Communist Russia
The February Revolution of 1917 seemed at first to place a West European-style government in power, but the October Revolution later that year, a coup by the Bolsheviks under the aegis of Lenin and Trotsky, entirely changed the course of events (90). This happened at the end of the First World War, when the collapse of the Russian Empire was followed by that of the German, Habsburg, and Ottoman ones. Amid the massive confusion, without even the slightest prospect of stability, severe unrest ensued in several places. In Hungary the first communist government outside Russia was briefly in power (91-92). In Russia overt and bitter civil war raged for many years, with drastic consequences for millions of people (93-95).
After the smoke had lifted, and Lenin’s succession had been determined, Stalin issued his own response to the modernization question, nationalizing all economic, social, and cultural life with a view toward bringing about forced industrialization of the Soviet Union in very ambitious five-year plans. The process, supported by sophisticated, ambitious propaganda in word and image (96-99), led to an almost exhaustive mobilization of labour to establish socialism throughout this vast country (100). The transition to massive forced labour swiftly followed (101-103). A new state education system was introduced to reverse the lack of schooling among the masses (104).
The end of the Second World War brought the Red Army to large parts of Eastern Europe. In all these areas, which basically came under Soviet occupation, the Stalinist model was imposed, with local variations and a colonial flavour. Industrialization plans, mobilization campaigns, and purges like those in the Soviet Union were soon forthcoming in Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, Czechoslovakia (105), and the German Democratic Republic (106).
