Russia’s fall from dominance and its recent bid to return to the
stage as a global power have all affected the United States and the course of the current
geopolitical climate.