How do you resist oppressive rule- with violent or non-violent action? Russian Revolution How do you resist oppressive rule- with violent or non-violent action?

Facts on Russia Geography Russian occupied 1/6th of the earth's land surface it occupied 1/2 of Europe and 1/3 of Asia it had frontiers with twelve countries it was washed by twelve seas from three oceans Southern Russia is sub-tropical Northern Russia is within the Arctic Circle: 1/3 of the land is permanently frozen.

Facts on Russia People total population 1897 - approximately 110 million three quarters of the population was Slavic the remaining quarter belonged to 180 different nationalities 125 languages were spoken 40 religions were practiced - the main religion was Orthodox Christianity

Causes Autocracy- ruler has unlimited power Russo-Japanese War- in 1905, Russians lost a war with Japan Serfs were not emancipated until 1860’s- life did not get much better for them Industrialization- low wages, bad working conditions, child labor.

Autocracy

Czar Nicholas II and Family

Peasant Conditions

Peasants

Peasants

Workers in Moscow

Strikes/Revolutionary Movements Poor conditions led to strikes and revolutionary movements Bolsheviks- radical Marxists who believed the proletariat- or workers, would overthrow the Czar Vladimir Lenin- leader of the Bolsheviks- in hiding until WW1

Vladimir Lenin

Bloody Sunday 200,000 workers and their families marched to the Czar’s palace. They wanted better working conditions, more freedom, and an elected legislature They were led by a priest and had a signed petition Over 1,000 wounded and hundreds killed

Cossacks

WW1 Russia not prepared for War- over 4 million died in 1st year. Czar Nicholas moves to war front to rally troops- leaves wife in charge of Russia She ignored advisors and listened only to Rasputin- a holy man who put his friends in charge

Rasputin

Rasputin

March Revolution Rasputin was murdered by Russian nobility- now the Czar did not have support of Nobles OR common people Women in Petrograd led a strike- riots flared up all over the country over shortages of bread and fuel

Petrograd

Bread Line

“Down with the Autocracy! Down with the War!!” Soldiers disobeyed orders to shoot citizens Czar Nicholas gives up the throne and a temporary government is put in place Germans ship Lenin back to Russia by train- hoped Lenin would hurt Russian war effort

Lenin

Bolsheviks Gain Power Bolsheviks gain power in Soviets- local councils made up of workers, peasants, soldiers Russians pull out of WW1 Czar and family executed by revolutionaries Civil war ends in 1921- Bolsheviks win

Duma Messenger

Revolutionary Comparison The Russian revolution was more like the French revolution than the American revolution French/Russians wanted to destroy society and replace it with something else- Americans built on English society

Nikolay Kogout, 1920 Your enemies want to send you to war against me, your brother, by deceit and intimidation. Do not listen to them! If you want peace and freedom, take up your rifle with me and beat your enemies. Publisher: Revvoensovet, Moscow (Lithography, 83x60 cm., inv.nr. BG E11/737) Poster with text in Tatar, meant for distribution in the Crimea. The Tatars are to fight on the Red side against the White generals Vrangel and Joffre, who are pictured as the accomplices of bourgeoisie and capitalism.

Designer unknown, 1919 A general military training is a safeguard for freedom Publisher: Vsebovuch, Moscow (Lithography, 110.5x74.5 cm., inv.nr. BG L3/210) In the years following 1917, the Soviet Union is torn by a bloody civil war between the 'Reds' (the communists) and the 'Whites'. This poster calls for the farmers to fight on the side of the Reds.

Designer unknown, 1920 What the October Revolution has given to working and peasant women Publisher: Gosizdat, Moscow (Lithography, 106x73 cm., inv.nr. BG L3/212) The woman gestures towards a library, a mensa, a workers club, a school for adults and a 'house of mother and child'. The 'October Revolution' is nowadays usually referred to as the November Revolution, due to differences in calendar systems.

Viktor Deni, 1919 Capital (Lithography, 51.5x36 cm., inv.nr. BG D23/103) Capital as the source of all evil. Under the image a satirical poem by Demjan Bedny. The red text on the left states that damaging the poster or pasting another one over it is a counter-revolutionary crime.

Dimitry Moor, 1919 Proletarians of all countries, unite! (Lithography, 97x69.5 cm., inv.nr. BG L3/208) Soldier, farmer and worker: the new rulers. The text at the top, 'Proletarians of all countries, unite', is taken from the Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels (1848). The emblem of a hammer and a plough, in the red star at the centre above, is soon replaced by the familiar hammer and sickle.