Topic #3 ~ Origins and development of authoritarian and single party states

1. Topic #3 ~ Origins and development of authoritarian and single party states • Major Themes • Origins and nature of authoritarian and single party states • Conditions that produced authoritarian and single party states, emergence of leaders: aims, ideology, support; totalitarianism • Establishment of authoritarian and single party states • Methods: force, legal; left and right wing ideology • Domestic Policies and impact • Structure and organization of government and administration • Political, economic, social, religious policies • Role of education, women, arts, media

2. Material for detailed study • America: Cuba – Castro • Europe: Hitler – Germany, USSR – Stalin Mussolini – Italy • Left Wing: Communism ~ Stalin & Castro • Right Wing: Fascism ~ Hitler & Mussolini

4. RISE OF STALIN

19. Characteristics of Authoritarian States • Do not rise from mass movements or revolution • Arise when conservative regime imposes undemocratic measures • They can arise following military coups • Authoritarian regimes are firmly committed to maintaining traditional structure and values

20. Leninism • Organized Marx’s ideas for political organization • Need for small leading group of revolutionaries • Created tension b/w Lenin & Trotsky (fellow revolutionary) • Trotsky said that small group could lead to dictator • Both though revolutionary stages could happen quickly

21. Marxism-Leninism • Term created by Stalin—used after death of Lenin (1924) • Considered “official” ideology • “Socialism in one country” • Political purges • Used to promote the single-party state

22. Stalinism • Dictatorial type of rule • Reject socialist democracy: • Rejected: government is in the hands of the people • Rejected: Immediate recall of elected representatives • National interests over the interests of world revolution

23. Totalitarian Dictatorships • Dictator imposes their will on: • Party • State • Society QUOTE: “Stalin’s police state is not an approximation to, or something like, or in some respects comparable with Hitler’s. It is the same thing, only more ruthless, more cold-blooded…and more dangerous to democracy and civilized morals”

24. The Russian Civil War • 1918, Lenin is the target of a failed assassination • The Lenin led government launches the “Red Terror” and has over 300,000 suspected sympathizers executed • The Russian Civil War will be waged between the White Army who seek a return to Tsarist rule and the Red Army that is protecting communist rule and hoping to spread as well

25. The White Army will inflect brutality on its own people with mass torture and executions • Lenin will attempt to spread communism in Europe but will be easily repulsed by Poland • The U.S., France, Britain and Japan will provide assistance to the White Army because they fear communism in Russia • Russia does annex Georgia and Armenia

26. Political & Economic Problems 1921 -1924What happened to Russia? • Civil War broke after the October Revolution (This is when the Provisional Gov’t is overthrown) • Bolsheviks (the Red Army) vs. The Whites • The Bolsheviks won in 1921 • Major policy disruptions that caused problems

27. War Communism • All industry was nationalized and strict centralized management was introduced. • State monopoly on foreign trade was introduced. • Discipline for workers was strict, and strikers could be shot • Obligatory labor duty imposed onto "non-working classes." • Prodrazvyorstka – taking agricultural surpluses from peasants to redistribute. • Food and most commodities were rationed and distributed in urban centers in a centralized way. • Private enterprise became illegal. • Military-style control of railroads.

28. How do we summarize “war communism”? • Ability to for the Bolsheviks to take total control • Historian Richard Pipes argued: • Bolsheviks used excuse of war communism to eliminate private property, commodity production and market exchange. • The leaders expected an immediate and large scale increase in economic output

29. New Economic Policy ~ Lenin • Adopted in 1921 • Allowed small, privately owned firms and traders to operate • Established an alliance with peasants • Allowed them to sell surplus to private markets • State kept control of major industry and foreign trade

30. Effect of the NEP • Left feared a restoration of capitalism • Right argued that it was essential • Though they overlooked fight between kulaks and nepmen • Kulak—rich peasant • Nepmen—traders who gained money under NEP

31. Leon Trotsky vs. Joseph Stalin • After Lenin’s death in 1924 there was a power struggle within Russia of who would take over • Trotsky was the man most feared by the other senior members. • Trotsky refused to compete for leadership. He was absent at Lenin’s funeral saying that Stalin had told him the wrong date (hummmm). In reality he seems to have lacked the political will to fight. • This left the door open for…….Stalin

32. Leon Trotsky • Trotsky was exiled to Turkey. • Stalin played the other members of the politburo off against each other until they lost their government posts.

33. The Rise of Joseph Stalin • Joseph Stalin was born into a poor class family, • He was fascinated with stories dealing with overcoming insurmountable odds • He is a harsh man, he does not attend his mothers funeral and he does not attempt to retrieve his son from a prisoner of war camp in 1917

34. The Rise of Joseph Stalin • Stalin rises through the ranks of politics through ruthlessness and cunning • He played his opponents against one another and he used his poor background to appeal to the people • During the Russian Revolution he will serve as a commissar • He achieves complete power by arresting or executing his supporters who put him in power

35. The Rise of Joseph Stalin • He will put the country on a crash course of collectivization in which the Russian state would feed itself • The Agriculture sector will be moved to working in heavy industry, this will cause low food production and starvation • 14 million are believed to have been killed because of this program

36. The Rise of Joseph Stalin • He achieves complete power by purging the ranks of his supporters who put him in power • Grand trials will be held in the public, this instills fear and at the same time loyalty • In 1929 he becomes the Secretary General of the Communist Party

37. The Rise of Joseph Stalin • “Russian Motherhood” under the regime was glorified as it sought to increase its population • To increase female participation in the state, women were given the right to vote in 1920

38. Stalin’s Rise To Power Key Dates • 1922 - Appointed General Secretary of the Communist Party1924 - Death of Lenin1927 - Introduces the Five Year Plan and collectivization1929 - Emerging leader of the USSR

39. What circumstances aided Stalin in his successful rise to power? • Even though Trotsky was most likely to succeed Lenin and take on the lead as Party Leader, yet he was very much unpopular by the public and lost mass support when he did not show up for Lenin's funeral (which was set up by Stalin!!!) The people interpreted his non presence as a sign of great disrespect to Lenin, and thereby Trotsky was on his way to become less and less popular.

40. What methods did Stalin employ to overcome his rivals in the leadership struggle? • Stalin portrayed himself as Lenin's follower in Soviet propaganda in an effort to justify his efforts to take power - Lenin was widely revered by the Russian working class and class-conscious workers world wide, particularly those in the communist parties of Europe. • His theory of Socialism in One Country rather than Permanent Revolution was in stark contrast to the principled socialist stand of Lenin and his internationalist outlook. • Stalin played one side against the other to take power: First, he allied with Zinoviev and Kamenev to cover up Lenin’s Will and to get Trotsky dismissed (1925). Trotsky went into exile (1928). Then, he advocated ‘Socialism in one country’ (he said that the USSR should first become strong, then try to bring world revolution) and allied with the Rightists to get Zinoviev and Kamenev dismissed (1927). Stalin put his supporters into the Politburo. Finally, he argued that the NEP was uncommunist, and got Bukharin, Rykov and Tomsky dismissed (1929).

41. What was the nature of Stalin's ideology? • "Socialism in one country" • The USSR followed the left-wing ideology of communism, although this was adapted by Stalin according to what they perceived to be the needs of the state. According to Marxsim, the proleteriat were meant to rule, but in the Soviet Union this can hardly be said to have been the true when the Communist Party had so much control. The reason for the dictatorship of the party was due to Russia's backwardness and that the dictatorship of the proletariat could not take place until people had been educated to have correct values.

42. What were Stalin's aims • Stalin wanted to strengthen Russia by modernization and industrialization, in order for her to compete with the big powers! • 5 Year Plans – Series of economic plans to modernize and industrialize Russia • Collectives - this involved the creation of collective farms in which peasants worked cooperatively on the same land with the same equipment. This was intended to improve the efficiency of agriculture and eliminate the "kulak" class of landowners, which was deemed hostile to the Soviet regime, while improving the position of poor peasants. The disruption and repression associated with collectivization was a primary cause of the famine of 1932, which resulted in millions of deaths.

43. Rise of Mussolini

44. Immediate Post-WW I Italy • Fascism was a product of a general feeling of anxiety and fear among the middle class: • Fears regarding the survival of capitalism. • Economic depression. • The rise of a militant left. • A feeling of national shame and humiliation at Italy’s poor treatment by the other Entente leaders after World War I [especially at Versailles].

45. Immediate Post-WW I Italy • In 1920 the Italian Socialist Party organized militant strikes in Turin. • Fear if economic chaos spreading… • “Black Shirts” violently attacked the Socialists.

46. Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) • Originally a Marxist • By 1909, convinced that a national rather than an international revolution was needed. • Edited the Italian Socialist Party newspaper: Avanti! [Forward!].

47. Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) • The war was a turning point for Italy. • Returning combat soldiers would form a new elite • New elite would transform Italian politics and society

48. Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) • The war was a turning point for Italy. • Returning combat soldiers would form a new elite • New elite would transform Italian politics and society

49. Mussolini Comes to Power • 1921 election  Fascists included in the political coalition bloc of P. M. Giovanni Giolitti’s government [they win 35 seats]. • October, 1922  Mussolini threatened a coup d’etat. • “March on Rome”  25,000 Black Shirts staged demonstrations throughout the capital.

50. Mussolini Forms a Government • King Victor Emmanuel III refused to sign a law giving the Italian military the ability to stop the Fascists. • Invited Mussolini to join a coalition government • 1925  Mussolini seized dictatorial powers during a political crisis