The Russian Revolution
Background Information 1881Czar Alexander III wants total power DON’T YOU DARE: Question absolute authority Worship outside orthodox church Speak anything but Russian russification Censorship on published materials Secret police in high schools and university Spread of anti- Semitism pogroms
-Under Nicholas Russia is unstable The Reign of Nicholas II – Romanov’s since 1613 Results: -Under Nicholas Russia is unstable -Liberals want a democratic government -Repressed minorities wanted independence -Peasants want land reform, and workers want better conditions Military lost war with Japan in 1904-1905 = humiliation (Russo-Japanese War) Conditions: Shy and quiet, private, family man Absolute monarch Naïve to the dissatisfaction in Russian society Czarina Alexandra 4 daughters and a son that is a Hemophiliac Believed Russia faced no threat to its stability from inside the empire Believed loved by Russians as their “Little Father”.
The 1905 Revolution: BLOODY SUNDAY January 22, 1905 Conditions: Peaceful march of workers Czar’s Winter Palace, St. Petersburg Desire to Issue a petition describing: Hardships Desire for constitution Desire for better working conditions Czar wasn’t at home Palace guards opened fire hundreds killed or wounded THIS IS THE SPARK
The Battleship Potemkin The 1905 Revolution: Results: Revolts and strikes spread Mutinies by soldiers and sailors The Battleship Potemkin
The 1905 Revolution: Results: Revolts and strikes spread Mutinies by soldiers and sailors 10 days of strikes in October virtually shut down Russia First Soviets: Worker councils led by radical, well-educated middle-class Discussed revolutionary ideas and chose representatives for regional/national meetings Used the working class to spread ideas
The 1905 Revolution: Results: - The October Manifesto (October 30) Freedom of conscience Speech Assembly Press -DUMA (congress or National Assembly) All laws would be approved by Duma -May 1906 Czar reclaimed most autocratic powers Appointed ½ the Duma
St. Petersburg = Petrograd = Leningrad World War I in Russia Conditions: - Russia honors alliances and joins WWI - Czar Nicholas II takes personal command of the Army -Left Petrograd to the front St. Petersburg = Petrograd = Leningrad
World War I in Russia Conditions: Army suffers many defeats Transportation problems Forced to fight with clubs Peasants drafted = food shortage - Strange monk, Rasputin, gains power with Czarina
From movie Anastasia
The February Revolution 1917 Conditions -Women’s march for “Bread and Peace” widespread revolt -Petrograd Soviet Socialists took advantage of confusion Reconvened soviets (illegal since 1905) Became true center of authority Elected representatives to Petrograd -Provisional Government Duma formed Provisional Government Competed for control of Russia
Tsar Abdicates At the front Tsarina oblivious to discontent March 15, Abdicates in royal railroad car
The February Revolution Results Alexander Kerensky Dominated the Provisional Government Decided to keep Russia in the war Hoped to gain land Alienation of soldiers Unpopular with Petrograd Soviet -
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (aka Lenin) 1870-1924 Middle Class Becomes familiar with Marxism while traveling in 1895 1897, exiled to Siberia for revolutionary activities
Lenin Lived in many European countries 19 years 1903 Russian Social Democratic Party split BOLSHEVIKS MENSHEVIKS Majorityists (small dedicated group) Minorityists Only career revolutionaries should be in the party Party membership should be open to anyone
Lenin returns to Russia April 1917 Aided by the Germans, hidden in box car Arrives in Petrograd, April 16 and denounces the Provisional Government and calls for “All power to the soviets! Peace, Land, and Bread”
Lenin and the Great October Revolution Conditions: Charismatic Gained support among commoners Alienated everyone else Provisional Government planned national election in November for a new government
Leads Bolshevik militia “The Red Guard” Lenin and the Great October Revolution Conditions continued: Leon Trotsky Leads Bolshevik militia “The Red Guard” Becomes best trained revolutionary force in Petrograd Gains stockpiles of weapons and ammunition
Trotsky’s Red Guard seized most of Petrograd without a fight Results October Revolution October 25, 1917 Trotsky’s Red Guard seized most of Petrograd without a fight Lenin announces a Bolshevik state Nationalizes all land = the end of private property March 3, 1918 Treaty of Brest-Litovsk Peace, Land & Bread!
White Army Red Army Cheka Results Russian Civil War 1918-1921 *Anti-Bolshevik forces Mensheviks Anti-communists Foreign Powers Red Army War Communism – Seized grain from peasants Cheka
The Soviet Union Under Lenin Conditions: Russia was devastated after WWI and Civil War – lost ½ of its population By 1922, wages dropped to 1/10 of prewar level Lenin concerned new socialist experiment would fail
The Soviet Union Under Lenin Results: Lenin described his New Economic Policy (NEP) as “taking one step backward to go two steps forward” Peasants can sell their food for profit Entrepreneurs produce consumer goods Private retail shops reopened Foreign investment encouraged Government controls major industries Mining, steel production, transport.
The Soviet Union Under Lenin Results: -The NEP helps jump start the economy with small-scale capitalism Huge success Many Russians become wealthy Healthy economy resurfaces Now Lenin can turn to creating a classless society