Russia Revolution Essay, Research Paper
The Russia Revolution was a true political revolution. By this I mean there was a fundamental change in the way leaders came into power and in the goals for the country. In theory, leadership changed from a monarchy to socialism. The goals for the country changed from ownership and control of wealth was by few to control by the proletariat (the workers). In reality the change of leadership and the control of wealth and production was controlled by the Communist Party.
The Russia Revolution really started with theory of communism created by Karl Marx and published in Capital. In this publication Marx stated that the value of all production is in the value of the labor not the value of ownership. By this he meant that private ownership was wrong and that everything should be owned by the workers or proletariat. This inspired revolutionary leaders in Russia especially Lenin. However, Karl Marx had predicted that the communist revolution would start in a heavily industrialized country like Germany or England. The surprise was that it started in the least, Russia.
Russia was the least industrialized and the most backward of the major European countries. For instance, it had 4 times the population of England but only 25% of its electrical consumption. Russia also lacked capital for investment and building and had to rely on foreign investment. This meant that Russia had a very high debt. Russia s agricultural industry was unproductive and its technology was backward.
Politically, Russia was ruled by the Czar. The Czar was an absolute monarch who had total control of the country. Most of the population was serfs who were poor, uneducated and could never leave the land without the consent of the owner. Russia was ripe for revolution and Lenin and other communist leaders got the people to revolt. First, it was limited and the Czar ceded some power to the people in the form of the duma, or parliament which gave the people limited representation. However, the full revolt didn t start until WW I. The Russians suffered terribly and in 1917 the people revolted.
There were a number of groups and leaders involved in the revolt. First, the Czar was forced to abdicate and then eventually killed along with his family. However, Lenin and the Bolsheviks quickly established themselves as the leader of the people. His motto of Peace, Land, Bread lead to Russia dropping out of the War, land being redistributed and a government-run food distribution system. All of this eventually lead to a bloody civil war between the Reds (the communists) and the Whites (supporters of the Czar). Eventually the communists won and took full control of the country and the government by 1921.