History – Chapter 2
Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution
Q1: What kind of nation did the liberals want?
A: The liberals wanted a nation which tolerated all religions.
Q2: Who were the radicals?
A: The group of people who wanted to change the society thoroughly were called radicals.
They disliked concentration of property in the hands of a few.
Q3: Name two prominent industrial areas of Russia.
A: Two prominent industrial areas were St Petersburg and Moscow.
Q4: Who were the ‘Kulaks’?
A: Kulaks were the well-to-do peasants.
Q5: What was the basic idea of socialism?
A: Socialists were against private property. They saw it as the root of all social ills of the time.
Q6: Who ruled Russia and its empire in 1914?
A: Tsar Nicholas II ruled Russia and its empire in 1914.
Q7: What was the Duma?
A: It was an elected consultative Parliament of Russia.
Q8: What was Lenin’s ‘April Theses’?
A: He wanted the war to be brought to a close, land to be transferred to the peasants, and banks
to be nationalised.
Q9: Which incident came to be known as ‘Bloody Sunday’?
A: A procession of workers led by Father Gapon reached the Winter Palace. But it was attacked
brutally by the police and the Cossacks. Over 100 workers were killed and about 300 wounded.
This incident came to be known as Bloody Sunday. It started a series of events that came to be
known as the 1905 Revolution.
Q10: ‘The First World War had a severe impact on Russian industries. Explain.
A:
(i) 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. Industrial equipment
disintegrated more rapidly in Russia than elsewhere in Europe.
(ii) By 1916, railway lines began to break down. Able-bodied men were called up to the war.
As a result, there were labour shortages and small workshops producing essentials were shut
down.
(iii) Large supplies of grain were sent to feed the army. For the people in cities, bread and flour
became scarce. By the winter of 1916, riots at bread shops began to occur frequently.
Q11: What was Stalin’s Collectivisation programme? How were those peasants treated who
resisted his programme?
A: Stalin’s Collectivisation programme:
(i) Collectivisation was a policy of forced consolidation of individual peasant households into
collective farms called ‘Kolkhozes’. It was carried out by the Soviet Government in the late
1920s – early 1930s. Stalin introduced this system to overcome the food crisis which was
rampant in the country at that time and to increase peasant labour productivity.
(ii) The bulk of land and implements were transferred to the ownership of collective farms.
(iii) Many peasants protested such attempts and destroyed livestock to show their anger.
(iv) Peasants were not happy with Stalin’s collectivisation programme because their land had
been taken away to establish state-controlled large farms. Those who resisted were severely
punished. Many were deported and exiled.
(v) But Stalin’s collectivisation programme did not bring the desired results. The food supply
situation turned even worse in subsequent years because production did not increase
immediately.
Q12: What was the global impact of the Russian Revolution?
A:
(i) The impact of the Russian revolution was felt globally. Russia became the first communist
state. Encouraged by it, Communist parties began to be formed in many countries like the
Communist Party of Great Britain.
(ii) The Bolshevik encouraged colonial peoples to follow their experiment.
(iii) By the time of the outbreak of the Second World War, the USSR had given socialism a
global face and world stature.
(iv) It was recognised that socialist ideals still enjoyed respect among the people across the
world, although the international reputation of the USSR as a socialist country declined by the
end of the twentieth century.
(v) In each country, however, the ideas of socialism were rethought in a number of ways.
Q13: Discuss the ideas of Karl Marx.
A:
(i) Karl Marx was a great socialist who wanted to eliminate the very concept of private property
because it was the root of all social evils of the time.
(ii) He argued that industrial society was capitalist. Capitalists owned the capital invested in
factories, and the profit of capitalists was produced by workers.
(iii) The conditions of workers could not improve unless this profit was shared by them.
Workers had to overthrow capitalism and the rule of private property.
(iv) 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.
(v) He was convinced that workers would triumph in their conflict with capitalists. A
communist society was the natural society of the future.
Q14: What changes were brought about by the Bolsheviks immediately after the October
Revolution?
A:
(i) Bolsheviks were totally opposed to private property. Most industry and banks were
nationalised in November 1917.
(ii) Land was declared social property and peasants were allowed to seize the land of the
nobility.
(iii) In cities, they enforced the partition of large houses according to family
requirements.
(iv) They banned the use of the old tiles of aristocracy.
(v) The Bolshevik party was renamed the Russian Communist party.
Q15: What were the immediate consequences of the Russian Revolution?
A:
The immediate consequences of the Russian Revolution were :
(a) Most industries and banks were nationalized in November 1917. This meant the
government took over the ownership and management. Land was declared social property.
(b) In cities, Bolsheviks enforced the partition of large houses according to family
requirements.
(c) They banned the use of old title of aristocracy.
Q: 16. Why were socialists against private property and saw it as the root of all social ills?
A:
The people who propagated socialism said that individuals, who owned property, did provide
employment to many people but they were concerned with personal gains [Link] did not
bother about the welfare of the people. They felt that if society-controlled property, more
attention would be paid to collective social interests socialists wanted this change and
campaigned for it.
Q17: Who were the Liberals, Radicals and Conservatives?
A:
The Liberals, Radicals and Conservatives were totally opposed in their views.
The Liberals wanted individual rights for the citizens, religious tolerance, and an
elected parliament. They were not in favour of giving women the right to vote and
they wanted only men with property to vote.
In contrast to the Liberals the Radicals were opposed to only wealthy men having the
right to vote. They were in favour of women’s rights and wanted a Government that
represented the majority of the population.
The Conservatives were truly conservative in their views. They wanted changes for
the better, but wanted the changes to take place slowly, giving due respect to the
past.
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