Chapter Objectives 4 and 8
- Describe the problems faced by Lenin's “Dictatorship of the Proletariat”.
- Summarize the events in India and the contributions of Gandhi.
Lenin's Dictatorship of the Proletariat
- Lenin went into power in the name of the Russian working class. Bolshevik Party became the Russian Communist Party. The Red Terror campaign, created by the Bolsheviks, was where the suspected anti communists (or Whites) were arrested, tried, or executed. They even killed Tsar Nicholas II and his entire family. Ex-Great War Russian troops supported the Whites, but the Reds crushed them.
- Lenin went into power in the name of the Russian working class. Bolshevik Party became the Russian Communist Party. The Red Terror campaign, created by the Bolsheviks, was where the suspected anti communists (or Whites) were arrested, tried, or executed. They even killed Tsar Nicholas II and his entire family. Ex-Great War Russian troops supported the Whites, but the Reds crushed them.
Problems
- Lenin took over every single property, and turned them into national property under their rule.
- industrial Production rate, peasant production rate, and agriculture rate dropped low
- he abolished private trading and private property
- the same workers who helped him get to his power went on strike
- depopulated cities
- destroyed factories
- a demobilizing, decaying army
- sailors’ revolts
Solution
Lenin made the decision to reverse war communism. War communism is where there is a hasty unplanned course of nationalism. Lenin's golden solution was the New Economic Policy (NEP)
- made by Lenin to show that he could compromise with the people
- temporarily restored market economy and a few private enterprises
- large industries, banks, transportation, and communication facilities were still in gov control
- small industries were returned back to the people (only for private business and a small scale of max 24 workers)
- peasants could go back to the free market and sell their surpluses
- also allowed establishment of schools which train technicians and engineers
- Lenin died from three paralytic strokes and sadly never saw the NEP’s success
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Mahatma Gandhi and India's Independence Movement
Mohandas "Mahatma" Karamchand Gandhi
Gandhi's Political Start
Mohandas "Mahatma" Karamchand Gandhi
- Gandhi grew up in prosperous Hindu household
- Got married at 13 and left to go study law in London
- Later, he went to South Africa to accept a position in an Indian firm
- In South Africa, Gandhi involved in organizing the local Indian community against the system of racial segregation.
- In the 25 years he spent in South Africa, Gandhi had obtained a philosophy of tolerance and nonviolence (ahimsa) and synthesized the technique of passive resistance of satyagraha (truth and firmness).
- He believed in the virtue of simple living
- Left any material possessions, dressed in a garb, became a vegetarian, sacrificed sex, performed a daily salt water enema (bowel flush), and finally spent an hour each day, in careful study, reading the sacred Hinduism writings of the Bhagavad Gita. (Gandhi’s spiritual dictionary.)
Gandhi's Political Start
- After coming back to India, Gandhi became active in Indian politics
- Changed the Indian National Congress into a mass organization that increased Indian nationalism
- He was determined to also get rid of the caste system injustices
- Became everyone’s political and spiritual Mahatma (great soul)
- Fought hard to improve the status of the harijans (the lowest of the social classes)
- Gandhi led the Non-Cooperation Movement, and the Civil Disobedience Movement
- He believed that India should be self-sufficient and supported the boycott of British imports. Felt that India should not be industrialized and had the British-run institutions boycotted as well
- Gandhi strongly argued that India should go back to wearing our original homespun cotton clothing, manual labor, and rural cottage industries.
- Massacre of Amritsar will always be remembered. This battle is similar to the Boston Massacre. Though the number of innocent casualties are contrasting, the incident is similar. 379 Indians were killed in Punjab.
- After finally giving up, Britain imposed the Government of India Act. This allowed India to become a self-governing state.
- A bicameral (two-chambered) national legislature was created, the formation of executive arm under the British control was formed, and autonomous legislative bodies were established in the provinces of British India.
- This Act was definitely unworkable and had led to more obstacles.