World war I – Lesson 3 Russian Revolution pgs. 280-284

20. Czar Nicholas II Autocratic ruler of Russia from 1868- 1918…Nikolai Romanov Insisted on taking personal charge of the army despite lack of training and ability. Influenced by his wife and ultimately Rasputin…these influences contributed to his fall. Russia was not prepared for war. He eventually abdicated ending the 300 year old dynasty. In April 1918, Nicholas and his entire family were assassinated by the Bolsheviks.

Rasputin

21. Aleksandr Kerensky Leader of the provisional government He decided to carry on with the war to preserve Russia’s honor…this was a major blunder. Nobody was happy and ultimately the Provisional Government’s authority would be challenged...by the soviets.

22. soviets Russian councils composed of representatives from the workers and the soldiers Made up of mostly socialists, the soviets represented the more radical interests of the lower classes…the Bolsheviks

23. Bolsheviks Began as a small faction of the Marxist party and eventually became the communists. (Mensheviks) They made up a slight majority of the Petrograd and Moscow soviets. They would eventually claim power for all the soviets. Lenin

24. Vladimir Lenin Leader of the Bolsheviks Under Lenin’s direction the Bolsheviks became a party dedicated to violent revolution. He believed only a violent revolution could destroy a capitalist system.

25. revolution An overthrow of government Bolsheviks became a party dedicated to violent revolution

26. Bolshevik Revolution Nov. 6, 1917 Bolsheviks forces seized the Winter Palace and overthrew the provisional gov’t Outwardly Lenin turned power over to the Congress of Soviets but really all the power belonged to a council headed by him.

27. Treaty of Brest-Litovsk Signed March 3, 1918. It ended Russian involvement in WWI. Russia gave up Eastern Poland, Ukraine, Finland, and the Baltic provinces … Lenin argued losing all this land made no difference (in reality is was a humiliating loss of land). The treaty brought peace to Russia in name only as the country would soon sink into civil war.

28. Red Army vs. White Army Red army – the communists, led by Lenin, they were well-disciplined White army – made up of many anti communists groups (anti-Bolsheviks), unorganized which weakened their efforts despite their large numbers.

29. Leon Trotsky Communist leader, commissar of war and organizational genius Trotsky reinstated the draft and insisted on rigid discipline helping the Red Army in their success. Eventually foreign armies on Russian lands enabled the Communists to appeal to Russian patriotism…by 1921 the Communists had total control of Russia. (Russia is now an enemy of the Allied Powers) Lenin died in 1924 paving the way for Stalin to take over.