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CBSE Class 9 Social Science Revision Notes Chapter  2 History Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution

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’.

Liberals: Wanted a nation which tolerated all religions. They were against the uncontrolled power of the dynastic rulers.They wanted rights for individuals.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 because they did not believe in universal adult franchise.

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. It was also the beginning of the industrial revolution. Men, women and children were pushed into factories for low wages, Liberals and radicals who were factory owners felt that  efforts must be encouraged so that benefits of industrialization should be passed on to workers.

Socialism in Europe : Socialists were against private property and saw it as root of social evils.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 was capitalist. Marx believed that a socialist society would free the workers from capitalism. This would be a communist society.

Support for Socialism  : Socialists formed an organization called ‘Second International’ to spread socialist ideas. 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 right to vote.

THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION

In 1914,  Tsar Nicholas II ruled the Russian empire.

Economy and Society: Most of the Russian population( about 85 %) were agriculturalist. Industries were being set up which was mostly private property of industrialists. Workers were divided into groups but they did unite to strike work when they were dissatisfied. Peasants had no respect for nobility, very unlike the French peasant. Russian peasants were the only peasant community which pooled their land and their commune divided it.

Socialism in Russia: All political parties were illegal in Russia before 1914. The Russian Socialist Democratic Labour Party was formed in 1898. It struggled to give peasants their rights over land that belonged to nobles. As land was divided among peasants periodically which makes them natural socialist  and 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 Tsar 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.  The procession was led by Father Gapon.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 Tsar allowed the creation of an elected consultative Parliament or Duma. The Tsar dismissed the first Duma within 75 days and announced the election of a second Duma.

The First World War and the Russian Empire : In Russia, 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 labour shortage, railway lines were shut down and small workshops were closed down. There was shortage of grain and hence of bread.

THE FEBRUARY REVOLUTION IN PETROGRAD

• 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 the  International Women’s Day.
• The government imposed a 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.
• Cavalry was called out again however it refused to fire on demonstrators.
• An officer was shot at the barracks of a regiment and other regiments mutinied, voting to join the striking workers gathered to form a soviet or council. This was the Petrograd Soviet.
• A delegation went to meet the Tsar, military commanders advised him to abdicate.
• The Tsar 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.

• Restrictions on public meetings and associations were removed.
• Soviets 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 peasants seized land between July and September 1917.

OCTOBER REVOLUTION

• 16th October 1917 — Lenin persuaded the Petrograd Soviet and Bolshevik Party to agree to a socialist seizure of power. A Military Revolutionary Committee was appointed by the Soviet to organise seizure.
• Uprising began on 24th October. Prime Minister Kerenskii left the city to summon troops.
• 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 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 ministers had surrendered.
• All Russian Congress of Soviets in Petrograd approved the Bolshevik action.
• Heavy fighting in Moscow — by December, the Bolsheviks controlled the Moscow – Petrograd area.

The people involved were Lenin, the Bolsheviks, troops (pro-government).

• Most industry 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 aristocratic titles was banned.
• New uniforms were designed for the army and officials.
• 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 formed their troops and were called ‘Greens’ which would fight against Bolshevik ‘Red’. The pro Tsar ‘Whites” controlled most of the Russian empire. They were supported by French, American, British and Japanese troops. All these 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 modernize 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 the poor 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.

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Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution Chapter Notes Class 9 History

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Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution Chapter Notes: The Chapter Notes are given proper heading with all relevant points as given in the text matter of the chapter ‘Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution’ in the class 9 NCERT History book.

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Emergence of new political ideas in the nineteenth century, the age of social change.

• The French Revolution opened up the possibility of bringing dramatic change in the way society was structured. Up to the 18th century, society was broadly divided into estates and orders, and the aristocracy and church controlled economic and social power.
• After the revolution, individual rights and social power began to be discussed in many parts of the world including Europe and Asia.
• The development in the colonies reshaped ideas of societal change.
• Not everyone in Europe was in favour of complete transformation of society. Responses to new ideas varied from acceptance that some change was necessary but in a gradual shift to a desire to restructure society radically.
• Some were conservatives while other were liberals or radicals. Socialism became one of the most significant and powerful ideas to shape society in the 20th century through Russian Revolution.
• Liberals sought to change society. They wanted a nation that tolerated all religions.
• They were against dynastic rulers with uncontrolled power.
• They argued for an elected parliamentary government subject to laws interpreted by a well-trained and independent judiciary.
• However, some liberal ideas were not democratic.
• They were not in favour of universal adult franchise and wanted the voting rights only for men with property.
• Radicals wanted a nation in which the government should be elected by a majority of the population.
• They were in favour of women’s suffragette movement.
• They opposed concentration of property in the hands of a few, but they did not oppose the existence of private property. 

Conservatives

• Conservatives were opposed to radicals and liberals and wanted to discard the idea of changes.
• However, their attitudes changed after the French revolution. By the 19th century, they accepted that some change was inevitable.
• They were in favour of gradual change, with some preservation of old institutions.

Industrial society

• Industrialisation gave rise to capitalism and altered the way markets and economies functioned.
• Liberals, radicals and conservatives had different and often clashing opinions about the condition of the working class.
• Men, women and children came to factories in search of work but working hours were long and wages were low.
• There was unemployment when there was low demand for industrial goods. There were problems of housing and sanitation. Liberals and radicals searched for solutions to these issues.

Changes in the society

• Many among the liberals and the radicals were property owners and employers. They wanted the benefit of industrialisation to reach the workforce. To make that happen, liberals and radicals started a movement and became revolutionaries. 
• They believed that education and equal opportunity for all could uplift a majority of the poor and enable them to earn a better living. 
• They wanted revolutions which could end all kind of governments established in Europe in 1815.
• In France, Italy, Germany and Russia, they became revolutionaries and worked to overthrow existing monarchs.

Rise of Socialism in Europe?

• Socialism was a radical idea that was based on the abolition of private property and projected a dream of classless society.
• By the mid-19th century, the ideas of socialism had become well-known throughout Europe.
• Socialists were against private property and considered it to be the root of all social evils. They wanted to change it and campaigned for the change. Some socialists believed in the idea of cooperatives.

Socialists and their ideas

(i) Robert Owen (1771–1858) , a leading English manufacturer, sought to build a cooperative community called New Harmony in Indiana, USA.

(ii) Other socialists felt that co-operatives could not be built on a large scale only through individual initiatives. They demanded that governments should encourage cooperatives. Louis Blanc wanted the government to encourage cooperatives and replace capitalist enterprises.

(iii) Karl Marx (1818–83) and Friedrich Engels (1820–95) added other ideas to this body of arguments.

• Marx argued that industrial society was capitalist.
• He believed that the profits taken by factory owners were the surplus produced by workers.
• He contended that all property should be owned by society and argued that workers should free themselves from capitalist exploitation and construct a radically socialist state where all property was socially controlled. That is, communist society should be formed, which was seen as the society of the future.

Spread of Socialism

• Socialist ideas spread throughout Europe by the mid-19th century.
• In the 1870s, socialists in different regions formed the Second International to coordinate their efforts to spread socialist ideas.
• Workers’ associations were formed in France, Britain and Germany to fight for better living and working conditions. They set up funds for members in distress and pressurised governments to grant the right to vote to workers and demanded the reduction of working hours.
• In Germany, the Socialist Democratic Party was formed. The German associations worked closely with the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in Germany and helped it in winning parliamentary seats.
• The Labour Party was formed in Britain, and the Socialist Party was formed in France by 1905. However, until 1914, socialists did not succeed in forming a government in Europe. Their ideas did shape legislation, but governments continued to be run by conservatives, liberals and radicals.

The Social, Political & Economic Situation in Russia until 1914

Russia in the early 20th century.

• Socialists took over the government in Russia through the October Revolution of 1917. The fall of the monarchy in February 1917 and the events of October are called the Russian Revolution.
• In 1914, Nicholas II ruled the Russian empire.
• The Russian empire included current-day Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, parts of Poland, Ukraine and Belarus. It stretched to the Pacific and comprised today’s Central Asian states, as well as Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.
• The majority religion was Russian Orthodox Christianity, which had grown out of the Greek Orthodox Church.

Russia was an Agrarian Economy

• At the beginning of the 20th century, about 85 per cent of the population earned its living through agriculture. Russia was a major exporter of grain.
• Industry was found in pockets. Prominent industrial areas were St Petersburg and Moscow. Craftsmen undertook much of the production, but large factories existed alongside craft workshops.
• With the expansion of the Russian rail network, foreign investment in factories grew. Coal production doubled, and production of iron and steel quadrupled.
• Most industries were the private property of industrialists. Large factories were supervised by the government to ensure minimum wages and limited hours of work. Women made up 31 per cent of the factory labour force by 1914, but they were paid less than men for the same work.
• Workers were a divided social group. They were also divided by skill. Despite divisions, workers united to stop work when they disagreed with employers about dismissals or work conditions.
• In the countryside, peasants cultivated most of the land but the nobility, the crown and the Orthodox Church owned large properties. Nobles got power and position through their services to the Tsar.
• Russian peasants mostly disregarded the nobility. Frequently, the peasantry rose up against the nobles and refused to pay rent and even murdered landlords.

Political Socialist Parties

• All political parties in Russia were illegal before 1914. In 1898, socialists founded the Russian Social Democratic Workers Party that respected Marx’s ideas. Due to government’s policing, it had to operate as an illegal organisation.
• Some Russian socialists felt that the Russian peasant custom of dividing land periodically made them natural socialists.
• Throughout the 19th century, socialists were active in the countryside. They formed the Socialist Revolutionary Party in 1900.
• The party fought for peasants’ rights and demanded that land belonging to nobles be transferred to peasants. Social democrats disagreed with socialist revolutionaries about peasants.
• Vladimir Lenin, who led the Bolshevik group, thought that in a repressive society like tsarist Russia, the party should be disciplined and should control the number and quality of its members. Mensheviks thought that the party should be open to all.

The Revolution of 1905

• Russia was an autocracy and even at the beginning of the 20th century, the tsar’s actions were not subject to parliament’s laws. During the revolution of 1905, together with the social democrats and socialist revolutionaries, liberals in Russia worked with peasants and workers to demand a constitution.
• They were supported in the empire by nationalists and in Muslim-dominated areas by jadidists who wanted modernised Islam to lead their societies.
• For Russian workers, 1904 was a particularly bad year as prices of essential goods rose and their real wages declined by 20 per cent.
• When four members of the Assembly of Russian Workers, which had been formed in 1904, were dismissed at the Putilov Iron Works, there was a call for industrial action.
• Over the next few days, over 110,000 workers in St Petersburg went on strike demanding a reduction in the working day to eight hours, an increase in wages and improvement in working conditions.

Bloody Sunday & 1905 Revolution

• The procession led by Father Gapon was attacked by the police and the Cossacks when it reached the Winter Palace. The incident, known as Bloody Sunday, started a series of events which resulted in the 1905 Revolution.
• Strikes took place all over the country and universities closed down when student bodies staged walkouts, complaining about the lack of civil liberties.
• During the 1905 Revolution, the tsar allowed the creation of an elected consultative parliament or Duma.
• After 1905, most committees and unions worked unofficially, since they were declared illegal. Severe restrictions were placed on political activity.

The Effects of the First World War over Russia

Beginning of the first world war.

The war was fought outside Europe as well as in Europe. In 1914, war broke out between two European alliances.

• Central powers were Germany, Austria-Hungary and Turkey
• Allied powers were France, Britain, Russia, Italy and Romania

Political situation in Russia

• When the First World War broke out, the Tsar had the support of the Russian people.
• The Tsar refused to consult the main parties in the Duma and the people’s support began to decline.
• Anti-German sentiments ran high among the masses. Tsarina Alexandra (wife of Nicholas II) was of German origin. This resulted in the masses distrusting her during war times. The tsarina’s strong reliance on Rasputin, a German monk also angered people.
• This could be seen in the renaming of St Petersburg (a German name) as Petrograd.

War fought on eastern and western front by Russia

• The First World War on the eastern front differed from that on the western front.
• In the west, armies fought from trenches stretched along eastern France. The western front was much smaller than the eastern front.
• In the east, it stretched from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Black Sea in the south, involved most of eastern Europe and stretched deep into central Europe.
• In the east, armies moved a good deal and fought battles leading to large casualties.

Loses during war

• Between 1914 and 1916, Russian armies lost badly against Germany and Austria.
• While retreating from the eastern front, Russian soldiers destroyed crops and buildings.
• This prevented attacks from enemies as they could not live off the land, but it further aggravated the peasants.
• The destruction of crops and buildings rendered over three million people refugees in Russia.

Impact of first world war on Russia

• The war had a severe impact on industry.
• By 1916, railways began to break down.
• Since able-bodied men were called to war, there were labour shortages and small workshops were shut down.
• Supplies of essential commodities were badly hit. Agricultural and industrial production declined.
• Large quantities of grains were sent to feed the army, resulting in food shortages in cities and towns. By the winter of 1916, many cities witnessed bread riots.

February Revolution of 1917

Petrograd city and social divisions.

• The city of St Petersburg, which was renamed Petrograd, was the capital of the Russian empire until 1918.
• The layout of the city emphasised its social divisions. The city was divided into two sections by the Neva River.
• On the right bank of river Neva, factories and the quarters of factory workers were located. On the left bank was the posh area comprising the winter palace and official buildings.
• In the winter of 1917, the condition of Petrograd was very gloomy.
• There were food shortages in the workers’ quarters.

Beginning of the revolution

• On the right bank of Neva, there was a lockdown in a factory on 22 February, 1917. 
• The next day, a strike was called by the workers of 50 factories in sympathy.
• In many factories, women also lead the way to strikes on 23 February 1917. Later, this day came to known as International Women’s Day.
• As the fashionable quarters and official buildings were surrounded by workers, the government imposed a curfew. The demonstrators dispersed by the evening but came back on the 24th and the 25th. 
• The government called the cavalry and the police to control the workers.
• On 25 February 1917, the Duma was suspended.
• On 26 February, demonstrators again appeared on the streets demanding fewer working hours, higher wages and democracy.
• The government tried to control the situation with the help of the cavalry. But the cavalry refused to fire on the demonstrators.
• An officer was killed at the barracks of a regiment and three other regiments mutinied supporting the strike of the workers.
• After this incident, the soldiers and the striking workers gathered to form a ‘soviet’ or ‘council’, which later came to be known as the Petrograd soviet.

Fall of the Tsar and the Monarchy

• The very next day, a delegation went to see the Tsar. Military commanders advised him to abdicate.
• He followed their advice and abdicated on 2 March, 1917.
• A new provisional government was formed by the soviet leaders.
• The Petrograd revolution finally brought down the Russian monarchy in February, 1917.

After February Revolution

• A provisional government was formed in which army officials, landowners and industrialists became very influential. The liberals as well as socialists worked towards an elected government.
• The number of trade unions increased.
• Restrictions on public meetings and the formation of organisations were removed.
• Soviets, like the Petrograd soviet, were set up everywhere. However, no common system of election was yet formed.
• Soldiers’ committees were formed in the army.
• In individual areas factory committees were formed which began questioning the way industrialists ran their factories.
• 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 peasants seized land between July and September 1917.

The October Revolution of 1917

April theses.

In April 1917, the Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin returned to Russia from exile. Lenin gave his ‘April theses’ in which he made three demands. These are:

(i) The war to be brought to end.

(ii) The land to be transferred to the peasants.

(iii) The banks to be nationalized.

The Revolution of October 1917

• The Bolshevik leader Lenin returned from exile to Russia in April 191 and declared his intentions through his ‘April Theses’.
• In July 1917, demonstrations were held by the Bolsheviks against the Provisional Government.
• Lenin feared that the Provisional Government may turn into a dictatorship like the tsarist regime.
• On 16 October 1917, Lenin persuaded the Petrograd soviet and the Bolshevik party to agree to a socialist seizure of power. The date of the event was kept a secret.
• On 23 October 1917, a Military Revolutionary Committee under Leon Trotsky organised seizure of power and the uprising began on 24 October 1917.

Actions of the government

• Sensing a potent revolution, Prime Minister Kerenski summoned the troops.
• Buildings of two Bolshevik newspapers were seized.
• Pro-government troops were sent to take over telephone and telegraph offices and protect the Winter Palace.

Bolsheviks Succeed in gaining Control

• The Military Revolutionary Committee seized government buildings and arrested ministers.
• The ship Aurora shelled the Winter Palace.
• Other naval vessels sailed down the Neva and took over military points.
• By the late night of 24 October, the city of St Petersburg was under the control of the Military Revolutionary Committee and the ministers’ powers were suspended and they were arrested.

Lenin Assumes Leadership

• By December 1917, Bolsheviks took control of two main cities in Russia—Moscow and Petrograd.
• The Bolshevik party was renamed the Russian Communist Party. In November 1917, in the elections conducted to the Constituent Assembly, the Bolsheviks failed to gain majority support. Lenin dismissed the assembly and assumed leadership.
• The most immediate effect of the October Revolution was that power passed into the hands of the Bolsheviks under Lenin. The Revolution led to the establishment of the world’s first communist regime.

The Aftermath of the Russian Revolution

Social changes.

• Most factories and banks were nationalised.
• Land was declared social property and peasants were permitted to seize land from rich landlords and nobles.
• Bolsheviks banned the use of old titles of aristocracy. Large houses were divided into smaller apartments according to family requirements.
• A new uniform for the soldiers, including a new hat called budyonovka, was also designed.

Political changes

• The Bolshevik party was renamed the Russian Communist Party.
• In the November 1917 elections, Bolsheviks failed to win a majority in the constituent assembly.
• In January 1918, the assembly rejected Bolshevik measures and Lenin dismissed the assembly.
• In March 1918, despite opposition by their political allies, Bolsheviks made peace with Germany at Brest Litovsk.
• In the years that followed, Bolsheviks became the only party to participate in elections to the all-Russian congress of soviets, which became the parliament of the country. Thus, Russia became a one-party nation.
• Trade unions were kept under party control.
• Bolsheviks maintained secret police called the Cheka first and later OGPU and NKVD, to watch anti-Bolshevik propaganda.
• Many artists and writers joined the Bolsheviks because they stood for socialism and change.
• Under the Bolsheviks, art and architecture developed but were also censored.
• The Bolshevik party encouraged censorship.

The civil war

The Russian civil war broke out after Lenin assumed leadership. The civil war was targeted against the Bolsheviks who had formed the government. The parties involved were

• The Reds (Bolsheviks)
• The Whites (pro-tsarists) together with
• The Greens (socialist Revolutionaries)

i. When the Bolsheviks ordered land redistribution, the Russian army began to break up. Soldiers, mostly peasants, wished to go home and work on the land.

ii. Non-Bolshevik socialists (the greens), liberals and supporters of the tsar (the whites ) condemned the Bolshevik uprising.

iii. During 1918 and 1919, the greens (socialist revolutionaries) and whites (pro-tsarists) controlled most of the Russian empire. These two groups also enjoyed international support from France, USA, Japan and Britain.

iv. These groups moved to southern Russia to prepare troops to fight the red army of the Bolsheviks. As the red, green, and white armies fought each other, Russia lapsed into a civil-war situation.

v. Loot, banditry and famine were common occurrences.

After the civil USSR is Formed

• By 1920, the Bolsheviks were back in power, controlling most of Russia.
• They succeeded by cooperating with non-Russian nationalities and Muslim jadidists .
• In many regions, such as Khiva in Central Asia, Bolshevik colonists brutally massacred local nationalists in the name of defending socialism.
• By 1922, non-Russian nationalists and Muslim jadidists united the remote provincial states under a vast Russian empire and named it USSR.

USSR becomes a Planned Economy on Socialist Ideologies

After gaining power and during the civil war in 1918–19, Bolsheviks nationalised industries and banks. The economy was planned at the centre according to socialist ideologies.

Changes introduced by the Bolshevik government

•  Peasants were allowed to cultivate land that was socialised.
•  Centralised planning was introduced, and targets were set for a period of five years. Five-year plans were made to develop the economy.
•  The government fixed all prices to promote industrial growth during the first two plans.
• Industrial production increased by 100% in the case of oil, coal and steel.
• New factory cities came up.

Negative Impact of changes introduced by the Bolshevik government

• Rapid construction led to poor working conditions.
• Workers lived hard lives. There were 550 stoppages of work in the first year alone.
• Workers lacked basic facilities.
• Winters were especially hard for workers living in quarters. During winter, at minus 40 degrees temperature, people had to climb down from as high as fourth floor and dash across the street to go to the toilet. 

Facilities given to factory workers and their families

i. An extended schooling system was developed.

ii. Arrangements were made for factory workers and peasants to enter universities.

iii. In factories, crèches were provided for the children of women workers.

iv. Cheap public health care was provided.

v. Model living quarters were set up for workers.

Though the economic progress under Bolshevik rule was tremendous, its effect on the people of Russia was uneven due to limited resources.

Effects of early planned economy on agriculture

A socialist economy is known for its government ownership and economic plans for the development of economy. Russian government had initiated Five-Year plans for economic development.

• During the five-year plans, Russian industries grew rapidly, but the farmers were not able to keep up with the demand for grains in the growing cities.
• By 1927–28, towns in Soviet Russia were facing an acute problem of grain supplies.
• The government fixed grain prices at which peasants could sell their produce.
•  However, peasants were not ready to sell their produce at the government rates.
• These conditions together created a severe shortage of food across Russia.

Russia under Stalin’s Rule

i. Stalin headed the Bolshevik party after Lenin’s death. He introduced emergency measures to deal with the situation and believed that rich peasants and traders in the countryside were holding stocks in the hope of higher prices.

ii. In 1928, Bolshevik party members visited the grain-producing regions of Russia and forcibly took grain from peasants who were suspected of hoarding it in the hope of getting better prices.

iii. Kulaks or well to do farmers were raided.

iv. A system of collective farms called kolkhoz was introduced. It was argued that grain shortages were partly due to the small size of holdings. These small-sized peasant farms could not be modernised.

v. To develop modern farms and run them using modern techniques and machinery, it was necessary to eliminate kulaks, take away land from peasants, and establish state-controlled large farms.

The Collectivisation Program

i.  The collectivisation programme was followed from 1928 to 1940.

ii. It aimed at increasing farm production by clubbing together small individual landholdings.

iii. Under this policy, land was taken away from peasants.

iv. Kulaks were eliminated and large state-controlled farms, or collective farms called kolkhoz, were established.

v.  Profits from the kolkhoz were shared.

Farmer’s reaction to collectivisation

• In most regions, the policy of collectivisation was met with strong protests from farmers.
• Peasants argued that they were not against socialism. However, they did not want to work on collective farms.
• Enraged peasants resisted the authorities and destroyed their livestock.
• Between 1929 and 1931, the number of cattle fell by one-third.

Effect of collectivisation

• Even after strenuous efforts under collectivisation, food production did not increase immediately.
• Bad harvests of 1930–1933 led to one of the most devastating famines in Soviet history when over four million people died.
• Both within the Bolshevik party and outside it, planned economy began to be criticised.

Stalin’s action against critics

• Those who resisted collectivisation were severely punished. Many were deported and exiled.
• Stalin dealt with these critics in a repressive manner.
• By 1939, over two million were sent to prisons or labour camps, where a majority of them died.
• Many, including some talented professionals, were executed.

Global influence of the Russian revolution and the USSR

• The Russian revolution is one of the most important events of the 20th century. The effects of the Russian revolution are still well felt in the world.
• In many countries, communist parties were formed. For example, the Communist Party of Great Britain.
• The Bolsheviks also encouraged colonial people to follow their experiment of taking power.
• Many non-Russians from outside the USSR participated in the conference of the people of east and the Bolshevik-founded Comintern (an international union of pro-Bolshevik Socialist Parties).
• Some non-Russians received education in the USSR’s Communist University of the Workers of the East.

Impact of Socialism in Russia

i. By the time of the outbreak of the Second World War, the USSR had given socialism a global face.

ii. By the 1950s, it was realised that the style of government in the USSR was not in keeping with the ideals of the Russian revolution.

iii. The USSR developed industries and agriculture and the poor were being fed.

iv. Basic freedoms of citizens were taken away, and repressive policies were followed.

v. By the end of the 20th century, the international reputation of the USSR as a socialist country declined.

Influence of Russian revolution on India

i. In different countries, the ideas of socialism were rethought in a variety of ways. Among the people, the Russian Revolution inspired were many Indians. Several attended the Communist University.

ii. By the mid-1920s the Communist Party was formed in India. Its members kept in touch with the Soviet Communist Party.

iii. Important Indian political and cultural figures took an interest in the soviet experiment and visited Russia, among them Jawaharlal Nehru and Rabindranath Tagore, who wrote about soviet socialism.

iv. In India, a lot was written about Soviet Russia in Bengali, Marathi, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu.

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CBSE Class 9 History Notes Chapter 2 Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution

Chapter 2 - socialism in europe and the russian revolution.

History Chapter 2 – Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution talks about the emergence of socialism in Europe. The Russian Revolution changed society differently and raised the question of economic equality and the well-being of workers and peasants. The chapter also includes topics such as the changes initiated by the new Soviet government, industrialization, and the mechanization of agricultural rights of citizens, etc. Vidyakul CBSE Class 9 History notes Chapter 2 – Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution are one of the best ways to prepare for the exam. Vidyakul CBSE Class 9 History notes are v concisely prepared by subject experts so that students can understand every concept with ease and retain the concepts for a more extended period.

Liberals, Radicals, and Conservatives

Liberals wanted a nation that tolerated all religions. They opposed the uncontrolled power of dynastic rules and argued for a representative, elected parliamentary government, subject to laws interpreted by a well-trained judiciary that was independent of rulers and officials. They wanted a government based on the majority of a country’s population. Conservatives, after the nineteenth century, accepted changes but also believed the past needed to be respected and change should begin slowly.

The Coming of Socialism to Europe

Socialism was a well-known body of ideas in the mid-nineteenth century in Europe. Socialists were against private property and saw it as the root of all social ills of the time. They wanted to change it and campaigned for it. Robert Owen (1771-1858) sought to build a cooperative community called New Harmony in Indiana (USA). Louis Blanc (1813-1882) wanted the government to encourage cooperatives and replace capitalist enterprises. Karl Marx (1818-1883) and Friedrich Engels (1820-1895) added other ideas to this body of arguments. According to Marx, an industrial society was a ‘capitalist’ who owned the capital invested in factories, and the profit of capitalists was produced by workers. Capitalism and the rule of private property were overthrown. Marx believed that a communist society was the natural society of the future.

Support for Socialism

By the 1870s, socialist ideas spread through Europe and they formed an international body – namely, the Second International. Associations were formed by workers in Germany and England to fight for better living and working conditions. The Labour Party and Socialist Party were formed by socialists and trade unionists, by 1905.

The Russian Revolution

In the October Revolution of 1917, socialists took over the government in Russia. The fall of the monarchy in February 1917 and the events of October were termed the Russian Revolution.

The Russian Empire in 1914

In 1914, Russia was ruled by Tsar Nicholas II and its empire. The Russian Empire included current-day Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, parts of Poland, Ukraine, and Belarus, stretching to the Pacific and comprising today’s Central Asian states, as well as Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The majority of the population was Russian Orthodox Christianity.

Economy and Society (DELETED AS PER 2022-23)

Socialism in Russia

Political parties in Russia was legal before 1914. In 1898, socialists founded the Russian Social Democratic Workers Party which respected Marx’s ideas. Some Russian socialists felt that the Russian peasant custom of dividing land periodically made them natural socialists. Throughout the nineteenth century, socialists were active in the countryside and formed the Socialist Revolutionary Party in 1900. The party struggled for peasants’ rights and demanded land belonging to nobles be transferred to peasants. The party was divided over the strategy of an organization. According to Vladimir Lenin in a repressive society like Tsarist Russia, the party should be disciplined and should control the number and quality of its members. Mensheviks thought that the party should be open to all.

A Turbulent Time: The 1905 Revolution

Russia was an autocracy and even at the beginning of the twentieth century, the Tsar was not subject to Parliament. During the Revolution of 1905, Russia along with the Social Democrats and Socialist Revolutionaries, worked with peasants and workers to demand a constitution. For Russian workers, bad times started from the year 1904 as prices of essential goods rose and their real wages declined by 20 percent. Workers went on strike demanding a reduction in the working day to eight hours, an increase in wages, and an improvement in working conditions. The procession was attacked by the police and the Cossacks when it reached the Winter Palace. The incident, known as Bloody Sunday, started a series of events that resulted in the 1905 Revolution. During the 1905 Revolution, the Tsar allowed the creation of an elected consultative Parliament or Duma. After 1905, most committees and unions worked unofficially, since they were declared illegal.

The First World War and the Russian Empire

In 1914, war broke out between two European alliances – Germany, Austria, and Turkey (the Central powers) and France, Britain, and Russia (later Italy and Romania). This was the First World War. The war became popular and as it continued, the Tsar refused to consult the main parties in the Duma. Support wore thin. The First World War was different on the eastern front and the western front. Between 1914 and 1916 the Russian army lost badly in Germany and Austria. The Russian army destroyed crops and buildings to prevent the enemy from being able to live off the land. The country was cut off from other suppliers of industrial goods by German control of the Baltic Sea. railway lines began to break down by 1916. For the people in the cities, bread, and flour became scarce. By the winter of 1916, riots at bread shops were common.

The February Revolution in Petrograd

Petrograd city is divided among its people. On the right bank of the River Neva workers' quarters and factories were located and on the left bank located fashionable areas such as the Winter Palace and official buildings. Food shortages deeply affected the workers’ quarters. On the right bank, a factory was shut down on February 22. Women also led the way to strikes and is called International Women’s Day. The government imposed a curfew as the fashionable quarters and official buildings were surrounded by workers. Duma was suspended on 25th February. The streets thronged with demonstrators raising slogans about bread, wages, better hours, and democracy. The government called out the cavalry but they refused to fire on the demonstrators. Soldiers and striking workers gathered to form a ‘soviet’ or ‘council’ in the same building where the Duma met and it is termed the Petrograd Soviet. Soviet leaders and Duma leaders formed a Provisional Government to run the country. Russia’s future would be decided by a constituent assembly, elected based on universal adult suffrage. Petrograd led the February Revolution which brought down the monarchy in February 1917.

After February

Under the Provisional Government, army officials, landowners, and industrialists were influential. Liberals and socialists worked towards an elected government. Restrictions on public meetings and associations were removed. In April 1917, the Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin returned to Russia from his exile. Lenin demanded three things termed as ‘April Theses’. He wanted a war to end, land to be transferred to the peasants and banks to be nationalized. He also emphasized renaming the Bolshevik Party to the Communist Party. Workers' movement spread throughout the summer. Factory committees formed and trade unions grew in numbers. When the Provisional Government saw its power reduced and Bolshevik influence grew, they decided to take stern measures against the spreading discontent. In the countryside, peasants and their Socialist Revolutionary leaders pressed for a redistribution of land. Encouraged by the Socialist Revolutionaries, peasants seized land between July and September 1917.

The Revolution of October 1917

The conflict between the Provisional Government and the Bolsheviks grew. On 16 October 1917, Lenin persuaded the Petrograd Soviet and the Bolshevik Party to agree to a socialist seizure of power. To organize the seizure, a Military Revolutionary Committee was appointed by the Soviets under Leon Trotskii. The Military Revolutionary Committee ordered its supporters to seize government offices and arrest ministers. By nightfall, the city was under the committee’s control and the ministers had surrendered. At a meeting of the All Russian Congress of Soviets in Petrograd, the majority approved the Bolshevik action.

What Changed after October?

Industry and banks were nationalized in November 1917 which meant that the government took over ownership and management. Land was declared as social property and peasants were allowed to seize the land of the nobility. The Bolshevik Party was renamed the Russian Communist Party (Bolshevik). Elections were conducted in November 1917, to the Constituent Assembly, but they failed in the majority. In January 1918, the Assembly rejected Bolshevik measures and Lenin dismissed the Assembly. Despite opposition, in March 1918, the Bolsheviks made peace with Germany at Brest Litovsk. The Bolsheviks participated in the elections to the All-Russian Congress of Soviets, which became the Parliament of the country. Russia became a one-party state. After October 1917, this led to experiments in the arts and architecture. But many became disillusioned because of the censorship the Party encouraged.

The Civil War

The Russian Army broke up and their leaders moved to south Russia and organized troops to fight the Bolsheviks (the ‘reds’). During 1918 and 1919, the Russian Empire was controlled by the ‘greens’ (Socialist Revolutionaries) and ‘whites’ (pro-Tsarists) backed by French, American, British, and Japanese troops. These troops and the Bolsheviks fought a civil war. By January 1920, the Bolsheviks controlled most of the former Russian empire. In the name of defending socialism, Bolshevik colonists brutally massacred local nationalists. Most non-Russian nationalities were given political autonomy in the Soviet Union (USSR) – the state the Bolsheviks created from the Russian empire in December 1922.

Making a Socialist Society

During the civil war, industries and banks were nationalized. Peasants were permitted to cultivate the land. A centralized planning process was introduced. Officials worked on how the economy will work and set targets for five years. During the first two ‘Plans’ the government fixed all prices to promote industrial growth (1927-1932 and 1933-1938). Centralized planning led to economic growth. But, rapid construction led to poor working conditions. The School system developed, and arrangements were made for factory workers and peasants to enter universities. For women workers, crèches were established in factories for the children. Cheap public health care was provided. Model living quarters were set up for workers.

Stalinism and Collectivisation

The period of the early Planned Economy led to the disaster of the collectivization of agriculture.

By 1927- 1928, the towns in Soviet Russia faced an acute problem with grain supplies. Stalin introduced firm emergency measures. In 1928, party members toured the grain-producing areas, supervising enforced grain collections, and raiding ‘kulaks’ – the name for well-to-do peasants. After 1917, the land had been given over to peasants. From 1929, the Party forced all peasants to cultivate in collective farms (kolkhoz). Peasants worked on the land, and the kolkhoz profit was shared. Between 1929 and 1931, the number of cattle fell by one-third. The government of Stalin allowed some independent cultivation but treated such cultivators unsympathetically. Despite collectivization, production did not increase immediately, and due to bad harvests of 1930-1933 over 4 million people died. Throughout the country, accusations were made, and by 1939, over 2 million were in prisons or labor camps.

The Global Influence of the Russian Revolution and the USSR

In many countries, communist parties were formed, like the Communist Party of Great Britain. Non-Russians from outside the USSR participated in the Conference of the Peoples of the East (1920). The Bolshevik-founded Comintern (an international union of pro-Bolshevik socialist parties). Before the outbreak of the Second World War, the USSR had given socialism a global face and world stature. The USSR became a great power and its industries and agriculture developed and the poor were being fed. By the end of the twentieth century, the international reputation of the USSR as a socialist country had declined.

Exercise  

1. What were the social, economic, and political conditions in Russia before 1905?

Answer: Social Condition:

Workers were a divided group. Some had strong links with the villages; others had settled permanently in cities. Workers were divided based on their skills. The division among workers was reflected in their dress and manners too.

Economic Condition:

Most industries were the private property of industrialists. The government supervised large factories. The industry was found in pockets. Many factories were set up in the 1890s when Russia’s railway network was extended, foreign investment in industry increased, coal production doubled, and iron and steel output quadrupled. Most industries were the private property of industrialists.

Political Condition:

Russia was an autocracy. Unlike other European countries, The Tsar was not subject to a Parliament. Liberals in Russia campaigned to end this state of affairs.

Socialist Revolutionary Party Struggled for Peasants’ Rights

1905 was the year when the incident of ‘Bloody Sunday’ took place. 100 workers were killed, and about 300 were wounded. Bloody Sunday started a series of events that became known as the 1905 revolution.

2. In what ways was the working population in Russia different from other countries in Europe, before 1917?

Answer: The vast majority of Russia’s population were agriculturists. About 85 percent of the Russian Empire’s population earned their living from Agriculture. This proportion was higher than in most European countries. In France and Germany, the proportion was between 40 percent and 50 percent. Cultivators produced for the market as well as for their own needs, and Russia was a major exporter of grain.

3. Why did the Tsarist autocracy collapse in 1917?

Answer: After 1905, most trade unions and factory committees were declared illegal. There were restrictions on political activity. The Tsar dismissed the first 2 Dumas very quickly because he did not want his authority and powers to be questioned. The third Duma was filled with Conservative politicians. During the 1st world war, the Tsar started taking unilateral decisions without consulting the Duma. While Russian soldiers were retreating from the war, large swathes of agricultural lands were burnt and buildings destroyed by them on the orders of the Tsar. Millions of soldiers also died in the battle. The large majority of the population were peasants, and the land was under the control of a few private people. All these factors led to the rise of revolution and the collapse of Tsar autocracy.

4. Make two lists: one with the main events and the effects of the February Revolution and the other with the main events and effects of the October Revolution. Write a paragraph on who was involved in each, who were the leaders and what was the impact of each on Soviet history.

Answer: Main events of the February Revolution:

In February 1917, there was a shortage of food items in workers' quarters.

On February 23, a lockout took place at a factory on the right bank. The workers in fifty factories called a strike and women played a very critical role in these strikes.

On February 25, the government suspended the Duma.

On February 27, Police headquarters were ransacked, and people were demonstrating and raising slogans about bread, wages, better hours, and democracy.

Petrograd Soviet was formed.

The Tsar abdicated in March 1917, bringing an end to the Monarchy.

Soviet leaders and Duma leaders formed a Provisional Government to run the country.

Effects of the February Revolution:

Restrictions on public meetings and associations were removed.

‘Soviets’ like the Petrograd Soviet, were set up everywhere, though no common system of election was followed.

The number of trade unions increased.

In Industrial areas, factory committees were formed to question the way industrialists ran their factories.

Soldiers’ committees were formed in the Army.

The Bolsheviks’ influence kept growing, and the provisional government saw its power reducing.

Land committees were formed to handle the redistribution of land, which was a popular demand for peasants and their socialist revolutionary leaders in the countryside.

Main events of the October Revolution:

As the conflict between the provisional government and the Bolsheviks grew, Lenin feared the Provisional Government would set up a dictatorship. Lenin began discussions for an uprising against the government. Bolshevik supporters in the Army, Soviets, and factories were brought together. On 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 Soviets under Leon Trotsky to organize the seizure. The uprising began on 24th October 1917. Military men who were 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 retaliation, the Military Revolutionary Committee ordered its supporters to seize government offices and arrest ministers. A ship named Aurora bombed the Winter Palace, and other ships sailed down the Neva and took over various military positions. By the end of the month, the city was under the control of a committee and ministers had resigned. By December, Bolsheviks controlled the Moscow-Petrograd area.

Effects of the October Revolution.

Industries and banks were nationalized by November 1917; the Government took over ownership and management.

The land was declared social property and peasants were allowed to seize the land of the nobility.

In the cities, the Bolsheviks enforced the partition of large houses according to family requirements.

Old titles of the aristocracy were banned.

New uniforms were designed for the army and officials.

Bolshevik Party was renamed the Russian Communist Party (Bolshevik)

Bolsheviks conducted elections for the constituent assembly; however, they failed to attain the majority. The assembly rejected the Bolshevik measures, and Lenin dismissed the assembly.

All Russian Congress of Soviets became the Parliament of the country. Russia became a one-party state.

Trade unions were kept under party control. The Secret Police punished anyone who criticized the Bolsheviks. Many young artists and writers continued to support the Party, as it stood for Socialism.

 Many experiments were done in Arts and Architecture. But many were unhappy because of the censorship.

5. What were the main changes brought about by the Bolsheviks immediately after the October Revolution?

The land was declared as social property and peasants were allowed to seize the land of the nobility.

In the cities, Bolsheviks enforced the partition of large houses according to family requirements.

Bolsheviks conducted elections for the constituent assembly; however, they failed to attain the majority, Assembly rejected the Bolshevik measures, and Lenin dismissed the assembly.

Trade unions were kept under party control, and the Secret Police punished anyone who criticized the Bolsheviks. Many young artists and writers continued to support the Party as it stood for Socialism.

 Many experiments were done in Arts and Architecture. But many artists were unhappy because of the censorship.

6. Write a few lines to show what you know about: 

Answer: Kulaks

Wealthy peasants who Stalin believed were hoarding the grains to gain more profit.

When the towns faced an acute shortage of grains, Kulaks were thought to be responsible for it.

Stalin thought it was necessary to eliminate them so that farms could be modernized.

In 1905, the Tsar allowed the creation of an elected consultative Parliament or Duma. The Tsar dismissed the first Duma within 75 days and re-elected the second Duma within three months. The Tsar did not want anyone to question his authority or undermine and reduce his powers. The Tsar changed the voting laws and packed the Third Duma with conservative politicians. Liberals and revolutionaries were kept out.

Women workers between 1900 and 1930

Their wages were less than the wages of men.

They formed 31% of the factory workforce.

The Liberals

They considered all religions equal.

They believed only men who have property had the right to vote

They wanted an elected form of Parliamentary governance.

Stalin’s collectivization program.

He began this program in 1929.

He believed this program would help in improving grain supplies.

All peasants were forced to cultivate in collective farms called ‘Kolkhoz’.

On the contrary, this worsened the food supply situation.

Frequently Asked Questions 

How and when did socialism spread in Europe?

Ideas of socialism were well-known by the mid-19th century. The main features of Socialism were: 

1. Collective ownership 

2. Economics, social equality 

3. Economic planning

When did the Russian revolution take place?

The Russian revolution started in 1917 and ended in 1923.

Who was the backbone of the Russian revolution?

The Russian revolution was majorly led by Bolshevik Party leader Vladimir Lenin in November 1917.

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Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution Class 9 Notes: CBSE History Chapter 2

• Revision Notes
• Social Science: History
• Chapter 2 Socialism In Europe And The Russian Revolution

History Chapter 2 Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution Class 9 Notes Notes - FREE PDF Download

Vedantu’s Note for Class 9 Social Science History (India and the Contemporary World-I) Chapter 2, Students learn about the rise of socialism in Europe and how it led to the Russian Revolution. Socialism started as a response to the problems caused by industrial capitalism, which created inequality and unfair conditions for many people. This chapter covers how socialist ideas grew in popularity, the key figures behind them, and how these ideas led to major changes in Russia. The Russian Revolution of 1917 was a significant event that changed history, and understanding it will help you see how political ideas can shape the world. Vedantu makes it easier for students to see the lessons and ideas in the Class 9 History Notes .

Students can download Chapter 2 Socialism In Europe and the Russian Revolution Class 9 Notes PDF, making it simple to study and review whenever you need with the updated CBSE Social Science Class 9 Syllabus .

Access Class 9 History Chapter 2 Notes Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution

The three political paradigms.

After the French Revolution, there was an emergence of new paradigms that were new to the political sphere of the period at that time. They were:

Conservatives

The Problems with Industrialisation

Before industrialisation in Europe, the people were no longer able to sustain their livelihood using traditional farming and agriculture methods. Growing population, constant wars, monarchy, etc. were causing the living standard of the people in Europe to decline.

People came in lots to work in the industries due to which wages were very low.

Due to urbanisation, problems arose due to housing and sanitation.

The liberals and radicals wanted solutions for such issues.

The Emergence of Socialism

The socialists promoted the ownership of properties to communities as they thought the privately owned properties were crony. Some socialists were Robert Owen, Louis Blanc, etc. who supported the formation of cooperatives dismantling the privately owned industries.

Karl Marx noted that the profit that was made by the owners was due to the hard work of the workers. He thought that the prevention of the accumulation of wealth needed to be done and dreamt of a world where the society was rich as a whole.

Socialist Revolution in Russia

In the early 20 th century, Russia had a monarchical system.

Tsar Nicholas was the last emperor of the Russian Empire. 

The industries were only in major cities like St. Petersburg and Moscow.

Workers were made to suffer by the industry owners.

Workers were also divided but came together to protest.

The 1905 Revolution

In 1904, inflation made the wages of the Russian workers effectively meagre.

The Putilov Iron Works fired 4 workers who were a part of the Assembly of Russian Workers.

Hence, approximately 110000 workers went on strike and gathered in St Petersburg. When they reached the Winter Palace, they were fired at, and about 100 of them were killed.

Due to protests, the Tsar allowed the formation of the parliament, called the Duma.

The February Revolution

Due to the Russian involvement in World War, the industries failed to survive and the railways disintegrated.

The young men were forced to fight the war, and the small workshops and farming too suffered from the loss of workers.

The women played an active part in these strikes. The workers surrounded the Winter Palace but the soldiers did not fire at them.

With the soldiers, the workers formed a Soviet in the parliament.

In 1917, the Tsar relinquished his authority.

Social Change in Europe

A lot of changes started taking place in Europe after the French Revolution. People were inspired by the ideals of equality, justice, and liberty. They started feeling that the government should work differently. The notes of History Class 9 Chapter 2 PDF tell you that while some wanted the monarchical form, some wanted democratic principles.

The three main groups were:

The Liberalists:

These people wanted a change in their society. They wanted a nation which was tolerant of religion.

They wanted to safeguard the rights of the citizens and wanted a Parliamentary Government.

They were not Democrats and did not want a universal franchise.

The Radicals:

Radicals wanted an elected government by the citizens of the country.

They supported women’s right to vote.

They were against the factory owners and landowners.

The Conservatives:

They opposed all the ideologies and views of the radicals and the liberals.

They wanted the wealthy class to continue enjoying their privileges and facilities.

They wanted a gradual change in society and respected the past.

Russian Revolution and India

India was impacted by the Russian Revolution. People from all over India took part in Communist Universities.

India formed its Communist Party in the mid-1920s.

Tagore and Jawaharlal Nehru wrote about Soviet Socialism.

Various Indian writers wrote about the Russian Revolution.

Several prominent leaders from India visited Russia to learn about the principles of Socialism.

What Changed after October?

In November 1917 , following the October Revolution, the new Soviet government took significant steps to reshape Russian society and economy. Industry and banks were nationalised, meaning the government assumed ownership and control. Land was declared social property, allowing peasants to seize land from the nobility. The Bolshevik Party was renamed the Russian Communist Party (Bolshevik).

Elections were held for the Constituent Assembly in November 1917, but the Bolsheviks did not secure a majority. In January 1918, the Assembly rejected Bolshevik policies, leading Lenin to dissolve it. Despite opposition, in March 1918, the Bolsheviks signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, making peace with Germany. The Bolsheviks also participated in elections for the All-Russian Congress of Soviets, which became the country’s Parliament. Russia transformed into a one-party state. Post-October 1917, there were experiments in arts and architecture, but many became disillusioned due to the Party’s censorship.

The Civil War

The disintegration of the Russian Army led to the formation of opposition groups. The ‘Greens’ (Socialist Revolutionaries) and the ‘Whites’ (pro-Tsarists), supported by French, American, British, and Japanese troops, fought the Bolsheviks (the ‘Reds’) in a civil war during 1918 and 1919. By January 1920, the Bolsheviks had control over most of the former Russian Empire. In their effort to protect socialism, Bolshevik forces committed severe atrocities against local nationalists. Non-Russian nationalities were granted political autonomy within the Soviet Union (USSR), the state formed by the Bolsheviks in December 1922.

Making a Socialist Society

Throughout the civil war, industries and banks remained nationalised, while peasants were allowed to farm the land. The government introduced a centralised planning system, with officials setting economic targets for five-year periods to guide the country’s development.

A Turbulent Time: The 1905 Revolution

Russia at the Turn of the Century: At the dawn of the 20th century, Russia remained an autocracy with the Tsar holding absolute power and not being accountable to Parliament. The 1905 Revolution was a pivotal moment in Russian history, driven by widespread discontent among peasants, workers, and political groups like the Social Democrats and Socialist Revolutionaries, who all sought a constitution.

Workers' Struggles: In 1904, the situation for Russian workers worsened as the prices of essential goods rose while real wages fell by 20%. Workers went on strike, demanding an eight-hour workday, better wages, and improved working conditions. The situation escalated when a peaceful procession to the Winter Palace was violently suppressed by the police and Cossacks. This event, known as Bloody Sunday, triggered a series of upheavals leading to the 1905 Revolution. In response, the Tsar allowed the establishment of an elected consultative Parliament, or Duma. However, after 1905, many committees and unions operated underground as they were declared illegal.

The First World War and the Russian Empire

Outbreak of War: In 1914, World War I erupted between two major alliances: the Central Powers (Germany, Austria, and Turkey) and the Allied Powers (France, Britain, and Russia, later joined by Italy and Romania). The war was initially met with enthusiasm but soon revealed its harsh realities.

Impact on Russia: The war had a devastating impact on Russia. Between 1914 and 1916, the Russian army suffered significant defeats against Germany and Austria. To hinder the enemy, Russian forces destroyed crops and infrastructure, which, combined with German control of the Baltic Sea, led to severe shortages of industrial goods. By 1916, railway disruptions worsened the supply crisis, leading to severe bread and flour shortages in cities. Riots over food became increasingly common by the winter of 1916.

The February Revolution in Petrograd

Petrograd, the Russian capital, was deeply affected by the ongoing war and economic hardship. The February Revolution began with widespread unrest and strikes, culminating in the collapse of the Tsarist regime and paving the way for significant political change in Russia.

Some Important Questions and Answers

What happened after the February Revolution?

Ans: The February Revolution led to the following changes in Russia:

Public meetings and associations became legal.

The Bolshevik leader, Vladimir Lenin returned in 1917. 

The number of trade unions increased drastically.

The Military Revolutionary Committee fought against the forces of the government.

On 24th October 1917, the Prime Minister left the city to accumulate the forces. 

In December 1917, the Bolsheviks had become victorious.

What changes did the Bolsheviks implement after October?

Ans: Bolsheviks implemented the following changes after the October Revolution:

The land was declared a social property.

The peasants took over the lands from the aristocrats.

Nationalisation took place in all spheres.

Lenin dismissed the assembly after losing the elections.

Why did the civil war take place in Russia after the October Revolution?

Ans: The civil war broke out in Russia after the October Revolution due to the following reasons:

The tyrant acts of the Bolsheviks like censorship, one-party rule, etc. made others dissatisfied.

Aristocrats were also angry with the Bolsheviks due to their attitude towards land ownership.

How did the Bolsheviks transform Russia into a Socialist Society?

Ans: Russia became a socialist society as:

All the industries and banks were nationalised.

All the land was socialised.

The government regulated the prices.

Healthcare became cheaper.

Modern education was imparted to all children.

How did the Russian Revolution influence the world?

Ans: The Russian Revolution saw the formation of a socialist government in Europe for the first time. This instilled a belief in other countries that the socialists could also form governments and led to the emergence of multiple socialist parties in the rest of Europe.

The outcomes of the Russian Revolution were:

The collapse of the Czars and the Russian Empire.

Nicholas II was forced to leave the throne due to food shortage and chronic civil unrest.

Bolsheviks were then led by Vladimir.

The remains of the mutated body of Czar Nicholas II and his family were discovered later in the 1970s.

War started between the Reds and the Whites which was known as the Civil War.

Socialism arose in Russia.

Russia withdrew its name from World War 1

Independence of Finland, Baltics, and Poland.

Establishment of dictatorship.

5 Important Topics of Social Science History Class 9 Chapter 2 you shouldn’t Miss!

Importance of History Chapter 2 Socialism In Europe and the Russian Revolution Class 9 Revision Notes 

Class 9 History Chapter 2 Notes break down complex topics into concise summaries, making understanding and remembering key concepts easier.

They help simplify and explain challenging areas by highlighting essential points and providing straightforward explanations.

Regular review of revision notes reinforces learning and helps retain information more effectively.

Having all important information in one place allows for quicker and more focused study sessions, saving time.

Class 9 History Chapter 2 Notes emphasise major themes and concepts, ensuring that you concentrate on what is important for exams and overall understanding.

Tips for Learning the Class 9 History Chapter 2 Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution

Start by grasping the basics of socialism and its goals. Know why it emerged and how it aimed to address the issues caused by industrial capitalism.

Learn about important figures like Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, and Vladimir Lenin. Understand their contributions to socialist thought and the Russian Revolution.

Break down the causes, events, and outcomes of the Russian Revolution. Pay attention to the role of the Bolsheviks and how the revolution changed Russia.

Compare the impact of socialism in different countries, particularly Europe and Russia. Understand the similarities and differences in how socialism influenced these regions.

Refer to your revision notes to review key points and summaries. They help consolidate your understanding and provide a quick reference for important information.

Use maps, timelines, and diagrams to visualise the events and changes discussed in the chapter. This can help you better understand the historical context.

From Class 9 History Chapter 2 Notes, we learned how socialism emerged as a response to the problems caused by industrial capitalism. Socialism aimed to address issues of inequality by redistributing wealth and power more fairly. We saw how important figures like Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels developed socialist ideas, and how these ideas influenced the Russian Revolution of 1917. Led by Vladimir Lenin, this revolution transformed Russia and had a major impact on the world.

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FAQs on Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution Class 9 Notes: CBSE History Chapter 2

1. What is socialism, and why did it emerge?

Socialism is an economic and political system that seeks to address the inequalities created by capitalism by redistributing wealth and power. It emerged in response to the harsh conditions faced by workers and the uneven distribution of wealth during the Industrial Revolution.

2. Who were the key figures in the development of socialism?

According to Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution notes, The key figures in the development of socialism include Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. They developed the ideas of socialism and communism, advocating for a society where wealth and power are more equally shared.

3. What was the Russian Revolution, and when did it occur?

The Russian Revolution was a series of political events that took place in 1917. It led to the overthrow of the Tsarist autocracy and the establishment of a socialist government under the leadership of Vladimir Lenin and the Bolsheviks.

4. What were the main causes of the Russian Revolution?

As discussed in Class 9 Ch 2 History notes, The main causes of the Russian Revolution included widespread discontent with the autocratic rule of Tsar Nicholas II, poor working conditions, economic hardships, and the impact of World War I on Russian society.

5. How did the Russian Revolution impact Russia and the world?

The Russian Revolution led to the establishment of a communist government in Russia, which significantly altered the country's political and social structures. It also had a global impact by inspiring other revolutionary movements and shaping international politics throughout the 20th century.

6. What were the key events of the Russian Revolution?

Key events of the Russian Revolution include the February Revolution, which led to the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, and the October Revolution, which saw the Bolsheviks take control of the government.

7. What role did Vladimir Lenin play in the Russian Revolution?

Vladimir Lenin was a leading figure in the Russian Revolution. As the leader of the Bolshevik Party, he played a crucial role in the October Revolution, which led to the establishment of a socialist government in Russia.

8. How did socialism differ from capitalism?

Socialism differs from capitalism in that it advocates for the collective ownership of resources and means of production, aiming to reduce economic inequalities. In contrast, capitalism is based on private ownership and the profit motive, which can lead to greater economic disparities.

9. What were some of the key ideas of Karl Marx?

Karl Marx's key ideas included the concept of class struggle, the belief that history is driven by conflicts between social classes, and the vision of a communist society where the means of production are owned collectively, eliminating private property and class distinctions.

10. How did the ideas of socialism influence later political movements?

The ideas of socialism influenced numerous political movements and revolutions around the world, leading to the establishment of socialist and communist states. These ideas also contributed to the development of various forms of social and economic policies aimed at addressing inequality and improving workers' rights.

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NCERT Solutions for Class 9 Social Science History Chapter 2 Socialism in Europe and the Russia(Updated for 2021 – 22)

Socialism in europe and the russian revolution class 9 notes social science history chapter 2.

As per the previous 3 years’ examinations, special emphasis has been laid upon the following topics from this chapter and thereby students should pay attention on them.

• Progress of Russian Revolution
• The First World War and the Russian Revolution
• Events and Effects of February and October Revolution of Russia
• Social changes that were taken place in Russia.

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’.

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 the concentration of property in the 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 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 right to vote.

The Russian Revolution 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 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 which 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. The action was called for. Over 110,000 workers in St. Petersburg went on strike demanding a reduction in working hours and an 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 were crises in the food supply.

The February Revolution in Petrograd

• In the winter of 1917, Petrograd was grim. There was a 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 the 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.
• 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 Revolution

• 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 organize 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).
• The Bolsheviks were totally opposed to private property.
• Most industry and banks were nationalized in November 1917.
• The land was declared social property and peasants were allowed to seize the land of the nobility.
• Use of old titles of the 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 centralized planning was introduced. This led to economic growth.
• Industrial production increased.
• An extended schooling system developed.
• The collectivization 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 nationalized during the Civil War. A process of centralized planning was introduced. Rapid construction and industrialization started. An extended schooling system developed.

Stalin and Collective Farming –  Stalin believed that rich peasants and traders stocked supplies to create a shortage of grains. Hence, collectivization was the need of the hour. This system would also help to modernize farms. Those farmers who resisted collectivization were punished, deported or exiled.

Global Influence By the 1950s, it was recognized 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 recognized 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.

NCERT Solutions for Class 9th: Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution History Social Studies (S.St)

Page No: 48 Questions 1. What were the social, economic and political conditions in Russia before 1905? Answer The Social, economic and political conditions in Russia before 1905 was backward: → Social Conditions: 85% of Russia’s population was agriculturist. The industry was existent, but rarely in which most of was privately owned. Workers were divided on the basis of their occupation. They mainly migrated to cities for employment in factories. The peasant community was deeply religious but did not care much about the nobility. They believed that land must be divided amongst themselves. → Economic Condition: Russia was going through bad period economically. Prices of essential good rises while real wages decreased by 20% leading to the famous St.Petersburg strike. This strike started a series of events that are together known as the 1905 Revolution. During this revolution, there were strikes all over the country, universities closed down, and various professionals and workers established the Union of Unions, demanding the establishment of a constituent assembly. → Political Condition: Political parties were illegal before 1914. The Russian Social Democratic Workers Party was founded in 1898 by socialists who respected Marx’s ideas. In 1903, this party was divided into two groups – Mensheviks and Bolsheviks. The Bolsheviks, who were in majority, were led by Lenin who is regarded as the greatest thinker on socialism after Marx. 2. In what ways was the working population in Russia different from other countries in Europe, before 1917? Answer The working population in Russia was different from other countries in Europe before 1917 because not all Russian workers migrated from the villages to work in the industrial sector. Some of them continued to live in villages and went to work daily, to the towns. They were a divided group, socially and professionally, and this showed in their dress and manners too. Metal workers were the “aristocrats” of the working class because their occupation demanded more training and skill. Nevertheless, the working population was united on one front – strikes against work conditions and employer tyranny. 3. Why did the Tsarist autocracy collapse in 1917? Answer The Tsar first dismissed the initial two Dumas and then packed the parliament with the conservatives. During the First World War, the Tsar took decisions without consulting the Duma. Large scale casualties of Russian soldiers in the war further alienated the people from the Tsar. Burning of crops and buildings by the retreating Russian armies created a huge shortage of food in Russia. All of these led to the collapse of the Tsarist autocracy in 1917. 4. Make two lists: one with the main events and the effects of the February Revolution and the other with the main events and effects of the October Revolution. Write a paragraph on who was involved in each, who were the leaders and what was the impact of each on Soviet history. Answer February Revolution : → 22nd February: Factory lockout on the right bank took place, → 25th February: Duma was dissolved. → 27th February: Police Headquarters ransacked. Regiments support the workers. Formation of Soviet. → 2nd March: The Tsar abdicated his power. The Soviet and Duma leaders formed a Provisional Government for Russia. The February Revolution had no political party at its forefront. It was led by the people themselves. Petrograd had brought down the monarchy, and thus, gained a significant place in Soviet history. Trade Unions grew in number. October Revolution : → 16th October: A Military Revolutionary Committee was appointed by Soviet. → 24th October: The uprising against provisional government begins. Military Revolutionary Committee controls the city by night and ministers surrender. The Bolshevik gained power. The October Revolution was primarily led by Lenin and his subordinate, Trotskii and involved the masses who supported these leaders. It marked the beginning of Lenin’s rule over the Soviet, with the Bolsheviks under his guidance. 5. What were the main changes brought about by the Bolsheviks immediately after the October Revolution? Answer The main changes which were brought about by the Bolsheviks immediately after the October Revolution: → Banks and Industries were nationalised. → Land was declared social property, thereby allowing peasants to seize it from the nobility. → In urban areas, houses were partitioned according to family requirements → Old aristocratic titles were banned, and new uniforms were designed for the army and the officials. → New uniforms were introduced for the army and the officials. 6. Write a few lines to show what you know about: (i) Kulaks (ii) The Duma (iii) Women workers between 1900 and 1930. (iv) The Liberals. (v) Stalin’s collectivization programme. Answers (i) It is the Russian term for wealthy peasants who Stalin believed were hoarding grains to gain more profit. By 1927-28 the towns of Soviet Russia were facing an acute problem of grain supplies. Kulaks were thought to be partly responsible for this. Also to develop modern farms and run them along industrial lines the Party under the leadership of Stalin thought it was necessary to eliminate Kulaks. (ii) During 1905 Revolution, the Tsar allowed the creation of an elected consultative parliament in Russia. This elected consultative parliament in Russia was called Duma. (iii) They made up 31% of the factory labour force by 1914 but were paid almost half and three-quarters of the wages given to men. However, interestingly, it was the women workers who led the way to strikes during the February Revolution. (iv) They espoused a nation that was tolerant towards all religions; one that would protect individual rights against the government. Although the liberals wanted an elected parliamentary form of governance, they believed that the right to vote must only belong to men, and that too the ones who were property holders. (v) Stalin believed that collectivization of agriculture would help in improving grains supplies in Russia. He began collectivization in 1929. All peasants were forced to cultivate in collective farms (kolhoz). The bulk of land and implements were transferred to the ownership of the collective farm. Many peasants protested such attempts and destroyed livestock to show their anger. Collectivization did not bring the desired results in the food supply situation turned even worse in subsequent years.

Socialism in Europe and the Russia Revolution Class 9 Extra Questions Very Short Answer Type Questions

Question 1. One of the groups which liked to change the society, was the ________ . Answer: Liberals

Question 2. Industrialisation broughf men, women and children to ________ . Answer: Factories

Question 3. Who was Giuseppe Mazzini. Answer: He was an Italian nationalist.

Question 4. Marx argued that industrial society was the ________ . Answer: Capitalist

Question 5. Workers in England and Germany began to form associations to fight for ________ . Answer: Better living and working conditions

Question 6. Socialists took over the government in Russia through the ________ . Answer: October Revolution of 1917

Question 7. Tsar Nicholas II ruled Russia and its empire in ________ . Answer: 1914

Question 8. Government supervised large factories to ensure the ________ . Answer: Minimum wages and limited hours of work

Question 9. All political parties were illegal in ________ . Answer: Russia before 1914

Question 10. What was the new name given to the Bolshevik Party ? Answer: Russian Communist Party

Question 11. The Russian Social Democratic Workers Party was founded in ________ . Answer: 1898 by Socialists.

Question 12. In Russia, the war was initially popular and people rallied around ________ . Answer: Tsar Nicholas II.

Question 13. The government tried to control the demonstrators and called out the ________ . Answer: Cavalry.

Question 14. Petrograd had led the February Revolution that brought down the ________ . Answer: Monarchy in February 1917.

Question 15. On 2nd March, Soviet leaders and Duma leaders formed a ________ . Answer: Provincial Government to run the country.

Question 16. What type of a nation did liberals want ? Answer: Liberals wanted a nation which tolerated all religions.

Question 17. The political party formed in mid-1920 in India, by the inspiration of Russian Revolution was the ________ . Answer: Communist Party.

Question 18. The government suspended the Duma on ________ . Answer: 25 February.

Question 19. Mention the most significant result of the February Revolution. Answer: The abdication of Tsar Nicholas-II.

Question 20. Explain the significance of the Russian revolution. Answer: The major significance of the Russian revolution was the establishment of a socialist state.

Question 21. What does the term ‘conservative’ mean ? Answer: The conservatives believed in respect for the past and change through a gradual process.

Question 22. List the names of two workers associations. Answer: (a) Labour Party in Britain (b) Socialist Party in France.

Question 23. Name the international body formed to coordinate socialist efforts. Answer: The Second International body was formed in 1870, to coordinate socialist efforts throughout Europe.

Question 24. Who were socialists ? Answer: Socialists were those people who were against private property and saw it as the root of all social ills of the time.

Question 25. Who was the ruler of Russia during the October Revolution. Answer: Kerenskii was the ruler of Russia during the October Revolution.

Socialism in Europe and the Russia Revolution Class 9 Extra Questions Short Answer Type Questions

Question 1. Why did Kerenskii’s Government become unpopular in Russia ? Answer: The Kerenskii’s government become unpopular in Russia because :

• His failure to feel the pulse of the nation. He tried to suppress the workers movement and the Balshevik influence.
• People wanted peace, but he tried to continue the war.
• The non-Russian nationals failed to get an equal status under his government.

Question 2. Which event in Russian history is known as Bloody Sunday ? Answer:

• On 9th January, 1905 a mass of peaceful workers with their wives and children was fired at St. Petersburg while on its way to the Winter Palace to present a petition to the Tsar.
• More than a hundred workers were killed and about 300 were wounded.
• The incident known as Bloody Sunday in history of Russia as the massacre had taken place on Sunday.

Question 3. What were the immediate consequences of the Russian Revolution ? Answer: The immediate consequences of the Russian Revolution were : (a) Most industries and banks were nationalized in November 1917. This meant the government took over the ownership and management. Land was declared social property. (b) In cities, Bolsheviks enforced the partition of large houses according to family requirements. (c) They banned the use of old title of aristocracy.

Question 4. What was the basic principle of the Marxist theory ? Answer: The basic principle of the Marxist theory were : (a) Marx believed that the conditions of workers could not improve if profit was accumulated by private capitalists. (b) Workers had to overthrow capitalism and the rule of private property. (c) Workers must construct a radically socialist society where all property was socially controlled. This would be a communist society and a Communist Party was the natural society of the future.

Question 5. How did the Bolshevik Party contribute to the Russian Revolution of October 1917 ? Answer:

• The Bolshevik Party put forward clear policies to end the war, transferred the land to the peasants and advanced the slogan, “All power to the Soviets”. On the question of non-Russian nationalities, Bolsheviks were the only party with a clear policy.
• Lenin had proclaimed the right of all people to self-determination, including those under the Russian Empire.

Question 6. Describe reforms introduced by the Russian Tsar Nicholas II after the Revolution. Answer:

• After 1905, most committees and unions worked unofficially. Since they were declared illegal. Severe restrictions were placed on Kerenskii political activity.
• Power to make laws was conferred upon on elected body called the Duma.
• He changed the voting laws and packed the third Duma with conservative politicians. Liberals and revolutionaries were kept out.

Question 7. State any three events after the Bloody Sunday which led to the revolution of 1905 in Russia. Answer: Three events after the Bloody Sunday which led to the revolution of 1905 in Russia were :

• The news provoked unprecedented disturbances throughout Russia. Strike took place all over the country.
• The universities of Russia were closed when student bodies staged walkouts, complaining about the lack of civil liberties.
• Lawyers, doctors, engineers, middle class workers established Union of Unions and demanded a constituent assembly.

Question 8. Explain the main demands of “April Theses”. Answer: In April 1917, the Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin returned to Russia from his exile. He and the Bolsheviks had opposed the war since 1914. Now he felt it was time for soviets to take over power. He put three demands which were known as Lenin’s April Theses. The three demands were : (a) He declared that the war to be ended (b) Land to be transferred to the peasants (c) The banks to be nationalized.

Question 9. Discuss the positive aspects of the Bolshevik government on Soviet Union and its people. Answer: The positive aspects of the Bolshevik government on Soviet Union and its people were :

• Immediately after coming to power, Lenin announced his decision to with draw from the First World War.
• Private property in the means of production was abolished. Economic exploitation by capitalists and landlords came to an end.
• The control of industries was given to workers. All the banks, industries and mines . water transport and railways were nationalized.

Question 10. How did the 1905 Revolution in Russia prove to be a dress rehearsal of October 1917 Revolution ? Explain. Answer:

• In 1904—05, there was war between Russia and Japan. In this war, Russia was defeated by Japan. The Russian people began to oppose the Tsar. They believed that the only cause of this defeat was the government of Tsar which had failed to carry out war properly.
• A procession of thousands of peaceful workers along with their wives and children went to the palace of Tsar to show their anger and present a petition on Sunday, 9 January, 1905. While the workers were on the way to the Winter Palace of Tsar, they were fired at by the army of the Tsar.
• More than one hundred people were killed and about three hundred were wounded.

Question 11. What were the significant changes in the Soviet Union after the death of Lenin ? Answer: In 1925, Stalin became General Secretary of the Communist Party of Soviet Union after the death of Lenin. The following were the significant changes in the Soviet Union after the death of Lenin.

• The economic and military power of the Soviet Union was enhanced rapidly.
• The unemployment and economic backwardness was controlled to some extent.
• The international position of the Soviet Union became much better than the previous time and it became one of the super powers of the world.

Question 12. How was the bad condition of women responsible for Russian Revolution ? Answer: The bad condition of women responsible for Russian Revolution because :

• Most of the women were working in small factories.
• Women made up about 31% of the factory labour force by 1914.
• They were paid less wages and were forced to work for long hours.
• When they launched an agitation, they were fired by the police.

Question 13. Why were socialists against private property and saw it as the root of all social ills ? Answer: The people who propagated socialism said that individuals, who owned property, did provide employment to many people but they were concerned with personal gains only. They did not bother about the welfare of the people. They felt that if society- controlled property, more attention would be paid to collective social interests socialists wanted this change and campaigned for it.

Question 14. Differentiate between the ideas of the liberals and radicals in Europe. Answer: (a) The liberals did not believe in universal franchise. In contrast, radicals wanted a nation in which government was based on most of a country’s population. (b) Liberals felt men of prosperity mainly should have the vote. They did not want the vote for women. On the other hand, the radicals supported women’s suffragette movements and opposed the privileges of great landowners and wealthy factory owners. (c) Radicals were not against the existence of private property but disliked concentration of property in the hands of a few.

Question 15. Which basic principles, ideas and values had the Russian Revolution for rest of the world ? Answer: The basic principles, ideas and values had the Russian Revolution for rest of the world : (a) Economic equality (b) Social Equality (c) Socialism (d) Anti-capitalism. (e) International fraternity of all the peasants, craftsmen and workers.

Socialism in Europe and the Russia Revolution Class 9 Extra Questions Long Answer Type Questions

Question 1. Describe the circumstances which were responsible for the Russian Revolution. Answer: The circumstances which were responsible for the Russian Revolution as given below :

• The Russian peasantry was in a miserable condition. The farmers could not get even two square meals a day. Their land holdings were very small and they had to pay heavy taxes.
• The Russian as well as the foreign capitalist industrialists exploited the workers by taking 12-14 hours of work and paying very low wages to them. The workers had no right to form trade unions or seek reforms. They led a miserable life.
• The Tsar Nicholas II was a despotic and autocratic ruler. He enjoyed unlimited powers and rights. The people of the higher strata enjoyed great privileges. The bureaucracy was corrupt and inefficient. The common people who suffered most, were fed up with the absolute rule of the Tsar and wanted to get rid of him.
• Karl Marx propagated ‘Scientific Socialism’. He strongly opposed capitalism which meant untold exploitation of the common men.

Question 2. Explain in brief Lenin’s contribution to the Russian Revolution of 1917. Answer:

• Lenin had played an important part in the Russian Revolution of 1917. It is true that after the fall of Tsar, Lenin led the revolutionaries. Really, it was the beginning of the revolution.
• The Provisional Government, under the leadership of Kerenskii, could not implement the demand of the people and failed.
• Under Lenin’s leadership, the Bolshevik Party put forward clear policies to end the war, transfer the land to the peasants and advance the slogan ‘All power to the Soviets’.
• He had described the Russian empire as a Prison of Nations and had declared that . no genuine democracy could be established unless all the non-Russian people were given equal rights.

Question 3. What were the main objectives of the Russian Revolutionaries ? Answer: The main objectives of the Russian Revolutionaries were :

• The Tsar had thrown Russia into the First World War to fulfil his imperialistic desires. It was the demand of the revolutionaries that Russia should withdraw from the war. So, it withdrew from the First World War in 1917 after the Revolution.
• After the Revolution, the land was given to the tillers. The landlords had to give the land to the government. Kolkhoz and Sovkhoj farms were established. In Kolkhoz farms, the peasants worked collectively.
• The revolutionaries had demanded an improvement in the conditions of the industrial workers. They demanded better wages, good working conditions and removal of exploitation. After 1917, the industries were nationalised and the dream of workers was fulfilled.
• The next aim of the revolutionaries was that the non-Russians should be given equal status. Lenin believed that without this status these people could never become real Russians.

Question 4. How Lenin’s name became inseparable from the Russian Revolution ? Answer: Lenin’s name became inseparable from the Russian Revolution :

• After completing his education, he joined the Communist Revolutionary Party and started spreading revolutionary ideas among the workers. He favoured the workers. He also favoured the setting up of the new society based on the principles of socialism of Karl Marx.
• He set up a Communist Government in place of the despotic rule in Russia. Therefore, Lenin’s name became inseparable from the Russian Revolution.
• Lenin united the peasants and workers under the Bolshevik Party and directed the revolution against the Provisional Government.
• Efforts were made to set up a Socialist Government on the basis of principles of Karl Marx. The private property was confiscated. Lenin took the land from the landlords and distributed it among the peasants. The Government nationalised all the factories and handed over their management to the workers. All debts were remitted. The property of the Church was also confiscated.

Question 5. What was the impact of the Russian Revolution on Russia ? Answer: The impact of the Russian Revolution on Russia were :

• The Revolution put an end to autocratic monarchy in Russia. The Tsarist empire was transformed into a new state known as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics or the Soviet Union.
• The most important result of the Bolshevik Revolution was the establishment of a Socialist Government in Russia. All the means of production were brought under state control. Banks, mines, factories, railways, telephones, etc. all were declared as government property and the property of the Church was nationalised. Work became an essential requirement for every person. The non-working person was not entitled to vote.
• The condition of the Russian mass had become miserable due to the First World War. The prime need of the Russian mass was food, not expansion.
• As a result of the Bolshevik Revolution, the government took all the means of production under its control and nationalised all small and big industries. Hence, within a few years Russia emerged as a powerful industrial state. With the growth of industrial and agricultural production, poverty started disappearing and the country moved on to the path of prosperity.

Question 6. What was the global impact of the Russian Revolution ? Answer: The global impact of the Russian Revolution were :

• The Bolshevik Revolution helped in the spread of Socialist and Communist ideas all over the world. Communist Governments were established in many European countries.
• Most of the Bolshevik leaders believed that a series of revolutions will sweep other countries of the world along with revolution in Russia. Many non-Russians from outside the USSR participated in the conference of the people of the east and the Bolshevik-founded Comintern, an international union of Pro-Bolshevik socialist parties.
• The Bolshevik government ‘granted freedom to all its colonies immediately after coming to power. Thus, the new Soviet State came forward as a friend of the subjugated people and proved to be a source of great inspiration to the freedom movements of various Asian and African countries.
• By the end of the 20th century, the international reputation of the USSR as a socialist country had declined through it was recognised that socialist ideals still enjoyed respect among its people.

Question 7. How did Russia’s participation in the World War cause the fall of the Tsar ? Answer: (a) The war was initially popular, and people rallied around Tsar Nicholas II. (b) As the war continued, support became thin and Tsar’s popularity declined. Anti-German sentiments became high. (c) The Tsarina Alexandra’s German origins and poor advisers, especially a monk called Rasputin, made the autocracy unpopular. (d) Defeats were shocking and demoralising. Russia’s armies lost badly in Germany and Austria between 1914 and 1916. There were over 7 million casualties by 1917. (e) The destruction of crops and buildings led to over 3 million refugees in Russia. The situation discredited the government and the Tsar. Soldiers did not wish to fight such a war.

Question 8. Explain the main effects of the First World War on the industries in Russia. Answer: Effects of the First World War on the industries in Russia were :

• Russian industries were very few and the country was cut off from other suppliers of industrial goods by German control of the Baltic Sea.
• Industrial equipment disintegrated more rapidly in Russia than elsewhere in Europe.
• By 1916 railway lines began to break down. Able bodied men were called up to the war.
• As a result, there were labour shortages and small workshops producing essential commodities were shut down.
• Large supplies of grain were sent to feed the army. For the people in the cities, bread and flour became scarce. By the winter of 1916, riots at bread shops were common.

Socialism in Europe and the Russia Revolution Class 9 NCERT Extra Questions

Question 1. What was the cause for the French Revolution? Answer: The demand for individual rights was the cause for the French Revolution. The Church and the Aristocracy dominated the society. The peasants, businessmen and the rest of the society who were called the 3 rd  estate were dissatisfied. When living conditions became harsh the poor among the 3 rd  estate revolted. This lead to the outbreak of revolutionary protest in France.

The French Revolution (1789–1799) was a period of political and social upheaval and radical change in the history of France, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based on Enlightenment principles of citizenship and inalienable rights.

These changes were accompanied by violent turmoil which included the trial and execution of the king, vast bloodshed and repression during the Reign of Terror, and warfare involving every other major European power. Subsequent events that can be traced to the Revolution include the Napoleonic Wars, two separate restorations of the monarchy, and two additional revolutions as modern France took shape.

Question 2. Who were the Liberals, Radicals and Conservatives? Answer: The Liberals, Radicals and Conservatives were totally opposed in their views. The Liberals wanted individual rights for the citizens, religious tolerance, and an elected parliament. They were not in favour of giving women the right to vote and they wanted only men with property to vote.

In contrast to the Liberals the Radicals were opposed to only wealthy men having the right to vote. They were in favour of women’s rights and wanted a Government that represented the majority of the population.

The Conservatives were truly conservative in their views . They wanted changes for the better, but wanted the changes to take place slowly, giving due respect to the past .

Question 3. What was the impact of Industrialisation? Answer: Due to rapid industrialisation men, women and children were forced to work in factories as their was a great demand for labourers. Labourers were made to work long hours and were paid poorly. Though industrialisation was rapid the demand for industrial goods was low . This resulted in poor working conditions. The rapid growth in towns also caused problems in housing and sanitation.

Question 4. List out the Socialist Ideas of the mid 19 th  century. Answer: The Socialist Ideas of the mid 19 th  century are as follows:

• They were against private property.
• Private property was the root cause for all social ills.
• The propertied individual owners were concerned only about their own profits.
• The welfare of the workers was neglected.
• They wanted a society controlled property rather than the individual owned as that would pay more attention to the social interest.

Question 5. Give a brief note on the following personalities. a. Robert Owen b. Louis Banc of France c. Karl Marx. Answer: a. Robert Owen (1771 – 1858) Robert Owen was an English Manufacturer. He advocated a cooperative community called New Harmony in Indiana (USA).

b. Louis Banc of France (1813 – 1882) Louis Banc wanted the government to encourage cooperatives and replace the capitalist enterprises. He advocated that people who produced the goods should form an association and the profit should be divided according to the work done.

c. Karl Marx (1818 – 1883) Karl Marx called the industrial society as the ‘Capitalist’ society. He championed the cause of the workers and said that the condition of the workers would improve only if the workers overthrow the capitalists and the rule of private property. So. Marx said that the workers had to create a society where the property was socially controlled. Only in such a radically socialist society the workers would be freed from the capitalist exploitation. According to him such a society would be a communist society and he called it as the natural society of the future.

Question 6. What were the demands workers’ associations formed in England and Germany? Answer: Workers in England and Germany formed associations. They demanded reduction in the working hours and the right to vote. These Association also set up funds to help workers in distress.

Question 7. Mention the Czars who ruled Russia from 1801 to 1917 and write a brief account on each on them . Answer: The Czars who ruled Russia from 1801 to 1917 were … Alexander I (1801-25) Nicholas I (1825-55) Alexander II (1855-81), Alexander III (1881-1894) Nicholas II (1894 –1917) Alexander I (1801-25) Alexander began his regime as a liberal but was later influenced by the staunch reactionary. Nicholas I (1825-55) Nicholas I, had no sympathy for western liberalism and crushed revolts at home and also in Poland.

Alexander II (1855-81) One of the most important reforms that Alexander II carried out in his country was the liberation of millions of Serfs. This is called the famous Edict Emancipation (1861). He drew up a programme by which the serfs became free and owned plots of agricultural land. However they were made to pay a sum of money every year to compensate the landlord for the loss of his land. After some time the Czar lost much interest in the reforms and started his reactionary rule. He was assassinated in 1881.

Alexander III (1881-1894) Alexander III , to avenge his father’s murder, let loose the reign of oppression. He tightened press censorship and ordered the arrest of all suspected persons who opposed the rule.

Nicholas II (1894 –1917) Nicholas II also continued to remain as oppressive as the earlier Czars. The common people began to hate him and his notorious ministers.

Question 8. What made the Czarist government bow to the demands of the common man? Answer: The disastrous defeat in the Far East culminated in the outbreak of riots in the cities and district towns. The Russian peasants rose in revolt and burnt the homes of their rich landlords. In the meanwhile, the people marched down the streets of the capital to the royal palace to submit a petition containing their grievances but the Czar was in no mood to entertain them. The royal guards opened fire and hundreds were killed and this horrible incident sent a wave of shock throughout the country. The news of the death of hundred of Russians provoked the workers in the cities to go on a general strike. The industrial workers’ strike spread throughout the country and the Czarist government became seriously concerned with the worsening crisis. The Czar was frightened at the halting of the country’s wheels of progress and finally yielded. He bowed to the demands of the common people and introduced many reforms.

Question 9. During the 1905 Revolution what did the Russian Czar promise the common man? Answer: During the 1905 Revolution, the Russian Czar promised the common man.

• Freedom of press, speech and assembly
• He recognized the trade unions.
• He also cancelled arrears of land payments by the peasants.
• He promised to hold elections for the Duma (Russian parliament).

Question 10. Why did the Revolution of 1905 fail? Answer: Soon after the royal troops returned from the Far East the Czar began his oppressive rule. The Czar revised the election rules in such a way that only the loyal upper class representatives were voted to power. The new Duma meekly submitted to the power of the Czar. Thus the Revolution of 1905 failed.

Question 11. Trace the down fall of the Czar Rule . Answer: The entry of Russia into World War I was an act of crowning folly on the part of the Czar. The country was hardly prepared for war of such magnitude against such a formidable enemy like Germany. The war weary Russian soldiers could hardly make any progress on the war front. Thousands of ill-equipped and untrained peasants were sent to the war front only to get killed by the highly trained German troops. The Czar was forced to abdicate (March 1917). His wife and a number of nobles were killed.

Question 12. Who headed the Provisional Government after the downfall of the Czar rule? Answer: A moderate social revolutionary called Alexander Karensky, who introduced a number of social reforms, headed the provisional government.

Question 13. List out Lenin’s early measures. Answer: Lenin’s early measures were

• He seized the properties of large landowners and the capitalists
• Lands which belonged to the people, were distributed to the poor peasants
• Factories were taken over by the government and handed over to the committee members, elected by workers who were to run it.
• The banks were nationalized and the depositors lost their money
• The New Economic Policy (NEP) was implemented in 1921
• A stable currency was introduced
• A new constitution was drawn up in 1923.

Question 14. When did Lenin die, and who succeed him? Answer: Lenin died in 1924 and Joseph Stalin succeeded him.

Question 15. What caused the rise of many revolutionary parties? Answer: Russia was defeated by Japan, a tiny Asiatic country, in the Russo-Japanese war that took place in 1904 . Discontentment rose to a new height. The Czarist government stood exposed for its inadequacy at the war. The Russians suffered a humiliating defeat and signed a number of secret treaties with Japan. As a result of this a large number of secret revolutionary parties sprang up. The Social Democratic Party was most radical in its character. The Social Democrats turned to catch the attention of industrial workers in the Russian cities and their moral mentor was Karl Marx.

Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution Class 9 MCQs Questions with Answers

Choose the correct option:

Question 1. The leader of the Bolshevik party was (a) Stalin (b) Lenin (c) Karl Marx (d) Louis Blanc

Answer: (a) Stalin

Question 2. Tsarist power in Russia collapsed in the year (a) 1905 (b) 1916 (c) 1917 (d) 1920

Answer: (c) 1917

Question 3. Tsarina Alexandra was of the (a) German origin (b) French origin (c) Russian origin (d) Dutch origin

Answer: (a) German origin

Question 4. Jadidists were ………………… within the Russian empire. (a) Muslim reformers (b) Muslim educationists (c) Parsi reformers (d) German refugees

Answer: (a) Muslim reformers

Question 5. The main occupation of the people of Russia in the beginning of the twentieth century was (a) manufacturing (b) poultry farming (c) fishing (d) agriculture

Answer: (d) agriculture

Question 6. A Labour Party in Britain was formed by socialist and (a) trade unionists (b) peasants (c) industrialists (d) young students

Answer: (a) trade unionists

Question 7. The Central powers during the First World War included countries like Germany, Turkey and (a) France (b) Austria (c) Britain (d) Russia

Answer: (b) Austria

Question 8. The name associated with April Theses is (a) Karl Marx (b) Robert Owen (c) Lenin (d) Stalin

Answer: (c) Lenin

Question 9. The successor of Lenin was (a) Stalin (b) Kerenskii (c) Trotskii (d) Louis Blance

Question 10. Budeonovka was the name given to the Soviet (a) boots (b) coat (c) scarf (d) hat

Answer: (d) hat

Question 11. Which among the following groups was against any kind of political or social change? (a) Nationalists (b) conservatives (c) liberals (d) radicals

Answer: (b) conservatives

Question 12. Which of these statements is/are correct about Europe after the French Revolution? (a) Suddenly it seemed possible to change the aristocratic society of the 18th century. (b) However not everyone wanted a complete transformation of society. (c) Some wanted gradual shift, while others wanted complete change of society. (d) All the above

Answer: (d) All the above

Question 13. Which of the following factors made autocracy unpopular in Russia? (a) The German origin of the Tsarina Alexandra (b) Poor advisors like the Monk Rasputin (c) The huge cost of fighting in the World War I (d) Both (a) and (b)

Answer: (d) Both (a) and (b)

Question 14. How can you say that the ‘liberals’ were not ‘democrats’? (a) They did not believe in universal adult franchise (b) They felt that only men of property should have a right to vote (c) Women should not have right to vote (d) All the above

Question 15. What kind of developments took place as a result of new political trends in Europe? (a) Industrial Revolution occurred (b) New cities came up (c) Railways expanded (d) All the above

Question 16. Who conspired in Italy to bring about a revolution? (a) Bismarck (b) Karl Marx (c) Giuseppe Mazzini (d) None

Answer: (c) Giuseppe Mazzini

Question 17. What were the demands made by the workers in St. Petersburg who went on a strike? (a) Reduction of working time to eight hours (b) Increase in wages (c) Improvement in working conditions (d) All the above

Answer: (b) Increase in wages

Question 18. In the World War I, which started in 1914, Russia fought against (a) Britain and France (b) Germany and Austria (c) America (d) All the above

Answer: (b) Germany and Austria

Question 19. Which of the following statements is/are correct? (a) By 1916, railway lines in Russia began to break down (b) There were labour shortages and small workshops producing essentials were shut down (c) Large supplies of grain were sent to feed the army (d) All the above

Question 20. On 27th February 1917, soldiers and striking workers gathered to form a council called (a) Soviet Council (b) Petrograd Soviet (c) Moscow Union (d) Russian Council

Answer: (b) Petrograd Soviet

Question 21. Which of these demands is/are referred to as Lenin’s ‘April Theses’? (a) World War I should be brought to an end (b) Land should be transferred to the peasants (c) Banks should be nationalised (d) All the above

Question 22. Who led the Bolshevik group in Russia during Russian Revolution? (a) Karl Marx (b) Friedrich Engels (c) Vladimir Lenin (d) Trotsky

Answer: (c) Vladimir Lenin

Question 23. Socialists took over the government in Russia through the? (a) October Revolution in 1917 (b) November Revolution in 1918 (c) December Revolution in 1919 (d) February Revolution in 1920

Answer: (a) October Revolution in 1917

Question 24. At the beginning of the 20th century, the majority of Russian people worked in the: (a) Industrial sector (b) Agricultural sector (c) Mining sector (d) Transport sector

Answer: (b) Agricultural sector

Question 25. The commune of farmers was known as: (a) Tsar (b) Duma (c) Mir (d) Cossacks

Answer: (c) Mir

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NCERT Solutions for Class 9 History Chapter 2 Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution

• 12th February 2024

NCERT Solutions for Class 9 Social Science History Chapter 2 Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution are prepared by expert teachers. These solutions contain answers to all exercise questions provided in the History (India and the Contemporary World – I) textbook.

Class 9 History Europe and the Russian Revolution Questions and Answers

Question 1: What were the social, economic and political conditions in Russia before 1905?

Answer: Before 1905, the conditions in Russia were marked by several critical factors:

• High Agricultural Dependency : About 85% of Russia’s population was involved in agriculture, much higher than in other European countries.
• Industrialization with Poor Conditions : Despite being less industrialized than Western Europe, Russia had industrial areas with factories where working conditions were harsh, wages low, and working hours long.
• Social Stratification : Society was deeply divided between the wealthy nobility and the peasants, leading to significant social tensions.
• Political Autocracy : Russia was ruled by Tsar Nicholas II with absolute power, lacking any form of political representation or freedom for the general populace.
• Economic Challenges : The economy faced issues like inadequate grain supplies leading to tension between the government and peasants.
• Nationalist and Revolutionary Movements : There were growing nationalist movements and dissatisfaction with the Tsarist regime, contributing to the revolutionary mood.

These points show that before 1905, Russia was experiencing severe social, economic, and political conditions that paved the way for revolutionary change.

Question 2: In what ways was the working population in Russia different from other countries in Europe, before 1917?

Answer: Before 1917, Russia’s working population was distinct from that of other European countries due to its larger agricultural base, concentrated industrial sectors in few cities, harsher working conditions, and unique practices of land redistribution among peasants, marking a slower and more uneven path to industrialization and modernization.

Before 1917, the Russian working population was markedly different from its European counterparts due to Russia’s delayed and uneven industrialization. Approximately 85% of Russians were engaged in agriculture, significantly higher than in Western Europe, where the figures were closer to 40-50%. Industrial activity was concentrated in a few cities like St. Petersburg and Moscow, with many workers still linked to rural areas. Working conditions were notably harsh, with long hours and low wages. The workforce was socially divided, with distinctions between skilled and unskilled workers, and the unique practice of communal land division among peasants highlighted a distinct socio-economic structure. This context set Russia apart from the more industrially advanced and urbanized societies in Western Europe.

Question 3: Why did the Tsarist autocracy collapse in 1917?

Answer: The Tsarist autocracy in Russia collapsed in 1917 due to economic hardship, military defeats in World War I, political incompetence, and widespread social unrest. Tsar Nicholas II’s failure to address the country’s problems and the government’s inability to manage the war effort or the demands for reform led to a loss of support among the military, peasantry, and urban workers. The February Revolution was sparked by these issues, resulting in the abdication of the Tsar and the end of autocratic rule in Russia.

Question 4: Make two lists: one with the main events and the effects of the February Revolution and the other with the main events and effects of the October Revolution. Write a paragraph on who was involved in each, who were the leaders and what was the influence of each on Soviet history.

Answer: February Revolution:

• 22nd February: Factory lockout on the right bank took place,
• 25th February: Duma was dissolved.
• 27th February: Police Headquarters ransacked. Regiments support the workers. Formation of Soviet.
• 2nd March: The Tsar abdicated his power. The Soviet and Duma leaders formed a Provisional Government for Russia. 

The February Revolution had no political party at its forefront. It was led by the people themselves. Petrograd had brought down the monarchy, and thus, gained a significant place in Soviet history. Trade Unions grew in number.

October Revolution:

• 16th October: A Military Revolutionary Committee was appointed by Soviet.
• 24th October: The uprising against the provisional government begins. Military Revolutionary Committee controls the city by night and ministers surrender. The Bolshevik gained power.

The October Revolution was primarily led by Lenin and his sub-ordinate Trotskii, and involved the masses who supported these leaders. It marked the beginning of Lenin’s rule over the Soviet, with the Bolsheviks under his guidance.

Question 5: What were the main changes brought about by the Bolsheviks immediately after the October Revolution?

Answer: The main changes which were brought about by the Bolsheviks immediately after the October Revolution:

• Industries and banks were nationalised by November 1917, Government took over ownership and management.
• The land was declared as a social property and peasants were allowed to seize the land of the nobility.
• In the cities, Bolsheviks enforced the partition of large houses according to family requirements.
• Old titles of the aristocracy were abolished.
• New uniforms were designed for the army and officials.
• The Bolshevik Party was renamed the Russian Communist Party (Bolshevik)
• Bolsheviks conducted elections to the constituent assembly, however, they failed to attain the majority, Assembly rejected the Bolshevik measures and Lenin dismissed the assembly.
• All Russian Congress of Soviets became Parliament of the country. Russia became a one-party state.
• Trade unions were kept under party control, the Secret Police punished anyone who criticised the Bolsheviks. Many young artists and writers continued to support the Party as it stood for Socialism.
• Many experiments were done in Arts and Architecture. But many artists were unhappy because of the censorship.

Question 6: Write a few lines to show what you know about: (i) Kulaks (ii) The Duma (iii) Women workers between 1900 and 1930. (iv) The Liberals. (v) Stalin’s collectivization programme.

Answer:  kulaks:  Kulaks were wealthier peasants in pre-Soviet Russia, owning substantial land and sometimes employing labourers. Following the October Revolution, the Bolsheviks viewed the kulaks as class enemies due to their relatively prosperous status and resistance to socialist policies like collectivization. During the drive towards collectivization in the late 1920s and early 1930s, the Bolshevik government targeted kulaks for “liquidation as a class,” leading to their dispossession, deportation, or execution. The campaign against kulaks was part of the broader effort to reorganize agriculture into collective farms and eliminate class-based resistance.

The Duma: The Duma was the legislative assembly in the late Russian Empire, created by Tsar Nicholas II in 1905. It was created to calm down people who were unhappy and wanted the government to change. The Duma was like a part of the government where people could talk about and decide on new laws, but the king could still stop any laws he didn’t like and could close the Duma if he wanted to. It was an important place for discussions until 1917 when the new government, led by the Bolsheviks, got rid of it after they took control of Russia.

Women workers between 1900 and 1930: Between 1900 and 1930, women workers in Russia faced lower wages and harsh conditions but were pivotal in industries and protests, including the 1917 February Revolution. Their activism highlighted their emerging social and political awareness. Post-revolution, the Bolsheviks tried to make things better for women at work, but changes were slow and not the same everywhere. Women started to have a bigger voice in work and politics during this time.

The Liberals: The Liberals in Russia before the 1917 revolutions were a political group that wanted to reform the government to make it more democratic without removing the Tsar. They aimed for a constitution, more freedoms for the people, and a parliamentary system where elected officials could make decisions. They played a role in the 1905 Revolution and were part of the Duma, pushing for moderate reforms within the limits of the Tsarist autocracy, but were often frustrated by the Tsar’s resistance to significant changes.

Stalin’s collectivisation programme: Stalin’s collectivization program was a big plan in the late 1920s to early 1930s to bring together small farms into collective farms (kolkhozes) and state farms (sovkhozes). This was to make farming more efficient and help pay for other government projects. Stalin also wanted to get rid of kulaks, the richer farmers, because he thought they were a threat. But this plan caused a lot of problems. Many farmers didn’t like it and killed their animals rather than give them up. This led to a terrible famine, where lots of people didn’t have enough food, especially in Ukraine. Overall, while trying to improve farming and make more food, the plan ended up causing a lot of suffering.

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The Global Influence of the Russian Revolution and the USSR - Concepts - Chapter 2 Class 9 History - Socialism in Europe & Russian Revolution - History

Last updated at April 16, 2024 by Teachoo

• Bolsheviks' takeover and consolidation of power were not entirely approved by existing socialist parties in Europe . 
• However, the possibility of a workers’ state fired people’s imagination across the world .
• Communist parties like the Communist Party of Great Britain were formed in many other countries too.
• The Bolsheviks encouraged colonial peoples to follow their experiment . 
• The Conference of the Peoples of the East ( 1920 ) and the Comintern , which was created by the Bolsheviks , both attracted a large number of non-Russians from outside the USSR (an international union of pro-Bolshevik socialist parties ).
• Some students attended the Communist University of the Workers of the East in the USSR .
• The USSR had given socialism a global face and a global stature by the time the Second World War started .
• Yet by the 1950s it was acknowledged within the country that the style of government in the USSR was not keeping with the ideals of the Russian Revolution . 
• The Soviet Union's problems were acknowledged by the global socialist movement as well.
• A backward country had become a great power . 
• The country's businesses and agriculture had advanced , and the hungry were nourished .
• However, it had deprived its inhabitants of fundamental liberties and carried out its development ambitions through draconian laws .
• Though it was acknowledged that socialist ideas continued to be respected among its citizens , the USSR's reputation as a socialist nation had diminished by the turn of the 20th century .
• But in each country, the ideas of socialism were rethought in a variety of different ways.

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• CBSE Important Questions
• Important Questions For Class 9
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• Chapter 2 Socialism In Europe And The Russian Revolution

CBSE Class 9 History Chapter 2 Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution Important Questions

Through the revolution in Russia, socialism became one of the most important and influential ideas to shape society in the twentieth century. Students can explore more about Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution from Chapter 2 of CBSE Class 9 History. We have also collected the CBSE Class 9 History Chapter 2 Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution Important Questions that are formulated based on the vital topics of the Chapter, thus making these the best resource to prepare for the exams. Students can also revise the Chapter thoroughly by practising these questions.

Given below is the link to access the PDF format of the CBSE Class 9 History Important Questions from this Chapter. Solve these questions and score high marks in the exams.

Download CBSE Class 9 History Chapter 2 Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution Important Questions PDF

Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution

1. Explain the Suffragette movement. Which group supported women’s suffragette movements?

2. Why were there revolutionary disturbances in Russia in 1905? What were the demands of revolutionaries?

3 . Why did people in Central Asia respond to the Russian Revolution in different ways?

4. What were the social, economic and political conditions in Russia before 1905?

5 . Explain the differences between liberals and democrats.

6. In what ways was the working population in Russia different from other countries in Europe, before 1917?

7 . Give any significant view of the radicals.

8. Write any features of Socialism. Mention three points.

9 . Why did the Tsarist autocracy collapse in 1917?

10. Who was Karl Marx? Give his views about Capitalism.

11 . Make two lists: one with the main events and the effects of the February Revolution and the other with the main events and effects of the October Revolution. Write a paragraph on who was involved in each, who were the leaders and what was the impact of each on Soviet history.

12. What led to the setting up of industries in Russia by the end of the 19th Century? Give two reasons.

13 . What were the main changes brought about by the Bolsheviks immediately after the October Revolution?

14 . Write a few lines about the Kulaks.

15. What was the economic condition of the workers at the beginning of the 20th Century?

16 . Write briefly about Stalin’s collectivisation programme.

17. Explain about the duma. Write a short note.

18 . Explain the viewpoints of the conservatives.

19 . What was the relationship between peasants and nobles in Russia during the 19th Century? Discuss.

20 . Explain about the incident known as the ‘Bloody Sunday.’

21.  Who was Giuseppe Mazzini?

22.  Define socialists. Who are the international body formed to coordinate socialist efforts?

23.  Write a brief note about the positive aspects of the Bolshevik government on Soviet Union and its people.

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Class 9 History Chapter 2 Important Questions Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution

Class 9 Social Science History Chapter 2 Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution important questions and answers cover the major concepts of the chapter. Solving answers of these important questions help students to revise the Chapter most competently. We prepared these questions with PDF as per the latest NCERT book and CBSE syllabus. Practising these questions before the exam will ensure excellent marks in the exam.

Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution Class 9 Important Questions

1. How did Social Democrats disagree with Social Revolutionaries?

Answer:  (a) (i) Socialist Revolutionary Party was formed in 1900. (ii) They were in favour of peasants’ rights. (iii) They demanded that land belonging to the nobles be transferred to peasants. (b) (i) Socialist Democrats disagreed with Socialist Revolutionaries about peasants. (ii) Lenin felt that peasants were not one united group because there were poor, rich, labourers and capitalists among them. So they could not all be the part of a socialist movement.

2. Explain consequences of the February Revolution of 1917 in Russia.

Answer:  Consequences of the February Revolution of 1917 in Russia are as mentioned below: (i) Tsar abdicated on 2 March. (ii) Soviet leaders and Duma leaders formed a provisional government to run the country. (iii) It was agreed that Russia’s future would be decided by a constituent assembly, elected on the basis of universal adult suffrage. (iv) The provisional government removed restrictions on public meetings and associations. (v) Soviets, like the Petrograd Soviet, were set up everywhere, though no common system of election was followed.

3. Liberals were not Democrats. Explain. OR Why do we say that liberals could not be called ‘democrats’?

Answer:  The liberals could not be called democrats because even though they argued for are presentative, elected parliamentary government, subject to laws interpreted by a well-trained judiciary that was independent of rulers and officials, they did not believe in universal adult franchise and also did not want the voting rights for women. They felt right to vote should only be given to the propertied men.

4. How did Social Democrats disagree with Socialist-Revolutionaries?    [CBSE 2016]

Answer:  Social Democrats disagreed with Socialist Revolutionaries in the following ways. (a) Social Democrats believed workers to be the main force of revolution whereas Socialist Revolutionaries argued that peasants would be the revolutionary class. (b) Social Democrats wanted benefits for the workers and control on the factors of production. Socialist Revolutionaries, on the other hand, demanded land to the peasants. (c) Social Democrats felt that peasants were not a united group as they were rich and poor and many owned large tracts of land. Socialist Revolutionaries favoured peasants as natural socialists.

5. What was the difference between Bolshevik and Menshevik group?    [CBSE 2016] OR Who were the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks?

Answer:  The Bolsheviks were the majority group led by Vladimir Lenin who thought that in a repressive society like Tsarist Russia, the party should be disciplined and control the number and quality of its members. They were the group who conducted the Russian Revolution. Mensheviks, on the other hand, were the minority group who thought that the party should be open to all. They did not believe in revolution but wanted to bring changes through democratic means.

6. Discuss Lenin’s ‘April Theses’.    [CBSE 2016] OR What were the demands referred to in Lenin’s ‘April Theses’?

Answer:   The following were the demands referred to in Lenin’s April Theses’. (a) World War I should be brought to an end. (b) Land should be transferred to the peasants. (c) Banks should be nationalised .

7. Describe the sequence of events responsible for the Revolution of 1905 in Russia.

Answer:  The sequence of events responsible for the Revolution of 1905 in Russia was as given below: (i) Autocracy:  There was autocracy in Russia. Liberals, Social Democrats and Socialist Revolutionaries demanded a constitution. (ii) The year 1904:  Prices rose and wages declined. (iii) Dismissal of four workers of the Assembly of Russian Workers was the immediate cause that led to workers’ strike. (iv) Demands:  They demanded a reduction in the working day to eight hours, an increase in wages and improvement in working conditions. (v) Bloody Sunday:  A procession of workers led by Father Gapon was attacked by the police killing 100 workers. This led to a series of events that became known the 1905 Revolution.  (vi) Results:  (a) The Tsar allowed the creation of an elected consultative Parliament or Duma. (b) A large number of trade unions and factory committees of factory workers came into existence.

8. Briefly describe the general impact of First World War on Russia.

Answer:  General impact of the First World War was as mentioned below: (i) Initially the war was popular and people rallied around Tsar. (ii) As the war continued, the support became less as Tsar did not consult the main parties in the Duma. (iii) Defeat of Russian armies in Germany and Austria. (iv) By 1917 there were 7 million casualties. (v) As Germany controlled the Baltic Sea, Russian industries could not get supplies. Similarly there was break down of the railway lines and shortage of labour as most of them were fighting the First World War. (vi) On their retreat, the Russian army destroyed crops and buildings to prevent the enemy from being able to live off the land. The destruction of crops and buildings led to over 3 million refugees in Russia.

9. Describe global impact of the Russian Revolution.

Answer:  (i) In many countries, communist parties were formed e.g., the Communist Party of Great Britain. (ii) The Bolsheviks encouraged colonial people to fight against imperialism. (iii) Many non-Russians from outside the USSR participated in the Conference of the People of the East (1920) and the Bolsheviks founded Committee which was an international union of pro-Bolshevik socialist parties. (iv) Some received education in the USSR’s Communist University of the Workers of the East. (v) By the time of the outbreak of the Second World War, the USSR had given socialism a global face which eventually led to the rise of cold war in Europe.

10. Why did the Bolshevik Party accept the April Theses’? Give any five reasons.

Answer:  Bolshevik Party accepted the April Theses’ because of the following reasons. (a) The Provisional Government under Kerenskii failed to fulfil the aspirations of the people like land to the tiller, peace, control of industries by the workers, etc. Rather it became more unpopular. (b) The government was under the influence of landowners, army officials and industrialists that affected its decisions. (c) Lenin felt that time had come to seize the power from the government. (d) People’s demands were included in the programme along with exit from the war and nationalisation of banks. (e) Lenin’s view was accepted when the Provisional Government began suppressing the Bolsheviks.

11. Differentiate between the ideas of the liberals and radicals in Europe (take the time period after the French Revolution).

Answer:   The liberals did not believe in universal franchise. In contrast, radicals wanted a nation in which government was based on the majority of a country’s population. Liberals felt men of prosperity mainly should have the vote. They did not want the vote for women. On the other hand the radicals supported women’s suffrage movements and opposed the privileges of great landowners and wealthy factory owners. They were not against the existence of private property but disliked concentration of property in the hands of a few.

12. Why do we say that liberals during this time could not be called ‘democrats’?

Answer:   The liberals opposed the uncontrolled power of dynastic rulers and wanted to safeguard the rights of individuals against governments. They also argued for a representative, elected parliamentary government, subject to laws interpreted by a well-trained judiciary that was independent of rulers and officials. However, they could not be called democrats. They did not believe in universal adult franchise and also did not want the vote for women. They felt right to vote should only be for men of property.

13. How should society, according to liberals and radicals, develop?

Answer:  Liberals and radicals were often property owners and employers. Having acquired wealth through industrial ventures and trade, they firmly believed that such efforts should be encouraged — that its profits would be reaped if the work force in the economy was healthy and citizens were educated. They put forth that societies could develop if the poor could labour, freedom of individuals was ensured and those with capital could operate without restraint.

14. Why were socialists against private property and saw it as the root of all social ills?

Answer:  The people who propagated socialism said that individuals who owned property, did provide employment to many people but they were concerned with personal gains only and did not bother about the welfare of the people. They felt that if society controlled property, more attention would be paid to collective social interests.

15. Describe the incident known as ‘Bloody Sunday’.

Answer:  Over 110,000 workers in St. Petersburg went on strike in 1905, demanding a reduction in the working day to eight hours, an increase in wages and improvements in working conditions. When this procession reached the Winter Palace it was attacked by the police and the Cossacks. Over 100 workers were killed and about 300 wounded. This incident, known as Bloody Sunday, started a series of events that became known as the 1905 Revolution.

16. What effect did the war have on the industry of Russia.

Answer:  Russian industries were very few in number and the country was cut off from other suppliers of industrial goods by German control of the Baltic Sea. Industrial equipment disintegrated more rapidly in Russia than elsewhere in Europe. By 1916 railway lines began to break down. Able bodied men were called up to the war. As a result, there were labour shortages and small workshops producing essential commodities were shut down.

17. Why was the decision to collectivise farms taken?

Answer:  It was thought that rich peasants and traders in the countryside were holding stocks in the hope of higher prices. This created a shortage. As shortage continued, the decision was taken to collectivise farms as Lenin felt that the small size of farms caused the shortage. They also felt that these small size farms could not be modernised. They felt that the need of the hour was to develop modern farms and run them along industrial lines with machinery.

18. “By the 1950s it was acknowledged within the country that the style of government in the USSR was not in keeping with the ideals of the Russian Revolution.” Why was this said?

Answer:  By the 1950s it was acknowledged within the country that the style of government in the USSR was not in keeping with the ideals of the Russia Revolution. Russia, a backward country, had become a great power. Its industries and agriculture had developed and the poor were being fed. But it had denied the essential freedoms to its citizens and carried out its developmental projects through repressive policies.

19. What was the role of the Tsar in the peasant revolt of 1905? Did the revolt fail? Discuss briefly.

Answer:  During the 1905 Revolution, the Tsar allowed the creation of an elected consultative parliament or Duma. The Tsar dismissed it within 75 days and re-elected. Second Duma : within 3 months. He did not want any questioning of his authority or any reduction in his power. He changed the voting laws and packed the third Duma with conservative politicians. Yes, the revolt failed.

20. Discuss the civil war that took place in Russia after the October Revolution and its consequences.

Answer:  When the Bolsheviks ordered land redistribution the Russian army began to break up. Non- Bolshevik socialists, liberals and supporters or autocracy condemned the Bolshevik uprising. They were supported by the French, American, British and Japanese troops. 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 introduced collectivisation of the farms so that no shortage of grain should occur. The Bolsheviks controlled most of the farmer of Russian Empire.

21. What was the basic principle of the Marxist theory?

Answer:  Marx believed that the conditions of workers could not improve as long as profit was accumulated by private capitalists. Workers had to overthrow capitalism and the rule of private property. Workers must construct a radically socialist society where all property was socially controlled. This would be a communist society and a Communist Party was the natural society of the future.

22. Discuss briefly the Five Years Plans.

Answer:  A process of centralised planning was introduced. Officials assessed how the economy could work and set targets for a five-year period, on this basis they made the five-year plans The government fixed all prices to promote industrial growth during the first two plans (1927-32 and 1933-38) centralised planning led to economic growth.

23. Explain why did the Bolsheviks considered the Russian revolution as only the “first stage” of the revolution.

Answer:  The Bolsheviks considered the Russian revolution as only the ‘first stage’ of revolution because merely seizing power was not their ultimate aim. They aimed at an egalitarian society. The next stage of the revolution included redistribution of land, nationalisation of industries and banks, collective farming. The power of the pro-Tsarist aristocracy had to be crushed. Rich peasants had to be forced to redistribute land. Their ultimate aim was to establish the rule of the proletariat – the peasants and workers.

24. What made the Tsar the ‘Autocrat of all the Russians’? Describe the steps he took just before the Russian Revolution.

Answer:  The Tsar was not subject to parliament. Liberals in Russia campaigned to end this state of affairs. All political parties were illegal in Russia before 1914. The Russian Social Democratic Workers Party founded in 1898 operated as an illegal organisation. Russia under Tsar Nicholas II was an autocracy.

25. Why did the Tsarist autocracy collapse in 1917?

Answer:  Anti-German sentiments were high. St. Petersburg (a German name) was renamed Petrograd. Tsarina Alexandra’s German origin and poor advisors made the autocracy unpopular. The defeats in the World War I were shocking – seven million casualties and three million refugees by 1917. This situation discredited the government and the Tsar. There was shortage of food, people were rioting as bread and flour became scarce. The large Russian army shifted its loyalty and began supporting the revolutionaries, Tsarist power collapsed.

26. Mention the demands of the workers who went on strike at St. Petersburg in 1904.

Answer:  When four members of the Assembly of Russian Workers were dismissed, there was a call for industrial action. Over the next few days over 110,000 workers in St. Petersburg went on strike. Workers demanded a reduction in the working day to eight hours, an increase in wages and improvement in working conditions.

27. What was the impact of the First World War on the Russian economy?

Answer:  The war caused large supplies of grain to be sent to feed the army. For the people in the cities, bread and flour became scarce. By the writer of 1916, riots at bread shops were common. The workers in Leningrad were the worst sufferers as a severe winter added to their miserable conditions. The economic crisis led to Revolutions.

28. Mention the important steps taken by Lenin to improve the agriculture and economy of Russia.

Answer:  Lenin nationalist most industries and banks. He ordered land redistribution. He permitted peasants to cultivate the land that had been socialised centralised planning was introduced. Five year plans were made. The government fixed all prices during the First two year “plans”. There was increased production of oil, coal and steel. An extended schooling system developed, factory workers and peasants could go to universities. Communes were set up, members are in a communal dining hall and income was divided according to the principles of “cooperative commission”.

29. Why socialists were against private property?

Answer:  The possibility of a workers’ state fired people’s imagination across the world. In many countries, communist parties were formed, for example, the Communist Party of Great Britain. The Bolsheviks encouraged colonial peoples to follow their experiment. Many non-Russians outside USSR participated in the Conference of the Peoples of the East (1920) and the Bolsheviks founded Comintern. Some received education in the USSR’s Communist University of the Workers of the East. By the beginning of the second World War, the USSR had given socialism a global face and world stature.

30. What was Lenin’s April Theses? Why were some members of the Bolshevik Party surprised by the April Theses? What made them change their attitude? What were the main objectives of the Russian Revolutionaries?

Answer:  The three demands of Vladimir Lenin, after his return to Russia in April 1917′ were : (i) He and the Bolsheviks had opposed the war since 1914. He felt in 1917 that was should be brought to a close. (ii) Land should be transferred to the peasants. (iii) The banks should be nationalised and the party should be renamed “Communist Party”. These three demands were called Lenin’s “April Theses”.

Most of the members of the Bolshevik were initially surprised as they thought the time was not yet ripe for a socialist revolution and the provisional government needed to be supported. The developments of the subsequent months made the party change its attitude the workers movement spread, trade divisions grew in number the power of the provisional government grew weaker factories and reprised them. In the countryside peasants pressed for redistribution of land and encouraged by socialist revolution’s ideas peasants seized land between July and september 1917. This led to the change of view and the Bolsheviks decided to size power.

31. Why did the Kerensky government became unpopular in Russia?

Answer:  The Kerensky government tried to suppress the workers movement and the Bolshevik influence. It suppressed all demonstrations staged by Bolsheviks in July 1917. Many Bolsheviks had to go into hiding. Peasants in the countryside had started demanding redis. The Tribution of land. Kerensky was suspected of setting up a dictatorship and Lenin persuaded Petrograd Soviet and Bolshevik Party to agree to a socialist seizure of power. Kerensky had to leave the city to summon troops.

32. Mention any two changes introduced by Stalin in the Russian economy. How did Stalin deal with the critics?

Answer:  Stalin introduced the collectivisation. All peasants had to cultivate collective farms (Kolkohz) from 1929. The profit was shared by the peasants working on the land. Before collectivisation, Stalin took steps to eliminate ‘Kulaks’ – the well to do peasants. He took away land from them and established large state controlled farms. Stalin severely punished the critics of his programme. Many were deported and exiled. He charged his critics with conspiracy against socialism. By 1939, 2 million were put in prisons or labour camps. A large number were forced to make false statements under torture and were executed. Several among them were talented professionals.

33. What steps were taken to improve the condition of factory workers and peasants in Russia after the civil war?

Answer:  Five year plans were made to promote industrial growth. Industrial production was increased by 100 percent in oil, coal and steel. New factories were built. In Magnitogorsk a new steel plant was built in three years. Extended schooling system developed, creches were established in factories for the children of women workers, cheap public health care was provided. Model living quarters were built up for workers.

34. How did the destruction of Russian industries after the First World War become one of the causes of resentment of people?

Answer:  The First World War had a devastating impact on industries. Russia’s own industries were few in number and the country was cut off from other supplies of industrial goods by German control of the Baltic Sea. Industrial equipment disintegrated rapidly. By 1916, railway lines began to break down. Able bodied men were called up to the war. As a result, workshops producing essentials were shut down. Huge supplies of grain were sent to feed the army. For the people in cities, bread and flour became scarce. By the winter of 1916, riots at bread shops were common.

35. Discuss the relationship between peasants and nobles in Russia during early 19th century.

Answer:  Peasants cultivated most of the land. But the nobility, the crown and the church owned large properties. Except in few cases peasants had no respect for the nobility. Peasants wanted the land of the nobles to be distributed to them. Frequently peasants refused to pay rent and even murdered landlords. In 1902, such events occurred on a large scale in South Russia. In 1905 such incidents took place all over Russia.

36. Describe the three reforms introduced in Russia by Czar Nicholas II after the Revolution?

Answer:  (i) The Tsar allowed the creation of an elected consultative Parliament or Duma. (ii) Most committees and unions were declared illegal. Severe restrictions were placed on political activity. (iii) The Tsar dismissed the first Duma within 75 days and the re-elected second Duma within three months. He did not want any reduction in his power. He changed the voting laws and packed the third Duma with conservative politicians. Liberals and revolutionaries were kept out.

37. What were the different notions of Liberals, Radicals and Conservatives regarding formation of the new Government in Russia? Discuss.

Answer:  Liberals opposed the uncontrolled power of dynastic rulers. They wanted to safeguard the rights of individuals against governments. They argued for a representative elected parliamentary government with an independent judiciary. Radicals wanted a government based on the majority of a country’s population. Unlike liberals, they opposed the privileged of great landowners and wealthy factory owners. They disliked the idea of concentration of property in the hands of a few. Conservatives were opposed to radicals and liberals. They believed that the past had to be respected and change had to be brought about through a slow process.

38. What were the three main changes observed after the October Revolution in Russia?

Answer:  (i) Most industries and banks were nationalised in November 1917. The government took over their ownership and management. (ii) Land was declared social property and peasants were allowed to seize the land of the nobility. (iii) Large houses in cities were partitioned according to family requirements. Old titles of aristocracy were banned. New uniforms were designed for the army and officials.

39. Why socialists were against private property?

Answer:   Socialists saw private property as the root of all social ills of the time. Individuals owned the property that gave employment but the propertied were concerned only with personal gain and not with the welfare of those who made the property productive. So, according to them, if society as a whole rather than single individuals controlled property, more attention would be paid to collective social interests.

40. Explain how a society, according to socialists, can operate without property. What would be the basis of socialist society?

Answer:   Socialists had different visions of the future. Some such as Robert Owen, a leading English manufacturer, sought to build a co-operative community called New Harmony in Indiana (USA). Other socialists felt that co-operatives could not be built on a wide scale only through individual initiative. 

They wanted that governments must encourage co-operatives and replace capitalist enterprise. This was propagated by Louis Blanc in France. They said that cooperatives were to be associations of people who produced goods together and divided the profits according to the work done by members. More ideas were added to this body of arguments. 

These ideas were added by Karl Marx and Fredrich Engels. Marx argued that industrial society was capitalist. Capitalist owned the capital invested in factories. The profit which came to them through these factories was produced by the workers. The workers contributed to the profits but did not gain anything. 

Their condition could improve only if the workers freed themselves from capitalists exploitation. For this the workers needed to construct a radically socialist society where all property was socially controlled. This would be a communist society. The second International was the body termed to coordinate their efforts. 

41. What developments took place in Europe in support of socialism?

Answer:  By the 1870s the socialists formed an international body, namely the Second International to coordinate their efforts. Associations were formed by workers in Germany and England to fight for better living and working conditions. To help members in times of distress, they set up funds and demanded a reduction in working hours and the right to vote. In Germany, these associations worked closely with the Social Democratic Party and helped it win parliamentary seats. By 1905 socialists and trade unionists formed a Labour Party in Britain and a Socialist Party in France.

42. Discuss Stalin’s collectivisation programme. Or What was Collectivisation? How did stalin use this programme?

Answer:  Stalin felt that collectivisation would definitely solve the problem of shortage. From 1929 the Party forced the peasants to cultivate in collective farms (Kolkhoz). The bulk of land and implements were transferred to the ownership of collective farms. Peasants worked on the land and the Kolkhoz profit was shared. Enraged peasants resisted the authorities and destroyed their livestock. Between 1929 and 1931 the number of cattle fell by 1/3. Those who resisted collectivisation were severely punished. Many were exiled and deported. The peasants argued that they were not rich and were not against socialism but they opposed collectivisation for a variety of reasons. Some independent cultivation was allowed by Stalin’s government but such cultivators were treated unsympathetically. In spite of all these measures production did not increase immediately.

43. How did socialism spread in Europe?

Answer:  The International Workingmen’s Association — the First International–was formed in 1864. With its formation “Socialism stepped onto the stage of history as a World Movement”. Its slogan was “proletarians of all countries unite”. It worked for the emancipation of the workers and laid stress on the ‘‘abolition of all class rules”. It continued up to 1872. In 1889, the socialists formed the Second International to coordinate their efforts. Associations were formed by workers in Germany and England for better living and working conditions. They set up funds to help members in times of distress. By 1905, socialists and trade unionists formed a Labour Party in Britain and a Socialist Party in France.

44. Discuss the causes that led to the Revolution of 1917. Or Describe the circumstances which were responsible for Russian Revolution.

Answer:  Russian peasantry was in a miserable condition. Feudalism and serfdom prevailed till 1861. The capitalist industrialists exploited the workers by making them work 12-14 hours, for low wages. The despotic rule of Tsar Nicholas II. The bureaucracy was corrupt, rigid and inefficient. The common people were fed up with the absolute rule of the Tsar. Karl Marx propagated scientific socialism. Liberal ideas of the west through literature entered Russia plus Tolstoy and other thinkers infused revolutionary thoughts in the youth.

45. Comment on the role of Vladimir Lenin in the revolution and his contribution to the economic policy.

Answer:  Vladimir Lenin played an important part in the Russian Revolution of 1917. He led the revolutionaries after the fall of the Tsar Under Lenin’s leadership, the Bolshevik Party put forward clear policies to end the war, transfer land to the peasants and advance the slogan ‘All power to the Soviets’. He was of the opinion that no genuine democracy could be established unless all the non-Russians were given equal rights. These were the real objectives of the Russian Revolution and he fulfilled all these objectives. That is why Lenin’s name has become inseparable from the Russian Revolution.

46. Discuss the role and importance of Lenin in the history of the USSR. OR Examine the role of Lenin in Russian Revolution.

Answer:  In April 1917, the Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin returned to Russia from exile. He said it was time for the Soviets to take over power. He declared that the war be brought to a close, land be transferred to peasants, banks be nationalised. These three demands were Lenin’s ‘April Theses’. He argued that Bolshevik Party be renamed the Communist Party. In January 1918, Lenin dismissed the Constituent Assembly. There was only one party — the All Russian Congress of Soviets. It also became the Parliament of the country. The secret police OGPU and NKVD punished those who criticised the Bolsheviks. By 1920, the Bolsheviks controlled most of the former empire. The Bolsheviks created the USSR from the Russian Empire in December 1922.

47. What were the immediate consequences of the Russian Revolution? (CBSE 2010)                                                                       Or What were the impacts of the Russian Revolution on Russia?

Answer:  Most industries and banks were nationalised in November 1917. This meant the government took over the ownership and management. Land was declared social property and peasants were allowed to seize the land of the nobility. In cities, Bolsheviks enforced the partition of large houses according to family requirements. They banned the use of old title of aristocracy. To assert the change, new uniforms were designed for the army and the officials. The Bolshevik Party was renamed the Russian Communist Party.

48. How did communism in Russia influence capitalist societies?

Answer:   Karl Marx argued that industrial society was capitalist. Capitalists owned the capital invested in factories. The profit of capitalists was produced by workers. Workers had to overthrow capitalism and the rule of private property. A radically socialist society had to be constructed. A communist society was the natural society of the future. By 1870s, socialists ideas spread through Europe.

49. What were the social, economic and political conditions in Russia before 1905?

Answer:  Social conditions : People of different social status, classes, religions and diverse nationalities were there. Imposition of Russian language was made to belittle the cultures of these people. Main groups of Russian population were farmers, workers, landowners, capitalists, industrialists and traders. Economic conditions : 85 percent of Russians were agriculturists. Agriculture provided employment to a vast population. Cultivators produced food for market as well as their own needs Political conditions : Nobles got their power and position through their services to the Tsar, not through local popularity. This was unlike France where peasants respected nobles and fought for them. In Russia, peasants wanted the land of the nobles, they refused to pay rent and even murdered landlords.

50. In what ways was the working population is Russia different from other countries in Europe, before 1917?

Answer:   Workers were a divided social group in Russia. Some had strong links with villages, some had settled in cities. Workers were divided by skill. Metal workers considered themselves aristocrats. Despite division they did unite to strike work when they disagreed with employers. Like workers, peasants were also divided. But they had no respect for the nobility. They wanted the land of the nobles. They refused to pay rent and even murdered landlords.

51. What were the main changes brought about by the Bolsheviks immediately after the October Revolution?

Answer:  Most industry and banks were nationalised. This meant that the government took over the ownership and management. Land was declared social property and peasants were allowed to seize the land of the nobility. In cities, Bolsheviks enforced partition of large houses according to family requirements. Use of old aristocratic titles were banned. New uniforms were designed for the army and the officials. The Bolshevik Party was renamed the Russian Communist Party. Russia became a one-party state. The secret police OGPU and NKVP punished those who criticised Bolsheviks.

52. Comment on the global influence of the Russian Revolution. Or What were the international consequences of the Russian Revolution?

Answer:  Existing socialist parties in Europe did not wholly approve of the way the Bolsheviks took power and kept it. Still the possibility of a workers’ state fired their imagination across the world. In many countries communist parties were formed. Bolsheviks encouraged colonial people to follow their example. Many non-Russians received education in the USSR’s University of the Peoples of the East. By the time the Second World War broke out, the USSR had given socialism a global face and world stature.

53. How did Russia’s participation in the World War caused the fall of the Tsar?

Answer:   The war was initially popular and people rallied around Tsar Nicholas II. But as the war continued, support became thin and Tsar’s popularity declined. Anti-German sentiments became high. The Tsarina Alexandra’s German origins and poor advisers, especially a monk called Rasputin, made the autocracy unpopular. Defeats were shocking and demoralising. Russia’s armies lost badly in Germany and Austria between 1914 and 1916. There were over 7 million casualties by 1917. The destruction of crops and buildings led to over 3 million refugees in Russia. The situation discredited the government and the Tsar. The war also had a severe impact on industry. Many of them producing essential goods were shut down. Able bodied men were called up to the war. Large supplies of grains were sent to feed the army. For the people in the cities, bread and flour became scarce. By the winter of 1916, riots at bread shops were common.

54. What conditions led to the Russian Civil War in 1918-1920? Any four points. Answer:   

(i) The Russian army began to break up after Bolsheviks ordered land redistribution. Soldiers who were mostly peasants wished to go home for the land and deserted. (ii) Now Bolshevik Socialists, Liberals and supporters of autocracy condemned the Bolshevik uprising. Their leaders organised the troops to fight the Bolsheviks. (iii) During 1918 and 1919, the ‘greens’ (Socialist Revolutionaries) and ‘whites’ (pro-Tsarists) controlled most of the Russian empire. They were backed by French, American, British and Japanese troops. As these troops and the Bolsheviks fought a civil war, looting, banditry and famine became common. (iv) Supporters of private property among ‘whites’ took harsh steps with peasants who had seized land.

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NCERT Class 9 History Chapter 2 Notes Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution

October 6, 2020 by Prasanna

On this page, you will find NCERT Class 9 History Chapter 2 Notes Pdf free download. CBSE Class 9 Social Science Notes History Chapter 2 SST Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution will seemingly, help them to revise the important concepts in less time.

Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution Class 9 Notes Social Science History Chapter 2

Cbse class 9 history chapter 2 notes understanding the lesson.

1. The powerful ideas of freedom and equality circulated in Europe after the French Revolution. In many parts of the world including Europe and Asia, new ideas about individual rights and who controlled social power began to be discussed.

2. Not everyone in Europe wanted a complete transformation of society. Responses varied from those who accepted that some change was necessary but wished for a gradual shift, to those who wanted to reconstruct society radically. Some were conservatives, others were liberals or radicals. Conservatives were opposed to radicals and liberals. After the French Revolution, however, even conservatives had opened their minds to the need for change.

3. Liberals and radicals opposed to the privileges the old aristocracy had by birth because they firmly believed in aristocracy had by birth because they firmly believed in the value of individual effort, labour and enterprise. So, many working men and women rallied around liberal and radical groups and parties in the early nineteenth century.

4. By the mid-nineteenth century in Europe, socialism attracted widespread attention. Socialist were against private property, and saw it as the root of all social evils of the time. They wanted that attention should be part to collective social interest.

5. Karl Marx was against capitalism. He believed that to free themselves from capitalist exploitation, workers had to construct a radically socialist society where all property was socially controlled. This would be a communist society.

6. Socialists took over the government in Russia in 1917 by a eliminating monarchy there. But this came about after a long struggle.

7. In 1914, Tsar Nicholas II ruled Russia and its empire. At that time, the vast majority of Russia’s people were agriculturists. Industries were few and were controlled by industrialists.

8. Russia was an autocracy. Unlike other European rulers, even at the beginning of the twentieth century, the Tsar was not subject to parliament. Liberals in Russia campaigned to end this system. The year 1904 was bad for Russian workers. Prices of essential goods rose so quickly that real wages declined by 20 percent. Hence, the workers in St. Petersburg went on strike demanding an increase in wages.

9. When the procession of workers reached the Winter Palace it was attacked by the police and the Cossacks. Hundreds of workers were killed and many were wounded. The incident, known as Bloody Sunday, started a series of events that came to be known as the 1905 Revolution.

10. During the 1905 Revolution, the Tsar allowed the creation of an elected consultative Parliament or Duma. But he dismissed the first Duma within 75 days and re-elected second Duma within three months. He did not want any reduction in his power. He changed the voting laws and packed the third Duma with conservative politicians.

11. In 1914, the first world war was broke out. In Russia, the war was initially popular and people rallied around the Tsar. But soon the number of his supporters went down, because he did not pay any heed to the soldier’s welfare.

12. The Russians Revolution of 1917 revolves around two primary events—the February Revolution and the October Revolution. The February Revolution brought down the monarchy in Russia through violent demonstrations and riots on the street of Petrograd.

13. But the February Revolution failed to express the wishes of the majority of the Russian population, as the event was primarily limited to the city of Petrograd.

14. However, most of those who took power after the February Revolution, in the Provisional Government that replaced the Tsar, and in the Petrograd Soviet generally favoured rule that was at least partially democratic.

15. The October Revolution, also called the Bolshevik Revolution, overturned the interim Provisional Government and established the Soviet Union.

16. After October, the Bolsheviks realised that they could not maintain power in an election-based system without sharing power with other parties and compromising their principles. As a result, they formally abandoned the democratic process in January 1918 and declared themselves the representatives of a dictatorship of the proletariat. In response, the Russian civil war broke out which lasted till 1920.

17. During the civil war, the Bolsheviks kept industries and banks nationalized. They permitted the peasants to cultivate the land that had been socialized. They also introduced centralized planning which led to economic growth.

18. The Bolsheviks encouraged colonial peoples to follow their experiment. Many non-Russians participated in the conference of the peoples of the East and the Bolshevik founded Comintern. By the time of the outbreak of the Second World War, the USSR had given socialism a global face but afterwards it began losing its popularity.

Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution Class 9 CBSE Notes Important Terms

Conservative: A person who favours free enterprise, private ownership, and holds traditional values.

Radical: A person who advocates thorough or complete political or social reform.

Liberal: A person who is open to new ideas.

Suffragette movement: A movement to give women the right to vote.

Autocracy: A system of government by one person with absolute power.

Jadidists: Muslim reformers within the Russian Empire.

Read wage: Reflects the quantities of goods which the wages will actually buy.

Deported: Forcibly removed from one’s own country.

Exiled: Forced to live away from one’s own country.

Collectivization: Consolidation of individual landholdings and labor into collective farms.

Socialism: A political and economic theory of social organization which advocates that the means of production distribution and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole.

Kulaks: The name for well-to-do peasants in Russia.

Notes of History Class 9 Chapter 2 Time Period

1850s-1880s: Debates over socialism in Russia.

1898: Formation of the Russian Social Democratic Workers Party.

1905: The Bloody Sunday and the Revolution of 1905.

1917: 2nd March- Abdication of the Tsar.

24th October- Bolshevik uprising in Petrograd.

1918-20: The Civil war in Russia.

1919: Formation of Comintern.

1929: Beginning of Collectivisation.

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Socialism In Europe And The Russian Revolution Class 9 MCQ Test (Online Available)

Free mcq test, table of content, socialism in europe & the russian revolution test - 8.

Duration: 10 Mins

Maximum Marks: 10

Read the following instructions carefully.

1. The test contains 10 total questions.

2. Each question has 4 options out of which only one is correct .

3. You have to finish the test in 10 minutes.

4. You will be awarded 1 mark for each correct answer.

5. You can view your Score & Rank after submitting the test.

6. Check detailed Solution with explanation after submitting the test.

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Socialism In Europe & The Russian Revolution Test - 7

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Socialism in Europe and the Russia Revolution Class 9 Extra Questions History Chapter 2

Socialism in europe and the russia revolution class 9 extra questions social science history chapter 2.

Extra Questions for Class 9 Social Science History Chapter 2 Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution

Socialism in Europe and the Russia Revolution Class 9 Extra Questions Very Short Answer Type Questions

Question 1. One of the groups which liked to change the society, was the ________ . Answer: Liberals

Question 2. Industrialisation broughf men, women and children to ________ . Answer: Factories

Question 3. Who was Giuseppe Mazzini. Answer: He was an Italian nationalist.

Question 4. Marx argued that industrial society was the ________ . Answer: Capitalist

Question 5. Workers in England and Germany began to form associations to fight for ________ . Answer: Better living and working conditions

Question 6. Socialists took over the government in Russia through the ________ . Answer: October Revolution of 1917

Question 7. Tsar Nicholas II ruled Russia and its empire in ________ . Answer: 1914

Question 8. Government supervised large factories to ensure the ________ . Answer: Minimum wages and limited hours of work

Question 9. All political parties were illegal in ________ . Answer: Russia before 1914

Question 10. What was the new name given to the Bolshevik Party ? Answer: Russian Communist Party

Question 11. The Russian Social Democratic Workers Party was founded in ________ . Answer: 1898 by Socialists.

Question 12. In Russia, the war was initially popular and people rallied around ________ . Answer: Tsar Nicholas II.

Question 13. The government tried to control the demonstrators and called out the ________ . Answer: Cavalry.

Question 14. Petrograd had led the February Revolution that brought down the ________ . Answer: Monarchy in February 1917.

Question 15. On 2nd March, Soviet leaders and Duma leaders formed a ________ . Answer: Provincial Government to run the country.

Question 16. What type of a nation did liberals want ? Answer: Liberals wanted a nation which tolerated all religions.

Question 17. The political party formed in mid-1920 in India, by the inspiration of Russian Revolution was the ________ . Answer: Communist Party.

Question 18. The government suspended the Duma on ________ . Answer: 25 February.

Question 19. Mention the most significant result of the February Revolution. Answer: The abdication of Tsar Nicholas-II.

Question 20. Explain the significance of the Russian revolution. Answer: The major significance of the Russian revolution was the establishment of a socialist state.

Question 21. What does the term ‘conservative’ mean ? Answer: The conservatives believed in respect for the past and change through a gradual process.

Question 22. List the names of two workers associations. Answer: (a) Labour Party in Britain (b) Socialist Party in France.

Question 23. Name the international body formed to coordinate socialist efforts. Answer: The Second International body was formed in 1870, to coordinate socialist efforts throughout Europe.

Question 24. Who were socialists ? Answer: Socialists were those people who were against private property and saw it as the root of all social ills of the time.

Question 25. Who was the ruler of Russia during the October Revolution. Answer: Kerenskii was the ruler of Russia during the October Revolution.

Socialism in Europe and the Russia Revolution Class 9 Extra Questions Short Answer Type Questions

Question 1. Why did Kerenskii’s Government become unpopular in Russia ? Answer: The Kerenskii’s government become unpopular in Russia because :

• His failure to feel the pulse of the nation. He tried to suppress the workers movement and the Balshevik influence.
• People wanted peace, but he tried to continue the war.
• The non-Russian nationals failed to get an equal status under his government.

Question 2. Which event in Russian history is known as Bloody Sunday ? Answer:

• On 9th January, 1905 a mass of peaceful workers with their wives and children was fired at St. Petersburg while on its way to the Winter Palace to present a petition to the Tsar.
• More than a hundred workers were killed and about 300 were wounded.
• The incident known as Bloody Sunday in history of Russia as the massacre had taken place on Sunday.

Question 3. What were the immediate consequences of the Russian Revolution ? Answer: The immediate consequences of the Russian Revolution were : (a) Most industries and banks were nationalized in November 1917. This meant the government took over the ownership and management. Land was declared social property. (b) In cities, Bolsheviks enforced the partition of large houses according to family requirements. (c) They banned the use of old title of aristocracy.

Question 4. What was the basic principle of the Marxist theory ? Answer: The basic principle of the Marxist theory were : (a) Marx believed that the conditions of workers could not improve if profit was accumulated by private capitalists. (b) Workers had to overthrow capitalism and the rule of private property. (c) Workers must construct a radically socialist society where all property was socially controlled. This would be a communist society and a Communist Party was the natural society of the future.

Question 5. How did the Bolshevik Party contribute to the Russian Revolution of October 1917 ? Answer:

• The Bolshevik Party put forward clear policies to end the war, transferred the land to the peasants and advanced the slogan, “All power to the Soviets”. On the question of non-Russian nationalities, Bolsheviks were the only party with a clear policy.
• Lenin had proclaimed the right of all people to self-determination, including those under the Russian Empire.

Question 6. Describe reforms introduced by the Russian Tsar Nicholas II after the Revolution. Answer:

• After 1905, most committees and unions worked unofficially. Since they were declared illegal. Severe restrictions were placed on Kerenskii political activity.
• Power to make laws was conferred upon on elected body called the Duma.
• He changed the voting laws and packed the third Duma with conservative politicians. Liberals and revolutionaries were kept out.

Question 7. State any three events after the Bloody Sunday which led to the revolution of 1905 in Russia. Answer: Three events after the Bloody Sunday which led to the revolution of 1905 in Russia were :

• The news provoked unprecedented disturbances throughout Russia. Strike took place all over the country.
• The universities of Russia were closed when student bodies staged walkouts, complaining about the lack of civil liberties.
• Lawyers, doctors, engineers, middle class workers established Union of Unions and demanded a constituent assembly.

Question 8. Explain the main demands of “April Theses”. Answer: In April 1917, the Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin returned to Russia from his exile. He and the Bolsheviks had opposed the war since 1914. Now he felt it was time for soviets to take over power. He put three demands which were known as Lenin’s April Theses. The three demands were : (a) He declared that the war to be ended (b) Land to be transferred to the peasants (c) The banks to be nationalized.

Question 9. Discuss the positive aspects of the Bolshevik government on Soviet Union and its people. Answer: The positive aspects of the Bolshevik government on Soviet Union and its people were :

• Immediately after coming to power, Lenin announced his decision to with draw from the First World War.
• Private property in the means of production was abolished. Economic exploitation by capitalists and landlords came to an end.
• The control of industries was given to workers. All the banks, industries and mines . water transport and railways were nationalized.

Question 10. How did the 1905 Revolution in Russia prove to be a dress rehearsal of October 1917 Revolution ? Explain. Answer:

• In 1904—05, there was war between Russia and Japan. In this war, Russia was defeated by Japan. The Russian people began to oppose the Tsar. They believed that the only cause of this defeat was the government of Tsar which had failed to carry out war properly.
• A procession of thousands of peaceful workers along with their wives and children went to the palace of Tsar to show their anger and present a petition on Sunday, 9 January, 1905. While the workers were on the way to the Winter Palace of Tsar, they were fired at by the army of the Tsar.
• More than one hundred people were killed and about three hundred were wounded.

Question 11. What were the significant changes in the Soviet Union after the death of Lenin ? Answer: In 1925, Stalin became General Secretary of the Communist Party of Soviet Union after the death of Lenin. The following were the significant changes in the Soviet Union after the death of Lenin.

• The economic and military power of the Soviet Union was enhanced rapidly.
• The unemployment and economic backwardness was controlled to some extent.
• The international position of the Soviet Union became much better than the previous time and it became one of the super powers of the world.

Question 12. How was the bad condition of women responsible for Russian Revolution ? Answer: The bad condition of women responsible for Russian Revolution because :

• Most of the women were working in small factories.
• Women made up about 31% of the factory labour force by 1914.
• They were paid less wages and were forced to work for long hours.
• When they launched an agitation, they were fired by the police.

Question 13. Why were socialists against private property and saw it as the root of all social ills ? Answer: The people who propagated socialism said that individuals, who owned property, did provide employment to many people but they were concerned with personal gains only. They did not bother about the welfare of the people. They felt that if society- controlled property, more attention would be paid to collective social interests socialists wanted this change and campaigned for it.

Question 14. Differentiate between the ideas of the liberals and radicals in Europe. Answer: (a) The liberals did not believe in universal franchise. In contrast, radicals wanted a nation in which government was based on most of a country’s population. (b) Liberals felt men of prosperity mainly should have the vote. They did not want the vote for women. On the other hand, the radicals supported women’s suffragette movements and opposed the privileges of great landowners and wealthy factory owners. (c) Radicals were not against the existence of private property but disliked concentration of property in the hands of a few.

Question 15. Which basic principles, ideas and values had the Russian Revolution for rest of the world ? Answer: The basic principles, ideas and values had the Russian Revolution for rest of the world : (a) Economic equality (b) Social Equality (c) Socialism (d) Anti-capitalism. (e) International fraternity of all the peasants, craftsmen and workers.

Socialism in Europe and the Russia Revolution Class 9 Extra Questions Long Answer Type Questions

Question 1. Describe the circumstances which were responsible for the Russian Revolution. Answer: The circumstances which were responsible for the Russian Revolution as given below :

• The Russian peasantry was in a miserable condition. The farmers could not get even two square meals a day. Their land holdings were very small and they had to pay heavy taxes.
• The Russian as well as the foreign capitalist industrialists exploited the workers by taking 12-14 hours of work and paying very low wages to them. The workers had no right to form trade unions or seek reforms. They led a miserable life.
• The Tsar Nicholas II was a despotic and autocratic ruler. He enjoyed unlimited powers and rights. The people of the higher strata enjoyed great privileges. The bureaucracy was corrupt and inefficient. The common people who suffered most, were fed up with the absolute rule of the Tsar and wanted to get rid of him.
• Karl Marx propagated ‘Scientific Socialism’. He strongly opposed capitalism which meant untold exploitation of the common men.

Question 2. Explain in brief Lenin’s contribution to the Russian Revolution of 1917. Answer:

• Lenin had played an important part in the Russian Revolution of 1917. It is true that after the fall of Tsar, Lenin led the revolutionaries. Really, it was the beginning of the revolution.
• The Provisional Government, under the leadership of Kerenskii, could not implement the demand of the people and failed.
• Under Lenin’s leadership, the Bolshevik Party put forward clear policies to end the war, transfer the land to the peasants and advance the slogan ‘All power to the Soviets’.
• He had described the Russian empire as a Prison of Nations and had declared that . no genuine democracy could be established unless all the non-Russian people were given equal rights.

Question 3. What were the main objectives of the Russian Revolutionaries ? Answer: The main objectives of the Russian Revolutionaries were :

• The Tsar had thrown Russia into the First World War to fulfil his imperialistic desires. It was the demand of the revolutionaries that Russia should withdraw from the war. So, it withdrew from the First World War in 1917 after the Revolution.
• After the Revolution, the land was given to the tillers. The landlords had to give the land to the government. Kolkhoz and Sovkhoj farms were established. In Kolkhoz farms, the peasants worked collectively.
• The revolutionaries had demanded an improvement in the conditions of the industrial workers. They demanded better wages, good working conditions and removal of exploitation. After 1917, the industries were nationalised and the dream of workers was fulfilled.
• The next aim of the revolutionaries was that the non-Russians should be given equal status. Lenin believed that without this status these people could never become real Russians.

Question 4. How Lenin’s name became inseparable from the Russian Revolution ? Answer: Lenin’s name became inseparable from the Russian Revolution :

• After completing his education, he joined the Communist Revolutionary Party and started spreading revolutionary ideas among the workers. He favoured the workers. He also favoured the setting up of the new society based on the principles of socialism of Karl Marx.
• He set up a Communist Government in place of the despotic rule in Russia. Therefore, Lenin’s name became inseparable from the Russian Revolution.
• Lenin united the peasants and workers under the Bolshevik Party and directed the revolution against the Provisional Government.
• Efforts were made to set up a Socialist Government on the basis of principles of Karl Marx. The private property was confiscated. Lenin took the land from the landlords and distributed it among the peasants. The Government nationalised all the factories and handed over their management to the workers. All debts were remitted. The property of the Church was also confiscated.

Question 5. What was the impact of the Russian Revolution on Russia ? Answer: The impact of the Russian Revolution on Russia were :

• The Revolution put an end to autocratic monarchy in Russia. The Tsarist empire was transformed into a new state known as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics or the Soviet Union.
• The most important result of the Bolshevik Revolution was the establishment of a Socialist Government in Russia. All the means of production were brought under state control. Banks, mines, factories, railways, telephones, etc. all were declared as government property and the property of the Church was nationalised. Work became an essential requirement for every person. The non-working person was not entitled to vote.
• The condition of the Russian mass had become miserable due to the First World War. The prime need of the Russian mass was food, not expansion.
• As a result of the Bolshevik Revolution, the government took all the means of production under its control and nationalised all small and big industries. Hence, within a few years Russia emerged as a powerful industrial state. With the growth of industrial and agricultural production, poverty started disappearing and the country moved on to the path of prosperity.

Question 6. What was the global impact of the Russian Revolution ? Answer: The global impact of the Russian Revolution were :

• The Bolshevik Revolution helped in the spread of Socialist and Communist ideas all over the world. Communist Governments were established in many European countries.
• Most of the Bolshevik leaders believed that a series of revolutions will sweep other countries of the world along with revolution in Russia. Many non-Russians from outside the USSR participated in the conference of the people of the east and the Bolshevik-founded Comintern, an international union of Pro-Bolshevik socialist parties.
• The Bolshevik government ‘granted freedom to all its colonies immediately after coming to power. Thus, the new Soviet State came forward as a friend of the subjugated people and proved to be a source of great inspiration to the freedom movements of various Asian and African countries.
• By the end of the 20th century, the international reputation of the USSR as a socialist country had declined through it was recognised that socialist ideals still enjoyed respect among its people.

Question 7. How did Russia’s participation in the World War cause the fall of the Tsar ? Answer: (a) The war was initially popular, and people rallied around Tsar Nicholas II. (b) As the war continued, support became thin and Tsar’s popularity declined. Anti-German sentiments became high. (c) The Tsarina Alexandra’s German origins and poor advisers, especially a monk called Rasputin, made the autocracy unpopular. (d) Defeats were shocking and demoralising. Russia’s armies lost badly in Germany and Austria between 1914 and 1916. There were over 7 million casualties by 1917. (e) The destruction of crops and buildings led to over 3 million refugees in Russia. The situation discredited the government and the Tsar. Soldiers did not wish to fight such a war.

Question 8. Explain the main effects of the First World War on the industries in Russia. Answer: Effects of the First World War on the industries in Russia were :

• Russian industries were very few and the country was cut off from other suppliers of industrial goods by German control of the Baltic Sea.
• Industrial equipment disintegrated more rapidly in Russia than elsewhere in Europe.
• By 1916 railway lines began to break down. Able bodied men were called up to the war.
• As a result, there were labour shortages and small workshops producing essential commodities were shut down.
• Large supplies of grain were sent to feed the army. For the people in the cities, bread and flour became scarce. By the winter of 1916, riots at bread shops were common.

Socialism in Europe and the Russia Revolution Class 9 NCERT Extra Questions

Question 1. What was the cause for the French Revolution? Answer: The demand for individual rights was the cause for the French Revolution. The Church and the Aristocracy dominated the society. The peasants, businessmen and the rest of the society who were called the 3 rd estate were dissatisfied. When living conditions became harsh the poor among the 3 rd estate revolted. This lead to the outbreak of revolutionary protest in France.

The French Revolution (1789–1799) was a period of political and social upheaval and radical change in the history of France, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based on Enlightenment principles of citizenship and inalienable rights.

These changes were accompanied by violent turmoil which included the trial and execution of the king, vast bloodshed and repression during the Reign of Terror, and warfare involving every other major European power. Subsequent events that can be traced to the Revolution include the Napoleonic Wars, two separate restorations of the monarchy, and two additional revolutions as modern France took shape.

Question 2. Who were the Liberals, Radicals and Conservatives? Answer: The Liberals, Radicals and Conservatives were totally opposed in their views. The Liberals wanted individual rights for the citizens, religious tolerance, and an elected parliament. They were not in favour of giving women the right to vote and they wanted only men with property to vote.

In contrast to the Liberals the Radicals were opposed to only wealthy men having the right to vote. They were in favour of women’s rights and wanted a Government that represented the majority of the population.

The Conservatives were truly conservative in their views . They wanted changes for the better, but wanted the changes to take place slowly, giving due respect to the past .

Question 3. What was the impact of Industrialisation? Answer: Due to rapid industrialisation men, women and children were forced to work in factories as their was a great demand for labourers. Labourers were made to work long hours and were paid poorly. Though industrialisation was rapid the demand for industrial goods was low . This resulted in poor working conditions. The rapid growth in towns also caused problems in housing and sanitation.

Question 4. List out the Socialist Ideas of the mid 19 th century. Answer: The Socialist Ideas of the mid 19 th century are as follows:

• They were against private property.
• Private property was the root cause for all social ills.
• The propertied individual owners were concerned only about their own profits.
• The welfare of the workers was neglected.
• They wanted a society controlled property rather than the individual owned as that would pay more attention to the social interest.

Question 5. Give a brief note on the following personalities. a. Robert Owen b. Louis Banc of France c. Karl Marx. Answer: a. Robert Owen (1771 – 1858) Robert Owen was an English Manufacturer. He advocated a cooperative community called New Harmony in Indiana (USA).

b. Louis Banc of France (1813 – 1882) Louis Banc wanted the government to encourage cooperatives and replace the capitalist enterprises. He advocated that people who produced the goods should form an association and the profit should be divided according to the work done.

c. Karl Marx (1818 – 1883) Karl Marx called the industrial society as the ‘Capitalist’ society. He championed the cause of the workers and said that the condition of the workers would improve only if the workers overthrow the capitalists and the rule of private property. So. Marx said that the workers had to create a society where the property was socially controlled. Only in such a radically socialist society the workers would be freed from the capitalist exploitation. According to him such a society would be a communist society and he called it as the natural society of the future.

Question 6. What were the demands workers’ associations formed in England and Germany? Answer: Workers in England and Germany formed associations. They demanded reduction in the working hours and the right to vote. These Association also set up funds to help workers in distress.

Question 7. Mention the Czars who ruled Russia from 1801 to 1917 and write a brief account on each on them . Answer: The Czars who ruled Russia from 1801 to 1917 were … Alexander I (1801-25) Nicholas I (1825-55) Alexander II (1855-81), Alexander III (1881-1894) Nicholas II (1894 –1917) Alexander I (1801-25) Alexander began his regime as a liberal but was later influenced by the staunch reactionary. Nicholas I (1825-55) Nicholas I, had no sympathy for western liberalism and crushed revolts at home and also in Poland.

Alexander II (1855-81) One of the most important reforms that Alexander II carried out in his country was the liberation of millions of Serfs. This is called the famous Edict Emancipation (1861). He drew up a programme by which the serfs became free and owned plots of agricultural land. However they were made to pay a sum of money every year to compensate the landlord for the loss of his land. After some time the Czar lost much interest in the reforms and started his reactionary rule. He was assassinated in 1881.

Alexander III (1881-1894) Alexander III , to avenge his father’s murder, let loose the reign of oppression. He tightened press censorship and ordered the arrest of all suspected persons who opposed the rule.

Nicholas II (1894 –1917) Nicholas II also continued to remain as oppressive as the earlier Czars. The common people began to hate him and his notorious ministers.

Question 8. What made the Czarist government bow to the demands of the common man? Answer: The disastrous defeat in the Far East culminated in the outbreak of riots in the cities and district towns. The Russian peasants rose in revolt and burnt the homes of their rich landlords. In the meanwhile, the people marched down the streets of the capital to the royal palace to submit a petition containing their grievances but the Czar was in no mood to entertain them. The royal guards opened fire and hundreds were killed and this horrible incident sent a wave of shock throughout the country. The news of the death of hundred of Russians provoked the workers in the cities to go on a general strike. The industrial workers’ strike spread throughout the country and the Czarist government became seriously concerned with the worsening crisis. The Czar was frightened at the halting of the country’s wheels of progress and finally yielded. He bowed to the demands of the common people and introduced many reforms.

Question 9. During the 1905 Revolution what did the Russian Czar promise the common man? Answer: During the 1905 Revolution, the Russian Czar promised the common man.

• Freedom of press, speech and assembly
• He recognized the trade unions.
• He also cancelled arrears of land payments by the peasants.
• He promised to hold elections for the Duma (Russian parliament).

Question 10. Why did the Revolution of 1905 fail? Answer: Soon after the royal troops returned from the Far East the Czar began his oppressive rule. The Czar revised the election rules in such a way that only the loyal upper class representatives were voted to power. The new Duma meekly submitted to the power of the Czar. Thus the Revolution of 1905 failed.

Question 11. Trace the down fall of the Czar Rule . Answer: The entry of Russia into World War I was an act of crowning folly on the part of the Czar. The country was hardly prepared for war of such magnitude against such a formidable enemy like Germany. The war weary Russian soldiers could hardly make any progress on the war front. Thousands of ill-equipped and untrained peasants were sent to the war front only to get killed by the highly trained German troops. The Czar was forced to abdicate (March 1917). His wife and a number of nobles were killed.

Question 12. Who headed the Provisional Government after the downfall of the Czar rule? Answer: A moderate social revolutionary called Alexander Karensky, who introduced a number of social reforms, headed the provisional government.

Question 13. List out Lenin’s early measures. Answer: Lenin’s early measures were

• He seized the properties of large landowners and the capitalists
• Lands which belonged to the people, were distributed to the poor peasants
• Factories were taken over by the government and handed over to the committee members, elected by workers who were to run it.
• The banks were nationalized and the depositors lost their money
• The New Economic Policy (NEP) was implemented in 1921
• A stable currency was introduced
• A new constitution was drawn up in 1923.

Question 14. When did Lenin die, and who succeed him? Answer: Lenin died in 1924 and Joseph Stalin succeeded him.

Question 15. What caused the rise of many revolutionary parties? Answer: Russia was defeated by Japan, a tiny Asiatic country, in the Russo-Japanese war that took place in 1904 . Discontentment rose to a new height. The Czarist government stood exposed for its inadequacy at the war. The Russians suffered a humiliating defeat and signed a number of secret treaties with Japan. As a result of this a large number of secret revolutionary parties sprang up. The Social Democratic Party was most radical in its character. The Social Democrats turned to catch the attention of industrial workers in the Russian cities and their moral mentor was Karl Marx.

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NCERT Solutions For Class 9 Chapter 2 History “Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution” Class 9 (Free PDF)

• Updated on  
• Jun 12, 2024

NCERT Solutions For Class 9 Chapter 2 History “Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution¨ aims to provide students with insightful solutions. Our subject matter experts have offered simple and accurate answers for the exercises in the history book ¨India and the Contemporary World-I.¨

NCERT Solutions For Class 9 Chapter 2 History “Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution¨ are designed in an easy-to-understand manner to help students grasp the topics easily. Students can use these varieties of  NCERT solutions and learn more about these interesting topics comprehensively. 

We hope that the History Chapter 2 NCERT Solutions For Class 9 Chapter 2 History “Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution¨ will be helpful for the students. 

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