Historia de Rusia: De la Revolución de 1905 al Régimen Soviético

La Revolución de 1905

En 1905 el ejército zarista fue derrotado por las tropas japonesas en una guerra, provocada por los intentos de expansión de Rusia en Asia. Se produjeron disturbios, causados tanto por el descontento ante la derrota como por la crisis económica. La revolución de 1905 se desencadenó el 9 de enero, cuando las masas populares se dirigieron al Palacio de Invierno en San Petersburgo, residencia del zar, para hacerle llegar sus peticiones. Los manifestantes no pretendían destruir el zarismo, solo denunciar el mal gobierno y exigir el inicio de reformas políticas. La respuesta de las autoridades fue una dura represión que se saldó con numerosos muertos y heridos, motivo por el cual este día se conoce como Domingo Sangriento.

Las protestas duraron meses, y los campesinos y obreros se organizaron en soviets, creando un modelo de organización para el futuro. El zar hizo algunas concesiones que se recogieron en el Manifiesto Imperial de octubre de 1905. La principal fue la elección por sufragio universal de la Duma, convirtiendo a Rusia en una monarquía parlamentaria. Sin embargo, el zar incumplió sus compromisos y gobernó sin contar con la Duma.

La NEP (Nueva Política Económica)

La revolución sobrevivió a costa de enormes pérdidas materiales y humanas. En 1921 se estableció una nueva política económica con el objetivo de reconstruir la economía. Los agricultores pudieron cultivar y vender libremente, se autorizó el libre comercio interior y se permitió la propiedad privada de pequeñas y medianas empresas industriales. No obstante, el Estado mantuvo bajo su control los transportes, el comercio exterior y la banca, entre otros sectores.

Estas medidas provocaron el crecimiento de la economía; los propietarios industriales y comerciales y los campesinos adinerados se enriquecieron, y la burguesía resurgió. Esto originó fuertes tensiones y generó un debate en el seno del partido.

La Dictadura de Stalin

En 1929 Stalin acaparó todos los poderes, instaurando una dictadura personal. Utilizó tres medios principales:

• El culto a la personalidad: Mediante la propaganda se ensalzaba la imagen de Stalin como gran benefactor y padre del pueblo, eliminando el rastro positivo de sus enemigos y falseando la verdad.
• El refuerzo del poder del Partido Comunista: Si se quería participar en la vida política a través de los soviets, era necesario pertenecer al PCUS, el cual imponía las candidaturas. Los soviets dejaron de ser asambleas libres y populares.
• El terror: Era la forma de acallar cualquier oposición, ejercido tanto dentro del partido como sobre el conjunto de la sociedad. La represión fue llevada a cabo por el NKVD, contando también con la colaboración de parte de la población, lo que creó un ambiente de sospecha y delación.

Las purgas se desarrollaron entre 1933 y 1939. Fueron célebres los juicios de Moscú, en los que se condenó a destacados dirigentes del partido. Miles de personas fueron enviadas a campos de concentración (gulags) ubicados en Siberia, donde fueron sometidas a condiciones infrahumanas.

Stalin procedió asimismo al control absoluto de la cultura. A partir de 1932 se inició la persecución de artistas de vanguardia, acusados de ser contrarrevolucionarios y burgueses, y se estableció oficialmente el realismo socialista.

World War I

Russia was unprepared militarily and technologically for the new concept of total war during World War I. Russian industry was unable to produce the weapons needed for the army. Soldiers were sent to the front without rifles and told to pick one up from a dead comrade. Russia had no competent military leaders, and Czar Nicholas II insisted on taking personal charge of the armed forces despite his obvious lack of ability and training.

As a result, between 1914 and 1916, two million soldiers were killed and more than four million were wounded or captured by the Germans.

February / March Revolution

At the beginning of March 1917, there were a series of strikes led by working-class women in the capital city of Petrograd (formerly Saint Petersburg). That was the reaction of the people against bread rationing and the increased price of bread. On March 8th, about 10,000 women marched through the city demanding “Peace and bread” and “Down with Autocracy”. A general strike shut down all the factories.

Nicholas II ordered troops to shoot the crowds; however, soldiers joined the demonstrators and refused to fire. The Duma (Parliament) established a provisional government and urged the Czar to resign. As he had no support from the army or the aristocracy, Nicholas II abdicated in favor of his brother, Grand Duke Michael. The Duma appointed a provisional government led by Alexander Kerensky.

Pressured by the Allies (France, UK), Kerensky decided to carry on the war, which dissatisfied workers and peasants, who wanted above all the end of the conflict. The government also faced the opposition of the soviets: councils composed of representatives from the workers and the soldiers. The soviet of Petrograd was the most powerful, led by the Bolsheviks, with Leon Trotsky as the head of the soviet.

The Rise of Lenin

The Bolsheviks were a small faction of a party called the Russian Social Democrats. The leader of the Bolsheviks was Lenin, who believed that only a violent revolution could destroy the capitalist system. He declared: “A vanguard of activists must form a small party of well-disciplined professional revolutionaries to accomplish the task”.

When the revolution began, Lenin was exiled in Switzerland. In April 1917, German military leaders, hoping to create disorder in Russia, shipped Lenin to Russia in a sealed train to prevent their ideas from “infecting” Germany. After the fall of the Czar, Lenin saw the opportunity for the Bolsheviks to seize power.

When Lenin finally addressed the party, he promised:

• The end of the war.
• The redistribution of all land to the peasants.
• The transfer of factories and industries from capitalists to committees of workers.
• The transfer of power from the provisional government to the soviets.

These were the famous slogans of Lenin.

October / November Revolution

By the end of October, the soviets were strong enough to claim power. During the night of November 6th, Bolshevik forces seized the Winter Palace, and the provisional government quickly collapsed. As the overthrow of the government coincided with a meeting of the All-Russian Congress of Soviets (which represented local soviets from all over the country), Lenin turned over the power of the government to the Congress of Soviets, led by the Council of Commissars, headed by Lenin and including Trotsky and Stalin.

As Lenin had promised peace, on March 3rd, 1918, he signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany, giving up Poland, Ukraine, Finland, and the Baltic States.

The Civil War

People opposing the Communist regime included loyalists to the Czar, liberals, and anti-Leninist socialists. The Allies were extremely concerned about the Communist Revolution and sent thousands of troops, materials, and munitions to aid the anti-Communist forces (called the Whites).

Between 1918 and 1921, the Communist Red Army fought on many fronts against the White Army. However, the disunity of the White Army forces weakened their efforts, as they had no common goal; some Whites insisted on restoring the Czar, while others defended a democratic program.

By the end of 1920, most of the White forces had been defeated and Ukraine was retaken. Finally, the Communists appealed to patriotism to fight the White Army, as thousands of foreign troops were stationed in Russia in support of the Whites. The presence of foreign troops made it easy for the Communists to call on patriotic Russians to fight foreign attempts to control the country.

War Communism

The Red Army was a well-disciplined fighting force led by Leon Trotsky. War Communism was a policy used to ensure regular supplies for the Red Army and to centralize the state administration under Communist control. The Communist government controlled the banks, industries, and the seizure of grain from peasants.

Another Communist instrument of control was the terror inspired by a new secret police. The aim was the destruction of all those who opposed the new regime.

The Royal Family

After the Czar abdicated, he, his wife, and their five children were moved to Ekaterinburg, in the Urals. On the night of July 16th, 1918, members of the local soviets murdered the Czar and his family and burned their bodies.