Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution Class 9 History | CBSE Notes, NCERT Solutions & Exam Guide

Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution

The French Revolution sparked powerful ideas of freedom and equality, opening up possibilities for dramatic societal change in Europe and Asia. While these ideas circulated, not everyone sought a complete transformation; responses varied from gradual shifts to radical restructuring, leading to different political traditions: conservatives, liberals, and radicals. The nineteenth century saw these political traditions influence change, ultimately culminating in the Russian Revolution, which established socialism as a significant force shaping twentieth-century society.

1. Political Traditions of the Nineteenth Century (The Age of Social Change)

In the aftermath of the French Revolution, different groups emerged with distinct visions for society:

• Liberals
  • Desired a nation that tolerated all religions, unlike European states at the time that often favored one religion (e.g., Britain and the Church of England, Austria and Spain and the Catholic Church).
  • Opposed the uncontrolled power of dynastic rulers.
  • Sought to safeguard individual rights against government actions.
  • Advocated for a representative, elected parliamentary government.
  • Believed the government should be subject to laws interpreted by a well-trained, independent judiciary.
  • Were not 'democrats': They did not support universal adult franchise, meaning they believed primarily men of property should have the right to vote, and they did not want women to have the vote.
• Radicals
  • Wanted a nation where the government was based on the majority of the country’s population.
  • Many supported women's suffragette movements (movements to give women the right to vote).
  • Opposed the privileges of great landowners and wealthy factory owners.
  • Were not against the existence of private property but disliked its concentration in the hands of a few.
• Conservatives
  • Were initially opposed to radicals and liberals.
  • Before the eighteenth century, they were generally opposed to the idea of change.
  • By the nineteenth century, they accepted that some change was inevitable.
  • Believed that the past had to be respected, and any change should be brought about through a slow process.

These differing ideas clashed during the social and political turmoil following the French Revolution, defining the limits and potential of these political tendencies.

2. Industrial Society and Social Change

The nineteenth century was a time of profound social and economic changes, marked by the emergence of new cities, industrial regions, expanded railways, and the Industrial Revolution.

• Impact on Workers:
  • Industrialization drew men, women, and children to factories.
  • Work hours were often long, and wages were poor.
  • Unemployment was common, especially during low demand for industrial goods.
  • Rapidly growing towns led to problems with housing and sanitation.
  • Liberals and radicals actively sought solutions to these issues.
• Views on Economy and Society:
  • Almost all industries were the property of individuals.
  • Liberals and radicals themselves were often property owners and employers.
  • They believed that individual effort, labor, and enterprise should be encouraged, and that benefits would accrue if the workforce was healthy and citizens were educated.
  • They opposed the privileges of the old aristocracy based on birth.
  • They believed societies would develop if individual freedom was ensured, the poor could labor, and those with capital could operate without restraint.
  • Many working men and women who desired change rallied around liberal and radical groups in the early nineteenth century.
  • Some nationalists, liberals, and radicals became revolutionaries to overthrow existing monarchs and establish nations with equal rights for all citizens, particularly after 1815. Giuseppe Mazzini, an Italian nationalist, conspired to achieve this in Italy, and his writings influenced nationalists elsewhere, including India.

3. The Coming of Socialism to Europe

Socialism emerged as a far-reaching vision for structuring society, becoming a well-known body of ideas by the mid-nineteenth century in Europe.

• Core Socialist Idea:
  • Socialists were against private property, viewing it as the root of all social ills.
  • They argued that individuals owning property were only concerned with personal gain, not the welfare of those who made the property productive.
  • They believed that if society as a whole controlled property, more attention would be paid to collective social interests.
  • Socialists campaigned for this change.
• Different Visions of Socialist Society:
  • Co-operatives: Some believed in the idea of cooperatives.
    • Robert Owen (1771-1858), an English manufacturer, attempted to build a cooperative community called New Harmony in Indiana (USA).
    • Other socialists, like Louis Blanc (1813-1882) in France, felt that cooperatives could not be built on a wide scale solely through individual initiative and demanded government encouragement for cooperatives to replace capitalist enterprises. These cooperatives were meant to be associations where people produced goods together and divided profits based on work done.
  • Karl Marx (1818-1883) and Friedrich Engels (1820-1895):
    • Marx argued that industrial society was 'capitalist', with capitalists owning factories and workers producing the profits.
    • He believed that workers' conditions could not improve as long as profits were accumulated by private capitalists.
    • Marx asserted that workers needed to overthrow capitalism and the rule of private property to free themselves from exploitation.
    • He envisioned a radically socialist society where all property was socially controlled, which he termed a communist society.
    • Marx was convinced that workers would triumph in their conflict with capitalists, and a communist society was the natural society of the future.

4. Support for Socialism

Socialist ideas gained traction across Europe by the 1870s.

• International Coordination: Socialists formed an international body called the Second International to coordinate their efforts.
• Worker Associations and Political Parties:
  • Workers in England and Germany formed associations to fight for better living and working conditions.
  • These associations established funds to assist members in distress and demanded reduced working hours and the right to vote.
  • In Germany, these associations worked closely with the Social Democratic Party (SPD), helping it secure parliamentary seats.
  • By 1905, socialists and trade unionists formed the Labour Party in Britain and a Socialist Party in France.
• Political Influence (Pre-1914): Despite strong representation in parliamentary politics and shaping legislation, socialists did not succeed in forming a government in Europe until 1914. Governments continued to be run by conservatives, liberals, and radicals.
• The Paris Commune (1871):
  • A popular uprising in Paris between March and May 1871 where the town council (commune) was taken over by a 'peoples' government' of workers, ordinary people, professionals, and activists.
  • It emerged from growing discontent against the French state's policies.
  • Though ultimately crushed by government troops, it was celebrated globally by Socialists as a prelude to a socialist revolution.
  • Its legacies include its association with the workers' red flag and the 'Marseillaise' (originally a war song, it became a symbol of the Commune and the struggle for liberty).

The Russian Revolution

The Russian Revolution saw socialists take over the government in Russia through the October Revolution of 1917, following the fall of the monarchy in February 1917.

1. The Russian Empire in 1914

• Ruler: In 1914, Tsar Nicholas II ruled Russia and its vast empire.
• Territory: The empire stretched to the Pacific, encompassing territory around Moscow, current-day Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, parts of Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Central Asian states, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan.
• Religion: The majority religion was Russian Orthodox Christianity, but the empire also included Catholics, Protestants, Muslims, and Buddhists.

2. Economy and Society in Pre-Revolutionary Russia

• Economy:
  • Vast majority (about 85 per cent) of the population were agriculturists, a higher proportion than most European countries (e.g., France and Germany were 40-50%).
  • Cultivators produced for both their own needs and the market, making Russia a major exporter of grain.
  • Industry existed in pockets, notably St Petersburg and Moscow.
  • Craftsmen contributed significantly to production, but large factories also existed and expanded in the 1890s due to railway network extension and foreign investment.
  • Coal production doubled, and iron and steel output quadrupled. By the 1900s, factory workers and craftsmen were almost equal in number in some areas.
• Working Conditions:
  • Most industry was private property.
  • Government supervision of large factories aimed to ensure minimum wages and limited hours, but rules were often broken.
  • In craft units and small workshops, the workday could be up to 15 hours, compared to 10-12 hours in factories.
  • Accommodation varied from rooms to dormitories, with workers often sleeping in shifts and unable to keep families with them [26, Fig. 6].
  • Unemployed peasants in St Petersburg often survived by eating at charitable kitchens and living in poorhouses [28, Fig. 5].
• Worker Divisions and Unity:
  • Workers were a divided social group based on links to villages or permanent city settlement, and by skill. Metalworkers, for example, considered themselves "aristocrats" due to requiring more training.
  • Women made up 31% of the factory labor force by 1914 but were paid less than men (half to three-quarters of a man's wage).
  • Divisions were also apparent in dress and manners.
  • Few associations were formed to help members during unemployment or financial hardship.
  • Despite divisions, workers did unite to strike over dismissals or work conditions. Strikes were frequent in the textile industry (1896-1897) and metal industry (1902).
• Peasantry:
  • Peasants cultivated most of the land, but large properties were owned by the nobility, the crown, and the Orthodox Church.
  • Unlike in France, Russian peasants generally had no respect for the nobility, whose power came from service to the Tsar, not local popularity.
  • Peasants desired the land of the nobles.
  • They frequently refused to pay rent and even murdered landlords (large scale in south Russia in 1902, all over Russia in 1905).
  • Russian peasants were unique in periodically pooling their land together and having their commune (mir) divide it according to family needs.

3. Socialism in Russia

• Illegal Political Parties: All political parties were illegal in Russia before 1914.
• Russian Social Democratic Workers Party (RSDWP):
  • Founded in 1898 by socialists who respected Marx's ideas.
  • Operated illegally due to government policing, setting up a newspaper, mobilizing workers, and organizing strikes.
• Socialist Revolutionary Party:
  • Formed in 1900.
  • Believed that Russian peasants' custom of periodically dividing land made them "natural socialists," thus making peasants, not workers, the main force of the revolution.
  • Struggled for peasants' rights and demanded the transfer of noble land to peasants.
• Disagreement and Party Division:
  • Social Democrats (Lenin's view): Disagreed with Socialist Revolutionaries, arguing that peasants were not a united group (some poor, some rich, some laborers, some capitalists employing workers). This "differentiation" meant they couldn't all be part of a socialist movement.
  • Bolsheviks vs. Mensheviks: The RSDWP was divided over organizational strategy.
    • Vladimir Lenin (Bolshevik group leader): Believed that in a repressive society like Tsarist Russia, the party needed to be disciplined and control the number and quality of its members.
    • Mensheviks: Thought the party should be open to all, similar to Germany.
• Worker Mobilization Tactics (Source A): Alexander Shlyapnikov described how socialists organized meetings in plants and shops, combining legal discussions of official issues with the struggle for working-class liberation. Illegal meetings were arranged impromptu during breaks or at exits, with agitators speaking until police arrived.

4. The 1905 Revolution (A Turbulent Time)

• Autocracy: Russia was an autocracy, and unlike other European rulers, the Tsar was not subject to parliament.
• Demand for Constitution: Liberals, Social Democrats, and Socialist Revolutionaries collaborated with peasants and workers during the 1905 revolution to demand a constitution. They were supported by nationalists (e.g., in Poland) and Muslim jadidists (reformers wanting modernized Islam).
• Prelude to Revolution:
  • 1904 was a bad year for Russian workers: prices of essentials rose, and real wages declined by 20%.
  • Membership in worker associations increased significantly.
  • Dismissal of four members of the Assembly of Russian Workers (formed in 1904) at the Putilov Iron Works triggered industrial action.
• Bloody Sunday (January 22, 1905):
  • Over 110,000 workers in St Petersburg went on strike, demanding an eight-hour workday, wage increases, and improved working conditions.
  • A procession of workers led by Father Gapon marched to the Winter Palace and was attacked by police and Cossacks.
  • Over 100 workers were killed and about 300 wounded.
  • This incident marked the beginning of the 1905 Revolution.
• Nationwide Unrest: Strikes spread, universities closed due to student walkouts complaining about lack of civil liberties, and middle-class workers (lawyers, doctors, engineers) formed the Union of Unions, demanding a constituent assembly.
• Tsar's Response:
  • During the revolution, the Tsar permitted the creation of an elected consultative Parliament, or Duma.
  • Trade unions and factory committees briefly flourished but were declared illegal after 1905, with severe restrictions on political activity.
  • The Tsar dismissed the first Duma within 75 days and the second within three months.
  • He changed voting laws to pack the third Duma with conservative politicians, excluding liberals and revolutionaries.

5. The First World War and the Russian Empire (1914-1917)

• War Alliances: In 1914, war erupted between the Central Powers (Germany, Austria, Turkey) and France, Britain, and Russia (later joined by Italy and Romania). This was the First World War.
• Initial Support and Decline: The war was initially popular in Russia, with people rallying around Tsar Nicholas II. However, support waned as the Tsar refused to consult the main parties in the Duma. Anti-German sentiment led to the renaming of St Petersburg to Petrograd. Tsarina Alexandra's German origins and poor advisors (like Rasputin) further made the autocracy unpopular.
• Military Defeats and Casualties:
  • The Eastern Front involved more movement and battles, leading to large casualties, unlike the Western Front's trench warfare.
  • Russian armies suffered significant defeats in Germany and Austria between 1914 and 1916, resulting in over 7 million casualties by 1917.
  • The retreating Russian army destroyed crops and buildings to hinder the enemy, causing over 3 million refugees in Russia. This situation discredited the government and the Tsar, with soldiers unwilling to continue fighting.
• Economic Impact:
  • The war severely impacted Russia's limited industries, as the country was cut off from other industrial suppliers by German control of the Baltic Sea.
  • Industrial equipment deteriorated rapidly, and railway lines began to break down by 1916.
  • Able-bodied men were conscripted, leading to labor shortages and the closure of small workshops producing essentials.
  • Large grain supplies were diverted to the army, causing scarcity of bread and flour in cities, leading to widespread riots at bread shops by the winter of 1916.

6. The February Revolution in Petrograd (1917)

• Grim Conditions (Winter 1917): Petrograd faced severe conditions, particularly in workers' quarters, due to food shortages, exceptional frost, and heavy snow. The city's layout itself highlighted social divisions, with workers on the right bank of the Neva and fashionable/official areas on the left.
• Triggering Events:
  • February 22: A lockout at a factory on the right bank.
  • February 23: Workers in fifty factories called a sympathetic strike, with women leading the way in many factories. This day became known as International Women's Day [46, 47, Box 1].
  • Demonstrating workers crossed to the capital's center (Nevskii Prospekt), prompting a government curfew.
• Escalation:
  • February 25: The government suspended the Duma, sparking protests from politicians.
  • February 26: Demonstrators returned to the streets of the left bank in force.
  • February 27: Police Headquarters were ransacked, and streets filled with people demanding "bread, wages, better hours, and democracy".
  • The government's cavalry refused to fire on demonstrators; an officer was shot, and three regiments mutinied, joining the striking workers.
• Formation of Petrograd Soviet and Abdication:
  • By evening on February 27, soldiers and striking workers formed a 'soviet' or 'council' in the same building where the Duma met, known as the Petrograd Soviet.
  • March 2: Military commanders advised the Tsar to abdicate, which he did.
  • Provisional Government: Soviet leaders and Duma leaders formed a Provisional Government to run the country, with Russia's future to be decided by a constituent assembly elected on universal adult suffrage.
  • The February Revolution in Petrograd thus brought down the monarchy.

7. After February (Leading to the October Revolution)

• Provisional Government and Soviets:
  • The Provisional Government had influential army officials, landowners, and industrialists, but liberals and socialists within it worked towards an elected government.
  • Restrictions on public meetings and associations were lifted, and 'Soviets' (like the Petrograd Soviet) were set up everywhere, though without a common election system.
• Lenin's Return and April Theses:
  • In April 1917, Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin returned from exile. He and the Bolsheviks had opposed the war since 1914.
  • Lenin believed it was time for soviets to take power and declared his 'April Theses':
    1. The war must be brought to a close.
    2. Land must be transferred to the peasants.
    3. Banks must be nationalized.
  • He also proposed renaming the Bolshevik Party the Communist Party to reflect its radical aims.
  • Initially, most Bolsheviks were surprised, thinking it was too early for a socialist revolution and that the Provisional Government should be supported, but attitudes changed over months.
• Growing Discontent and Repression:
  • The worker movement spread throughout the summer, with factory committees questioning industrialists and trade unions growing. Soldiers' committees formed in the army.
  • In June, about 500 Soviets sent representatives to an All Russian Congress of Soviets.
  • As Bolshevik influence grew and the Provisional Government's power diminished, the government took stern measures: resisting workers' attempts to run factories and arresting leaders.
  • Popular Bolshevik demonstrations in July 1917 were repressed, forcing many Bolshevik leaders into hiding or exile [56, Fig. 10].
• Peasant Land Seizures: In the countryside, peasants, encouraged by Socialist Revolutionaries, formed land committees and seized land between July and September 1917.

8. The Revolution of October 1917

• Lenin's Call for Uprising: As conflict between the Provisional Government and Bolsheviks intensified, Lenin feared a dictatorship and began planning an uprising in September. Bolshevik supporters in the army, soviets, and factories were mobilized.
• The Seizure of Power:
  • On October 16, 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 under Leon Trotskii to organize the seizure, keeping the date secret.
  • The uprising began on October 24. Prime Minister Kerenskii left the city to call troops.
  • Pro-government forces initially seized Bolshevik newspaper buildings and protected the Winter Palace and communication offices.
  • In response, the Military Revolutionary Committee ordered its supporters to seize government offices and arrest ministers.
  • Late in the day, the ship Aurora shelled the Winter Palace. Other vessels took over military points on the Neva River.
  • By nightfall, the city was under the committee's control, and ministers had surrendered.
  • The Bolshevik action was approved by the majority at a meeting of the All Russian Congress of Soviets in Petrograd.
• Bolshevik Consolidation: Uprisings occurred in other cities, with heavy fighting, especially in Moscow. By December, the Bolsheviks controlled the Moscow-Petrograd area.
• Calendar Change: Russia followed the Julian calendar until February 1, 1918, then switched to the Gregorian calendar (13 days ahead). Thus, the "February" Revolution occurred on March 12, and the "October" Revolution occurred on November 7 by the Gregorian calendar [60, Box 2].

What Changed after October?

The October Revolution brought about radical changes in Russia, establishing the foundations of a socialist state.

1. Immediate Bolshevik Policies

• Abolition of Private Property: The Bolsheviks were totally opposed to private property.
  • Most industry and banks were nationalized in November 1917, meaning the government took over ownership and management.
  • Land was declared social property, and peasants were permitted to seize land from the nobility.
  • In cities, large houses were partitioned according to family requirements.
• Social and Symbolic Changes:
  • The use of old aristocracy titles was banned.
  • New uniforms were designed for the army and officials, including the Soviet hat (budeonovka) chosen after a 1918 competition [62, Fig. 12].
  • The Bolshevik Party was renamed the Russian Communist Party (Bolshevik).
• Political Structure:
  • In November 1917, Bolsheviks held elections for the Constituent Assembly, but failed to win a majority.
  • In January 1918, Lenin dismissed the Assembly, believing the All Russian Congress of Soviets was more democratic, especially given the uncertain election conditions.
  • In March 1918, despite opposition from allies, the Bolsheviks made peace with Germany at Brest Litovsk.
  • Russia became a one-party state, with the Bolsheviks being the only party allowed to participate in elections to the All Russian Congress of Soviets, which became the Parliament.
  • Trade unions were kept under party control.
  • A secret police (initially Cheka, later OGPU and NKVD) was established to punish critics of the Bolsheviks.
  • While many young writers and artists initially supported the Party, hoping for socialist change and artistic experimentation, many became disillusioned due to the Party's encouragement of censorship.

2. The Civil War (1918-1920)

• Army Disintegration: When the Bolsheviks ordered land redistribution, the Russian army began to break up, as soldiers (mostly peasants) deserted to go home for land redistribution.
• Opposition to Bolsheviks:
  • Non-Bolshevik socialists, liberals, and supporters of autocracy condemned the Bolshevik uprising.
  • Their leaders moved to southern Russia and formed troops to fight the Bolsheviks (the 'reds').
  • 'Greens' (Socialist Revolutionaries) and 'Whites' (pro-Tsarists) controlled most of the Russian empire during 1918 and 1919.
  • These anti-Bolshevik forces were supported by French, American, British, and Japanese troops, who were concerned about the spread of socialism in Russia.
• Consequences and Bolshevik Victory:
  • The civil war led to widespread looting, banditry, and famine.
  • 'Whites' who supported private property took harsh measures against peasants who had seized land, which resulted in a loss of popular support for the non-Bolsheviks.
  • By January 1920, the Bolsheviks controlled most of the former Russian empire.
  • Their success was partly due to cooperation with non-Russian nationalities and Muslim jadidists. However, in some areas like Khiva in Central Asia, Bolshevik colonists brutally massacred local nationalists, leading to confusion about the Bolshevik government's representation.

3. Formation of the USSR and Attempts at Socialist Society

• Soviet Union (USSR): To address confusion and varied responses from non-Russian nationalities, the Bolsheviks created the Soviet Union (USSR) from the Russian empire in December 1922.
  • Most non-Russian nationalities were granted political autonomy.
  • However, unpopular policies, such as the harsh discouragement of nomadism, limited the success of winning over different nationalities.
• Making a Socialist Society (Planned Economy):
  • During the civil war, industries and banks remained nationalized, and peasants were allowed to cultivate socialized land. Confiscated land was used to demonstrate collective work.
  • A system of centralized planning was introduced, with officials assessing economic needs and setting targets for Five-Year Plans (e.g., 1927-1932 and 1933-1938).
  • The government fixed all prices to promote industrial growth.
  • This led to significant economic growth, with industrial production increasing (e.g., oil, coal, and steel output by 100% between 1929 and 1933). New factory cities emerged [77, Fig. 14].
  • Challenges in Rapid Construction: Rapid construction often led to poor working conditions. For example, the Magnitogorsk steel plant construction saw 550 work stoppages in its first year, and workers endured harsh living conditions (e.g., having to go outside in -40 degree weather to use the toilet).
  • Social Welfare Initiatives: An extended schooling system developed, with arrangements for factory workers and peasants to attend universities [78, Fig. 15]. Crèches were established in factories for women workers' children. Cheap public health care was provided, and model living quarters were set up for workers. The impact was uneven due to limited government resources.
    • Source C illustrates the struggles of a 13-year-old worker in 1933, highlighting the discrepancy between the ideal of universal education (as espoused by Lenin) and the reality of poverty forcing children into labor.

4. Stalinism and Collectivisation (From 1929)

• Grain Shortages (1927-1928): Soviet towns faced acute grain supply problems, as peasants refused to sell grain at government-fixed prices.
• Stalin's Measures:
  • Joseph Stalin, who led the party after Lenin's death, implemented firm emergency measures.
  • He believed rich peasants and traders ('kulaks') were hoarding stocks for higher prices.
  • In 1928, Party members supervised enforced grain collections and raided 'kulaks' [83, Fig. 18].
• Reasons for Collectivisation:
  • Grain shortages were partly attributed to the small size of peasant landholdings after 1917, which were seen as unmodernizable.
  • To develop modern, industrialized farms with machinery, it was deemed necessary to 'eliminate kulaks,' take land from peasants, and establish state-controlled large farms.
• Collectivisation Programme:
  • Starting in 1929, the Party forced all peasants to cultivate in collective farms (kolkhoz) [84, Fig. 19].
  • The bulk of land and implements were transferred to the ownership of collective farms, with peasants working on the land and sharing profits.
• Peasant Resistance and Consequences:
  • Enraged peasants resisted by destroying their livestock (number of cattle fell by one-third between 1929 and 1931).
  • Those who resisted were severely punished, with many deported and exiled.
  • Peasants argued they were not rich and not against socialism but simply did not want to work in collective farms.
  • Stalin's government allowed some independent cultivation but treated such cultivators unsympathetically.
  • Despite collectivisation, agricultural production did not immediately increase. The bad harvests of 1930-1933 led to one of the most devastating famines in Soviet history, causing over 4 million deaths.
  • Source E shows an official report from March 1930 detailing widespread peasant insurrections in Ukraine due to "distortions of the Party's line" during collectivization, leading to 25,000 arrests, 656 executions, 3,673 imprisonments in labor camps, and 5,580 exiles.
  • Source D provides a peasant's letter from 1937 describing heavy taxes, confiscation of property, and forced sale of his buildings to the kolkhoz, despite being a "natural working peasant".
• Political Repression (The Great Purge):
  • Critics within the Party who questioned the planned economy and collectivisation were accused of conspiracy against socialism by Stalin and his sympathizers.
  • By 1939, over 2 million people were in prisons or labor camps.
  • Many innocent individuals were forced to make false confessions under torture and were executed, including talented professionals.

The Global Influence of the Russian Revolution and the USSR

The Russian Revolution had a profound global impact, inspiring socialist movements worldwide.

• Spread of Ideas: The possibility of a workers' state captured imaginations globally, leading to the formation of communist parties in many countries, such as the Communist Party of Great Britain.
• Support for Colonial Peoples: The Bolsheviks encouraged colonial peoples to emulate their experiment. Many non-Russians from outside the USSR participated in the Conference of the Peoples of the East (1920) and the Bolshevik-founded Comintern (an international union of pro-Bolshevik socialist parties). Some received education at the Communist University of the Workers of the East in the USSR.
• Global Stature: By the time of World War II, the USSR had given socialism a global face and world stature.
• Later Criticisms: By the 1950s, it was acknowledged within the USSR that its style of government did not align with the Russian Revolution's ideals. The international socialist movement also recognized issues within the Soviet Union. While the USSR transformed from a backward country into a great power with developed industries and agriculture that fed its poor, it did so by denying essential freedoms to its citizens and implementing developmental projects through repressive policies. By the end of the twentieth century, the USSR's international reputation as a socialist country declined, though socialist ideals still commanded respect among its people, and ideas of socialism were rethought in various ways in different countries.
• Influence in India (Box 5):
  • The Russian Revolution inspired many Indians, some of whom attended the Communist University.
  • The Communist Party was formed in India by the mid-1920s, maintaining ties with the Soviet Communist Party.
  • Important Indian political and cultural figures like Jawaharlal Nehru and Rabindranath Tagore visited Russia and wrote about Soviet Socialism.
  • Indian writings on Soviet Russia include R.S. Avasthi's Russian Revolution, Lenin, His Life and His Thoughts (1920-21) and The Red Revolution, and S.D. Vidyalankar's The Rebirth of Russia and The Soviet State of Russia. Much was also written in Bengali, Marathi, Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu.
  • Shaukat Usmani (1920): Described seeing Europeans mixing freely with Asians, signifying "real equality" and "freedom in its true light." He noted the people's jovial and satisfied demeanor despite poverty, attributing it to confidence and fearlessness instilled by the revolution, and observed "real brotherhood of mankind" among diverse nationalities, with workers, peasants, or soldiers speaking like professional lecturers [97, 98, Source F].
  • Rabindranath Tagore (1930): Noted Moscow appeared less clean than other European capitals, with the whole place belonging to workers, and no masses put in the shade by gentlemen. He was astonished to see how Russia had removed "the mountain of ignorance and helplessness" in just a decade, comparing it to the rapid changes by "Genii in the Arabian Nights" 

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