The Russian Federation

1
The Russian Federation
2
Quick Facts

• Capital Moscow
• Population 143.5 million
• Language 82 speak Russian
• System type Federal republic with dual
  executive
• 6.6 million square miles largest country (1.8
  times larger than US)
• Religions predominantly Russian Orthodox with
  significant Muslim, Jewish, and Protestant
  minorities

3
Quick Facts

• Negative growth rate -.6
• 100 adult literacy rate
• Wealth of natural resources land, minerals,
  oil, natural gas, timber, gold, coal, and iron
• But lacks wealth and technical expertise to fully
  exploit these resources, most of which are in
  Siberia

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Political Development

• The Russian Empire (15th cent. to 1917)
  PATRIMONIAL (rulers ruled owned land)
• Liberated from Mongols by Ivan the Great
  (1440-1505), who set up capital in Moscow
• Under Ivan the Terrible (1533-1584), Russia
  expanded
• Peter the Great (1682-1725) laid basis for
  countrys military industrial growth

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Political Development

• Russia became European power, nobility adopted
  European culture, army bureaucracy based on
  European models, and new capital in St.
  Petersburg (overtly European city)
• Russia remained a feudal system through all these
  changes though

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Political Development

• Vast majority of Russian remained powerless
  peasants (serfs) small aristocracy controlled
  virtually all the wealth
• No free elections or free speech most lived in
  abject poverty
• Tsars violently suppressed opposition

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Political Development

• Last tsar, Nicholas II, failed to respond to
  pressures for change
• Popular opposition led by Social Revolutionary
  Party and the smaller Russian Social Democratic
  Labor Party (RSDLP)
• 1903 RSDLP split into 2 factions Mensheviks
  and Bolsheviks

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Political Development

• Mensheviks (minority) advocated mass membership
  party
• Bolsheviks (majority) more elitist
• Bolsheviks led by Lenin his idea included
  vanguard party with tight disciplined structure
  and Lenins authority at core

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Political Development

• 1917 Revolutions grew out of 3 interconnected
  factors (huge losses suffered in WWI, Karl Marxs
  theories, leadership skills of Lenin and
  Trotsky, who identified themselves with peace,
  redistribution of land bread)
• March 1917 - Nicholas II abdicated

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Political Development

• Provisional Government took over made mistake
  of continuing WWI
• Nov 1917 2nd revolution (actually a coup
  rather than popular uprising) staged by Lenin as
  he his followers established a one-party
  socialist state
• Changed name of party to Communist Party, created
  Red Army

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Political Development

• Lenin VANGUARD PARTY
• Party leaders claimed they understood the
  interests of the working people better than the
  people did themselves
• DEMOCRATIC CENTRALISM hierarchical party
  structure in which leaders were elected from
  below required strict discipline w/policy
  implementation

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Political Development

• March 1918 Treaty of Brest-Litovsk peace
  treaty Lenin signed with Germany
• July 1918 Romanovs shot to death
• Civil war began between White Army (former
  tsarist generals) and Red Army
• 1922 Whites defeated

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Political Development

• 1921 Lenin launched NEW ECONOMIC POLICY faced
  with war-ravaged economy, failing industrial and
  agricultural output, and public discontent
• NEP based on partly on free enterprise policies
  designed to encourage peasants small businessmen

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Political Development

• Before NEP could be implemented Lenin died
• Succession struggle with Trotsky the most obvious
  choice
• But he was pushed aside by trio of party leaders,
  Stalin being one
• Stalin organized manipulated party bureaucracy
  to establish personal control over party to
  confirm partys control over country

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Political Development

• 1928-1929 Stalin made his office of first
  secretary of the CPSU the most important in party
  hierarchy won uncontested control over both
  party and country
• Stalin Era (1928-1953) moved farther away from
  Marxism and toward totalitarianism (Stalinism)

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Political Development

• Stalinism absolutist, inflexible, highly
  undemocratic version of communism that demands
  unquestioning support for the state belief in
  unchallenged authority of party its leaders
• Stalins priority was to build socialism in one
  country

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Political Development

• Abandoned Lenins idea of global revolution and
  concentrated on making USSR a political,
  industrial, agricultural, and military model for
  others
• Systematic use of terror, elimination of human
  rights, cult of personality

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Political Development

• Centrally planned economy all activities
  determined by the state
• Bureaucracy became powerful, monolithic, and
  inefficient
• Gosplan economic planning agency decided
  what, when, where, and price of goods
• Series of Five-Year Plans

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Political Development

• Stalin forced millions of farmers into huge
  collective farms, eliminating the kulak class
  (wealthy peasants)
• Caused famine, killing several million
• CPSU infiltrated every part of Soviet life,
  creating new class of privileged political leaders

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Political Development

• Cold War (1945-1990) Khrushchev succeeded
  Stalin priority was to end terror launched
  space program (Sputnik 1st satellite) Cuban
  Missile Crisis
• Khrushchev ousted by CPSU b/c of his repeated
  policy failures and erratic style of leadership

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Political Development

• Replaced by Brezhnev more conservative
• Reforms ceased, USSR leaders became older, less
  imaginative, and more concerned with maintaining
  the status quo
• Major military buildup and USSR helped several
  nationalists movements in Africa and Asia

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Political Development

• Brezhnev era culminated in 1979 with invasion of
  Afghanistan, which led to costly and unpopular
  war
• Andropov and Chernenko succeeded Brezhnev (all
  three died in office)
• Gorbachev took over in 1985 denounced
  stagnation of Brezhnev era

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Political Development

• In his own words, he set about launching the 2nd
  Russian revolution
• 2 core planks to his program PERESTROIKA
  (restructuring of Soviet economy and political
  system) and GLASNOST (openness or willingness
  to encourage more public discussion)

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Political Development

• By 1988, a third facet was added
  DEMOKRATIZATSIIA (democratization)
• Goal was not dismantle socialist system but to
  make it more efficient democratic
• Reduce role of central planning
• However, he faced several problems

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Political Development

• 1. Lacked legitimacy preached democratic
  accountability but was never popularly elected
  insisted on maintaining CPSU monopoly
• 2. Found himself caught b/t liberals who thought
  his reforms were too timid and conservatives who
  thought he had gone too far

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Political Development

• He lost control partly b/c of entrenched power of
  Soviet bureaucracy to sabotage delay his
  changes and partly b/c of his own caution
• 3. Reforms brought into open the tensions among
  Soviet republics nationalist secessionist
  movements

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Political Development

• Aug 1991 on eve of signing new union treaty,
  grp. of communists staged coup in Moscow but
  failed
• Gorbachevs credibility undermined so he resigned
  as prez of USSR on 12/25/91 and USSR ceased to
  exist 12/26/91
• 15 independent countries formed

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Political Development

• Russia was largest just 6 mths earlier had
  elected Boris Yeltsin as prez
• Yeltsin had same problems as Gorbachev and
  attempts were made to unseat him during 1993
• He dissolved Russian legislature (Congress of
  Peoples Deputies)

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Political Development

• Small grp. of conservatives barricaded themselves
  inside Congress bldg gave acting presidency to
  Yeltsins own VP, his biggest critic
• Yeltsin responded w/military force, attempted
  coup failed, VP w/supporters were jailed

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Political Development

• Constant conflict b/t conservatives and reformers
• Dec 1993 constitution approved in hurried
  public referendum new legislature elected
• 1996 Yeltsin elected to 2nd term despite all
  the problems (including his own health)

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Political Development

• Problems continued
• 1. Trust in govt fell to all-time low
• 2. Legislature failed to be effective source of
  policy
• 3. Nationalist problems in south boiled over into
  renewed war urban terrorism
• 4. Value of ruble fell w/inflation

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Political Development

• 5. Wealth power accumulated in hands of new
  elite
• 6. Banking system declined
• 7. Unemployment grew
• 1999 Yeltsin suddenly resigned
• Putin succeeded him reformist party Unity given
  boost in 1999 leg. elections

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Political Development

• Putins bloody response to Chechnya helped him
  rise to power but concerned many, esp. after the
  succeeding actions he has taken regarding govt
• Structure of govt still top down rather than
  bottom up govt still doesnt listen much to
  people

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Political Development

• Infrastructure is in decay
• Population is unhealthy, poorly educated, aging
  quickly, shrinking in size
• General trends towards democracy, freer market
  place, and more cooperative stance on foreign
  policy issues