THE OUTBREAK OF THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION (dates in the new style) 1903: The Russian Social Democratic Party splits between Bolsheviks and Mensheviks. 1905: Revolutionaries briefly seize power in most cities after defeat by Japan; creation of the Duma. August 1914: The leaders of each socialist party support their national war effort. March 15, 1917: Tsar Nicholas II abdicates. March-October 1917: DUAL SOVEREIGNTY (the Petrograd Soviet vs. the Provisional Government) September 9-14, 1917: Attempted coup by General Kornilov November 6-7, 1917: The “Great October Revolution” (Bolsheviks seize control of Petrograd and Moscow).

A Russian peasant village in 1910: 80% of the population were still peasants, mostly illiterate, and rural poverty was spreading A Russian peasant village around 1910. Despite some progress toward industrialization, 80% of the Russian population were still peasants at the outbreak of the First World War, most of them illiterate. SOURCE: T.C.W. Blanning, ed., _The Oxford Illustrated History of Modern Europe_ (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), p. 68.

Russian peasants newly arrived in Moscow, looking for work The government responded in 1906 by abolishing all restrictions on foreign investment and migration by peasants to cities (LEFT: An oil field near Baku on the Caspian Sea) Russian oil derricks near Baku, on the Caspian Sea, around 1900. The Baku oil fields lay close to the service and were easy to tap, briefly making Russia the world's leading producers of petroleum around the turn of the century. SOURCE: T.C.W. Blanning, ed., _The Oxford Illustrated History of Modern Europe_ (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), p. 47. Russian peasants newly arrived in the city look for factory work, around 1910. Rural-urban migration in Russia peaked in the years 1907-1910, following the legal reforms of Stolypin. SOURCE: T.C.W. Blanning, ed., _The Oxford Illustrated History of Modern Europe_ (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), p. 67. Russian peasants newly arrived in Moscow, looking for work

Anti-war demonstrators before the Winter Palace, Petrograd, January-February 1917 Anti-war demonstrators gather before the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, January 1917. SOURCE: http://www.britannica.com/ebc/art/print?id=94162&articleTypeId=0

Funeral in Petrograd in March 1917 for demonstrators killed on orders of Tsar Nicholas II Funeral held in Mars Field, Petrograd, in March 1917 for the protesters who had died during the February Revolution. Tsar Nicholas II had sent a telegram on the evening of February 25, ordering army commanders in the Petrograd region to open fire on demonstrators, and some regiments obeyed these orders the next day, but by the morning of February 27 a mutiny spread quickly, and many soldiers joined armed protesters in the streets. SOURCE: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5e/1917MarsField.jpg

Revolutionary soldiers and workers in power: Both the “Petrograd Soviet” and “Provisional Government” claimed authority Source: PROLETARIAT, p. 260.

Transform the Imperialist War into Civil War! Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, i.e., “Lenin” (1870-1924), leader since 1903 of the “Bolshevik” faction of Russian socialism LENIN’S APRIL THESES Transform the Imperialist War into Civil War! All Power to the Soviets! Land for the Village Poor! Lenin as a young man, ca. 1900. http://www.unlv.edu/faculty/pwerth/422.html

War Minister Alexander Kerensky addresses troops about to leave for the front in 1917; he always sought to honor Russia’s treaty obligations to France and Great Britain Minister of War Alexander Kerensky (1881-1970), addressing Russian troops about to leave for the front in 1917. A moderate, independent socialist, Kerensky had opposed the initial declaration of war but now believed firmly that Russia must honor its treaty obligations to the Western allies. SOURCE: John Keegan, _An Illustrated History of the First World War_ (New York: Knopf, 2001), p. 308.

Machine gun fire disperses pro-Bolshevik demonstrators on Nevsky Prospect in Petrograd, July 4, 1917 Nevsky Prospect in Petrograd on 4 July 1917; demonstrators swiftly disperse as troops of the Provisional Government open fire with machine guns. SOURCE: http://www.nevsky88.com/SaintPetersburg/Revolution/default.asp

General L.G. Kornilov waves to the crowd in Moscow in August 1917; he attempted a military coup in September General L.G. Kornilov waves to the crowd in Moscow in August 1917. Shortly thereafter he attempted to seize power in a military coup that was defeated with the help of the Bolsheviks. SOURCE: http://www.nevsky88.com/SaintPetersburg/Revolution/default.asp

Climax of the “Great October Revolution”: Painting of the Red Guards storming the Kremlin on November 2 Red Guards enter the Kremlin on November 2, 1917, after two days of fighting. Lenin arrived in the Kremlin on March 11, 1918, and announced the transfer of the national capital to that city. SOURCE: John Keegan, _An Illustrated History of the First World War_ (New York: Knopf, 2001), p. 316.

Fraternization on the Eastern Front, November/December 1917 "The armistice on the eastern front: Life and business between the lines as Russians purchase articles of daily use," officially approved German postcard issued in Berlin in December 1917. SOURCE: Rainer Rother, ed., _Der Weltkrieg 1914-1918. Ereignis und Erinnerung_ (Berlin: German Historical Museum, 2004), p. 220.

Kaiser Wilhelm II confers with the heads of the Supreme Army Command, Hindenburg & Ludendorff, 1917 The popular victors of Tannenberg insisted on the resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare. Kaiser Wilhelm II discusses the situation with the heads of the Supreme Army Command, Field Marshall Paul von Hindenburg and his chief of staff, Erich Ludendorff (photograph from 1916/17). SOURCE: www.preussen-chronik.de

Europe at the signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, March 1918 Europe in March 1918, at the time of the conclusion of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. http://college.hmco.com/history/west/mosaic/chapter15/map_25_01_large.html

German troops moving through San Quentin to prepare for the “Ludendorff Offensive” launched on March 21, 1918 German troops move through San Quentin, near the Somme River, before launching their great offensive on 21 March 1918 against the British Fifth Army. The collapse of Russia had permitted the German army command to transfer a million troops from the Eastern Front to the Western. From Keegan, ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR, p. 365.

The Ludendorff Offensive, March-July 1918 Map of the five German offensives in the spring and summer of 1918. From Keegan, ILLUSTRATED FIRST WORLD WAR, p. 366.

American troops disembark at Le Havre, July 12, 1918 As the Lundendorff Offensive petered out in July 1918, German commanders were disheartened by the knowledge that endless columns of fresh American troops were disembarking at the Channel ports (in this case, Le Havre, 12 July 1918). The number of American troops in France doubled from May to July 1918, from 500,000 to one million, and it doubled again by the end of October. From Keegan, ILLUSTRATED FIRST WORLD WAR, p. 380.

German POWs captured in France, April 1918 German POWs captured in April 1918. Their uniforms and equipment are falling apart, and their malnourished frames contrast dramatically with those of the American troops arriving in France. From Keegan, ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR, p. 381.

The breach of the “Hindenburg Line” at St. Quentin, 2 Oct 1918 British troops line the banks of the St. Quentin Canal Their multitude of German prisoners British soldiers of the 136th Brigade line the banks of the dry St. Quentin Canal, which they have just captured on October 2, 1918. The canal served as an enormous trench for the Hindenburg Line, which was now effectively broken. SOURCE: John Keegan, _An Illustrated History of the First World War_ (New York: Knopf, 2001), p. 386. Thousands of German POWs held at St. Quentin, 2 October 1918, following the Allied breakthrough into the Hindenburg Line at the end of September. From Keegan, ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR, p. 385.

In October 1918 Ludendorff told the Kaiser to appoint Prince Max of Baden head of a “parliamentary” government, but Max soon turned to Friedrich Ebert of the SPD Prince Max of Baden. SOURCE: http://www.firstworldwar.com/photos/graphics/hw_max_baden_01.jpg

Social Democratic politicians address revolutionary sailors at Kiel, November 5, 1918: Mutiny broke out when the admirals ordered a desperate attack The Social Democrat Gustav Noske addresses German naval mutineers in Kiel, 5 November 1918. Most of these sailors are from the submarine crews, which were more willing to continue fighting than the long idle crews of the surface navy. Noske's largely successful efforts to promote consensus among the sailors in favor of revolution but without any “excesses” earned him appointment as the first minister of war of the Weimar Republic. His later collaboration with the leaders of the Free Corps earned him the bitter nickname, “The Bloodhound,” among German Communists. From Keegan, ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR, p. 391.

Ebert and Philipp Scheidemann (SPD) proclaim the Republic from the balcony of the Reichstag on 9 November 1918 Ausrufung der Republik vor dem Reichstagsgebäude durch Philipp Scheidemann Photographie Berlin, 9. November 1918 DHM, Berlin (www.dhm.de/lemo)

Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg founded the Spartacus League in 1917 and the German Communist Party in December 1918. They embraced Lenin’s slogan, “All power to the Soviets!” Karl Liebknecht's last public speech (Siegesallee, Berlin, January 1919), and photograph of Rosa Luxemburg, both from the German Historical Museum in Berlin. SOURCE: http://www.dhm.de/lemo

Communist insurgents in the newspaper district of Berlin, January 1919 Spartacist troops take up positions in the newspaper district of Berlin, January 1919, shortly before their defeat by the Free Corps. SOURCE: Lothar Gall, Fragen an die deutsche Geschichte. Historische Ausstellung im Treichstagsgebäude in Berlin, Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 1974, picture #170.

A Free Corps unit sworn to crush the Reds They killed Luxemburg and Liebknecht on January 15, 1919 The death’s head expresses the freebooters’ mentality of Free Corps soldiers, many of whom were more loyal to their individual commander than to country or a political cause. SOURCE: Susanne Everett, Lost Berlin (New York: Gallery Books, 1979), p. 31. Some Free Corps soldiers used the swastika as a symbol of Aryan racial purity; many later joined the Nazis

“Workers, burghers, farmers, soldiers of every German tribe: Unite in the National Assembly!” (The SPD joined with liberal and Catholic democrats to write the Weimar constitution in 1919.) Cesar Klein, "Workers, Burghers, Farmers, Soldiers of All German Tribes: Unite in the National Assembly," lithograph produced for the governmental "Werbedienst der Deutschen Republik," December 1918. No other poster expressed so well the yearning for unity, at least among the male population, as German men from all classes and tribes pledge their loyalty to the new German Republic before the rising sun. The committee that issued this placard represented all the parties of the Weimar Coalition. The archaic costumes and raised arms evoke the memory of David's "Oath of the Horatii," from 1784, and the "Oath of the Tennis Court," from 1791. SOURCE: Frederich Grunfeld, The Hitler File: A Social History of Germany and the Nazis, 1918-1945, New York: Random House, 1973, p. 39.

The Big Four at Versailles: David Lloyd George, Vittorio Orlando, Georges Clemenceau, & Woodrow Wilson The Big Four at Versailles in 1919. From left to right: David Lloyd George, Vittorio Emanuele Orlando, Georges Clemenceau, and Woodrow Wilson. [Bildersammlung: Protagonisten. The Yorck Project: Das große dpa-Bildarchiv, S. 576 (vgl. dpa, S. 172) (c) 2005 The Yorck Project]

ESTIMATED COMBAT FATALITIES IN THE GREAT WAR Austria-Hungary 1,200,000 France 1,385,000 Germany 1,800,000 Great Britain 947,000 Italy 460,000 Ottoman Empire 325,000 Russia 1,700,000 Serbia 360,000 United States 115,000 Compare http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWdeaths.htm

RESULTS OF THE VERSAILLES CONFERENCE National self-determination for Poles, “Czechoslovaks”, “Yugoslavs”, Latvians, Lithuanians, & Estonians Formation of a “League of Nations” dedicated to “collective security” Italy gains the southern Tirol but is forced to renounce Dalmatia; the status of Fiume remains disputed Great Britain gains control of Germany’s African colonies, Palestine, Jordan, and Iraq as “League of Nations Mandates;” France gains Syria and Lebanon The Allies award Asia Minor to Greece, but that country suffers catastrophic defeat by Turkey in 1920/21

Postwar borders, 1921 The major ethnic groups of Europe in the 19th century. SOURCE: http://members.tripod.com/cafehome/mapsofeurope/europe1815_1914lang.jpg

The borders of the Weimar Republic (France occupied the Rhineland until 1930, the Saarland until 1935) SOURCE: Martin Kitchen, The Cambridge Illustrated History of Germany, (Cambridge, 1996), p. 234.

The Russian Civil War, 1918-21: France intervened from Odessa; Britain & the USA, from Murmansk & Archangel; the USA and Japan from Vladivostok SOURCE: _WESTERN CIVILIZATION: THE CONTINUING EXPERIMENT_, 4th edn., p. 886.

“Long live the three-million-man Red Army!” (1919) "Long live the three-million man Red Army!" (A. Apsit, USSR, 1919). In the 1930s Apsit's early posters were denounced as "bourgeois" in style because of their idealism and lack of "socialist realism." SOURCE: Lewis & Paret, Persuasive Images, p. 104.

“Capitalists of the World, Unite “Capitalists of the World, Unite!” (Soviet poster from 1920, echoing Bukharin’s theory of imperialism) "Kapitalisty vsekh stran, soedinyaites'" says this poster from the year 1920 showing main enemies of the Soviet people. From http://www.funet.fi/pub/culture/russian/html_pages/posters1.html

“Long Live the Third Communist International!” (Soviet Poster, 1920) Sergei Ivanov, "Long Live the Third Communist International!" (USSR, 1920). This poster was issued in preparation for the Second Congress of the Communist International, held in Moscow in July 1920; it depicts British Communists joining with Russian to hold up the Communist banner. From Lewis & Paret, Persuasive Images, p. 112.