188: 1919 - The USSR

The History of the Twentieth Century

Mark Painter

History

4.8 • 719 Ratings

🗓️ 8 March 2020

⏱️ 47 minutes

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Summary

In the aftermath of the Russian Civil War, Lenin introduces the New Economic Policy, the USSR is organized, and prominent Socialist Revolutionaries are prosecuted for treason. Lenin falls ill in 1923 and dies in early 1924.

Transcript

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0:00.0	The Bolsheviks who led the October Revolution believed theirs was just the first spark of what would soon become a worldwide socialist revolution.
0:32.0	That seemed plausible for a time, but it soon became apparent that the rest of the world was not ready to follow Russia's lead.
0:40.4	What did that mean for the future of socialism?
0:43.7	What did that mean for the future of Russia?
0:47.9	Welcome to the history of the 20th century.
1:24.8	Music of the 20th century. Episode 188, 1919, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
1:27.5	This is the 13th episode in our 1919 world tour, and the ninth episode dealing with Russia,
1:34.3	or with lands that were part of the Russian Empire and the days before the Great War.
1:39.7	As you know, Finland, Poland, and the three Baltic states gained their independence from the violence and chaos that enveloped Russia as a result of first of the Great War, then the Russian Civil War.
1:53.9	In last week's episode, I talked about the three Caucasian nations of Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, three nations that were unable to maintain their
2:02.4	independence. At the end of the episode, I announced two pivotal developments that took place
2:08.2	after the Civil War, the new economic policy, and the formation of the Union of Soviet Socialist
2:14.7	Republics. Today, I want to unpack both of those developments and take a closer look at how they came about,
2:22.3	but first I want to consider what they mean in the broader sense of the future of Russia,
2:27.3	because they represent a shift in thinking among the new communist Russian leadership.
2:33.3	I've said repeatedly that the Bolsheviks expected their revolution
2:37.4	would merely be the first in a cascade of revolutions that would sweep away the old world order.
2:43.5	In 1919, it was possible to believe that was already happening.
2:48.3	Bolshevik-style uprisings took place in Hungary, episode 178, and in Germany,
2:54.1	we'll get to that later. The government in Moscow wanted to assist their comrades to the West,
2:59.9	but their options were limited due to the need to combat counter-revolution at home.
3:05.9	By 1920, as the Red Army was stamping out the last embers of counter-revolution at home. By 1920, as the Red Army was stamping out the last embers of counter-revolution
	...

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