World History 3201 Learning Outcomes

World History 3201 Learning Outcomes – Unit 2

1.) Marxism : The body of philosophical, political, economic and sociological ideas associated with Karl Marx (1818-1883) and his life-long collaborator Frederick Engels (1820-1895). The term is also used more generally to refer to work in the social sciences and humanities that employs key ideas and concepts from Marx and Engels' original writings. The core of Marxist ideas is the claim that each historical period has a distinct mode of production that rests upon particular forces - or technological organization - of production and distinct ways of organizing social relationships between people in the economy. This mode of production then exerts the primary influence in shaping social relations within the society in general as well as its politics, law and intellectual ideas.

Bolsheviks : Led by V. I. Lenin, the Bolsheviks were a centralized, disciplined party of professional revolutionaries. They dedicated themselves to overthrowing the Czar--the emperor of Russia--and to the establishment of a classless society. After their successful revolution in November 1917, however, the Bolsheviks were often ruthless toward those they considered enemies of the revolution, including many groups who had fought for decades against Czarist rule and in support of a revolution. Emma Goldman, an early supporter of the revolution, was especially troubled by the Bolsheviks' suppression of free speech and the political activities of the Russian anarchists.

March Revolution : The February Revolution of 1917 (March 1917 of the Gregorian calendar), which led directly to the fall of the autocracy of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, the last Tsar of Russia, and which sought to establish in its place a democratic republic. Kerensky released Bolshevik leaders hoping they would join the provisional government but instead they became the Red Guards (later the Red Army). Vladimir Lenin created ten Bolshevik policies, among them "Abolish all State Debt," meaning any international debt the country had previously held was now considered eliminated..

Provisional Government : A temporary government assembled during times of change

Petrograd Soviet : The Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, usually called the Petrograd Soviet, was the soviet (workers' council) in Petrograd (Saint Petersburg), Russia established in March 1917 after the February Revolution as the representative body of the city's workers.The Petrograd Soviet became important during the Russian Revolution leading up to the October Revolution as a rival power center to the Provisional Government.

The October Revolution, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, refers to a revolution—as part of the Russian Revolution—that began with a coup d'etat traditionally dated to October 25, 1917 (November 7, N.S.).[1] It was the second phase of the overall Russian Revolution of 1917, after the February Revolution of the same year. The October Revolution overthrew the Russian Provisional Government and gave the power to the Soviets dominated by Bolsheviks. It was followed by the Russian Civil War (1917–1922) and the creation of the Soviet Union in 1922.

Collectivization : A change in property relations from private ownership to group ownership, a step below ownership by the state. Policy of compulsory collectivization of agriculture was announced on December 27, 1929, by Stalin; it began on February 1, 1930. At the time the kulaks had seized the Soviet state by the throat, organizing a veritable strike against food supplies for the cities.

Kulaks : A Russian term meaning fist, popularly used to refer to rich peasants who owned land and hired poor peasants to work it. Lenin described the kulaks as "exploiters and profiteers who used their surplus grain to enrich themselves at the expense of the starving non-agricultural parts of Russia."

Stalin “Purges” : Under the dictatorship of Joseph Stalin, tens of millions of ordinary individuals were executed or imprisoned in labour camps that were little more than death camps. Perceived political orientation was the key variable in these mass atrocities. But gender played an important role, and in many respects the Purge period of Soviet history can be considered the worst gendercide of the twentieth century.

2.) For Marx, the analysis of social class, class structures and changes in those structures are key to understanding capitalism and other social systems or modes of production. In the Communist Manifesto Marx and Engels comment that the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.

The bourgeoisie or capitalists are the owners of capital,