Background of Russia
Russia is the largest country in the world in area, and it can
trace its history back to the 9th century. For hundreds of
years, Russia was ruled by czars who exercised almost absolute
control over many aspects of Russian life. As Western nations
began to industrialize during the 17th century, Russia's
development lagged behind. At the turn of the 20th century, most
of the russian population was still made up of poor, uneducated
peasants.
Opposition to the absolute power of the czar increased early in
the 20th century. Revolutionaries led by Lenin and Trotsky
overthrew the czarist regime in 1917 and established what came
eventually to be known as the Soviet communist government. In
1922 Russia joined with three ohter republics to from the Union
of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), also known as the Soviet
Union. By 1956, the U.S.S.R. had expanded to 15 republics
controlled by a centralized communist government, with Russia as
the largest and most influental republic.
Leaders in the Soviet Union attempted to control most aspects of
the country's economy, including banking, foreign trade, heavy
industry, and transportation. Under Lenin, most small business
owners and small farmers retained control of their enterprises.
Lenin died in 1924, and Stalin became dictator in 1929. Stalin
extended the control of the government over the economy and the
lives of the people. Under Stalin the government took control of
prices, wages and the distribution of goods. Stalin's form of
communism emphasized the development of heavy industry and set
high goals for industrial production. He combined
privately-owned farms into large, government-run agriculture
collectives. Stalin also instituted a reign of terror called the
Great Purge, in which millions of people were arrested and
murdered or sent to labor camps. Stalin died in 1953. His
successors, including Krushchev and Brezhnev, relaxed government
controls to some extent, but they left the communist system
basically intact. But in 1985 Mikhail Gorbachev became leader of
the Communist Party; he introduced the reforms that finally
resulted in the break-up of the Soviet Union.
Russian history info