RUSSIA BEFORE THE USSR
• Ruled by monarchs (czars or tsars) since 1547
• Last czar: Nicholas II (ruled 1894-1917)
•Why revolt?
• Poverty and famine
•WWI urbanization, poor living conditions, massive loss of life
• Nicholas II was a poor leader
• Huge social and economic inequality
• Brutal state oppression
1917: TWO REVOLUTIONS
• February Revolution
•Massive strike by workers
• Army abandons the Tsar
• Tsar Nicholas abdicates; later executed
• Two governments – moderates and Bolsheviks
•October Revolution
•Bolshevik Party takes over the government by force
•Vladimir Lenin becomes head of government
•Goal: establish a socialist state
THE RUSSIAN CIVIL WAR
•Date: 1918-1921
•War for control of Russia between:
•Reds – Bolshevik Party
•Whites – moderates and conservatives
• Foreign powers (including the US) invaded to support the Whites
•Reds won and established the USSR
THE UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS
• Founded 1922
•Russia + 14 other countries
• Economic structure: communist (state ownership of means of production)
• Political structure: single-party state (run by the Communist Party)
WAIT! WHAT’S COMMUNISM?• Old economic system was capitalism –
private ownership of the means of production
• Business produces what consumers want
• Wealthy minority gets most of the profit
• New economic system was communism – state ownership of the means of production
• Much closer to economic equality
• More power for the state
• But how to get workers to produce…?
Karl Marx and his magnificent beard
SIMULATION RULES, ROUND 1: INCOME
• I’ll give you a starting endowment of pennies
• You can earn more pennies by playing rock-paper-scissors with other students
• The loser gives the winner one penny
• Keep playing until you’re out of pennies
• Sit down when you’re out of pennies
• No exchanging pennies, except as the result of rock-paper-scissors games
• Whoever finishes with the most pennies will earn 5 merits
SURPRISE!
• The Communists have taken power in a revolution led by the charismatic working-class hero Premier Lam. The benevolent Premier Lam has announced a policy of redistributing wealth equally to all members of society.
SIMULATION RULES, ROUND 2: CAPITALIST PRODUCTION
• Your new job is to create paper airplanes
• Three students work in a factory owned by Simone
• Simone pays Ms. Lam for supplies (paper) and sets wages, hours, working conditions, etc.
• The rest of the class are consumers – they want to buy paper airplanes
• Fun fact: the cost of living is 3 pennies
SURPRISE!
• The Communists have taken power in a revolution led by the charismatic working-class hero Premier Lam. The benevolent Premier Lam has announced a policy of manufacturing all paper airplanes in a factory owned by the state.
SIMULATION RULES, ROUND 3: COMMUNIST PRODUCTION
• Everyone now works in a factory owned by the government
• The government has hired Simone as manager
• Everyone is guaranteed a job
• Everyone is guaranteed a salary of 4 pennies (except Simone, who gets 5 pennies); the cost of living is still 3 pennies
• The government (that’s me) sets quotas for Simone to fulfill
THE CAPITALIST ECONOMY
• Individuals own the means of production
• High degree of inequality between people
• Consumers decide what is produced
• Owners of the means of production (e.g., machines in factories) earn profit
• Goods are allocated according to who can afford them
THE COMMUNIST ECONOMY (IN THEORY)
• The workers own the means of production
• Minimal inequality
• The workers decide what is produced
• Profits belong to the workers collectively
• Goods are allocated according to who needs them
“From each according to his ability; to each according to his need”
THE SOVIET ECONOMY UNDER STALIN
• Means of production are owned by the state
• Limited inequality – but Communist Party members are much better off
• The state decides what to produce
• Heavy emphasis on industry and military production
• The state earns profits
• Goods are allocated according to the state’s decisions
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