Delhi Public School, Rewari

Subject: Social Science (History Notes )

Class- IX

Name………... Roll no……

Prepared By – Mr. Rajesh Dixit

SOCIALISM IN EUROPE AND THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION

1) “Socialists were against private property and saw it as a root of all social evils”. Elaborate this
statement.
Ans Socialists considered private property as the main cause for class division. That is why they favoured
abolition of private property. Individuals owned the property that gave employment but the propertied were
concerned only with personal gains and not with the welfare of those who made the property productive.
Therefore, capitalism with its profit motive became the main target of the socialists to abolish it completely.
They highlighted collective social interests and campaigned for it.
2) Mention any three features of Russian economy.
Ans Three features of Russian economy are as follows:
(a) A major proportion (about 85%) of people in the empire earned their living from agriculture.
(b) The cultivators produced for the market as well as for their own needs and Russia was a major
exporter of g rain.
(c) Most of the industries were the private properties of the industrialists.
3) Elucidate the main ideas of Karl Marx on socialism.
Ans Karl Marx argued that industrial society was ‘capitalist’. It meant that the capitalists owned the
capital invested in factories and the profit of the capitalists was produced by the workers. So, the conditions
of workers could not improve as long as this profit was accumulated by the capitalists. In order to come out
of capitalism, workers had to overthrow it. Marx believed that in order to free themselves from the capitalist
exploitations, workers had to construct a communist society where all property was socially controlled.
4) What was Stalin‟s collectivization programme?
Ans Stalin started collectivization programme in order to increase production. Under his collectivization
programme, peasants were forced to cultivate in collective farms, i.e., Kplkhoz. The bulk of land and
implements were transferred to the ownership of collective farms. Peasants worked on the land the
Kolkhoz, profits was shared. In spite of collectivization, production did not increase immediately.
Stalin’s collectivization programme enraged peasants. They resisted the authorities and destroyed
their livestock. Those who resisted collectivization were severely punished.
5) Discuss the impact of the First World War on The Russian Empire.
Ans The First World War proved fatal to the Russian empire. Russia’s armies lost badly in Germany
and Austria between 1914 and 1`916. The defeats were shocking and demoralising . There were over 7
million casualities by 1917. As the Russian army retreated, they destroyed crops and buildings to prevent the
enemy from being able to live off the land. The destruction of crops and buildings led to over 3 million
refugees in Russia. The situation discredited the government and the Tsar. Soldiers did not wish to fight such
a war.
The war ruined Russian industries. Industrial equipment’s disintegrated rapidly in Russia . There were labour
shortages and small workshops producing essentials were shutdown.
6) Who was lenin? Describe his role in the Russian Revolution of 1917?
Ans Lenin was the leader of the Bolshevik Party . He believed in the revolutionary methods for bringing
about changes in the society and the state. Lenin wanted to bring economic equality to the workers. In his
opinion, the parliamentary methods would not be able to bring about any changes in a country like Russia
where no democratic rights existed and where there was no Parliament. Ultimately, it was these Bolsheviks
who were able to bring about a successful revolution in Russia in 1917 and they changed the whole structure
of the state and the society.
7) Explain the role of Bolsheviks in building a socialist society.
Ans Role of Bolsheviks in buildings a socialist society:
(a) The Bolsheviks made banks and industries nationalized
(b) They permitted peasants to cultivate the socialized land. Bolsheviks used confiscated lands to
demonstrate what collective work could be.
(c) A process of centralized planning was introduced. Officials assessed how the economy could work and
set targets for a five year period. O n this basis they made the Five Year Plans.
(d) Centralised planning led to economic growth. It resulted in increase of industrial production. New
factory sites came into being.
(e) An extended schooling system developed and arrangement were made for factory workers and peasants
to enter universities.
(f) Creches were established in factories for the children of women workers.

8) Why did Tsarist autocracy collapse in 1917?

Ans The Tsarist autocracy collapsed in 1917 due to the interplay of many factors like social economic and
political.
(a) The Russian state under Tsar Nicholas II was completely unsuited to the needs of modern times. The
Tsar still believed in the autocratic rule of the king. Members were recruited on the basis of privileges
and patronage and not on merit.
(b) The hopes and efforts of the gradual changes and democratic Constitutional government after the
1905 Revolution ended in failure.
(c) The condition of the peasants and workers, who formed large population, was miserable.
(d) The Tsar had built a vast empire and imposed Russian language and culture on diverse nationalities.
(e) The Tsar was supported only by the nobility and upper layers of the society. The rest of the
population was hostile to him. The liberal ideas of the west and growth of socialist ideology led to the
formation of many social groups. These groups infused revolutionary spirits among workers and
peasants. They started protesting against the Tsarist regime, which finally collapsed in 1917. Russia
became a socialist country.
Q.9 Discuss the main events and the effects of the February Revolution, 1917.
Ans Main events
In February 1917, acute food shortages were felt in the workers’ quarter, located on the right bank of the
river Neva.
 On February 22, a lockout took place at a factory on the right bank. The next day, workers in fifty
factories called a strike in sympathy. Demonstrating workers crossed from the factory quarters to the
centre of the capital – the Nevskii Prospekt. Demonstrators dispersed by the evening due to the
curfew, imposed by the government but they came back on the 24th and 25th.
 On 25 February, the government suspended the Duma. The demonstrators resented this step and
organized huge demonstration on the left bank on the 26th.
 Police headquarters were ransacked on 27th February. The streets thronged with people raising
slogans about bread, wages, better hours and democracy.
 Many army regiments joined the s trike and the capital came into the hands of demonstrators.
Main effects:
 On March 2, the Tsar abdicated.
 Soviet leaders and Duma leaders formed a Provisional Government to run the country.
 Thus, the February Revolution marked the end of Tsardom in Russia.
Q.10 What were the changes brought about by the Bolsheviks immediately after the October
Revolution?
Ans Many changes were brought about by the Bolsheviks soon after the October Revolution.
a) The Bolsheviks under Lenin declared land as social property and peasants were allowed to seize the
land of the nobility.
b) In cities large houses were partitioned according to family requirements.
c) Use of old title was banned.
d) All the banks and industries were nationalized.
e) New uniforms were designed for the army officials. The Soviet hat (budeonovka) came into use as a
result of a clothing competition organized in 1918.
Q.11 What is „Bloody Sunday‟? What series of events took place after it?
Ans In January 1905, on one Sunday, the workers took out a peaceful procession led by Father Gapon in
order to present a petition to the Tsar. But when the procession reached the Winter Palace, they were
attacked by the Police and Cossacks. As a result, more than a hundred workers were killed while
many more were wounded. As this incident took place on Sunday, it is known as the ‘Bloody
Sunday’ which started a series of events that became known as the 1905 Revolution. As a
consequence:
(i) Strikes took place all over the country.
(ii) Universities closed down when student bodies staged walkouts, complaining about the lack of civil
liberties.
(iii)Lawyers, doctors, engineers and other middle – class workers established the Union of Unions and
demanded a constituent assembly.
Q.12 What were the view points of liberals, radicals and conservatives?
Ans Liberals
The liberals in Russia were those persons who wanted a nation which tolerated religions. They
opposed the uncontrolled power of dynastic rulers. They wanted to safeguard the rights of individuals against
government s. They argued for a representative, elected parliamentary government subject to law interpreted
by a well – trained judiciary that was independent of rulers and officials. They did not believe in universal
adult franchise ( the right of e very citizen to vote). They felt men of property mainly should have the vote.
They also did not want the vote for women.
Radicals
In contrast, radicals wanted a nation in which government was based on the majority of country’s population.
Many supported women’s suffragette movements. They opposed privileges of great landowners and wealthy
factory owners.
They were not against the existence of private property but disliked concentration of property in the hands of
a few.
Conservatives
Conservatives were opposed to radicals and liberals. In the eighteenth century, conservatives had been
generally opposed to the idea of change. By the nineteenth century, they accepted that some change was
inevitable but believed that the past had to be respected and change had to be brought about through a slow
process

13) What were the social, economic and political conditions in Russia before 1905?
Ans (i) At the beginning of the 20th century, the vast majority of Russia’s people were agriculturists.
About 85 per cent of the Russian empire’s population earned their living from agriculture.
(ii) Cultivators produced f or the market as well as for their own needs and Russia was a major exporter
of grain.
(iii) Industry was found in pockets. Prominent industrial areas were St Petersburg and Moscow.
(iv) Large factories existed alongside craft workshops.
(v) Many factories were set up in the 1890s when Russia’s railway network was extended and foreign
investment in industry increased.
(vi) Most industries were the private property of industrialists. The government supervised large factories
to ensure minimum wages and limited hours of work.
(vii) Workers were divided into social groups on the basis of skill. Division was also visible in dress and
manners also.
(viii) Some workers formed associations to help members in times of unemployment or financial hardship.
(ix) Despite divisions, workers united themselves to strike work when they disagreed with employers
about dismissals or work conditions. Like workers, peasants too were divided. They also had no respect for
the nobility. Russian peasants wanted the land of the nobles to be given to them.
(x) They pooled their land together periodically and their commune divided it according to the needs of
individual families.
14) In what ways was the working population in Russia different from other countries in Europe
before 1917?
Industrial Workers: The working population in Russia was different from other countries in Europe before
1917 in the following ways:

(i) Many workers had settled in cities permanently but many had strong links with the villages from
which they came and continued to live in villages. They went to the towns to work daily and then
returned to their villages in the evenings.
(ii) Workers were a divided social group. Workers were divided by skill. Divisions among workers was
visible in their dress and manners also
(iii)Metal workers considered themselves aristocrats among workers as their occupations demanded more
training and skill.
(iv) Women made up 31 per cent of the labour force by 1914, but they were paid less the men. Some
workers formed associations of help in times of unemployment or financial hardship.
(v) The workers did unite to strike work when they disagreed with the employers about dismissals or
about work conditions.
(vi) Workers got low wages and they had long working hours. They had very few political rights; in short,
their life was miserable. About 85 per cent of Russia’s population earned their living from
agriculture but most of them were landless farmers. Most of the land was owned by t he nobility,
the crown and the orthodox church.
(vii) In France, during the French Revolution in Britain, peasants respected and fought for the
landowners, but in Russia peasants wanted the land of the nobles to be given to them.