Revolution and Nationalism,

1900 1939
Revolutions in Russia
The cruel, oppressive rule of most 19th-century czars caused widespread social
unrest for decades. Anger over social inequalities and the ruthless treatment of
peasants grew. The czars unfair governing sparked many violent reactions. Army
officers revolted in 1825. Hundreds of peasants rioted. Secret revolutionary
groups formed and plotted to overthrow the government. In 1881, student
revolutionaries were angry over the slow pace of political change. They
assassinated the reform-minded czar, Alexander II. Russia was heading toward a
full-scale revolution. In 1881, Alexander III succeeded his father, Alexander II, to
the throne and halted all reforms in Russia. Like his grandfather, Nicholas I,
Alexander III clung to the principles of autocracy. To wipe out revolutionaries,
Alexander III used harsh measures like strict censorship codes and secret police.
Alexander made Jews the target of persecution. He subjected them to new laws
that encouraged prejudice. A wave of pogromsorganized violence against Jews
broke out in many parts of Russia. When Nicholas II became czar in 1894, he
announced, The principle of autocracy will be maintained by me as firmly and
unswervingly as by my lamented father [Alexander III]. Nicholas stubbornly
refused to surrender any of his power.
Economic Growth and Its Impact
The number of factories more than doubled between 1863 and 1900. By around
1900, Russia had become the worlds fourth-ranking producer of steel. Building
of the great Trans-Siberian Railwaythe worlds longest continuous rail line. With
the help of British and French investors, work began in 1891. The Trans-Siberian
Railway was completed in 1904. It connected European Russia in the west with
Russian ports on the Pacific Ocean in the east.
The Revolutionary Movement Grows
The growth of factories brought new problems. Among these problems were
gruelling working conditions, miserably low wages, and child labour. Trade unions
were outlawed. The gap between rich and poor was enormous. Amid the
widespread unrest of workers and other members of Russian society, various
revolutionary movements began to grow. They also competed for power. The
group that would eventually succeed in establishing a new government in Russia
followed the views of Karl Marx. The industrial class would then form a
dictatorship of the proletariat. In 1903, Russian Marxists split into two groups
over revolutionary tactics. The Mensheviks wanted a broad base of popular
support for the revolution. The Bolsheviks supported a small number of
committed revolutionaries willing to sacrifice everything for radical change. The

major leader of the Bolsheviks was Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. He adopted the name
of Lenin.
Crises at Home and Abroad
Between 1904 and 1917, Russia faced a series of crises. These events showed
the czars weakness and paved the way for revolution.
The Russo-Japanese War
In the late 1800s, Russia and Japan were imperialist powers. They both competed
for control of Korea and Manchuria. The two nations signed a series of
agreements over the territories, but Russia broke them. In retaliation, Japan
attacked the Russians at Port Arthur, Manchuria, in February 1904. Japanese
defeated them.
Bloody Sunday: The Revolution of 1905
On January 22, 1905, about 200,000 workers and their families approached the
czars Winter Palace in St. Petersburg. They carried a petition asking for better
working conditions, more personal freedom, and an elected national legislature.
Nicholas II was not at the palace. His generals and police chiefs were. They
ordered the soldiers to fire on the crowd. Between 500 and 1,000 unarmed
people were killed. Russians quickly named the event Bloody Sunday. Bloody
Sunday provoked a wave of strikes and violence that spread across the country.
Nicholas approved the creation of the Duma Russias first parliament. Its leaders
were moderates who wanted Russia to become a constitutional monarchy similar
to Britain.
World War I: The Final Blow
In 1914, Nicholas II made the fateful decision to drag Russia into World War I.
Russia, though, was unprepared to handle the military and economic costs.
Defeat followed defeat. As in the Russo-Japanese War, Russias involvement in
World War I revealed the weaknesses of czarist rule and military leadership.
The March Revolution
In March 1917, women textile workers in Petrograd led a citywide strike. Soon
afterward, riots flared up over shortages of bread and fuel. Nearly 200,000
workers swarmed the streets. At first the soldiers obeyed orders to shoot the
rioters but later sided with them. The soldiers fired at their commanding officers
and joined the rebellion.
The Czar Steps Down
The local protest exploded into a general uprisingthe March Revolution. It
forced Czar Nicholas II to abdicate his throne. A year later revolutionaries
executed Nicholas and his family. The czarist rule of the Romanovs, which
spanned over three centuries, had finally collapsed. The March Revolution
succeeded in bringing down the czar. Yet it failed to set up a strong government
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to replace his regime. Leaders of the Duma established a provisional

government, or temporary government. It was eventually headed by Alexander
Kerensky. His decision to continue fighting the war cost him the support of both
soldiers and civilians. As the war dragged on, conditions inside Russia worsened.
The Germans believed that Lenin and his Bolshevik supporters would stir unrest
in Russia and hurt the Russian war effort. Traveling in a sealed railway boxcar,
Lenin reached Petrograd in April 1917
The Bolshevik Revolution
Lenin and the Bolsheviks recognized their opportunity to seize power. They soon
gained control of the Petrograd soviet, as well as the soviets in other major
Russian cities.

The Provisional Government Topples

In November 1917, without warning, Bolshevik Red Guards made up of armed
factory workers stormed the Winter Palace in Petrograd. They took over
government offices and arrested the leaders of the provisional government. The
Bolshevik Revolution was over in a matter of hours. Kerensky and his colleagues
disappeared almost as quickly as the czarist regime they had replaced.
Bolsheviks in Power
Within days after the Bolshevik takeover, Lenin ordered that all farmland be
distributed among the peasants. Lenin and the Bolsheviks gave control of
factories to the workers. The Bolshevik government also signed a truce with
Germany to stop all fighting on the eastern war front and began peace talks. In
March 1918, Russia and Germany signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.Russia
surrendered a large chunk of its territory to Germany and its allies. The
humiliating terms of this treaty triggered widespread anger among many
Russians. They objected to the Bolsheviks and their policies.
Civil War Rages in Russia

Opponents formed the White Army. The revolutionary leader Leon Trotsky, who
helped negotiate the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, expertly commanded the Bolshevik
Red Army. From 1918 to 1920, civil war raged in Russia. Several Western nations,
including the United States, sent military aid and forces to Russia to help the
White Army. In the end the Red Army triumphed and finally crushed all opposition
to Bolshevik rule.
Lenin Restores Order
War and revolution destroyed the Russian economy. Trade was at a standstill.
Industrial production dropped and many skilled workers fled to other countries.
Lenin, who helped mastermind the Bolshevik Revolution, shifted his role. He
turned to reviving the economy and restructuring the government. Lenin
launched the New Economic Policy (NEP) by temporarily putting aside his plan for
a state-controlled economy. Instead, he resorted to a small-scale version of
capitalism. The reforms under the NEP allowed peasants to sell their surplus
crops instead of turning them over to the government. Lenin also tried to
encourage foreign investment. The many different nationalities within Russia had
always posed an obstacle to national unity. Communist leaders also saw
nationalism as a threat to unity and party loyalty. To keep nationalism in check,
Lenin organized Russia into several self-governing republics under the central
government. In 1922, the country was named the Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics (USSR), in honour of the councils that helped launch the Bolshevik
Revolution. Each republic was controlled from the new capitalMoscow.The
Bolsheviks also renamed their party the Communist Party. The name came from
the writings of Karl Marx. In 1924, the Communists created a constitution based
on socialist and democratic principles. In reality, the Communist Party held all
the power. Thanks partly to the new policies and to the peace that followed the
civil war, the USSR slowly recovered. By 1928, the countrys farms and factories
were producing as much as they had before World War I.
TotalitarianismLeon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin were among Lenins
revolutionary supporters. They both helped create the Soviet state. After Lenin
died, these two men became bitter rivals for control of the Communist Party.
Stalin Becomes Dictator
Joseph Stalin was a quiet man who rarely received much public notice. During his
early days as a Bolshevik, he changed his name from Dzhugashivili to Stalin,
which means man of steel in Russian. From 1922 to 1927, Stalin began his
ruthless climb to the head of the government. In 1922, as general secretary of
the Communist Party, he worked behind the scenes. He shrewdly moved his
followers into strategic government offices. By 1924, he had placed many of his
supporters in key positions. By 1928, Stalin was in total command of the
Communist Party. Trotsky, forced into exile in 1929, was no longer a threat.
Stalin now stood poised to wield absolute power as a dictator. Stalin transform
the Soviet Union into a totalitarian state. The term totalitarianism describes a
government that takes total, centralized state control over every
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aspect of public and private life. Totalitarianism challenges the highest

values prized by Western democraciesreason, freedom, human dignity, and the
worth of the individual. In the 1920s and 1930s, two other European dictators
Hitler in Germany and Mussolini in Italywere shaping their visions of a
totalitarian state. After Communists formed the Peoples Republic of China in
1949, Mao Zedong used tactics similar to Stalins to establish totalitarian
control. The North Korean dictator Kim Il Sung ruled over a totalitarian
Communist state from 1948 to 1994. To modernize the Soviet state, Stalin
ushered in revolutions in industry and agriculture. His plans called for a
command economya system in which the government made all economic
decisions. In 1928, Stalin outlined the first of several Five-Year Plans for the
development of the Soviet Unions economy. The government would take drastic
steps to promote rapid industrial growth and to strengthen national defense. In
1928, the government began to seize over 25 million privately owned farms in
the USSR. It combined them into large, government-owned farms, called
collective farms. Hundreds of families worked on these farms, producing food for
the state. The government expected that the modern machinery on the
collective farms would boost food production and reduce the number of workers.
Peasants resisted fiercely. Many killed livestock and destroyed crops in protest.
Stalin used terror and violence to force peasants to work on collective farms.
Weapons of Totalitarianism
Dictators of totalitarian states use terror and violence to force obedience and to
crush opposition. In 1934, Stalin turned against members of the Communist
Party. He launched the Great Purgea

campaign of terror. The state had the authority to punish even the most minor
acts. Totalitarian states rely on indoctrinationinstruction in the governments
beliefsto mold peoples minds. Party leaders in the Soviet Union lectured
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workers and peasants on the ideals of communism. Totalitarian states also

spread propagandabiased or incomplete information used to sway people to
accept certain beliefs or actions. Many Soviet writers, composers, and other
artists also fell victim to official censorship. Communists aimed to replace
religious teachings with the ideals of communism. The Russian Orthodox Church
was the main target of persecution.
In its immediate and long-term effects, the Russian Revolution was more like the
French Revolution than the American Revolution. The American Revolution
expanded English political ideas into a constitutional government that built on
many existing structures. In contrast, both the French and Russian revolutions
attempted to destroy existing social and political structures. Revolutionaries in
France and Russia used violence and terror to control people. France eventually
became a constitutional monarchy, but the Russian Revolution established a
totalitarian state that lasted for decades. Stalins totalitarian rule revolutionized
Soviet society. Womens roles greatly expanded. People became better educated
and mastered new technical skills. The dramatic changes in peoples lives had a
downside, though. As servants of a totalitarian state, they would make great
sacrifices in exchange for progress. With the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917,
women won equal rights. Given new educational opportunities, women prepared
for careers in engineering and science. Under Stalin, the government controlled
all educationfrom nursery schools through the universities. Schoolchildren
learned the virtues of the Communist Party. By the mid-1930s, Stalin had forcibly
transformed the Soviet Union into a totalitarian regime and an industrial and
political power.

Collapse of Chinese Imperial Rule

In the early 1900s, China was ripe for revolution. China had faced years of
humiliation at the hands of outsiders. Foreign countries controlled Chinas trade
and economic resources. Many Chinese believed that modernization and
nationalism held the countrys keys for survival. They wanted to build up the
army and navy, to construct modern factories, and to reform education. Yet
others feared change. They believed that Chinas greatness lay in its traditional
ways.
Nationalists Overthrow Qing Dynasty
Among the groups pushing for modernization and nationalization was the
Kuomintang or the Nationalist Party. Its first great leader, Sun Yixian. In 1912,
Suns Revolutionary Alliance, a forerunner of the Kuomintang, succeeded in
overthrowing the last emperor of the Qing dynasty. The Qing had ruled China
since 1644. In 1912, Sun became president of the new Republic of China. Sun
turned over the presidency to Yuan Shikai (yooahn sheeky), a powerful
general. By 1913, he was ruling as a military dictator. After Yuan died in 1916,
chaos reigned. Civil war broke out as one rival group battled another.
In 1917, the government in Beijing, hoping for an Allied victory, declared war
against Germany. For Chinas participation, some leaders mistakenly believed
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that the thankful Allies would return control of China to the Chinese. Under the
Treaty of Versailles, however, the Allied leaders gave Japan the territories and
privileges that had previously belonged to Germany.

The May Fourth Movement

When news of the Treaty of Versailles reached China, outrage swept the country.
Mao Zedong a young schoolteacher who had studied at Beijing University,
supported the student protesters. He would later become Chinas greatest
revolutionary leader, sometimes called The Great Helmsman. The
demonstrations spread to other cities and exploded into a national movement. It
was called the May Fourth Movement. Workers, manufacturers, shopkeepers, and
professionals joined the cause.
The Communist Party in China
In 1920, small groups of young intellectuals were meeting in Shanghai and
Beijing University to discuss Marxs revolutionary beliefs. They viewed the Soviet
Union under Lenin as a model for political and economic change. In 1921, a
group met in Shanghai to organize the Chinese Communist Party. Mao Zedong
was among its founders. While the Communist Party was forming, Sun Yixian and
his Nationalist Party set up a government in south China. Like the
Communists,Sun became disillusioned with the Western democracies that
refused to support
his struggling government. Sun decided to ally the
Kuomintang with the newly formed Communist Party. Sun used Lenins blueprint
for organizing his party along Bolshevik lines. Lenin preached worldwide
revolution. He seized the opportunity to help Chinas Nationalist government. In
1923, Lenin began sending military advisers and equipment to the Nationalists in
return for allowing the Chinese Communists to join the Kuomintang. Several
Chinese Nationalist leaders traveled to Moscow for military training. After Sun
Yixian died in 1925, Jiang Jieshi, formerly called Chiang Kai-shek, headed the
Kuomintang. Jiang put aside his differences with the Communists. The
Nationalists nearly wiped out the Chinese Communist Party. In 1928, Jiang
became president of the Nationalist Republic of China. Great Britain and the
United States both formally recognized the new government. The Soviet Union,
as a result of the Shanghai massacre, did not. Jiangs treachery also had longterm effects. The Communists deep-seated rage over the massacre erupted in a
civil war that would last until 1949. Jiang did nothing to improve the life of
Chinas rural peasants. As a result, many peasants threw their support to the
Chinese Communist Party. To enlist the support of the peasants, Mao divided land
that the Communists won among the local farmers. Communist leader Mao
Zedong had survived Jiangs bloody rampage by fleeing to the countryside. He
had already begun to develop his own brand of communism. Lenin had shown
that a Marxist revolution could take place in a largely rural country, but he had
based his organization in Russias cities.

Civil War Rages in China

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By 1930, Nationalists and Communists were fighting a bloody civil war. Mao and
other Communist leaders established themselves in the hills of south-central
China. Mao referred to this tactic of taking his revolution to the countryside as
swimming in the peasant sea. He recruited the peasants to join his Red Army.
He then trained them in guerrilla warfare. Nationalists attacked the Communists
repeatedly but failed to drive them out. In 1933, Jiang gathered an army of at
least 700,000 men. Jiangs army then surrounded the Communists mountain
stronghold. Communist Party leaders realized that they faced defeat. In 1934,
the Communist forces fled. They began a hazardous, 6,000-mile-long journey
called the Long March. In 1931, as Chinese fought Chinese, the Japanese
watched the power struggles with rising interest. Japanese forces took advantage
of Chinas weakening situation. They invaded Manchuria, an industrialized
province in the northeast part of China. This attack signaled the onset of World
War II in Asia. The Japanese threat forced an uneasy truce between Jiangs and
Maos forces. The civil war gradually ground to a halt as Nationalists and
Communists temporarily united to fight the Japanese.
Nationalism Spreads to Southwest Asia
The breakup of the Ottoman Empire and growing Western interest in Southwest
Asia spurred the rise of nationalism in this region.
Turkey Becomes a Republic
By the end of World War I, Turkey was all that remained of the Ottoman Empire. It
included the old Turkish homeland of Anatolia and a small strip of land around
Istanbul. In 1919, Greek soldiers dealt a death blow to the Ottoman Empire. They
invaded Turkey and threatened to conquer it. The Turkish sultan, weak and
corrupt, was powerless to stop them. In 1922, a brilliant commander, Mustafa
Kemalled Turkish nationalists in overthrowing the last Ottoman sultan. In 1923,
Kemal became the president of the new Republic of Turkey, the first republic in
Southwest Asia. He ushered in many sweeping reforms to achieve his goal of
transforming Turkey into a modern nation. Kemal separated the laws of Islam
from the laws of the nation. He abolished religious courts and created a new
legal system based on European law. Under Kemal, women gained more
freedom.
Persia Becomes Iran
Before World War I, both Great Britain and Russia had established spheres of
influence in the ancient country of Persia. After the war, when Russia was still
reeling from the Bolshevik Revolution, the British tried to take over all of Persia.
This manoeuver triggered a nationalist revolt in Persia. In 1921, a Persian army
officer seized power. In 1925 he deposed the ruling shah. Persias new leader,
Reza Shah Pahlavi, like Kemal in Turkey, set out to modernize his country. In
1935, he changed the name of his country from Persia to Iran.
Saudi Arabia Keeps Islamic Traditions

While Turkey broke with many Islamic traditions, another new country held
strictly to Islamic law. In 1902, Abd al-Aziz Ibn Saud, a member of a oncepowerful Arabian family, began a successful campaign to unify Arabia. In 1932,
he renamed the new kingdom Saudi Arabia after his family. Ibn Saud carried on
Arab and Islamic traditions. Loyalty to the Saudi government was based on
custom, religion, and family ties. However, modernization in Saudi Arabia was
limited to religiously acceptable areas. While nationalism steadily emerged as a
major force in Southwest Asia, the regions economy was also taking a new
direction. During the 1920s and 1930s, European and American companies
discovered huge oil deposits in Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait. Foreign
businesses invested huge sums of money to develop these oil fields. Geologists
later learned that the land around the Persian Gulf has nearly two-thirds of the
worlds known supply of oil.
This important resource led to rapid and dramatic economic changes and
development. Saudi Arabia, for example, would soon become a nation of wealthy
oil exporters. Yet oil proved to be a mixed blessing for Southwest Asia. Though oil
brought huge profits, it also encouraged Western nations to try to dominate this
region.