Socialism in Europe and the Russian revolution class 9

The Age of Social Change: 

• The French Revolution opened up the possibility of creating a dramatic change in the way in which society was structured. Not everyone in Europe, however, wanted a complete transformation. Some were 'conservatives', while others were 'liberals' or 'radicals'.

Socialism in Russian Revolution

• Liberals: Wanted a nation which tolerated all religions. They argued for an elected Parliamentary Government, subject to laws interpreted by a well trained judiciary that was independent of rulers and officials. They were not democrats.
• Radicals: Wanted a nation in which government was based on the majority of a country's population. They disliked concentration of property in hands of a few, not the existence of private property.
• Conservatives: They resisted change. After the revolution they started accepting change provided it was slow and had links and respected the past.
• Industries and Social Change: This was the time of economic and social change. Men, women and children were pushed into factories for low wages. Liberals and Radicals who were factory owners felt that workers' efforts must be encouraged.
• Socialism in Europe: Socialists were against private property. They had different visions of the future. Some believed in cooperatives, some demanded that governments must encourage cooperatives.
• Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels added that industrial society meant capitalist society which was not profitable for everyone. Marx believed that a socialist society would free the workers from capitalism. This would be a communist society in which collective ownership of land and factories would be promoted.
• Socialism Given Support: Workers in Germany and England began forming associations to fight for better living conditions. They set up funds for members in distress, reduction of working hours and the right to vote.
• In 1914, Tzar Nicholas II ruled the Russian empire.
• Economy and Society: Most of the Russian population were agriculturalist. Industries were being set up which were the mostly private property of the industrialists. Workers were divided into groups but they did unite to strike work when they were dissatisfied. Peasants had no respect for nobility, unlike the French peasant. Russian peasants were the only peasant community that pooled their land and their commune divided the land according to the needs of individual families.
• Socialism in Russia: All the political parties were illegal in Russia before 1914.
  The Russian Socialist Democratic Labour Party was formed in 1900. It struggled to give peasants their rights over land that belonged to nobles. As land was divided among peasants periodically, it was felt that peasants and not workers would be the main source of the revolution. But Lenin did not agree with this as he felt that peasants were not one social group. The party was divided into Bolsheviks and Mensheviks.
• The 1905 Revolution: Russia was an autocracy. The Tzar was not subject to the Parliament.
  Liberals wanted to end this state of affairs. They worked towards demanding a constitution during the Revolution of 1905.
• Bloody Sunday: Prices of essential goods rose so quickly by 1904 that the real wages declined by 20%. During this time, four members of the Putilov Iron Works were dismissed, Action was called for. Over 110,000 workers in St. Petersburg went on strike demanding a reduction in working hours and increase in wages. This procession was attacked by the police and Cossacks.
  Over 100 workers were killed. Strikes took place as a reaction. People demanded a Constituent Assembly. The Tzar allowed the creation of an elected Consultative Parliament or Duma. The Tzar dismissed the first Duma within 75 days and announced the election of a second Duma.
• The First World War and the Russian Empire: In 1914, the Russian Army was the largest army in the world. The War was initially very popular but later the support grew thin. Anti-German sentiments ran high. Russian armies lost badly in Germany and Austria. There were 7 million casualties and 3 million refugees in Russia.
  The War also affected the industry. There was a shortage of labour, railway lines were shut down and small workshops were closed down. There was a shortage of grain, agricultural production slumped and thus, there was crises in food supply.

The February Revolution in Petrograd

Events

• In the winter of 1917, Petrograd was grim. There was food shortage in the workers' quarters.
• 22 February: A lockout took place at a factory. Workers of 50 other factories joined in sympathy. Women also led and participated in the strikes. This came to be called International Women's Day.
•  The Government imposed curfew as the quarters of the fashionable area and official buildings were surrounded by workers.
• On the 24th and 25th, the Government called out the cavalry and police to keep an eye on them.
• On 25th February the Government suspended the Duma and politicians spoke against this measure. The people were out with force once again.
• On 27th, the Police Headquarters were ransacked. People raised slogans and were out in the streets.
• Cavalry was called out again but they refused to fire on the demonstrators.
• An officer was shot at the barracks of a regiment and other regiments mutinied, voting to join the striking workers. They gathered in the evening to form a soviet or council. This was the Petrograd Soviet.
• On 28th, a delegation went to meet the Tzar. The Military Commanders advised him to abdicate.
• The Tzar abdicated on 2nd March.
• A Provincial Government was formed by the Soviet and Duma leaders to run the country.
• The people involved were the Parliamentarians, Workers, Women workers, Soldiers and Military Commanders.

Effects

• Restrictions on public meetings and associations were removed.
• Soviets like the Petrograd Soviet were set up everywhere.
• In individual areas factory committees were formed which began questioning the way industrialists ran their factories.
• Soldiers' committees were formed in the army.
• The Provisional Government saw its power declining and Bolshevik influence grow. It decided to take stern measures against the spreading discontent.
• It resisted attempts by workers to run factories and arrested leaders.
• Peasants and the Socialist Revolutionary leaders pressed for a redistribution of land. Land committees were formed and the peasants seized land between July and September 1917.

October Rvolution

• 16th October, 1917 - Lenin persuaded the Petrograd Soviet and the Bolshevik Party to agree to a socialist seizure of power. A Military Revolutionary Committee was appointed by the Soviet to organise seizure.
• The uprising began on 24th October. Prime Minister Kerenskii left the city to summon troops. 
• Early morning military men loyal to the Government seized the buildings of two Bolshevik newspapers. Pro-Government troops were sent to take over telephone and telegraph offices and protect the Winter Palace.
• In response, the Military Revolutionary Committee ordered to seize Government Offices and arrest the Ministers.
• The Aurora' ship shelled the Winter Palace. Other ships took over strategic points.
• By night, the city had been taken over and the Ministers had surrendered.
• All Russian Congress of Soviets in Petrograd approved the Bolshevik action.
• Heavy fighting took place in Moscow and by December, the Bolsheviks controlled the Moscow - Petrograd area.
• The people involved were Lenin, the Bolsheviks, troops (Pro-Government).

Effects

• The Bolsheviks were totally opposed to private property.
• Most industries and banks were nationalised in November 1917.
• Land was declared social property and peasants were allowed to seize the land of the nobility.
• Use of old titles of aristocracy was banned.
• New uniforms were designed for the Army and Officials.
• In November 1917, the Bolsheviks conducted the election but failed to gain the majority support.
• Russia became a one-party state.
• Trade unions were kept under party control.
• A process of centralised planning was introduced. This led to economic growth.
• Industrial production increased.
• An extended schooling system developed.
• Collectivisation of farms started.

• The Civil War- When the Bolsheviks ordered land redistribution, the Russian army began to break up. Non-Bolshevik socialists, liberals and supporters of autocracy condemned the Bolshevik uprising. They were supported by French, American, British and Japanese troops. All of them fought a war with the Bolsheviks.
• Making a Socialist Society- The Bolsheviks kept industries and banks nationalised during the Civil War. A process of centralised planning was introduced. Rapid construction and industrialisation started. An extended schooling system developed.
• Stalin and Collective Farming- Stalin believed that rich peasants and traders stocked supplies to create shortage of grains. Hence, collectivisation was the need of the hour. This system would also help to modernise farms. Those farmers who resisted collectivisation were punished, deported or exiled.

Global Influence

• By the 1950s, it was recognised in the country and outside that everything was not in keeping with the ideals of the Russian revolution. 
• Though, its industries and agriculture had developed and or were being fed, the essential freedom to its citizens was being denied. 
• However, it was recognised that social ideals still enjoyed respect among the Russians. But in each country the ideas of Socialism were rethought in a variety of different ways.

class 9 chapter notes 1

Introduction

• In Palampur, farming is the main activity. Several other activities such as small-scale manufacturing, dairy transport, etc. are also carried out. 

• In these production activities, various resources combine to produce the desired goods and services.
• Palampur is well connected with neighbouring villages and towns. An all-weather road connects the village to Raiganj and further on to the nearest small town. 
• Many kinds of transport such as bullock carts, tongas, bogeys, motorcycles, jeeps, tractors, and trucks are visible on this road.
• Palampur has about 450 families belonging to several different castes. 80 families of the upper caste own the majority of the land. 
• Their houses are quite large and made of brick with cement plastering. 
• The SCs (Dalits) comprise one-third of the population and live in one corner of the village and in much smaller houses, some of which are of mud and straw.
• Most of the houses have electric connections. 
• Electricity powers all the tube wells in the fields. Electricity is also used in various types of small businesses. 
• Palampur has two primary schools and one high school. There is a primary health centre run by the government and one private dispensary.

Try yourself:How many families lives in Village Palampur?

• a.

  150

• b.

  250

• c.

  350

• d.

  450

View Solution

Organisation of Production

Production of any type of goods or services required the services of four factors of production which helps in the overall organisation of production.

• The first requirement is land and other natural resources such as water, forests, and minerals.
• The second requirement is labour. Some production activities require highly educated workers, other activities require workers who can do manual work.
• The third requirement is physical capital, i.e. the variety of inputs required at every stage during production. Tools, machines, buildings can be used in production over many years, and are called fixed capital. Raw materials and money in hand are called working capital these are used up in production.
• There is a fourth requirement too. One needs knowledge and enterprise to be able to put together land, labour, and physical capital and produce an output. This, these days is called human capital. Every production is organized by combining land, labour, physical capital, and human capital, which are known as factors of production.

Try yourself:Working capital stands for :

• a.

  Tools, machines and buildings

• b.

  Raw materials and money in hand

• c.

  Total share capital

• d.

  Fixed deposits in financial institutions

View Solution

Farming in Palampur

1. Land is Fixed

• Farming is the main production activity in Palampur. 
• 75 percent of the working people are dependent on farming for their livelihood. 
• Since 1960 in Palampur, there has been no expansion in land area under cultivation. By then, some of the wastelands in the village had been converted to cultivable land. 
• There exists no further scope to increase farm production by bringing new land under cultivation.

2. Is there a way one can grow more from the same land?

• All land is cultivated in Palampur. No land is idle. 
• During the rainy (Kharif) season, people grow jawar and bajra which are used as cattle feed. Between October to December they cultivate potatoes. 
• In the winter (or the Rabi) season they sow wheat. A part of the land area is also devoted to sugarcane which is harvested once every year.
  

3. Will the land sustain?

• Modern farming methods have overused the natural resource base. Due to the increased use of chemical fertilisers, the soil lost its fertility. 
• Natural resources like soil fertility and groundwater are destroyed and it is very difficult to restore them.

4. How is land distributed between the farmers of Palampur?

• Not all the people engaged in agriculture have sufficient land for cultivation. In Palampur, about one-third of the 450 families are landless, i.e. 150 families, most of them Dalits, have no land for cultivation.
• Of the remaining families who own land, 240 families cultivate small plots of land less than 2 hectares in size.

Land Distribution between Farmers of Palampur 

• In Palampur, there are 60 families of medium and large farmers who cultivate more than 2 hectares of land. A few of the large farmers have land extending over 10 hectares or more.

5. Who will Provide the Labour?

• Farming requires a great deal of hard work. Small farmers along with their families cultivate their own fields. Thus, they provide the labour required for farming themselves. Medium and large farmers hire farm labourers to work in their fields.
• Farm labourers come either from landless families cultivating small plots of land. Unlike farmers, farm labourers do not have a right over the crops grown on the land. Instead, they are paid wages by the farmer for whom they work. Wages can be in cash or in-kind of the crop. Sometimes labourers get meals also.
• Wages vary widely from region to region, from crop to crop, from one farm activity to another (like sowing and harvesting) there is also a wide variation in the duration of employment a farm labourer might be employed on a daily basis, or for one particular farm activity like harvesting, or for the whole year.

6. The Capital needed in Farming

• Most small farmers have to borrow money to arrange for the capital. They borrow from large farmers or village moneylenders or traders who supply various inputs for cultivation. The rate of interest on such loans is very high. They are put in great distress to repay the loan.
• In contrast to the small farmers, the medium and large farmers have their own savings from farming. They are thus able to arrange or the capital needed.
• Small farmers have a little surplus because their total production is small and from this, a substantial share is kept for their own family needs. So, it is the medium and large farmers who supply wheat to the market.
• Large and medium farmers sell surplus farm products. A part of the earnings is saved and kept for buying capital for the next season. Thus, they are able to arrange for the capital for farming from their own savings. Some farmers might also use the savings to buy cattle, trucks, or to set up shops.

8. Sale of Surplus Farm Products

• The wheat the farmers produce from the land is retained in part for their family consumption and they sell the surplus wheat. 
• Only the medium and large farmers supply wheat to the market.

9. Sustainable use of Land

• Land being a natural resource, it is very necessary to be careful in its use. Modern farming methods have overused the land resource.
• Green Revolution is associated with the loss of soil fertility due to the increased use of chemical fertilizers.
• Continuous use of groundwater for tube well irrigation has reduced the water level below the ground.
• Environmental resources like soil fertility and groundwater are built up over many years. Once destroyed, it is very difficult to restore them.

10. How Electricity helped the Farmers in Palampur?

• The major impact of the spread of electricity in Palampur was to transform the system of irrigation.
• Electricity helped the farmers to shift from the traditional Persian wheels to electricity-run tube wells.
• The irrigation capacity of electricity-run tube wells is much more than that of the Persian wheels.

Solar Tube Wells

• The spread of electrical leads literally moved the whole society from darkness to light. It transformed all social-economic norms of life. It is like a whole new world.

Modern Farming Methods

• The main reasons why farmers are able to grow three different crops in a year are:
  (i) As a result of the coming of electricity in the Palampur village, people have greatly improved the system of irrigation. They can now irrigate more lands quite effectively.
  (ii) Tube wells were first installed by the government but soon people were able to set up their own tube wells.
  (iii) By multiple cropping more than one crop is grown on a piece of land during the same year. All farmers in Palampur grow at least two main crops; many are growing potato as the third crop.
  (iv) The other way is to use modern farming methods for higher yield. Higher yields are possible from a combination of HYV seeds, irrigation, chemical fertilizers, pesticides etc.

Green Revolution

• The large increase in crop yields, leading to record food production started, in our country from 1960 onwards and marked a turning point in Indian agriculture which has led to the green revolution in our country. 
• The great increase in the production of food grain crops especially the wheat crop in our country during the last 30 years is called the Green Revolution. This is because a sort of revolution has taken place in Indian agriculture leading to enormous food grain production.
• The revolution is called because it has led to unprecedented greenery of crops everywhere. The period 1960 to 1980 is also called the ‘golden era’ for the record food grain production.

• It is because of the green revolution that our country has become self-sufficient in food production and even buffer stocks of food grains have been created for use in times of natural calamities like drought and floods.

Try yourself:The Green Revolution introduced the farmers to

• a.

  cultivation of wheat and rice

• b.

  cultivation of green vegetables

• c.

  cultivation of sugar cane

• d.

  cultivation of forests

View Solution

Non Farming Activities in PalampurDairy

• Dairy is a common activity in many families of Palampur. People feed their buffalos on various kinds of grass and the jawar and bajra that grow during the Kharif season.

• The milk is sold in Raiganj, the nearby large village. Two traders from Shahpur town have set up collection cum chilling centres at Raiganj from where the milk is transported to faraway towns and cities.

An Example of Small Scale Manufacturing in Palampur

• Less than fifty people are engaged in manufacturing in Palampur, unlike the manufacturing that takes place in the big factories in the towns and cities. 
• Manufacturing in Palampur involves very simple production methods and is done on a small scale. It is carried out mostly at home or in the fields with the help of family labour.

The Shopkeepers of Palampur

• People involved in the trade (exchange of goods) are not many in Palampur. the traders of Palampur are shopkeepers who buy various goods from wholesale markets in the cities and sell them in the village.
• There are a few small general stores in the village selling a wide range of items like rice, wheat, sugar, tea, oil, biscuits, soap, toothpaste, batteries, candies, notebooks, pen, pencil, and even some cloth.

Transport: A Fast Developing Sector

• There are a variety of vehicles on the road connecting Palampur to Raiganj, Rickshawalas, tanga walas, jeep, tractor, truck drivers and people driving the traditional bullock cart and bogey are people in the transport services. 
• They ferry people and goods from one place to another, and in return get paid for it.