Class IX

History

Chapter 2 Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution

Q1. Bring out three differences between liberals, radicals and conservatives.

A1.

Conservatives Liberals Radicals

a) Opposed liberals and a) Tolerance of all religions a) Government based on
radicals. b) Opposed the uncontrolled majority.
b) Asserted that past must be powers of the king. b) Opposed the privileges
respected. c) Supported the rights of the given to great landowners
c) Change should be slow. individuals. and wealthy factory
d)Supported a representative, owners.
elected parliamentary c) Many of them also
government and independent supported women’s
judiciary. suffragette movements.
e) Did not support universal d) Supported private
adult franchise (right of property
every citizen including but disliked concentration
women). of property in the hands of a
f) Supported private few.
property.

Q2. How did the socialists view private property?

A2.

a. Socialists were against private property. They saw it as the root of all social evils.
b. They believed that the individuals who owned the factory/property were concerned only
with personal gains and not with the welfare of those who made the property productive.
c. Socialists viewed society as a whole rather than single individually owned property and
paid more attention to collective social interests.

Some of visions of the socialists are as follows-

i. Robert Owen- sought to build a cooperative community.

ii. Louis Blanc-wanted the government to encourage cooperatives and replace capitalist
Enterprises.

Q3. Why did Karl Marx want to overthrow capitalism?

A3.

a. Karl Marx argued that industrial society was capitalist. Capitalists owned the capital invested
in factories, and the profit of capitalists was produced by workers.

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b. The conditions of workers could not improve as long as this profit was accumulated by
private capitalists. Workers had to overthrow capitalism and the rule of private property.

c. Marx believed that to free themselves from capitalist exploitation, workers had to construct
a radically socialist society where all property was socially controlled. This would be a
communist society.

Q4. What were the social, economic and political conditions in Russia before 1905?

A4.

a) About 85% of the Russian population was engaged in agriculture. There were some
privately owned industries. Workers moved from villages to cities to work in factories.
b) Financially the situation was bad. Wages fell by 20%, and prices of essential goods
were very high, which led to the St. Petersburg strike. This strike and a series of
other events took the form of the Revolution of 1905.
c) Various associations were formed during this period demanding the establishment of a
Constituent Assembly.
d) In Russia, it was illegal to form a political party before 1914.
e) In 1898, the Russian Social Democratic Workers’ Party was founded by socialists who
followed Marx’s ideas.
f) In 1903, this party was split, and two groups were formed – the Bolsheviks and the
Mensheviks.

Q5. Who was Father Gapon? Explain his role in bloody Sunday. OR Describe the incident
known as 'Bloody Sunday'?

A5. Father Gapon was the leader of the procession of workers who marched towards the Winter
Palace in St. Petersburg.

Events: (i) When this procession of workers reached the Winter Palace, it was attacked by the
police.

(ii) Over a hundred workers were killed and about three hundred wounded. This incident known
as the 'Bloody Sunday' started a series of events leading to the 1905 Revolution.

(iii) Strikes took place, universities closed down and student bodies staged walkouts. Lawyers,
doctors and engineers and other middle class workers formed unions and demanded constituent
assembly.

Q6. How did the revolution of 1905 prove to be a dress rehearsal for the 1917 Revolution?

A6.

i. Lenin stated that the October Revolution of 1917 could never have taken place
without the previous experience of the Revolution of 1905.
ii. In 1905, strikes took place all over the country, Universities were closed and student
bodies staged walkouts, complaining about the lack of civil liberties.

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 iii. Lawyers, doctors, engineers, middle class workers established Union of Unions and
demanded a constituent assembly. The 1905 revolution provided an opportunity to the
working classes to organize strikes and build their organizations called Soviets.
iv. During the 1905 Revolution, the Tsar finally allowed the creation of an elected
consultative Parliament or Duma. This marked the transformation of Russia from an
Absolute to Constitutional Monarchy.
v. It was this successful struggle against the monarchy that helped the Russians also to
rebel against the Provisional Government in 1917leading to the formation of the
Socialist State in Russia.

Q7. How did the first world war affect the industry in Russia?

A7.

a) The First World War badly hit the Russian industries. Russia's own industries were few
in number and the country was cut off from other suppliers of industrial goods by
German control of the Baltic sea.
b) Industrial equipment disintegrated more rapidly in Russia than elsewhere in Europe. By
1916, railway lines began to break down. Able-bodied men were called up to the war.
c) As a result, there were labour shortages and small workshops producing essentials were
shut down. Large supplies of grain were sent to feed the army.
d) Thus, bread and flour became scarce for the people in the cities.

Q8. Mention the steps taken by the Bolsheviks to make Russia a socialist society.pg 37

A8.

The steps taken by the Bolsheviks to make Russia a socialist society were:
(i) The Bolsheviks kept industries and banks nationalised. They permitted peasants to cultivate
the land that had been socialised. The Bolsheviks used confiscated land to demonstrate what
collective work could be.

(ii)A process of centralised planning was introduced. Centralised planning led to economic
growth.

(iii)An extended schooling system was developed and arrangements were made for factory
workers and peasants to enter universities. Cheap public health care was provided.

Q9. What was collectivization? Why was it introduced? What were the consequences?

A9.

i. Due to acute shortages of grain supplies and outdated modes of production Stalin
introduced the collectivization programme. Under this program, peasants were forced
to cultivate on collective farms called as Kolkhoz.
ii. Those who resisted collectivization programme were severely punished and many were
deported and exiled.

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iii. Independent cultivation was also allowed but such cultivators were treated
unsympathetically. This programme did not lead to an increase in production
immediately.
iv. Collectivization can be thought of as an attempt to industrialize agriculture.
v. Many peasants resisted attempts to collectivize. They liked working their own land and
didn't want to lose it. Many decided to slaughter their own farm animals instead of
giving them up to the collective.

Q10.Write a few lines to show what you know about:

a. Kulaks pg 54
Kulaks: It is the Russian term for wealthy peasants who Stalin believed were hoarding
grains to gain more profit. They were raided in 1928 and their supplies were
confiscated.
b. The Duma pg 33
Duma is an elected consultative Parliament which was created as a result of the 1905
Revolution
c. Women workers between 1900 and 1930
They made up 31% of the factory labour force by 1914, but were paid almost half and
three-quarters of the wages given to men. However, interestingly, it were the women
workers who led the way to strikes during the February Revolution.

Map Work: Outline World Political Map

Major countries of World War I

Allied powers- UK, France, Russia, USA

Central powers- Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey

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