The Russian Revolution

Beginnings of Upheaval Czar Nicholas II relied on the army and bureaucracy to hold up his regime Grigory Rasputin began to influence his wife, Alexandra Rasputin gained her confidence through her son, Alexis, who was a hemophiliac Alexandra believed Rasputin had extraordinary powers since he could stop her son’s bleeding Rasputin was assassinated in December 1916 Shot three times, tied up, and thrown into the river He drowned, but he had managed to untie all of the knots binding him

March Revolution March 1917  working-class women led a series of strikes in Petrograd (St. Petersburg) because the government had begun to ration bread after inflated prices These women would be forced to wait in line after working 12-hour days in factories March 8 10,000 women march through the city demanding “peace and bread” and “down with autocracy” March 10  Strike shut down all factories in the city Nicholas ordered troops to open fire on the protestors, but many joined in the cause and refused to shoot The Duma, legislative body, met on March 12 and asked the Czar to step down March 15  Czar Nicholas II gives up the throne ending 300 year old Romanov dynasty

Provisional Government Aleksandr Kerensky headed the new provisional government Decided to carry on the war to preserve Russian honor Made the workers and peasant unhappy Soviets  councils composed of representatives from the workers and soldiers Soviet of Petrograd formed in March 1917 Mostly made up of socialists that represented the more radical ideas of the lower class

Lenin and the Bolsheviks Bolsheviks  small faction of a Marxist party called the Russian Social Democracy Led by Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov Lenin April 1917  German military leaders shipped Lenin back to Russia hoping to create disorder Lenin believed that the soviets of soldiers, workers, and peasants were ready-made instruments of power Bolsheviks promised to redistribute land, an end to the war, transfer factories and industries to committees of workers, and transfer government power to the soviets “Peace, land, Bread”

Bolsheviks Seize Power Party member had grown from 50,000 to 240,000 Leon Trotsky was the dedicated head of the Petrograd soviet November 6  Bolsheviks seized the Winter Palace, home of the provisional government Lenin, outwardly, gave power to the Congress of Soviets, but truly he kept the power with the Bolsheviks Renamed themselves the “communists” March 3, 1918  Lenin signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany Gave up eastern Poland, Ukraine, Finland, and Baltic provinces

Civil War in Russia Many people opposed the new Communist government Loyalists, liberals, anti-Lenin socialists, Allied forces Allies sent troops to Russia hoping to bring them back into the war Gave aid to anti-Communist forces In Siberia, an anti-Communist, or White, force attacked and advanced almost to the Volga River Ukrainians also attacked Communist forces 1920  White forces defeated and Ukraine was retaken Communists gained control of Georgia, Russian Armenia, and Azerbaijan April 1918  royal family was moved to a small mining town in the Urals and murdered

Triumph of the Communists Red Army was well disciplined because of the organizational strength of Trotsky Reinstated the draft and insisted on rigid discipline Disunity of anti-Communist forces led to their ultimate failure Communists were single-minded in their goals War communism  government controlled the banks and most industries, seized grain from peasants, and centralized state administration

Triumph of the Communists Communist revolutionary terror Use of secret police, known as Cheka With foreign armies on Russian soil, the Communists could appeal to the patriotism of Russians By 1921, the Communists had complete control of the nation The state was very hostile to Allied forces since they tried to aid anti-communist forces