Page 52 - Sst Class - IX

2. Socialism in Europe and the
2. Socialism in Europe and the
Russian Revolution
Russian Revolution

Memory Points
Memory Points
• After the French Revolution, powerful ideas of freedom and equality circulated in Europe.
• The French Revolution brought about the possibility of changing societal order not only in France,
but in many parts of the world including Europe and Asia.

• In India, Raja Rammohan Roy and Derozio talked of the significance of the French Revolution, and
many others debated the ideas of post-revolutionary Europe.
• The Liberals took steps to change the society.

• The Liberals wanted a nation which tolerated all religions and abolition of uncontrolled power of
dynastic rulers. Despite being non- democratic, they argued for a representative, elected parliamentary
government, subject to laws interpreted by a well-trained judiciary that was independent of rulers
and officials.
• The Conservatives were of the view that past has to be respected and change had to be brought
about through a slow process.

• The Radicals wanted a nation in which government was based on the majority of a country’s
population.
• The Radicals supported women’s suffragette movements; opposed the privileges of great landowners
and wealthy factory owners and disliked concentration of property in the hands of a few.

• Some nationalists, liberals, and radicals wanted revolutions to put an end to the kind of governments
established in Europe in 1815. In France, Italy, Germany, and Russia, they became revolutionaries and
worked to overthrow existing monarchs.
• By the 1870s, socialist ideas spread through Europe. To co-ordinate their efforts, socialists formed an
international body – namely, the Second International.

• Socialists took over the government in Russia through the October Revolution of 1917. The fall of
monarchy in February 1917 and the events of October are normally called the Russian Revolution.

EXERCISE
EXERCISE

Choose the correct option

1. Who wrote the book "The Communist Manifesto," which laid the foundation for socialist ideas?
a. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels b. Vladimir Lenin

c. Joseph Stalin d. Leon Trotsky
2. Socialism aimed to establish a society based on ___________________.
a. private ownership of the means of production b. state ownership of the means of production

c. individual wealth accumulation d. feudal principles

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