Former General Secretary of the CPSU Former President of the Soviet Union
172-570: Secretariate (1985–1991) Presidency (1990–1991) Foreign policy Post-leadership [REDACTED] The Sinatra Doctrine was a Soviet foreign policy under Mikhail Gorbachev for allowing member states of the Warsaw Pact to determine their own domestic affairs . The name humorously alluded to the song " My Way " popularized by Frank Sinatra —the Soviet Union was allowing these states to go their own way. Its implementation
344-728: A Popular Front . The Labour leadership fought back and became bitter enemies of Communism. When Labour came to power in the 1945 UK general election , it was increasingly hostile to the Soviet Union and supported the United States. Four days before the British general election in 1924 the London Daily Mail newspaper published the Zinoviev letter . This document, purportedly a directive from Grigory Zinoviev ,
516-626: A citywide council to unite these deputies with representatives of the socialist parties. On 27 February, socialist Duma deputies, mainly Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries, took the lead in organizing a citywide council. The Petrograd Soviet met in the Tauride Palace , room 13, permitted by the Provisional Government. The leaders of the Petrograd Soviet believed that they represented particular classes of
688-612: A civil war . It can also be seen as the precursor for the other revolutions that occurred in the aftermath of World War I , such as the German Revolution of 1918–1919 . The Russian Revolution was one of the key events of the 20th century . The Russian Revolution was inaugurated with the February Revolution in early 1917, in the midst of World War I . With the German Empire dealing major defeats on
860-472: A constituent assembly, and so on). They met in the same building as the emerging Provisional Government not to compete with the Duma Committee for state power, but to best exert pressure on the new government, to act, in other words, as a popular democratic lobby. The relationship between these two major powers was complex from the beginning and would shape the politics of 1917. The representatives of
1032-516: A democratically elected parliament (the State Duma ). Although the Tsar accepted the 1906 Fundamental State Laws one year later, he subsequently dismissed the first two Dumas when they proved uncooperative. Unfulfilled hopes of democracy fueled revolutionary ideas and violent outbursts targeted at the monarchy. One of the Tsar's principal rationales for risking war in 1914 was his desire to restore
1204-605: A few countries, and only for a few years each, forming the government in France , Chile and Spain , and also China. It was not a political success elsewhere. The Popular Front approach played a major role in Resistance movements in France and other countries conquered by Germany after 1939. After the war it played a major role in French and Italian politics. Hand-in-hand with the promotion of Popular Fronts, Maxim Litvinov ,
1376-528: A firm belief that his power to rule was granted by Divine Right , Nicholas assumed that the Russian people were devoted to him with unquestioning loyalty. This ironclad belief rendered Nicholas unwilling to allow the progressive reforms that might have alleviated the suffering of the Russian people. Even after the 1905 Revolution spurred the Tsar to decree limited civil rights and democratic representation, he worked to limit even these liberties in order to preserve
1548-463: A foreign war would mitigate the social unrest over the persistent issues of poverty, inequality, and inhumane working conditions. Instead of restoring Russia's political and military standing, World War I led to the slaughter of Russian troops and military defeats that undermined both the monarchy and Russian society to the point of collapse. The outbreak of war in August 1914 initially served to quiet
1720-488: A higher cost of living, but with little increase in income. As a result, they tended to hoard their grain and to revert to subsistence farming . Thus the cities were constantly short of food. At the same time, rising prices led to demands for higher wages in the factories, and in January and February 1916, revolutionary propaganda , in part aided by German funds, led to widespread strikes. This resulted in growing criticism of
1892-559: A major war between the capitalist nations Germany on the one hand, and Britain and France on the other, in order to advance the prospects of a working-class revolution in Europe. Meanwhile, Stalin felt the Western Powers were plotting to embroil Germany and Russia in war in order to preserve bourgeois capitalism. After Hitler took over all of Czechoslovakia in 1939, proving appeasement was a disaster, Britain and France tried to involve
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#17327659670092064-567: A military convention stipulating the way in which the two armies would coordinate actions in the event of war with Germany. The result was a symbolic pact of friendship and mutual assistance of little consequence other than raising the prestige of both parties. The Treaty marked a large scale shift in Soviet policy in the Comintern from a pro-revisionist stance against the Treaty of Versailles to
2236-656: A more western-oriented foreign policy as championed by Maxim Litvinov . Hitler justified the remilitarization of the Rhineland by the ratification of the treaty in the French parliament, claiming that he felt threatened by the pact. However, after 1936, the French lost interest, and all parties in Europe realized the treaty was effectively a dead letter. The appeasement policies of the prime ministers of Britain and France, Neville Chamberlain and Édouard Daladier were widely held because they seemed to promise what Chamberlain called "peace for our time." However, by early 1939 it
2408-686: A national and international scale. Their promise to end Russia's participation in the First World War was fulfilled when the Bolshevik leaders signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany in March 1918. To secure the new state, the Bolsheviks established the Cheka , a secret police and revolutionary security service working to uncover, punish, and eliminate those considered to be " enemies of
2580-451: A new cynicism and hardness entered Soviet foreign relations when Litvinov was replaced by Vyacheslav Molotov in May 1939. By 1935, Moscow and Paris identified Nazi Germany as the main military, diplomatic, ideological, and economic threat. Germany could probably defeat each one separately in a war, but would avoid a two-front war against both of them simultaneously. The solution, therefore,
2752-490: A new doctrine in the International, that of the so-called Third Period , an ultra-left switch in policy, which argued that social democracy , whatever shape it took, was a form of social fascism , socialist in theory but fascist in practice. All foreign Communist parties – increasingly agents of Soviet policy – were to concentrate their efforts in a struggle against their rivals in the working-class movement, ignoring
2924-736: A particular danger to them after the 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria , which eventually resulted in the Soviet-Japanese Battle of Khalkhin Gol . Ignoring the agreement it signed to avoid involvement in the Spanish Civil War , the USSR sent arms and troops and organized volunteers to fight for the republican government . Communist forces systematically killed their old enemies the Spanish anarchists , even though they were on
3096-522: A possibility, the war made it logistically difficult. Eventually, German officials arranged for Lenin to pass through their territory, hoping that his activities would weaken Russia or even – if the Bolsheviks came to power – lead to Russia's withdrawal from the war. Lenin and his associates, however, had to agree to travel to Russia in a sealed train : Germany would not take the chance that he would foment revolution in Germany. After passing through
3268-532: A private sector economy. He withdrew Soviet troops from Afghanistan in 1989 and began a hands-off approach in the USSR's relations with its Eastern European satellites. This was well received by the United States, but it led to the breakaway of the Eastern European satellites in 1989, and the final collapse and dissolution of the USSR in 1991 . The new Russia, under Boris Yeltsin , succeeded the Soviet Union . The Ministry of Foreign Affairs implemented
3440-400: A problem especially in the capital, St. Petersburg , where distance from supplies and poor transportation networks made matters particularly worse. Shops closed early or entirely for lack of bread, sugar, meat, and other provisions, and lines lengthened massively for what remained. Conditions became increasingly difficult to afford food and physically obtain it. Strikes increased steadily from
3612-465: A source of comfort and reassurance in the face of difficult conditions and as a means of political authority exercised through the clergy. Perhaps more than any other modern monarch, Nicholas II attached his fate and the future of his dynasty to the notion of the ruler as a saintly and infallible father to his people. This vision of the Romanov monarchy left him unaware of the state of his country. With
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#17327659670093784-558: A speech made two days earlier by Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze . The latter had said that the Soviets recognized the freedom of choice of all countries, specifically including the other Warsaw Pact states. Gerasimov told the interviewer, "We now have the Frank Sinatra doctrine. He has a song, I Did It My Way. So every country decides on its own which road to take." When asked whether this would include Moscow accepting
3956-548: A terrible disaster would grip the country unless a constitutional form of government was put in place. Nicholas ignored these warnings and Russia's Tsarist regime collapsed a few months later during the February Revolution of 1917. One year later, the Tsar and his entire family were executed. At the beginning of February, Petrograd workers began several strikes and demonstrations. On 7 March [ O.S. 22 February], Putilov , Petrograd's largest industrial plant
4128-423: A total of nearly 5,000,000 men. These staggering losses played a definite role in the mutinies and revolts that began to occur. In 1916, reports of fraternizing with the enemy began to circulate. Soldiers went hungry, lacked shoes, munitions, and even weapons. Rampant discontent lowered morale, which was further undermined by a series of military defeats. Casualty rates were the most vivid sign of this disaster. By
4300-555: A violently anti-German stand, while Alexander Parvus supported the German war effort as the best means of ensuring a revolution in Russia. The Mensheviks largely maintained that Russia had the right to defend herself against Germany, although Julius Martov (a prominent Menshevik), now on the left of his group, demanded an end to the war and a settlement on the basis of national self-determination, with no annexations or indemnities. It
4472-606: The Anglo-Soviet Trade Agreement that signified de facto recognition of the RSFSR. The United States refused recognition until 1933; however, Henry Ford , alongside other American entrepreneurs and corporations, invested heavily in the Soviet Union, importing modern management -techniques and new industrial technology. Georgy Chicherin served as Soviet Russia's People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs (foreign minister) from 1918 to 1930. He worked against
4644-473: The Bolsheviks , a far-left party led by Vladimir Lenin . Initially the Bolsheviks were a marginal faction; however, they won popularity with their program promising peace, land, and bread : cease war with Germany, give land to the peasantry, and end the wartime famine. Despite the virtually universal hatred of the war, the Provisional Government chose to continue fighting to support its allies , giving
4816-559: The German Empire and eventually negotiated terms to pull out of World War I . They then went to war against the White movement , pro-independence movements , rebellious peasants , former supporters , anarchists and foreign interventionists in the bitter civil war . They set up the Soviet Union in 1922 with Vladimir Lenin in charge. At first, it was treated as an unrecognized pariah state because of its repudiating of tsarist debts and threats to destroy capitalism at home and around
4988-625: The German-Soviet Pact and subsequent Invasion of Poland . Independent revolutions had failed to overthrow capitalism. Moscow pulled back from military action and set up the Comintern , designed to foster local communist parties under Kremlin control. Under Herbert Hoover , very large scale food relief was distributed to Europe after the war through the American Relief Administration . In 1921, to ease
5160-614: The League of Nations and attempted to lure the German Weimar Republic into an alliance with Moscow, an effort aided by his close personal friendship with the German Ambassador to Moscow , Ulrich von Brockdorff-Rantzau (in office: 1922–1928). Diplomatic tensions fed into the war scare of 1927. The League made several efforts to develop better relations with Russia, but these attempts were always rebuffed:
5332-641: The October Revolution of November 1917 but they could not stop the Imperial German Army from advancing rapidly deep into Russia in Operation Faustschlag . The Bolsheviks saw Russia as only the first step—they planned to incite revolutions against capitalism in every western country. The immediate threat was an unstoppable German attack. The Germans wanted to knock Russia out of the war so they could move their forces to
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5504-609: The Romanov family . A short wave of patriotic nationalism ended in the face of defeats and poor conditions on the Eastern Front of World War I . The Tsar made the situation worse by taking personal control of the Imperial Russian Army in 1915, a challenge far beyond his skills. He was now held personally responsible for Russia's continuing defeats and losses. In addition, Tsarina Alexandra , left to rule while
5676-779: The Russian Civil War concluded with the defeat of the White Army and most separatist factions, leading to mass emigration from Russia . The victorious Bolshevik Party reconstituted itself into the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) and would remain in power for the following 69 years. The Russian Revolution of 1905 was a major factor contributing to the cause of the Revolutions of 1917. The events of Bloody Sunday triggered nationwide protests and soldier mutinies . A council of workers called
5848-545: The Russian Empire . The RSFSR initially focused its efforts on the newly independent republics of Armenia , Azerbaijan , Belarus , Georgia , and Ukraine . Wartime cohesion and intervention from foreign powers prompted the RSFSR to begin unifying these nations under one flag and created the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Historians generally consider the end of the revolutionary period to be in 1922, when
6020-628: The St. Petersburg Soviet was created in this chaos. While the 1905 Revolution was ultimately crushed, and the leaders of the St. Petersburg Soviet were arrested, this laid the groundwork for the later Petrograd Soviet and other revolutionary movements during the leadup to 1917. The 1905 Revolution also led to the creation of a Duma (parliament) that would later form the Provisional Government following February 1917. Russia's poor performance in 1914–1915 prompted growing complaints directed at Tsar Nicholas II and
6192-602: The Third Anglo-Afghan War . The Afghan king, Amanullah Khan , wrote to Moscow stressing his desire for permanent friendly relations; Lenin replied congratulating him and the Afghans for their defense. The Soviets saw possibilities in an alliance with Afghanistan against the United Kingdom, such as using it as a base for a revolutionary advance towards British-controlled India . The treaty of friendship
6364-635: The Tsarevich . Nicholas nominated his brother, the Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich , to succeed him. But the Grand Duke realised that he would have little support as ruler, so he declined the crown on 16 March [ O.S. 3 March], stating that he would take it only if that was the consensus of democratic action. Six days later, Nicholas, no longer Tsar and addressed with contempt by the sentries as "Nicholas Romanov",
6536-655: The Weimar Republic . Antifaschistische Aktion was formed partly as a counter-move to the SPD's establishment of the Iron Front, which the KPD regarded as a "social fascist terror organisation." However, from the mid-1930s, the term anti-fascist became ubiquitous in Soviet, Comintern, and KPD usage, as Communists who had been attacking democratic rivals were now told to change tack and engage in coalitions with them against
6708-706: The Western Front in spring 1918 before the American Expeditionary Force soldiers fully deployed. In early March 1918, after bitter internal debate, Russia agreed to harsh German peace terms at the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk . Moscow lost control of the Baltic States , Poland , Ukraine , and other areas that before the war produced much of Russia's food supply, industrial base, coal, and communication links with Western Europe." Russia's allies Britain and France felt betrayed: "The treaty
6880-496: The major powers to treat the Soviet state as a normal country, and to open trade relations and diplomatic recognition. There was no more crusading for world revolution: the Communist Party leadership began to recognize that international revolution would not come and that Soviet Russia would have to reach some form of temporary accommodation with the "bourgeois" capitalist countries. The first breakthrough came in 1921 with
7052-416: The poor railway system , workers abandoned the cities in droves seeking food. Finally, the soldiers themselves, who suffered from a lack of equipment and protection from the elements, began to turn against the Tsar. This was mainly because, as the war progressed, many of the officers who were loyal to the Tsar were killed, being replaced by discontented conscripts from the major cities who had little loyalty to
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7224-402: The world socialist system ; developing equal and friendly relations with liberated ( third world ) countries; peaceful coexistence with the capitalist countries; and solidarity with communist and revolutionary-democratic parties, the international workers' movement, and national liberation struggles . Although these general foreign policy goals were apparently conceived in terms of priorities,
7396-584: The 1934 and 1935 adoption of a popular front policy of anti-fascist unity with non-Communist groups. In October 1931, a coalition of right-wing and far-right parties established the Harzburg Front , which opposed the government of the Centre Party 's Heinrich Brüning. In response, the SPD and affiliated group established the Iron Front to defend liberal democracy and the constitution of
7568-533: The 1940s. The Hungarian government began dismantling the Iron Curtain on the border with Austria in the spring of 1989. From the Pan-European Picnic in August, it was clear to the media-informed Eastern European population that, on the one hand, the Soviet Union would not prevent the opening of the border. On the other hand, the Eastern European governments were divided. Since Hungary was one of
7740-509: The ARA functioned from November 1921 to June 1923 and helped overcome the typhus epidemic then ravaging Russia. The ARA's famine relief operations ran in parallel with much smaller Mennonite , Jewish and Quaker famine relief operations in Russia. The ARA's operations in Russia were shut down on June 15, 1923, after it was discovered that Russia under Lenin renewed the export of grain. Lenin's plans failed, although Russia did manage to conquer
7912-555: The Bolshevik commissar Leon Trotsky began organizing workers' militias loyal to the Bolsheviks into the Red Army . While key events occurred in Moscow and Petrograd, every city in the empire was convulsed, including the provinces of national minorities, and in the rural areas peasants took over and redistributed land. As the war progressed, the RSFSR began to establish Soviet power in the newly independent republics that seceded from
8084-560: The Bolsheviks and other socialist factions a justification to advance the revolution further. The Bolsheviks merged various workers' militias loyal to them into the Red Guards , which would be strong enough to seize power. The volatile situation reached its climax with the October Revolution , a Bolshevik armed insurrection by workers and soldiers in Petrograd that overthrew the Provisional Government, transferring all its authority to
8256-567: The Bolsheviks. The Bolsheviks, acting in the framework of the soviet councils, established their own government and later proclaimed the establishment of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR). Under pressure from German military offensives, the Bolsheviks soon relocated the national capital to Moscow . The RSFSR began the process of reorganizing the former empire into the world's first socialist state , to practice soviet democracy on
8428-604: The Central Asian and Caucasian domains that had been part of the Russian Empire . The revolutionary stage ended after the Soviet defeat in the Battle of Warsaw during the Soviet-Polish War of 1920–21. As Europe's revolutions were crushed and revolutionary zeal dwindled, the Bolsheviks shifted their ideological focus from the world revolution and building socialism around the globe to building socialism inside
8600-411: The Central War Industries Committee about a possible coup to force the abdication of the Tsar. In December, a small group of nobles assassinated Rasputin , and in January 1917 the Tsar's cousin, Grand Duke Nicholas , was asked indirectly by Prince Lvov whether he would be prepared to take over the throne from his nephew, Tsar Nicholas II. None of these incidents were in themselves the immediate cause of
8772-459: The Chinese Civil War, but ultimately supported the winner, Mao Zedong . Stalin and Mao both supported North Korea in its invasion of South Korea in 1950. But the United States and the United Nations mobilized the counterforce in the Korean War (1950–1953). Moscow provided air support but no ground troops; China sent in its large army that eventually stalemated the war. By 1960, disagreements between Beijing and Moscow had escalated out of control, and
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#17327659670098944-425: The Civil War, the first priority for Moscow was instigating revolutions across Western Europe, above all Germany. It was the country that Lenin most admired and assumed to be most ready for revolution. Lenin also encouraged revolutions that failed in Germany , Bavaria and Hungary from 1918 to 1920 – this support was solely political and economic, and the Red Army did not participate in these revolutions. In 1920,
9116-414: The Duma that morning, leaving it with no legal authority to act. The response of the Duma, urged on by the liberal bloc, was to establish a Temporary Committee to restore law and order; meanwhile, the socialist parties established the Petrograd Soviet to represent workers and soldiers. The remaining loyal units switched allegiance the next day. The Tsar directed the royal train back towards Petrograd, which
9288-450: The Eastern Front. The superior German Army – better led, better trained, and better supplied – was quite effective against the ill-equipped Russian forces, driving the Russians out of Galicia, as well as Russian Poland during the Gorlice–Tarnów Offensive campaign. By the end of October 1916, Russia had lost between 1,600,000 and 1,800,000 soldiers, with an additional 2,000,000 prisoners of war and 1,000,000 missing, all making up
9460-444: The February Revolution, but they do help to explain why the monarchy survived only a few days after it had broken out. Meanwhile, Socialist Revolutionary leaders in exile, many of them living in Switzerland , had been the glum spectators of the collapse of international socialist solidarity. French and German Social Democrats had voted in favour of their respective governments' war efforts. Georgi Plekhanov in Paris had adopted
9632-470: The Hungarians. Honecker faced a growing crisis at home, with massive anti-government demonstrations in Leipzig and other East German cities. Shevardnadze's speech and Gerasimov's memorable description of the new policy contradicted Honecker's appeals. The Sinatra Doctrine proclamation had dramatic effects across the Soviet bloc. The beleaguered East German government had hoped for a Soviet intervention to defend communism in East Germany and elsewhere. However,
9804-417: The KPD, the epithet fascist was used to describe capitalist society in general and virtually any anti-Soviet or anti-Stalinist activity or opinion. The formation of Antifaschistische Aktion in 1932 indicated a shift away from the Third Period policies, as fascism came to be recognised as a more serious threat (the two red flags on its logo symbolized Communists in unity with socialists ), leading up to
9976-482: The Labour Party. The letter seemed authentic at the time, but historians now agree it was a forgery. The letter aided the Conservative Party under Stanley Baldwin , by hastening the collapse of the Liberal Party vote that produced a Conservative landslide against Ramsay MacDonald 's Labour Party. A. J. P. Taylor argued that the most important impact was on the psychology of Labourites, who for years afterward blamed their defeat on foul play, thereby misunderstanding
10148-427: The Nazi movement by using nationalist slogans. The KPD sometimes cooperated with the Nazis in attacking the SPD. In 1931, the KPD had united with the Nazis, whom they referred to as "working people's comrades", in an unsuccessful attempt to bring down the SPD state government of Prussia by means of a referendum. In the usage of the Soviet Union, and of the Comintern and its affiliated parties in this period, including
10320-455: The Provisional Government agreed to "take into account the opinions of the Soviet of Workers' Deputies", though they were also determined to prevent interference which would create an unacceptable situation of dual power. In fact, this was precisely what was being created, though this "dual power" (dvoyevlastiye) was the result less of the actions or attitudes of the leaders of these two institutions than of actions outside their control, especially
10492-428: The Provisional Government, including Lev Kamenev . With Lenin's arrival, the popularity of the Bolsheviks increased steadily. Over the course of the spring, public dissatisfaction with the Provisional Government and the war, in particular among workers, soldiers and peasants, pushed these groups to radical parties. Despite growing support for the Bolsheviks, buoyed by maxims that called most famously for "all power to
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#173276596700910664-445: The Provisional Government. As minister of war and later Prime Minister, Kerensky promoted freedom of speech , released thousands of political prisoners , continued the war effort, even organizing another offensive (which, however, was no more successful than its predecessors). Nevertheless, Kerensky still faced several great challenges, highlighted by the soldiers, urban workers, and peasants, who claimed that they had gained nothing by
10836-421: The Romanov monarchy openly well before the turmoil of World War I. Dissatisfaction with Russian autocracy culminated in the huge national upheaval that followed the Bloody Sunday massacre of January 1905, in which hundreds of unarmed protesters were shot by the Tsar's troops. Workers responded to the massacre with a crippling general strike, forcing Nicholas to put forth the October Manifesto , which established
11008-442: The SPD just as much as it means fighting Hitler and the parties of Brüning ." In KPD and Soviet usage, fascism was primarily viewed as the final stage of capitalism rather than a specific group or movement such as the Italian Fascists or the German Nazis and, based on this theory, the term was applied quite broadly. In 1929, the KPD's banned public May Day rally in Berlin was broken up by police; 33 people were killed in
11180-400: The SPD, but Hitler quickly suppressed both. With the KPD destroyed, a few leaders managed to escape into exile in Moscow, some of whom would be executed and others become leaders of East Germany in 1945. Simultaneously in Germany, the Nazis completely destroyed the SPD, imprisoning its leaders or forcing them into exile as well. According to historian Eric D. Weitz , 60% of German exiles in
11352-461: The Sinatra Doctrine announcement signaled that the Soviet Union would not aid the East German communists. In a few months, the communist governments of East Germany, Czechoslovakia , Bulgaria , and Romania had all been overthrown, thus bringing the Cold War to an end. Soviet foreign policy After the Russian Revolution , in which the Bolsheviks took over parts of the collapsing Russian Empire in 1918, they faced enormous odds against
11524-415: The Soviet Commissar for Foreign Affairs between 1930 and 1939, aimed at closer alliances with Western governments, and placed ever greater emphasis on collective security . The new policy led to the Soviet Union joining the League of Nations in 1934 and the subsequent non-aggression pacts with France and Czechoslovakia. In the League the Soviets were active in demanding action against imperialist aggression,
11696-408: The Soviet Union . The Soviet forces nearly collapsed as the Germans reached the outskirts of Leningrad and Moscow. However, the Soviet Union proved strong enough to defeat Nazi Germany, with help from its key World War II allies, Britain and the United States. The Soviet army occupied most of Eastern Europe (except Yugoslavia) and increasingly controlled the governments. In 1945, the USSR became one of
11868-403: The Soviet Union and a real military alliance. Their attempts were futile because Poland refused to allow any Soviet troops on its soil. Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social change in Russia , starting in 1917. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government following two successive revolutions and
12040-508: The Soviet Union had been liquidated during the Stalinist terror and a higher proportion of the KPD Politburo membership had died in the Soviet Union than in Nazi Germany. Weitz also noted that hundreds of German citizens, most of them Communists, were handed over to the Gestapo by Stalin's administration. Communists and parties on the left were increasingly threatened by the growth of the Nazi movement. Hitler came to power in January 1933 and rapidly consolidated his control over Germany, destroyed
12212-439: The Soviet Union were assigned fourth priority. These included the Middle East , South Asia , and Southeast Asia . Last priority was given to Africa , Oceania , and Latin America , except insofar as these regions either provided opportunities for strategic basing or bordered on strategic naval straits or sea lanes. In general, Soviet foreign policy was most concerned with superpower relations (and, more broadly, relations between
12384-591: The Soviet Union were formalized in a party program ratified by delegates to the Twenty-Seventh Party Congress in February–March 1986. According to the programme, "the main goals and guidelines of the CPSU's international policy" included ensuring favorable external conditions conducive to building communism in the Soviet Union; eliminating the threat of world war; disarmament ; strengthening
12556-399: The Soviet Union, while keeping some of the rhetoric and operations of the Comintern continuing. In the mid-1920s, a policy of peaceful co-existence began to emerge, with Soviet diplomats attempting to end the country's isolation, and concluding bilateral arrangements with capitalist governments. An agreement was reached with Germany, Europe's other pariah, in the Treaty of Rapallo in 1922. At
12728-442: The Soviet Union. Prague wanted to use the USSR as a counterweight against the growing strength of Nazi Germany. Poland might make a good partner too, but it refused to join in. The military provisions were practically useless because of multiple conditions and the requirement that the United Kingdom and Fascist Italy approve any action. The effectiveness was undermined even further by the French government's insistent refusal to accept
12900-465: The Soviet era: There were three distinct phases in Soviet foreign policy between the conclusion of the Russian Civil War and the Nazi-Soviet Pact in 1939, determined in part by political struggles within the USSR, and in part by dynamic developments in international relations and the effect these had on Soviet security. Lenin, once in power, believed the October Revolution would ignite
13072-507: The Soviets held the allegiance of the working class , as well as the growing urban middle class. During this chaotic period, there were frequent mutinies, protests and strikes. Many socialist and other leftist political organizations were struggling for influence within the Provisional Government and the Soviets. Notable factions included the Social-Democrats or Mensheviks , Social Revolutionaries , and Anarchists , as well as
13244-648: The Soviets regarded the League as simply an alliance of hostile, capitalist powers. The USSR did not seek admission to the League of Nations until 1934, when it joined with French backing. It was expelled from the League in 1939 following the Soviet invasion of Finland . The Genoa Conference of 1922 brought the Soviet Union and Germany for the first time into negotiations with the major European powers. The conference broke down when France insisted that Germany pay more in reparations , and demanded that Moscow start paying off
13416-565: The Soviets successfully fought to keep control of the Chinese Eastern Railway in Manchuria. After defeating all his opponents from both the left (led by Trotsky and Grigory Zinoviev ) and the right (led by Bukharin), Stalin was in full charge. He began the wholesale collectivization of Soviet agriculture, accompanied by a massive program of planned industrialization . After 1921 the main foreign-policy goals were for
13588-468: The Soviets", the party held very little real power in the moderate-dominated Petrograd Soviet. In fact, historians such as Sheila Fitzpatrick have asserted that Lenin's exhortations for the Soviet Council to take power were intended to arouse indignation both with the Provisional Government, whose policies were viewed as conservative, and the Soviets themselves, which were viewed as subservients to
13760-662: The St. Petersburg branch of the security police, the Okhrana , in October 1916, warned bluntly of "the possibility in the near future of riots by the lower classes of the empire enraged by the burdens of daily existence." Tsar Nicholas was blamed for all of these crises, and what little support he had left began to crumble. As discontent grew, the State Duma issued a warning to Nicholas in November 1916, stating that, inevitably,
13932-559: The Tsar commanded at the front, was German born, leading to suspicion of collusion, only to be exacerbated by rumors relating to her relationship with the controversial mystic Grigori Rasputin . Rasputin's influence led to disastrous ministerial appointments and corruption, resulting in a worsening of conditions within Russia. After the entry of the Ottoman Empire on the side of the Central Powers in October 1914, Russia
14104-480: The Tsar or the government. Russia's first major battle of the war was a disaster; in the 1914 Battle of Tannenberg , over 30,000 Russian troops were killed or wounded and 90,000 captured, while Germany suffered just 12,000 casualties. However, Austro-Hungarian forces allied to Germany were driven back deep into the Galicia region by the end of the year. In the autumn of 1915, Nicholas had taken direct command of
14276-485: The Tsar ordered the army to suppress the rioting by force, troops began to revolt. Although few actively joined the rioting, many officers were either shot or went into hiding; the ability of the garrison to hold back the protests was all but nullified, symbols of the Tsarist regime were rapidly torn down around the city, and governmental authority in the capital collapsed – not helped by the fact that Nicholas had prorogued
14448-415: The Tsar. Many sections of the country had reason to be dissatisfied with the existing autocracy. Nicholas II was a deeply conservative ruler and maintained a strict authoritarian system. Individuals and society in general were expected to show self-restraint, devotion to community, deference to the social hierarchy and a sense of duty to the country. Religious faith helped bind all of these tenets together as
14620-617: The Tsarist-era debts that it had repudiated. Soviet Russia and Germany were both pariah countries, deeply distrusted. The solution for the Soviets and the Weimar Germans was to get together at the nearby resort city of Rapallo , Italy , where they quickly negotiated the 1922 Treaty of Rapallo . In a friendly agreement, they made a clean break with the past, repudiating all old financial and territorial obligations and agreeing to normalize diplomatic and economic relations. Secretly,
14792-477: The US, 1914, the figures were 18%, 47% and 35% respectively). World War I added to the chaos. Conscription across Russia resulted in unwilling citizens being sent off to war. The vast demand for factory production of war supplies and workers resulted in many more labor riots and strikes. Conscription stripped skilled workers from the cities, who had to be replaced with unskilled peasants. When famine began to hit due to
14964-407: The USSR in 1933, in the expectation that trade would soar and help the US out of its economic depression. That goal did not materialize, but Roosevelt maintained good relations with Moscow until his death in 1945. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Stalin insisted on a policy of fighting against non-communist socialist movements everywhere. This new radical phase was paralleled by the formulation of
15136-636: The United States was marked by opposition to the Soviet Union , and mobilized its allies to support the guerrilla war against the Soviets in Afghanistan. The goal was to create something akin to the Vietnam War, which would drain Soviet forces and morale. When Mikhail Gorbachev became the leader of the Soviet Union in 1985, he sought to restructure the Soviet Union to resemble the Scandinavian model of western social democracy and thus create
15308-470: The army, personally overseeing Russia's main theatre of war and leaving his ambitious but incapable wife Alexandra in charge of the government. Reports of corruption and incompetence in the Imperial government began to emerge, and the growing influence of Grigori Rasputin in the Imperial family was widely resented. In 1915, things took a critical turn for the worse when Germany shifted its focus of attack to
15480-563: The authority of an institution that claimed to represent the will of workers and soldiers and could, in fact, mobilize and control these groups during the early months of the revolution – the Petrograd Soviet Council of Workers' Deputies. The model for the Soviets were workers' councils that had been established in scores of Russian cities during the 1905 Revolution. In February 1917, striking workers elected deputies to represent them and socialist activists began organizing
15652-522: The authority of the Provisional Government but also of the moderate socialist leaders of the Soviets. Although the Soviet leadership initially refused to participate in the "bourgeois" Provisional Government, Alexander Kerensky , a young, popular lawyer and a member of the Socialist Revolutionary Party (SRP), agreed to join the new cabinet, and became an increasingly central figure in the government, eventually taking leadership of
15824-477: The autumn of 1914, he had insisted that "from the standpoint of the working class and of the labouring masses the lesser evil would be the defeat of the Tsarist Monarchy"; the war must be turned into a civil war of the proletarian soldiers against their own governments, and if a proletarian victory should emerge from this in Russia, then their duty would be to wage a revolutionary war for the liberation of
15996-409: The battlefields. The soldiers did not feel as if they were valuable, rather they felt as if they were expendable. By the spring of 1915, the army was in steady retreat, which was not always orderly; desertion , plundering , and chaotic flight were not uncommon. By 1916, however, the situation had improved in many respects. Russian troops stopped retreating, and there were even some modest successes in
16168-505: The cities, owing to a lack of food in response to the disruption of agriculture. Food scarcity had become a considerable problem in Russia, but the cause of this did not lie in any failure of the harvests , which had not been significantly altered during wartime. The indirect reason was that the government, in order to finance the war, printed millions of rouble notes, and by 1917, inflation had made prices increase up to four times what they had been in 1914. Farmers were consequently faced with
16340-457: The civil unrest, soviet councils were formed by the locals in Petrograd that initially did not oppose the new Provisional Government; however, the Soviets did insist on their influence in the government and control over various militias. By March, Russia had two rival governments . The Provisional Government held state power in military and international affairs, whereas the network of Soviets held more power concerning domestic affairs. Critically,
16512-470: The clash and subsequent rioting . The RFB was then banned as extremist by the governing Social Democrats. In 1930, the KPD established the RFB's de facto successor, known as Kampfbund gegen den Faschismus ("Fighting Alliance against Fascism"). In late 1931, local Roter Massenselbstschutz ("Red Mass Self-Defence") units were formed by Kampfbund members as autonomous and loosely organized structures under
16684-466: The communist and socialist movements in Germany, and rejected the restraints imposed by the Versailles treaty. Stalin in 1934 reversed his decision in 1928 to attack socialists, and introduced his new plan: the "popular front." It was a coalition of anti-fascist parties usually organized by the local communists acting under instructions from the Comintern. The new policy was to work with all parties on
16856-591: The condition of the working-class. This approach ran contrary to the goals and beliefs of the KPD which considered such short term concessions for the working that served only to delay the revolution. In the Reichstag , the KPD sought to overthrow the Weimar government, which was historically controlled by a moderate coalition of liberals, Catholics, and the social democrats. As the Nazi Party grew rapidly throughout
17028-516: The cost of living). At the same time, urban industrial life had its benefits, though these could be just as dangerous (in terms of social and political stability) as the hardships. There were many encouragements to expect more from life. Acquiring new skills gave many workers a sense of self-respect and confidence, heightening expectations and desires. Living in cities, workers encountered material goods they had never seen in villages. Most importantly, workers living in cities were exposed to new ideas about
17200-595: The country in the 1930s into an industrial and military power. It strongly opposed Nazi Germany until August 1939, when it suddenly came to friendly terms with Berlin in the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact . Moscow and Berlin by agreement invaded and partitioned Poland and the Baltic States. Stalin ignored repeated warnings that Hitler planned to invade. He was caught by surprise in June 1941 when Nazi Germany invaded
17372-436: The crisis was resolved, relations with the United States gradually eased into the 1970s, reaching a degree of détente as both Moscow and Beijing sought American favor. In 1979, a communist government was installed by the USSR in Afghanistan, but was hard-pressed and requested military help from Moscow. The Soviet army intervened to support the regime, but found itself in a major confrontation. The presidency of Ronald Reagan in
17544-567: The devastating famine in Russia that was triggered by the Soviet government's war communism policies, the ARA's director in Europe, Walter Lyman Brown , began negotiating with the Russian People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs , Maxim Litvinov , in Riga , Latvia (at that time not yet annexed by the USSR). An agreement was reached on August 21, 1921, and an additional implementation agreement
17716-818: The dual nature of Soviet foreign policy, which encompasses both proletarian internationalism and peaceful coexistence . On the one hand, proletarian internationalism refers to the common cause of the working class (or the proletariat ) of all countries in struggling to overthrow the bourgeoisie and to start a communist revolution . Peaceful coexistence, on the other hand, refers to measures to ensure relatively peaceful government-to-government relations with capitalist states. Both policies can be pursued simultaneously: "Peaceful coexistence does not rule out but presupposes determined opposition to imperialist aggression and support for peoples defending their revolutionary gains or fighting foreign oppression." The Soviet commitment in practice to proletarian internationalism declined since
17888-636: The early 1930s, winning support among the Protestant working class and financial capitalists, this system became increasingly undermined by political extremists. There was some fighting between the KPD and the Nazis in Germany's industrial cities. However, after The Communist International's abrupt ultra-left turn in its Third Period from 1928, the KPD regarded the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) as its main adversary and adopted
18060-570: The emphasis and ranking of the priorities have changed over time in response to domestic and international stimuli. After Mikhail Gorbachev became General Secretary of the Communist Party in 1985, for instance, some Western analysts discerned in the ranking of priorities a possible de-emphasis of Soviet support for national liberation movements . Although the emphasis and ranking of priorities were subject to change, two basic goals of Soviet foreign policy remained constant: national security (safeguarding Communist Party rule through internal control and
18232-437: The end of 1914, only five months into the war, around 390,000 Russian men had lost their lives and nearly 1,000,000 were injured. Far sooner than expected, inadequately trained recruits were called for active duty, a process repeated throughout the war as staggering losses continued to mount. The officer class also saw remarkable changes, especially within the lower echelons, which were quickly filled with soldiers rising up through
18404-484: The fascist threat. According to George Stein, a secret major military collaboration between Russia and Germany began in the early 1920s. Both sides benefitted from operational activities at the bases of Lipetsk, Kazan, and Torski. When Hitler and his Nazis came to power in 1933, the collaboration ended because Stalin feared the dangerous expansionist policy of the Nazis and neither he nor Hitler would risk further cooperation. Instead Stalin ordered Germans to cooperate with
18576-611: The few countries East Germans could travel to, thousands then traveled there to flee to the West across the newly opened border. To the great annoyance of the East German government, the Hungarians refused to stop the exodus. These developments greatly disturbed hardline communists such as the East German leader Erich Honecker , who condemned the end of the Soviet bloc's traditional "socialist unity" and appealed to Moscow to rein in
18748-626: The five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council along with the United States, Britain, France, and China, giving it the right to veto any of the Security Council's resolutions ( see Soviet Union and the United Nations ). By 1947, American and European anger at Soviet military occupation of the Eastern European states led to a Cold War, with Western Europe rebuilt economically with
18920-693: The foreign policies set by Stalin and after his death by the Politburo. Andrei Gromyko served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs for nearly thirty years (1957–1985), being the longest-serving foreign minister in the world. According to Soviet Marxist–Leninist theorists, the basic character of Soviet foreign policy was set forth in Vladimir Lenin's Decree on Peace , adopted by the Second Congress of Soviets in November 1917. It set forth
19092-720: The foremost threat to the national security of the Soviet Union. Second priority was given to relations with Eastern Europe (the other members of the Warsaw Pact ) and Western Europe (the European members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization ). Third priority was given to the littoral or propinquitous states along the southern border of the Soviet Union: Turkey (a NATO member), Iran , Afghanistan , China , Mongolia , North Korea , and Japan . Regions near to, but not bordering,
19264-579: The founding of the Soviet state, although this component of ideology still had some effect on later formulation and execution of Soviet foreign policy. Although pragmatic raisons d'état undoubtedly accounted for much of more recent Soviet foreign policy, the ideology of class struggle still played a role in providing a worldview and certain loose guidelines for action in the 1980s. Marxist–Leninist ideology reinforces other characteristics of political culture that create an attitude of competition and conflict with other states. The general foreign policy goals of
19436-516: The front, he arrived in Petrograd in April 1917. On the way to Russia, Lenin prepared the April Theses , which outlined central Bolshevik policies. These included that the Soviets take power (as seen in the slogan "all power to the Soviets") and denouncing the liberals and social revolutionaries in the Provisional Government, forbidding co-operation with it. Many Bolsheviks, however, had supported
19608-516: The government, including an increased participation of workers in revolutionary parties. Liberal parties too had an increased platform to voice their complaints, as the initial fervor of the war resulted in the Tsarist government creating a variety of political organizations. In July 1915, a Central War Industries Committee was established under the chairmanship of a prominent Octobrist , Alexander Guchkov (1862–1936), including ten workers' representatives. The Petrograd Mensheviks agreed to join despite
19780-587: The head of the Communist International in Moscow, to the Communist Party of Great Britain , ordered it to engage in seditious activities. It predicted that the resumption of diplomatic relations (by a Labour government) would hasten the radicalization of the British working class . This would have constituted a significant interference in British politics , and as a result, it was deeply offensive to British voters, turning them against
19952-620: The help of the Marshall Plan from Washington. Opposition to the danger of Soviet expansion formed the basis of the NATO military alliance in 1949. There was no hot war, but the Cold War was fought diplomatically and politically across the world by the Soviet and NATO blocks. The Kremlin controlled the satellite states that it established in the parts of Eastern Europe its army occupied in 1945. After eliminating all opposition and purging
20124-516: The late 1980s, structural flaws within the Soviet system, growing economic problems, the rise of anti-communist sentiment, and the effects of the Soviet–Afghan War made it increasingly impractical for the Soviet Union to impose its will on its neighbors. The phrase was coined on 25 October 1989 by Foreign Ministry spokesman Gennadi Gerasimov . He was speaking to reporters in Helsinki about
20296-603: The leadership of, but outside the formal organization of the KPD as part of the party's united front policy to work with other working class groups to defeat "fascism" as interpreted by the party. During the Third Period, the KPD viewed the Nazi Party ambiguously. On one hand, the KPD considered the Nazi Party to be one of the fascist parties. On the other hand, the KPD sought to appeal to the Strasserite -wing of
20468-475: The leadership, it linked them to the USSR in terms of economics through Comecon and later the military through the Warsaw Pact . In 1948, relations with Yugoslavia disintegrated over mutual distrust between Stalin and Tito . A similar split happened with Albania in 1955. Like Yugoslavia and Albania, China was never controlled by the Soviet Army . The Kremlin wavered between the two factions fighting
20640-461: The left and center in a multiparty coalition against fascism and Nazi Germany in particular. The new slogan was: "The People's Front Against Fascism and War". Under this policy, Communist Parties were instructed to form broad alliances with all anti-fascist parties with the aim of both securing social advance at home and a military alliance with the USSR to isolate the fascist dictatorships. The "Popular Fronts" thus formed proved to be successful in only
20812-408: The maintenance of adequate military forces) and, since the late 1940s, influence over Eastern Europe . Many Western analysts have examined the way Soviet behavior in various regions and countries supported the general goals of Soviet foreign policy. These analysts have assessed Soviet behavior in the 1970s and 1980s as placing primary emphasis on relations with the United States, which was considered
20984-414: The masses throughout Europe. An elementary theory of property , believed by many peasants, was that land should belong to those who work on it. At the same time, peasant life and culture was changing constantly. Change was facilitated by the physical movement of growing numbers of peasant villagers who migrated to and from industrial and urban environments, but also by the introduction of city culture into
21156-621: The members of NATO and the Warsaw Pact), but during the 1980s Soviet leaders pursued improved relations with all regions of the world as part of its foreign policy objectives. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs —called "Narkomindel" until 1949—drafted policy papers for the approval of Stalin and the Politburo, and then sent their orders out to the Soviet embassies. The following persons headed the Commissariat/Ministry as commissars (narkoms), ministers, and deputy ministers during
21328-468: The middle of 1915, and so did crime, but, for the most part, people suffered and endured, scouring the city for food. Working-class women in St. Petersburg reportedly spent about forty hours a week in food lines, begging, turning to prostitution or crime, tearing down wooden fences to keep stoves heated for warmth, and continued to resent the rich. Government officials responsible for public order worried about how long people's patience would last. A report by
21500-508: The national branches not as political parties, but "as a centralized quasi-religious, and quasi-military movement devoted to the revolution and to service of the Soviet state." Commentators compared it to the Jesuit order , with its vow of obedience . It coordinated the different parties internationally and issued orders that they obeyed. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to "struggle by all available means, including armed force, for
21672-626: The newly formed state of Poland expanded eastwards into the former Russian territories of Ukraine and Belarus. The Red Army retaliated and invaded Poland , but was defeated outside Warsaw in August 1920. Shortly afterwards, the Russian SFSR sued for peace, which was signed at the Peace of Riga on 18 March 1921. Russia recompensed 30 million roubles , as well as sizeable territory in Belarus and Ukraine, which would be later re-annexed in 1939 after
21844-582: The objections of their leaders abroad. All this activity gave renewed encouragement to political ambitions, and in September 1915, a combination of Octobrists and Kadets in the Duma demanded the forming of a responsible government, which the Tsar rejected. All these factors had given rise to a sharp loss of confidence in the regime, even within the ruling class, growing throughout the war. Early in 1916, Guchkov discussed with senior army officers and members of
22016-428: The offensives that were staged that year, albeit at great loss of life. Also, the problem of shortages was largely solved by a major effort to increase domestic production. Nevertheless, by the end of 1916, morale among soldiers was even worse than it had been during the great retreat of 1915 . The fortunes of war may have improved, but the fact of war remained which continually took Russian lives. The crisis in morale (as
22188-461: The ongoing social movement taking place on the streets of Russia's cities, factories, shops, barracks, villages, and in the trenches. A series of political crises – see the chronology below – in the relationship between population and government and between the Provisional Government and the Soviets (which developed into a nationwide movement with a national leadership). The All-Russian Central Executive Committee of Soviets (VTsIK) undermined
22360-429: The opposition one by one and took full control of Russia, as well as conquering newly independent countries such as Ukraine , Georgia , Armenia , and Azerbaijan . The U.S. and France refused to deal with the Soviet regime because of its promise to support revolutions to overthrow governments everywhere. U.S. Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby stated: After Germany was defeated in November 1918 and Soviet Russia won
22532-403: The overthrow of the international bourgeoisie and the creation of an international Soviet republic as a transition stage to the complete abolition of the state". That policy was soon dropped by 1921 because it interfered with the decision to seek friendly relations with capitalistic nations. The new economic policy at home required trade with the West and bank credits if possible. The main obstacle
22704-765: The people " in campaigns called the Red Terror , consciously modeled on those of the French Revolution . Although the Bolsheviks held large support in urban areas, they had many foreign and domestic enemies that refused to recognize their government. Russia erupted into a bloody civil war , which pitted the Reds (Bolsheviks), against their enemies, collectively referred to as the White Army . The White Army comprised independence movements , monarchists , liberals , and anti-Bolshevik socialist parties. In response,
22876-476: The periphery of the former Empire. France, Japan and the United States also sent forces to block German advances. In effect the Allies were assisting the various anti-Bolshevik forces of different nationalities and political leanings. The Russian Civil War saw the uncoordinated resistance to the Bolsheviks from every direction. However, the Bolsheviks, operating a unified command from a central location, defeated all
23048-764: The political forces at work and postponing necessary reforms in the Labour Party. In the 1920s, the Republican administrations in Washington refused to recognize the Soviet régime. However, some American businesses, led by Henry Ford , opened close relations. The Soviets greatly admired American technology and welcomed help in achieving the ambitious industrial goals of Stalin's First Five-Year Plan of 1928–1932. Ford built modern factories and trained Soviet engineers. President Franklin Roosevelt recognized
23220-507: The population of the capital, Saint Petersburg, nearly doubled from 1,033,600 to 1,905,600, with Moscow experiencing similar growth. This created a new 'proletariat' which, due to being crowded together in the cities, was much more likely to protest and go on strike than the peasantry had been in previous times. One 1904 survey found that an average of 16 people shared each apartment in Saint Petersburg, with six people per room. There
23392-410: The population, not the whole nation. They also believed Russia was not ready for socialism. They viewed their role as limited to pressuring hesitant " bourgeoisie " to rule and to introduce extensive democratic reforms in Russia (the replacement of the monarchy by a republic, guaranteed civil rights, a democratic police and army, abolition of religious and ethnic discrimination, preparation of elections to
23564-504: The position that the SPD was the main fascist party in Germany. This was based on the theory of social fascism that had been proclaimed by Joseph Stalin and that was supported by the Comintern ;during the late 1920s and early 1930s, which held that social democracy was a variant of fascism. Consequently, the KPD held that it was "the only anti-fascist party" in Germany and stated that "fighting fascism means fighting
23736-491: The prestige that Russia had lost amid the debacles of the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905). Nicholas also sought to foster a greater sense of national unity with a war against a common and old enemy. The Russian Empire was an agglomeration of diverse ethnicities that had demonstrated significant signs of disunity in the years before the First World War. Nicholas believed in part that the shared peril and tribulation of
23908-503: The prevalent social and political protests, focusing hostilities against a common external enemy, but this patriotic unity did not last long. As the war dragged on inconclusively, war-weariness gradually took its toll. Although many ordinary Russians joined anti-German demonstrations in the first few weeks of the war, hostility toward the Kaiser and the desire to defend their land and their lives did not necessarily translate into enthusiasm for
24080-400: The ranks. These men, usually of peasant or working-class backgrounds, were to play a large role in the politicization of the troops in 1917. The army quickly ran short of rifles and ammunition (as well as uniforms and food), and by mid-1915, men were being sent to the front bearing no arms. It was hoped that they could equip themselves with arms recovered from fallen soldiers, of both sides, on
24252-451: The rejection of communist parties in the Soviet bloc, he replied: "That's for sure … political structures must be decided by the people who live there." The Sinatra Doctrine has been seen as Moscow permitting its allies to decide their futures. It was a retrospective policy, as Soviet allies had already acquired much greater freedom of action. A month before Gerasimov's statement, Poland had elected its first non-communist government since
24424-508: The revolution: The political group that proved most troublesome for Kerensky, and would eventually overthrow him, was the Bolshevik Party , led by Vladimir Lenin . Lenin had been living in exile in neutral Switzerland and, due to democratization of politics after the February Revolution, which legalized formerly banned political parties , he perceived the opportunity for his Marxist revolution. Although return to Russia had become
24596-415: The same Republican side. The Spanish government sent its entire treasury to Moscow for safekeeping, but it was never returned. The Munich Agreement of 1938, the first stage in the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia, gave rise to Soviet fears that they were likely to be abandoned in a possible war with Germany. In the face of continually dragging and seemingly hopeless negotiations with Britain and France,
24768-522: The same time the Rapallo treaty was signed it set up a secret system for hosting large-scale training and research facilities for the German army and air force, despite the strict prohibitions on Germany in the Treaty of Versailles . These facilities operated until 1933 and then in 1939–1941. The Soviet Union finalized a treaty of friendship with Afghanistan , which had gained full independence following
24940-535: The social and political order. The social causes of the Russian Revolution can be derived from centuries of oppression of the lower classes by the Tsarist regime and Nicholas's failures in World War I. While rural agrarian peasants had been emancipated from serfdom in 1861, they still resented paying redemption payments to the state, and demanded communal tender of the land they worked. The problem
25112-444: The threat of real fascism. There were to be no united fronts against a greater enemy. In Germany, Stalin gave a high priority to an anti-capitalist revolution in Germany. His German Communist Party (KPD) split the working-class vote with the moderate Social Democratic Party . The SPD was the historic social democratic party in Germany, and tempered its Marxism to drop revolutionary goals and instead focus on systematic improvement of
25284-407: The two nations became bitter enemies in the contest for control of worldwide communist activities. Tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States reached an all-time high during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis , in which Soviet missiles were placed on the island of Cuba well within range of US territory. This was retrospectively viewed as the closest the world ever came to a nuclear war. After
25456-520: The two sides established elaborate military cooperation , while publicly denying it. This enabled Germany to rebuild its army and air force secretly at sites in the Soviet Union, in violation of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles . At the direction of the Comintern, by 1937, 10% of Communist Party of Great Britain members were operating secretly inside the British Labour Party , campaigning to change its policy on affiliation and to engineer
25628-593: The ultimate authority of the crown. Despite constant oppression, the desire of the people for democratic participation in government decisions was strong. Since the Age of Enlightenment , Russian intellectuals had promoted Enlightenment ideals such as the dignity of the individual and the rectitude of democratic representation. These ideals were championed most vociferously by Russia's liberals, although populists, Marxists, and anarchists also claimed to support democratic reforms. A growing opposition movement had begun to challenge
25800-536: The village through material goods, the press, and word of mouth. Workers also had good reasons for discontent: overcrowded housing with often deplorable sanitary conditions, long hours at work (on the eve of the war, a 10-hour workday six days a week was the average and many were working 11–12 hours a day by 1916), constant risk of injury and death from poor safety and sanitary conditions, harsh discipline (not only rules and fines, but foremen's fists), and inadequate wages (made worse after 1914 by steep wartime increases in
25972-523: The war front, and increasing logistical problems in the rear causing shortages of bread and grain, the Russian Army was steadily losing morale, with large scale mutiny looming. High officials were convinced that if Tsar Nicholas II abdicated, the unrest would subside. Nicholas agreed and stepped down, ushering in a new provisional government led by the Russian Duma (the parliament). During
26144-441: The workers in the streets and at public meetings. To quell the riots, the Tsar looked to the army. At least 180,000 troops were available in the capital, but most were either untrained or injured. Historian Ian Beckett suggests around 12,000 could be regarded as reliable, but even these proved reluctant to move in on the crowd, since it included so many women. It was for this reason that on 11 March [ O.S. 26 February], when
26316-425: The world's socialists and lead to a "World Revolution." Lenin set up the Communist International (Comintern) to export revolution to the rest of Europe and Asia. Indeed, Lenin set out to "liberate" all of Asia from imperialist and capitalist control. The first stage not only was defeated in key attempts, but angered the other powers by its promise to overthrow capitalism. The Bolsheviks seized power in Russia in
26488-410: The world. By 1922, Moscow had repudiated the goal of world revolution, and sought diplomatic recognition and friendly trade relations with the capitalist world, starting with Britain and Germany. Finally, in 1933, the United States gave recognition. Trade and technical help from Germany and the United States arrived in the late 1920s. After Lenin died in 1924, Joseph Stalin , became leader. He transformed
26660-740: Was opposition to fascism , especially the Nazi variety. The high point of the United Front was the partnership in China between the Chinese Communist Party and the nationalist Kuomintang . The United Front policy in China effectively crashed to ruin in 1927, when Kuomintang leader Chiang Kai-shek massacred the native Communists and expelled all of his Soviet advisors, notably Mikhail Borodin . A short war erupted in 1929 as
26832-419: Was Moscow's refusal to honor Tsarist-era debts. The Comintern was officially dissolved by Stalin in 1943 to avoid antagonizing its new allies against Germany, the United States and Great Britain. Trotsky argued for the continuation of the revolutionary process, in terms of his theory of permanent revolution . After Lenin's death in 1924, Trotsky lost the power struggle to Stalin and Nikolai Bukharin . Trotsky
27004-490: Was a military alliance. It was pursued by Louis Barthou , the French foreign minister, but he was assassinated in October 1934 and his successor, Pierre Laval , was more inclined to Germany. However, after the declaration of German rearmament in March 1935 the French government forced the reluctant Laval to conclude a treaty. Written in 1935, it took effect in 1936. Both Paris and Moscow hoped other countries would join in and Czechoslovakia to sign treaties with both France and
27176-515: Was also no running water, and piles of human waste were a threat to the health of the workers. The poor conditions only aggravated the situation, with the number of strikes and incidents of public disorder rapidly increasing in the years shortly before World War I. Because of late industrialization, Russia's workers were highly concentrated. By 1914, 40% of Russian workers were employed in factories of 1,000+ workers (32% in 1901). 42% worked in 100–1,000 worker enterprises, 18% in 1–100 worker businesses (in
27348-622: Was argued by Allan Wildman, a leading historian of the Russian army in war and revolution) "was rooted fundamentally in the feeling of utter despair that the slaughter would ever end and that anything resembling victory could be achieved." The war did not only devastate soldiers. By the end of 1915, there were manifold signs that the economy was breaking down under the heightened strain of wartime demand. The main problems were food shortages and rising prices. Inflation dragged incomes down at an alarmingly rapid rate, and shortages made it difficult for an individual to sustain oneself. These shortages were
27520-412: Was clear that it further encouraged Nazi aggression. The Soviet Union was not invited to the critical Munich conference in late September 1938, where Britain, France, and Italy appeased Hitler by giving in to his demands to take over the Sudetenland , a largely German-speaking area of Western Czechoslovakia. Distrust was high in all directions. Leaders in London and Paris felt that Stalin wanted to see
27692-658: Was closed by a workers' strike. The next day, a series of meetings and rallies were held for International Women's Day , which gradually turned into economic and political gatherings. Demonstrations were organised to demand bread, and these were supported by the industrial working force who considered them a reason for continuing the strikes. The women workers marched to nearby factories bringing out over 50,000 workers on strike. By 10 March [ O.S. 25 February], virtually every industrial enterprise in Petrograd had been shut down, together with many commercial and service enterprises. Students, white-collar workers, and teachers joined
27864-424: Was deprived of a major trade route to the Mediterranean Sea , which worsened the economic crisis and the munitions shortages. Meanwhile, Germany was able to produce great amounts of munitions whilst constantly fighting on two major battlefronts. The conditions during the war resulted in a devastating loss of morale within the Russian army and the general population of Russia itself. This was particularly apparent in
28036-437: Was finalized in 1921. The Communist International (Comintern), (1919–1943), was an international organization of communist parties . Obstensibly a new group to replace the former Second International after it had collapsed because of World War I, it served as an extension of Soviet foreign policy. It was headed by Grigory Zinoviev (1919–26) and based in the Kremlin ; it reported to Lenin and later Stalin. Lenin envisioned
28208-551: Was further compounded by the failure of Sergei Witte 's land reforms of the early 20th century. Increasing peasant disturbances and sometimes actual revolts occurred, with the goal of securing ownership of the land they worked. Russia consisted mainly of poor farming peasants and substantial inequality of land ownership, with 1.5% of the population owning 25% of the land. The rapid industrialization of Russia also resulted in urban overcrowding and poor conditions for urban industrial workers (as mentioned above). Between 1890 and 1910,
28380-403: Was initially chaired by a liberal aristocrat, Prince Georgy Yevgenievich Lvov , a member of the Constitutional Democratic Party (KD). The socialists had formed their rival body, the Petrograd Soviet (or workers' council) four days earlier. The Petrograd Soviet and the Provisional Government competed for power over Russia. The effective power of the Provisional Government was challenged by
28552-449: Was part of Gorbachev's doctrine of new political thinking . The Sinatra Doctrine was a significant break from the earlier Brezhnev Doctrine , under which Moscow tightly controlled the internal affairs of satellite state . This had been used to justify the crushing of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, as well as the invasion of the non-Warsaw Pact nation of Afghanistan in 1979. By
28724-410: Was reunited with his family at the Alexander Palace at Tsarskoye Selo . He was placed under house arrest with his family by the Provisional Government. The immediate effect of the February Revolution was a widespread atmosphere of elation and excitement in Petrograd. On 16 March [ O.S. 3 March], a provisional government was announced. The center-left was well represented, and the government
28896-456: Was sent into exile in 1929 and in 1940 was assassinated on Stalin's orders. Stalin's main policy was socialism in one country . He focused on modernization of the Soviet Union, developing manufacturing, building infrastructure and improving agriculture. Expansion and wars were no longer on the agenda. The Kremlin-sponsored united front policy, with foreign Communist parties taking the lead in education and national liberation movements. The goal
29068-570: Was signed by Brown and People's Commissar for Foreign Trade Leonid Krasin on December 30, 1921. The U.S. Congress appropriated $ 20,000,000 for relief under the Russian Famine Relief Act of late 1921. Hoover strongly detested Bolshevism, and felt the American aid would demonstrate the superiority of Western capitalism and thus help contain the spread of communism. At its peak, the ARA employed 300 Americans, more than 120,000 Russians and fed 10.5 million people daily. Its Russian operations were headed by Col. William N. Haskell . The Medical Division of
29240-411: Was stopped on 14 March [ O.S. 1 March], by a group of revolutionaries at Malaya Vishera . When the Tsar finally arrived at Pskov , the Army Chief Nikolai Ruzsky , and the Duma deputies Alexander Guchkov and Vasily Shulgin suggested in unison that he abdicate the throne. He did so on 15 March [ O.S. 2 March], on behalf of himself, and then, having taken advice on behalf of his son,
29412-419: Was the ultimate betrayal of the Allied cause and sowed the seeds for the Cold War. With Brest-Litovsk the spectre of German domination in Eastern Europe threatened to become reality, and the Allies now began to think seriously about military intervention [in Russia]." In 1918, Britain sent in money and some troops to support the anti-Bolshevik White Army , as well as pro-independence anti-Bolshevik movements on
29584-411: Was these views of Martov that predominated in a manifesto drawn up by Leon Trotsky (at the time a Menshevik) at a conference in Zimmerwald , attended by 35 Socialist leaders in September 1915. Inevitably, Vladimir Lenin supported by Zinoviev and Radek , strongly contested them. Their attitudes became known as the Zimmerwald Left . Lenin rejected both the defence of Russia and the cry for peace. Since
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