Here is the history of Russia from the revoltuion (1917) till 1985 as told to us by a Russian lecturer aboard the Viking Ingvar here in Russia:
When you tour the palaces and riches of three centuries of Russian czars you can begin to understand why there was a revolution in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century.
Though Russia's revolution came later than others in Europe, it was every bit as bloody if not more so. At the beginning of World War I in 1914 Russians were said to be very enthusiastic about the war. But that enthusiasm wore off as the war went on and revolutionary momentum was growing in Russia. During the first part of 1917 Russia was governed under councils of power representing workers, peasants and others. But this did not last long. October 25, 1917 brought the assault on the Winter Palace. The first Soviet rulers under the revolutionary government included Lev Kamenev, Yakov Sverdlov, Leon Trotsky and Vladimir Lenin.
In Russian, soviet means "council." This referred to the notion of collectivist governance -- a nation governed by groups representing various sectors or "councils."
Throughout this period, the troubled, bloody relationship (or lack thereof) between Russians and Germans continued. Then 1918 to 1921 saw the beginning of a civil war dividing everyone between "reds" (those who supported the revolution) and "whites" (those who did not support the revolution but who noetheless could not agree on what they actually did support).
This period of "red terror" was marked by many rebellions and demonstrations throughout the nation and soon the country was in ruins.
In 1921 Lenin introduced a new economic policy allowing private enterprise. This prompted many to leave the Communist Party. But the economy began to flourish once again. Then, in 1922 the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was formed embracing 15 different states. In 1924 the first constitution of the Soviet Union was enacted. In 1924 Lenin died of a stroke after several attempts to assassinate him including attempts to poison him.
After a political struggle between Trotsky and Joseph Stalin, Stalin emerged as the new leader. What was the difference between the two? Trotsky believed in global world revolution, led by Russia. Stalin felt that starting new life in Russia came first -- the global communist revolution could wait.
Under Stalin, a series of collectivist and five year plans were put into place to attempt to modernize Russia. To raise money to finance these continuing ambitious plans, the Soviet government decided to sell priceless works of art. The more of these they sold, the cheaper they became because the art market then became saturated.
In 1934 a period known at The Great Terror began. Kirov, the First Secretary of the Communist Party in Leningrad was assassinated. This all seemed to be a part of Stalin's efforts to destroy all those who were part of the Communist Party of Lenin's time.
Years of repression were characterized by the gulag -- labor camps where people worked long hours in return for some promise of subsistence. With the rise of Nazi Germany, Russia was once again bedeviled by the Germans. To buy time, Stalin signed a non-aggression pact with the germans because Russia was simply not prepared for war.
But in 1941, Stalin was betrayed and Germans crossed the border and invaded the Soviet Union. Very soon, they were close to Moscow. The German march was eventually halted but at a huge cost in Russian lives. Hitler did not expect that it would be so difficult to overtake Russia. But he was wrong. Russia simply would not fold as quickly as other nations.
In the end, Russia's resistance (forcing Hitler to fight a war on two fronts) wore the Nazis down but 26 million Russians were lost in the process.
In 1953 Stalin died under mysterious circumstances.
Under Nikita Khruschev, Russia embarked on a new era of growth marked by its eventual emergence as a world power. Kruschev launched an antagonistic policy toward the United States and brought the Soviet Union to the brink of nuclear war with America. This culminated in the Cuban missile crisis where America stared down Russian provocation and Russia blinked. The Russian people never forgave Kruschev for this provocation and it is said that to this day, Russians are grateful to John F. Kennedy for actions which effectively prevented nuclear war.
Kruschev became the first Soviet leader to be "thrown out of the family." Rather than leaving office in a coffin, he was deposed.
Many Russians have fond memories under the years that followed under Brezhnev. But the war in Afghanistan and other factors wore Russia down. The Soviet Union simply could not be sustained.
The eventual emergence of Gorbachev brought great hope -- "like a shower in the desert," Russians said. Gorbachev said "We want to build sociualism with a human face." But, in fact Gorbachev later admitted that all along it was his desire to end communism and bring some form democracy to Russia.
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