CBSE Class 9 History Notes Chapter 2

Here we have proided CBSE Class 9 History Notes Chapter 2 for the ease of students so that
they can prepare better for their exams.

The Age of Social Change

Following the revolution, discussions about social authority and individual liberties spread
throughout Europe and Asia. Though notions about societal change were changed by colonial
expansion, not everyone supported a total revolution of society. Socialism emerged from the
Russian Revolution as one of the twentieth century's most influential and potent social concepts.
Liberals, Radicals and Conservatives
A country that accepted all religions was what liberals desired. They advocated for a
representative, elected parliamentary government that was free from the influence of dynastic
authority and was subject to laws that were interpreted by a skilled court that was separate from
the ruling class.

They desired a government that was chosen by the vast majority of the populace. After the
eighteenth century, conservatives acknowledged change but also held that change should come
gradually and that the past should be respected.

Industrial Society and Social Change

New cities and industrialised regions emerged as a result of the Industrial Revolution, which
also brought about changes in social and economic life. In pursuit of employment, men, women,
and kids flocked to industries. Unfortunately, pay was low and working hours were lengthy.
When there was little market demand for industrial items, unemployment occurred. Both radicals
and liberals succeeded financially in business or trade.

They contend that society can only advance if people's freedoms are respected, the
impoverished are allowed to work, and the wealthy are allowed to act without limitation.
Monarchs are overthrown by revolutionaries in France, Italy, Germany, and Russia. Revolutions
to establish "nations" with equal rights were discussed by nationalists.

The Coming of Socialism to Europe

By the middle of the nineteenth century, socialism was a widely accepted ideology in Europe.
Socialists opposed private property and believed that it was the source of all contemporary
societal problems. They ran campaigns to change it because they wanted to. In Indiana (USA),
Robert Owen (1771-1858) aimed to establish a cooperative society known as New Harmony.
Louis Blanc (1813-1882) favoured replacing capitalist businesses with cooperatives through
government support.
Friedrich Engels (1820-1895) and Karl Marx (1818-1883) contributed further concepts to this
corpus of work. Marx maintained that the capitalists who owned the factories' investments were
the "capitalists" in industrial society, while the labour force provided the profits for the capitalists.
Private property rights and capitalism were overturned. Marx thought that the society of the
future would naturally be communist.

Support for Socialism

As socialist ideologies proliferated throughout Europe by the 1870s, they gave rise to an
international organisation known as the Second International. Workers in Germany and England
established associations to advocate for improved living and working circumstances. By 1905,
socialists and trade unionists had founded the Labour Party and the Socialist Party.

The Russian Revolution

Socialists seized control of the Russian government during the October Revolution of 1917. The
Russian Revolution was the name given to the events of October 1917 and the fall of the
monarchy in February 1917.
The Russian Empire in 1914
Tsar Nicholas Ilcommanded Russia and its empire in 1914. The Russian Empire stretched to
the Pacific and included modern-day Central Asian states, as well as Georgia, Armenia, and
Azerbaijan. It also included present-day Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and portions of
Poland, Ukraine, and Belarus. Russian Orthodox Christianity made up the majority of the
population.

Economy and Society

Russians who farmed for both their consumption and the market made up the majority of the
population at the start of the 20th century. Moscow and St. Petersburg were important industrial
hubs. The majority of the output was done by craftsmen, however there were also big factories
and craft enterprises. More factories were established and foreign investment in the industrial
sector rose in the 1890s.

The government oversaw large factories to guarantee minimum wages and set work hours. The
workforce was a socially divided group. Their skill levels also caused them to diverge. When
employees disagreed with employers about layoffs or working conditions, they banded together
despite their differences to cease work.
The majority of the land was farmed by peasants, while considerable domains were owned by
the Orthodox Church, the monarch, and the nobility. Because of their contributions to the Tsar,
nobility gained status and authority. Peasants in Russia want the aristocrats' land.

A Turbulent Time: The 1905 Revolution

Russia was an autocracy, with the Tsar being above Parliament even at the start of the twentieth
century. Russia, the Social Democrats, and the Socialist Revolutionaries collaborated with
labourers and peasants to seek a constitution during the Revolution of 1905. The year 1904
marked the beginning of hard times for Russian labourers, as the cost of necessities increased,
and their actual pay fell by 20%. Employees went on strike to seek better working conditions,
higher pay, and a decrease in the workday to eight hours.
When the procession arrived at the Winter Palace, it was ambushed by both the police and the
Cossacks. The Bloody Sunday incident set off a chain of events that eventually led to the 1905
Revolution. The Tsar permitted the establishment of an elected consultative Parliament, or
Duma, during the 1905 Revolution. The majority of committees and unions operated informally
after 1905 since they were deemed to be unlawful.

The February Revolution in Petrograd

The people of Petrograd City are split. Workers' lodgings and factories were situated on the right
side of the River Neva, while official buildings and elegant neighbourhoods like the Winter
Palace were situated on the left. The workers' quarters were severely impacted by food
shortages. On February 22, a factory was closed on the right bank. The reason International
Women's Day exists is because women pioneered strikes as well. With workers encircling the
official buildings and trendy quarters, the government declared a curfew.

Duma was placed on leave on February 25. Protesters brandishing signs calling for bread,
wages, improved working hours, and democracy crowded the streets. Although the cavalry was
summoned by the government, they declined to open fire on the protesters.

The Petrograd Soviet was the name given to the assembly of striking workers and soldiers that
formed a "council" or "Soviet" in the same building as the Duma. To govern the nation, leaders
of the Soviet Union and the Duma organised the Provisional Government. A constitutive
assembly chosen by universal adult suffrage would decide Russia's future. The February
Revolution, led by Petrograd, ended the monarchy in February 1917.

The Revolution of October 1917

The Bolsheviks and the Provisional Government were increasingly at odds. Lenin convinced the
Bolshevik Party and the Petrograd Soviet to consent to a socialist takeover of power on October
16, 1917. The Soviet Union created a Military Revolutionary Committee led by Leon Trotsky to
plan the seizure.
Ministers were to be arrested and govenment offices were to be seized by the supporters of the
Military Revolutionary Committee. The ministers had given up before dusk and the committee
had taken control of the city. The Bolshevik move was accepted by the majority of the
All-Russian Congress of Soviets at a meeting in Petrograd.

Stalinism and Collectivisation

The collectivization of agriculture proved to be disastrous during the early stages of the planned
economy.

Soviet Russia's towns were severely struggling with a shortage of grain by 1927-1928. Stalin
imposed strict emergency protocols. Party members patrolled the grain-producing regions in
1928, overseeing the collecting of forced grains and conducting raids on wealthy peasants
known as "kulaks." The land was tuned over to peasants after 1917. All peasants were
compelled by the Party to work in collective farms (kolkhoz) starting in 1929. The kolkhoz profit
was divided among the peasants who laboured on the land.

There was a one-third decrease in livestock between 1929 and 1931. Stalin's regime tolerated
some independent farming but showed indifference towards those who engaged in it. Despite
collectivization, productivity did not rise right away, and the 1930-1933 disastrous harvests
claimed almost 4 milion lives. Accusations were made across the nation, and by 1939, nearly 2
million people were incarcerated or housed in work camps.
The Global Influence of the Russian Revolution and the
USSR
Communist parties, such as the Communist Party of Great Britain, were founded in numerous
nations. International participants in the Conference of the Peoples of the East (1920) included
non-Russians from outside the USSR. The Comintern, a global alliance of socialist parties that
supported Bolshevik ideology, was established by him.
The USSR gave socialism a global face and grandeur before the start of World War II. The
USSR grew into a major power, its industries and agriculture flourished, and food was being
provided for the underprivileged. The Soviet Union's standing as a socialist nation had
deteriorated by the end of the 20th century.