NCERT Solutions For Class 9 History Chapter 2 - Socialism in Europe and the Russian

Revolution

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

Ans- (Economic iife)-:

1. The vast majority of Russia’s people were agriculturists.

2. About 85% of the Russian Empire’s population earned their living from agriculture.

3. Russia was a major exporter of grain industry found in pockets.

4. Craftsmen undertook much of the production.

5. Russia’s railway network was extended.

6. Foreign investment in industry increased.

7. Coal production doubled.

(Political life)-:

1. Most industries were the private property of industrialists.

2. Government supervises large factories to ensure minimum wages and limited hours of work.

3. Factory Inspector could not prevent rules from being broken.

4. Accommodation varied from rooms to dormitories.

(Social life)-:

1. Workers were a divided social group.

2. Workers were divided into skills.

3. Metalworkers consider themselves aristocrats among other workers.

4. Their occupation demanded more training and skill.

5. Women made up 31% of the factory labour.

6. But they were paid less than men.

7. Divisions among workers showed themselves in dress and manners too.

8. in the countryside, peasants cultivated most of the land. But the nobility, the crown and the
Orthodox Church owned large properties.

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

Ans.

1. About 85%of Russians were agriculturists. In France and Germany, the farmers were
between 40% and 50%.

2. Industrialisation started late in Russia and industries were only found in pocket. Workers were
a divided social group and maintained strong with the villages.

3. In Europe, the Industrial Revolution changed a mainly rural society into an urban one.

4. In Russia, sometimes the working hours for workers were 15 hours , compared with 10 or 12
hours in Europe.

5. In France, during French Revolution , the French peasants respected nobles and also fought
for them. But in Russia, peasants wanted the land of nobles and they had no respect for the
nobility.

Q3). Why did the Tsarist autocracy collapse in 1917?

Ans- 1. Russian Army lost badly in Germany and Austria.

2. There were over 7 million casualties.

3. Russian Army destroyed crops and buildings.

4. The destruction of crops and buildings left over 3 million refugees in Russia.

5. The situation discredited the government and Tsar.

6. Soldiers did not wish to fight such a war.

7. The war also had a severe impact on industries.

8. Industries were few in number and the country was cut off from other suppliers of industrial
goods by Germany.

9. Railway line began to break down.

10. Able-bodied men were called up to the war.

Q.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.
Solution:
February Revolution:

22 February: Factory lockout on the right bank of the Neva river.

23 February: Sympathy strike by workers in 50 factories.
24th & 25th: Strikers stage demonstrations. Police called out to suppress the workers.
25th: The government suspends the Duma.
27th: Police Headquarters ransacked by the workers. Regiments support the workers. Striking
workers from the Petrograd soviet.
2nd March: The Tsar abdicates. Soviet and Duma leaders form the Provisional Government.

Effects:
1.Army officials, landowners, and industrialists became influential. Restrictions on public
meetings were removed.
2.Trade unions grew in number.

October Revolution:
16th October:

Vladimir Lenin, the Bolshevik leader persuades the Petrograd Soviet and the Bolshevik Party to
agree to a socialist seizure of power.
A Military Revolutionary Committee was appointed by the Soviet .

24th October:

The uprising against the Provisional government begins.

The Military Revolutionary Committee seized government offices and arrested ministers.
The winter palace was shelled.
Ministers of the Provisional government surrendered.
The Bolsheviks gained control.

Effects:
Industries and banks were nationalised.
Russia became a one-party state. The single party being the Bolshevik Party.
During the February Revolution, the factory workers and the Government Regiments played an
important role. The workers and the regiments joined together. The major impact of the
February Revolution was the downfall of the Russian Monarchy and the establishment of the
Petrograd Soviet.

Vladimir Lenin, the Bolshevik leader, played a major role during the October revolution. His
Bolshevik Party overthrew the Provisional Government and gained power. The Russian
Communist Party came into existence.

Q.5). What were the main changes brought about by the Bolsheviks immediately after the
October revolution?

OR

What were the main changes reserved after the October revolution?

Ans-
1. The Bolsheviks were totally opposed to private properties.
2. Most industries and banks were nationalized in November 1970; the government took over
ownership and management.
3. Land were declared social property and peasants were allowed to seize the land of
nobility.
4. In cities the partition large houses according to the family requirement, they banned the use of
old tiles of aristocracy.
5. New uniform designed for the army and official.
6. Bolshevik party was renamed the Russian Communist Party. Russia became a one-party state
Trade union work kept under party control.

Q.6). Write a few lines to show what you known about -:

Ans- * Kulaks:- Kunlka is the Russian name for well-to-do peasants .Party members
toured the grain of areas supervising their enforced grain collections and raiding ‘kulaks’.

* The Duma:- during the 1905 revolution the tsar allowed the creation of elected consultative
Parliament or Duma.

* Women workers between 1900 and 1930:- women made up 31% of the factory labour force
by 1940. They were paid less than the man; it was between half and three-quarters of the main
wages.

* The Liberals:- liberals wanted our nation which tolerated all religions. Liberal also opposed
the uncontrolled power of dynastic rulers, they wanted to safeguard the rights of individuals
against the government. They favoured parliamentary system of government and an
independent judiciary. They did not believe in universal adult franchise.

* Stalin’s collectivisation programme:- The party forced all peasants to cultivate in collective
farms. The bulk of the land and implement word transferred to the ownership of collective farms
peasants worked on the land profit was shared. Those who resisted collectivisation were
severely punished. Many deported and exiled rich peasants did not want to work in collective
farms for a variety of reasons. Stalin’s government allowed some independent cultivation and
treated search cultivators unsympathetically.