Russia

1. Russia

2. Introduction: Russia • Between 1945 and 1991 global politics was defined by intense competition between two superpowers: the Soviet Union and the United States. • The competition encompassed almost all areas of the world and affected a broad range of economic, political, social, and cultural patterns.

3. Introduction: Russia • As a result, when the Soviet Union surprisingly and suddenly collapsed in 1991, the reverberations were heard everywhere. • In the wake of its demise, its republics broke apart, leaving…. • The Russian Federation as the largest piece • Its’ population cut in half • It remained the largest country in the world.

5. The Russian Federation • The first president of this new country…again, the Russian Federation, was Boris Yeltsin. • Yeltsin was a former member of the old Soviet Politburo. • The lawmaking body in the Soviet Union • Yeltsin emphatically declared the end of the old Soviet-style regime. • He advocated "shock therapy“. • This meant the country would quickly and forcefully become a democracy and have a free market economy. • There would be little transition time and no turning back.

7. Boris Yeltsin • Yeltsin, however, was an uneven leader. • He was often ill or under the influence of alcohol. • Some close to Yeltsin took advantage of this and at times ran the country as an oligarchy. • This meant corruption in the Yeltsin government. • Large state run enterprises were privatized quickly during the early days of the Russian Federation and were bought for ridiculously cheap prices from supposed friends of Yeltsin. • When lucid, Yeltsin could be authoritarian and difficult to work with. • Yeltsin could also be brilliant and rally his fellow countrymen against those wanting to return to the days of Communism.

11. 1993 Constitution • In 1993 Yeltsin was able to make sure Russia had a constitution put into place. • The Constitution was approved by the people by a national referendum. • Regular, competitive elections have taken place ever since. • A new President, Vladimir Putin, was elected in 2000 and 2004 without serious conflict. • Many were still worried, however, that the oligarchy would have too much control in Russia. • Along with these very powerful entrepreneurs who made up the oligarchy, Russians also worried about the powerful influence of the new emerging Mafia. • Under Communism, order was at least clearly established.

14. Containing the Oligarchs • Putin acted aggressively in containing the oligarch’s political and economic powers. • This endeared him to the Russian people. • Putin also took a strong stance against terrorist actions against the Russian people from the separatist group the Chechen rebels. • He seemed to embody both the strengths of a strong leader who could bring democracy and capitalism to Russia and a leader able to make sure there was order in the country. • Some Russians, however, worried about Putin following a path toward increasing centralization of power. • As the election of 2008 approached, Putin followed the Constitution of 1993 by stepping down after two terms.

15. Putin Becomes Prime Minister • Putin, however, did not go away and retire. • Instead he announced his intention to stay on as prime minister under the new president, Dmitri Medvedev. • This was a powerful position in Russia and the Constitution was not clear on whether Putin could become president again….at a later time. • In the fall of 2011, Putin announced he would be running for president in the upcoming elections. • Although Putin still has his supporters, many Russians worry Putin’s continuing influence in policymaking is a signal that Russia is again becoming an authoritarian state and that its fling with democracy is now over?

16. Modern Russia • Modern Russia, then, is a very unpredictable country. • Its historical roots deeply influence every area of life and Russia has not had much experience with democracy or a free market. • Is liberal democracy finally taking hold in Russia, or is authoritarianism that has characterized Russia for centuries once again emerging?

17. Illiberal Democracy • Today, Russia is an illiberal democracy. • It has direct elections……although the recent national elections were not fair. • It does not have full civil liberties • It does not have rule of law…..paying bribes to get around the law is common • It does not have an effective independent judiciary • There is a tradition of authoritarian rule in Russia and for a significant amount of the Russian people, liberal democracy is not necessarily what they want.

18. Russia:Sovereignty, Authority, and Power • For most of the 20th century, authority and political power emanated from one place: the Politburo of the Communist Party. • The Politburo was a small group of men who climbed the ranks of the party through nomenklatura, • an ordered path of steps from a local party soviet to the "commanding heights" of leadership. • Each new appointment would be authorized by the Communist Party.

19. Legitimacy Unclear? • Therefore, when the Soviet Union collapsed the legitimacy of the new Russian Federation government was in question. Why? • Partly because the regime change happened so fast. • Partly because the change was such a drastic departure from the past. • However, evidence suggests now that the system has stabilized….. since Vladimir Putin was elected president in 2000. • It is unclear at this point though how far Putin and his successor, Medvedev, might retreat from democratic practices to reestablish some of the old authoritarianism from Russia’s past.

21. Legitimacy Based on Authoritarianism • Historically, political legitimacy has been based on strong, autocratic rule. • First by centuries of tsars (czars) • Then by the firm dictatorship of Communist party leaders during the 20th century.

22. Rule of the Tsars • Russia has had a very long tradition of absolute, centralized rule • From the beginning, Russian tsars held absolute power that they defended with brutality and force. • One reason for their tyranny was based on geography: • The Russian plain was overrun and conquered by a series of invaders, including the Huns, Vikings, and Mongols.

25. TSARIST RULE • The first tsars were Princes of Moscow, who cooperated with their 13th century Mongol rulers, and were rewarded for their assistance with land and power. • When Mongol rule weakened, the princes declared themselves "tsars" in the tradition of the "Caesars" of ancient Rome.

28. Three Distinct Time Periods in Russian History • 1st time period-much of Russian history encompassed a long period of autocratic rule by tsars. • Tsars ruled Russia from the 14th to the early 20th century. • Control of Russia was passed down through the Romanov family from the early 1600’s to 1917. • Transitions, however, from tsar to tsar were often accompanied by brutality and sometimes assassination.

29. The Romanovs • The chaos caused by these takeovers convinced Russian leaders of the importance of firm, unchallenged leadership in keeping their subjects in control. • For example, the long line of Romanov tsars emerged from a "Time of Troubles" when Russian nobility (called boyars) fought for power and almost brought the kingdom to an end.

30. Eastern Orthodox Christianity • Early in its history, Russians cast their lot with the flourishing city of Constantinople, establishing trade routes in that direction, and adopting the Eastern Orthodox religion. • As Constantinople's influence waned, the influence of Western Europe increased. • Still Russia did not share the values of Western Europe generated by the Renaissance, the Reformation, the Scientific Revolution, and the Enlightenment. • Russia lagged behind Europe and remained somewhat isolated….isolation was even valued by many of the tsars.

31. Peter the Great • This tendency to value isolation was challenged first by Tsar Peter the Great in the late 1600’s. • He used the western model to “modernize” Russia. • He built a stronger army and navy • Improved the infrastructure; better roads and communication • Reorganized the bureaucracy • Established a “Window to the West” • This window was St. Petersburg, a city built by Peter on newly conquered lands on the Baltic Sea.

33. Western Influence • In the late 17th and early 18th centuries, Tsar Peter the Great introduced western technology and culture in an attempt to increase Russia's power and influence. • From his early childhood, he was intrigued by the West, and he became the first tsar to travel to Germany, Holland, and England. • There he learned about shipbuilding and other types of technology. • He brought engineers, carpenters, and architects to Russia, and set the country on a course toward being a world power.

34. Catherine the Great • His efforts to try to modernize Russia were followed by those of Catherine the Great in the late 1700’s. • By the time of her death, Russia was seen as a major empire. • However, their efforts set in place a conflict because the affection for Slavic ways did not disappear with the changes.

36. Catherine the Great-Enlightened Despot • Catherine the Great, who originally came from Germany, ruled Russia during the late 1700’s. • She did manage to do something Peter had not been able to do and that is gain warm water access to the Black Sea. • Both looked to the West to help develop their country, but neither abandoned absolute rule. • Catherine read widely, and was very interested in Enlightenment thought, but she did not always apply theses principles to her rule. • Instead, she became an enlightened despot, or one who rules absolutely, but with the good of the people in mind. • Tsars after Peter and Catherine alternated between emphasizing Slavic roots and tolerating western style reform. -none of them successfully responded to the revolutionary movement growing within their country during the 1800’s.

37. A Country of Revolution • In contrast to Britain, Russia has almost always had difficulty with gradual and ordered change. • Its history reflects a resistance to change by reform and a tendency to descend into chaos or resort to revolution when contradictory forces meet. • The most successful czars, such as Peter the Great and Catherine the Great understood the dangers of chaos in Russia and often resorted to force in order to keep their power.

38. Napoleon Invasion • Russia was brought into direct contact with the West when Napoleon invaded in 1812. • Tsar Alexander I successfully resisted the attack, but at great cost to the empire. • One tactic which led to success was the Russian “scorched-earth policy”. • This tactic has been used over and over again in Russian history. • During this time, Western thought was influencing Russian intellectuals who saw no chance for western political institutions to grow under the tsars' absolutism.

40. Decembrist Revolt of 1825 • Their frustration erupted in the Decembrist Revolt of 1825, which was crushed ruthlessly by Tsar Nicholas I. • In the mid 1800’s, Russian was defeated in the Crimean War. • This was a war fought to gain control of the Black Sea and other strategic ports. • Russia was defeated by the British and French and in many ways it convinced many of the tsar's critics that Russian ways were indeed backward and in need of major reform. • Critics who were too vocal, however, were exiled or executed by the secret police of tsar Nich. I.

42. Alexander II • In the mid 1800’s, Enlightenment ideas about democracy and individual rights did influence those educated in Russia and some tsars tried reforms that allowed gradual inclusion of some of these influences. • Gradual inclusion often failed. • For example, Alexander II, who freed the Russian serfs and experimented with local assemblies, was assassinated by revolutionaries in 1881. • They sensed weakness and wanted more reforms. • The forces that led to his assassination later blossomed into full-blown revolution, the execution of the last czar, and the establishment of a communist regime.

44. Alexander II Assassinated • Of all the 19th century tsars, the only on who seriously sponsored reform was Alexander II. • However, even though he freed Russia's serfs and set up regional zemstvas (assemblies), the increasingly angry intelligentsia (intellectuals) did not think his actions went far enough. • Alexander II’s son Alexander III reacted by undoing the reforms and intensifying the efforts of the secret police.

46. Czars Headed the Eastern Orthodox Church • The tsars were autocratic from the beginning, and tightly controlled their lands in order to protect them from invasions and attacks. • The tsars also headed the Orthodox Church • They were seen as both political and religious leaders. • Early Russia was isolated from Western Europe by its…. • Orientation to the Eastern Orthodox world • Geographical distances which separated Russian cities from major civilizations to the south, east, and west. • An attitude of keeping slavic traditions

48. Extensive Cultural Heterogeneity • Russia has an extensive cultural heterogeneity -Until the 17th century Russia was a relatively small inland culture but even then, the numerous invasions from earlier times meant that the area was home to people of wide cultural diversity. • This cultural heterogeneity was intensified as Russia rapidly expanded her borders, until by the end of the 19th century, the empire stretched from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean.

49. Lenin and the Bolsheviks • In the 1890s many of the revolutionaries in Russia, who were Marxists,were in exile, along with other dissidents. • However, according to Marxism, socialist revolutions would first take place not in Russia, but in capitalist countries like Germany, France, and Englandas workers would unite against their exploitation. • At the turn of the century, Russia was still primarily an agricultural society with no industrial development. Was it ripe for revolution?

50. Bolsheviks v. Mensheviks • There were two main groups of Marxists in Russia. • The Mensheviks, who believed that Russia was not yet ready for revolution. • The Bolsheviks, who believed revolution needed to be forced. • The Bolsheviks were led by the fiery Vladimir Lenin. • In his 1905 pamphlet What Is To Be Done? he argued for democratic centralism, or a "vanguard" leadership group that would lead the revolution in the name of the people.