The Russian Revolution : A History From The University Of Akron Essay

Ukrainian, Elena Grigorievna Ponomarenko and Russian Vera Ivanovna Malakhova shared one inevitable thing in common and that was the USSR, formally known as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. This spread of communism would take a place in these women’s lives affecting their ideology. Elena allowed communism to be the foundation of her life, while Vera used to advance in the education system and become a physician. Despite the views these women had on communism, communism helped both Elena and Vera achieve their social status as well as privileges.

Barbara Evans Clements, a retired professor of History from the University of Akron, and author of Bolshevik Feminist: The Life of Aleksandra Kollontai (1979), Daughters of Revolution: A History of Women in the USSR (1994), and Bolshevik Women (1997), wrote the article “Working-Class and Peasant Women in the Russian Revolution, 1917-1923” in 1982 to address a topic that she believed was lacking in scholarship. This topic, according to Clements was in-depth study into the experiences of peasant and working-class women in Russian history during 1917-1923. Clements’s argues that by further study into the experiences of peasant and working-class women of the time, scholarship can better address the “paradox, in which lavish promises” presented

During the late 19th to early 20th century, Russia under the rule of Nicholas II is transforming itself into a more industrialized country. This transformation produced revolutionary socialist movements that quickly grew in power and influence throughout Russia. These opposition movements are formed by Russian labor workers are referred to as soviets. Out of these soviets, the Bolsheviks emerged in 1903 as a radical wing led by a prominent Russian and communist figure named Vladimir Lenin. The events in 1905 which involved a number of embarrassing Russian loses against the Japanese in their conflicts in the eastern Pacific made the government even less popular among its people. It sparked violent protests across the country including Russia’s then capital St. Petersburg. A number of peaceful demonstrators would be killed and injured as a result of these massive protests. These incidents would spark the Russian revolution of 1905, an unsuccessful revolution that was suppressed by the government. Less than a decade later, World War I would erupt and Russia would find itself at war (“Russian History,” n.d.).

The Russian Revolution is a widely studied and seemingly well understood time in modern, European history, boasting a vast wealth of texts and information from those of the likes of Robert Service, Simon Sebag Montefiore, Allan Bullock, Robert Conquest and Jonathan Reed, to name a few, but none is so widely sourced and so heavily relied upon than that of the account of Leon Trotsky, his book “History of the Russian Revolution” a somewhat firsthand account of the events leading up to the formation of the Soviet Union. There is no doubt that Trotsky’s book, among others, has played a pivotal role in shaping our understanding of the events of The Revolution; but have his personal predilections altered how he portrayed such paramount

“Why were there two revolutions in Russia in 1917? Why did the Provisional Government exist for mere months, yet the Bolsheviks had consolidated their authority in the country by Lenin’s death in 1924?”

Robert Alexander’s The Kitchen Boy: A Novel of the Last Tsar illustrated great depth of knowledge in the Eastern Europe region, specifically, Russia. By reading the daily life and struggles dealt by the Russian Imperial Romanov family during their house arrest in the year 1917 up until the family’s death in 1918, the reader is able to identify and comprehend Russia’s religion, culture, and issues during this time period and how it came in effect for the Romanovs and enhanced the reader’s understanding of the region. Historically speaking, Russia has had a deep conflict with its people and the government over long periods of time. Russia’s government has gone through several transformations since the Last Tsar’s regime.

The fall of communism in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union marked the end of an era in which official ideology and state policy often masked the reality of citizens' lives. This contradiction was particularly acute for women, a group that the Soviet model of communism was intended to emancipate (Basu, 1995; Bystydzienski, 1992; Corrin, 1992; Einhorn, 1993; Millarand and Wolchik, 1994; Nelson and Chowdhury, 1994; Rueshchemeyer, 1994). Under the guise of Marxist-Leninist ideology, women were accorded an equal right to work and to participate in the building of socialism. The Soviet model, which was imposed to a greater or lesser extent on all of

The October Revolution of 1917 in Russia saw the rise of the Bolsheviks to power where they dreamed of a utopian Russia, which would be achieved through the transformation of Soviet men and women. In particular, women were a major focus of the Bolsheviks utopian dream because they wanted to end the oppression of women and in doing, so they implemented many policies after the revolution in 1917 like the Zhenotdel that was a women’s section in the Bolshevik party made to advance women’s interests, the legalization of abortions and contraceptives, and the removal of the bourgeoisie family institution. However, after Vladimir Lenin’s death in 1924, Joseph Stalin came to power and instituted his first five-year plan to rapidly industrialize the

Just to the east of riotous, industrialising Western Europe sat Imperial Russia, pendent between tradition and modernity, a vast empire of duality. As if trying to vent her frustrations, 19th century Russia produced a selection of history's finest writers; each writer packing their work with themes of duplicity, hope, and heavy social criticism.

The country of Russia has a rich history which, unfortunately, cannot be discussed in its entirety within the context of this briefing book. It should be noted that early modern Russia is often characterized by the strong rulers that presided at the time, and the legacies they left that have helped shape Russia.

Women in post-Communist Russia face violent crime, high unemployment, low wages and bear most of the responsibility for domestic duties. A colossal rate of alcoholism have given Russia one of the highest proportions of widows of any nation. The vast majority of Russian women must work full time to survive. They are also expected to do the bulk of the cooking, shopping, and childcare. Yet women earn, on average, only 40 percent as much as men and are three times as likely to be unemployed. Violent crime against women, including rape and spousal abuse, has also increased.

Before the times of the revolution, women in Russia had no say about their lives. They were forced to tend to the home their husband provided for them, and many grew up illiterate. The homes they were forced to tend to were full of aggression and constant abuse from their husband or father; male dominance in Russia thrived before the revolution. Women in that time were not emotionally strong enough to take a stand for their equality. The thought of a woman working outside of their home disgusted many men living during that time. The Russian Revolution created a gateway for women to take an active role in a once anti-women’s rights society.

The Russian Revolution of 1917 was the outcome of discontent amongst the peasants for over centuries under the Tsarist autocracy. However, the desperate need to dismantle and revolt against the regime sparked within them during the reign of Tsar Nicolas II, who proved to be an incompetent autocrat. The Tsar’s reliance on his weak and indecisive character throughout handling the matters of his empire expanded upon numerous long-term causes of the Russian Revolution. Economic causes included the industrialization of Russia, which resulted in proletariats protesting for better working conditions and wages. As for social causes, they included the sufferings of poverty-stricken peasants due to prevalent classism, as well as the Tsar’s inadequate

The working class and peasants revolted against the rule of Tsar Nicholas II, a monarch who had total control over Russia. The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, fought for the creation of the Soviet Union. Peasants suffered from difficult living conditions such as food shortages and dangerous work and were generally poor. The Provisional Government refused to give land to the peasants. Lenin’s slogan “Peace, Land, Bread” promised Russia ending their involvement in World War I, land for the peasants, and no more shortage of food. He also promised power to the Soviets. The Bolsheviks fought against the Provisional Government, putting them out of power and putting the Bolsheviks in power instead.

The era of revolution that rocked Russia in the early 20th century resulted in the world’s first communist state. As a student educated in the United States, a country strongly against communist ideology, I formed a negative view of the Russian Revolution as the teaching of the subject in my school tended to focus on the cult-like ways of the revolution’s leaders, such as Lenin and Stalin, the ways in which these leaders manipulated their comrades and abused their power. Such negative portrayals delegitimize the significance and importance of the revolution. However, Alexandra Kollontai, a Russian Communist revolutionary and Soviet ambassador to Norway, tells a different story. In Kollontai’s article “Women Fighters in the Days of the Great October Revolution” published in the Zhensky Zhurnal in 1927, explains the great importance of the revolution and the article focuses on the role that women played during the revolution and emphasizes the liberating aspects of the revolution. While women were in the minority when it came to possessing leadership positions during the revolution, Kollontai eloquently presents her point of view that women were in fact that force behind the accomplishments of the revolution.