Page 41 - Understanding NCERT Histroy 09th

Activity
(Page no. 41)
Q. Why did people in Central Asia respond to the Russian Revolution in different ways?
Ans. The people in Central Asia responded enthusiastically to the February 1917 Revolution
Goyal Brothers Prakashan
because it freed them from the oppression of the Tsarist regime and strengthened their
hope that autonomy would be realized.
However, they responded negatively to the October Revolution, as it brought violence,
pillage, extra taxes and another dictatorial power to rule over them. They feared now that
their liberty would be lost.

Source B (Page no. 41)
Central Asia of the October Revolution: Two Views M.N.Roy was an Indian revolutionary,
a founder of the Mexican Communist Party and prominent Comintern leader in India, China
and Europe. He was in Central Asia at the time of the civil war in the 1920s. He wrote: ‘The
chieftain was a benevolent old man; his attendant … a youth who … spoke Russian … He had
heard of the Revolution, which had overthrown the Tsar and driven away the Generals who
conquered the homeland of the Kirgiz. So, the Revolution meant that the Kirgiz were masters
of their home again. “Long Live the Revolution” shouted the Kirgiz youth who seemed to be
a born Bolshevik. The whole tribe joined.’
M.N.Roy, Memoirs (1964).
‘The Kirghiz welcomed the first revolution (ie February Revolution) with joy and the second
revolution with consternation and terror … [This] first revolution freed them from the oppression
of the Tsarist regime and strengthened their hope that … autonomy would be realised. The
second revolution (October Revolution) was accompanied by violence, pillage, taxes and the
establishment of dictatorial power … Once a small group of Tsarist bureaucrats oppressed the
Kirghiz. Now the same group of people … perpetuate the same regime ...’
Kazakh leader in 1919, quoted in Alexander Bennigsen and Chantal Quelquejay,
Les Mouvements Nationaux chez les Musulmans de Russie, (1960).

BOX - 4 (Page no. 42)
Socialist Cultivation in a Village in the Ukraine
‘A commune was set up using two [confiscated] farms as a base. The commune consisted of
thirteen families with a total of seventy persons … The farm tools taken from the … farms
were turned over to the commune …The members ate in a communal dining hall and income
was divided in accordance with the principles of “cooperative communism”. The entire proceeds
of the members’ labor, as well as all dwellings and facilities belonging to the commune were
shared by the commune members.’
Fedor Belov, The History of a Soviet Collective Farm (1955).

4.2 Making a Socialist Society
l During the civil war, the Bolsheviks nationalised industries and banks, allowing peasants
to cultivate socialised land.
• Centralised planning was introduced, setting targets for economic growth through the
five-year plans.

H-34 History Class IX