Periods of American History in brief from 1830s to now

Antebellum era- 1830s to 1861: tensions between the slave south and free north steadily built towards armed conflict

Civil War- 1861-1865: 600,000 soldiers died. North had victory under President Lincoln, which preserved the union, abolished slavery, strengthened the federal government and modernised the economy.

Reconstruction- 1865-1877: attempted to rebuild the union after civil war. Lincoln was assassinated and Johnson took over. Johnson made a mess of reconstruction, he did not protect the freed slaves. People think Lincoln would have done a better job, he would have got a better deal for the slaves- his political skills

Gilded age- late 1870s-  late 1890s: was a great increase in wealth but also increase in social problems- industrialisation and immigration. There was rapid economic growth especially in north and west, wages were higher (esp skilled workers) than Europe - attracted immigrants. Meant lots of poverty and social tensions as poor European Immigrants came.

Progressive era- late 1890s- early 1930s: were campaigns to deal with social and economic issues, they continued to segregate non whites and oppose increased rights for women and suppress immigrants. Democrat president Woodrow Wilson passed the 19th Amendment to give women the vote.

New era- 1933-late 1960s: Wall street crash 1929 ended progressive era. Campaigns by women and labour unions increased. Divided on African American Civil Rights

Divided era- late 1960s - now: no political party dominated

1905 Revolution: The causes

Long term causes
- Workers living and working in poor conditions- low wages, high number of deaths and accidents, long hours 11+
- Peasants- very poor (debt- redemption payments), starving (400000 died 1891), disease was wide spread- they moved to cities to become workers
- 1901- poor harvest and increasing rent- led to peasant revolt 1902-3
- Nobility was 1% of population and owned 25% of land- extremely rich
- ordinary people had no say
- superiority of Russians and russification angered national minorities
- Army: officers from nobility and conscripts required 7 years active plus 8 in reserve
- Witte launching Russia into heavy industry age- increased taxes and didn't think of consequences
- Workers strikes
- rapid change
- emerging class of businessmen understood politics and wanted change
- 1900- depression, wages fell, unemployment
- political parties set up- liberals, revolutionaries, SRs, marxists and SDs (mensheviks and bolsheviks)

Short term causes- The Russo Japanese war
- Cause of the war- Russia's expansionist policy in the far east- rich area in resources and markets- wanted control of the ice free port, Port Arthur in Manchuria
- Jan 26th 1904- Japan launched surprise attack on Russian ships and war started
- Japan compromised - russia can have Port Arthur if Japan can have Korea- Russia refused
- Russia under estimated Japan and over estimated own strength
- Disastrous defeats- even less public belief in Tsar and the government
- Japan had a better trained army and navy and were closer to the action
- claimed the Tsar and minister for internal affairs sought war to divert attention from problems at home- war would rally people together

Bloody Sunday- spark
- 9th Jan 1905- a peaceful march
- Priest Gapon organised petition to Tsar and march to Winter Palace- not aggressive in tone
- Petition- 8 hour working day, minimum wage, more dignified treatment, freedom of speech, right to form trade unions, an elected government
- crowd of 50000- 100000 including women and children
- Authorities well informed about march- assumed would disperse by time reached palace
- guards had orders to stop marchers reaching palace- crowds charged at by calvalry, troops open fired, 130 killed, 300 seriously wounded
- strikes broke out in response and in Jan 400000 people on strike

Mutiny of the Potemkin- spark
- Tsar's fate depended on loyalty of the armed forces
- 14th June 1905- crew of battleship Potmekin mutinied
- found they were given rotten meat to eat
- conditions in Russian navy were harsh and moral low following recent naval disasters
- sailded to Odessa where there were strikes daily
- crowds- looting and arson
- crew killed several officers and seized control of ship
- Potemkin threatened to open fire- police and troops had to retreat
- Tsar ordered troops to open fire- killed 2000
- Potemkin escaped in the hope of finding more support- they surrendered ship to Romanian port in exchange for refuge

Modernisation: Witte

Witte was Minister of Finance 1893-1903

Why needed to modernise.
- Political- Tsar and leading elite wanted Russia to play a major role on the world stage- but lagged behind western competitors- needed to industrialise
- economic- strong industrial base needed to provide weapons, ships, munitions and other military equipment
- Social- raise the standard of population of Russia

How was it financed by Witte?:
- launched Russia into an age of heavy industry using railways- better communication and movement of people and goods- Trans- siberian railway
- Russia had huge reserves of coal, oil, iron and timber
- Foreign investment- negotiated huge loans- particularly from French- and adopted gold standard- rouble had a fixed gold content- gave strength when exchanging currencies
- increased taxes- peasants unhappy- meant had to sell more grain to pay taxes- allowed Witte to increase grain exports- imposed high tariffs on foreign imported goods to make very expensive and protect the developing industry

Positives
- towns increased in size
- millions moved from countryside to cities to work in factories
- output at least doubled for everything
- production of iron and steel risen from 9 to 76 million poods a year
- remarkable growth in industry
- new class of Russian industrialists, entrepreneurs and business men began to emerge

Negatives
- neglected agriculture - suffered from under investment
- bound to be an increase in social tensions and instability
- a more educated workforce could lead to people challenging the Tsar's government
- growth in middle classes create pressure for political change- most modern industrial countries have a democratic government
- working classes living and working conditions poor
- emphasis on heavy industry meant light industry e.g. textiles suffered
- depended on foreign expertise- shameful

The Russian People before 1905

The Workers
- 2.5% of population- mostly ex peasants
- bad working conditions and long hours
- disciplined and fined for smallest infraction
- accidents causing death or serious injury common
- very low wages- barely enough to live on
- were militant and caused a big threat
- lots of disease and illness related to conditions of workplace
- bad living conditions- barrack style next to factories- dirty and insanitary
- resented harsh conditions and exploitation
- high literacy rate (57.85%)- understood some politics
- lots of strikes - Putilov engineering works St Petersburg 1905

The Peasants
- 80% of population
- Forced to make redemption payments to government for land- could not afford
- plots too small to make a reasonable living- had to work on estates of the rich to make money
- restrictions from the village commune 'mir'- was democratic but older or richer peasants had more influence- couldn't move freely without permission- punishment was conscription to the army
- strips of land allotted to households based on size- not always fair, led to inefficient agriculture
- agriculture essential to Russia's economy
- strip system outdated- few animals and wooden tools - old fashioned

National Minorities and Russification
- Polish, Latvians, Finish
- resented Russian control and russification
- Russians got important jobs
- Minorities had to pay large sums of money to the Imperial Treasury
- Emphasis on Russian superiority angered minorities- saw as an attack on their way of life and culture- unfair and discriminative
- Made non-russians speak the Russian language and adopt Russian customs- language used in schools, law courts, regional govs- forbidden to teach in own language
- Jews forced to live in the Pale of Settlement- suffered anti-semitism and had social, political and economic restrictions
- not much of a threat- Tsar easily suppressed them in 19th century uprisings and protests

Political Parties

The liberals:
- main beliefs: civil rights, freedom of individuals, free election, parliamentary democracy, limitations to Tsars power, self determination for national minorities
- didn't have large popular base- main support was middle class- intelligentsia, lawyers, doctors, professionals, teachers
- used reform rather than violent action- newspaper articles, meetings and reform banquets
- set up town councils to run own affairs

The revolutionaries:
- wanted to make their own form of socialism
- believed peasants could make own form of socialism and avoid capitalism and evils of industrialisation
- used peaceful propaganda and went to live with peasants to persuade them- when rejected in 1879 they turned to terrorism
- support from students and young people and well to do intellectuals

The Marxists:
- believed in action- organised strikes in factories
- saw no hope in revolutionary movement, liked Theories of Karl Marx
- supported by Russian intellectuals

The socialist revolutionaries:
- Believed in revolution of the peasants, for the Tsar to be replaced by a democratic republic and land to be taken and divided equally between the peasants
- methods included terrorism and assassination of government officials
- support from peasants, workers and some intellectuals

The social democrats:
- accepted main beliefs of marxism but were split over role of party
- supported by working class
- split into Bolsheviks and Mensheviks
- Bolsheviks
  - believed party should be small and under centralised leadership- harder to inflitrate
  - wanted to lead workers to revolution
  -  used terrorism
  - support from younger more militant peasants and workers
- Mensheviks
  - believed should take in anyone who wished to join
  - more democratic- encouraged trade unions to help get better conditions
  - thought workers could develop a class and revolutionary consciousness until ready for revolution
  - support from other types of workers, members of the intelligentsia and non-Russians

Stalin: How he become leader.

His past:
- 1922 - General Secretary
- A member of the orguburo and secretariat- gave him enormous power over policy and personnel of the party
- His rivals underestimated him
- The ban on factions in 1921 meant he could control the votes at party congresses

Lenin's Funeral:
- Tricked Trotsky into not turning up to make him look bad and disloyal
- Set himself up as Lenin's disciple and made himself look good

Lenin's Secret Testament:
- Was given to the central committee May 1924 just before the 13th Party congress
- if it had been read out it would have ended Stalin's career
- It said that Stalin was too rude, suggested replacing him with someone more tolerant and loyal and it also said that he wouldn't know how to use authority with restraint
- Zinoviev and Kamenev did not want it read out either- wasn't flattering about them since they had opposed Lenin in 1917
- thought Stalin presented no real threat and needed his help against Trotsky
- they thought the testament might help Trotsky

Trotsky:
- 13th Party congress 1924 was criticised for becoming too bureaucratic and less democratic
- despite his brilliant speeches was easily defeated in votes- congress full of Stalin's supporters
- could have appealed to his supporters but approved the ban on factions (1921) and did not want to cause splits in the party

Left-wing's problems (radical):
-1924 Zinoviev and Kamenev mounted campaign against Trotsky- questioned his loyalty since he had opposed Lenin before 1917
- Trotsky criticised them for unwillingness to back Lenin in October Revolution 1917
- Stalin stayed out of it and let them tear themselves apart- appeared anxious to maintain unity
- Zinoviev and Kamenev let Stalin bring more of his supporters into key positions.

Knocking out the right wing (liberals):
- 1928- Stalin turned against the NEP and attacked the right wing
- now advocated rapid industrialisation and use of force to make peasants co operate
- Bukharin mounted a strong defence of NEP but was outvoted in congress in 1929 by Stalin supporters
- Bukharin, Rykov and Tomsky removed from politburo

Stalin was now the undisputed leader.
Stalin was in the centre between being a radical (left wing) and a liberal (right wing)