Impact of World War I on Russia Russia enters war in 1914 very unprepared Weak generals, poorly equipped troops Loses more than 4 million in the 1st year While Nicholas II is on the Front, wife Alexandra is running things with Rasputin Soldiers mutiny & desert; food & fuel supplies dwindle, prices wildly inflated http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1W1b6j8U46k

Rasputin & Alexandra Czarina Alexandra controls daily operations during WWI Under influence of Rasputin Thought he could ‘cure’ Alexi’s hemophilia Life in St. Petersburg becomes corrupt Generates disgust & mistrust

March Revolution Strikes flare up everywhere over shortages Soldiers refuse orders to shoot the rioters Czar Nicholas II forced to abdicate Provisional Government created - Kerensky

Provisional Government :photo: Alexander Kerensky (center, white), charter member of the Provisional Government and its head in September-October 1917, arriving in Moscow on or about 12 August 1917. Duma establishes a temporary government headed by Alexander Kerensky Kerensky makes a bad decision: stays in WWI Things go from bad to worse: workers more radical peasants demand land people are starving Revolutionary councils (Soviets) have more power in many areas than the Provisional Government

First Soviets Lenin – exiled radical returns Underground radicals emerge to lead revolts Radicals organize workers, peasants & soldiers into soviets Believed that industrial workers would overthrow the Czar After the revolution, the workers would rule: ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’ Vladimir Illyich Lenin

Bolsheviks favored revolution by a small number of committed revolutionaries Other groups want less radical reform – like the mensheviks and Social Democrats Menshevik Civil Guard, Georgia, 1918

Bolshevik Revolution Lenin returns from exile in April 1917 Lenin & Bolsheviks gain control of Petrograd (St. Petersburg) Lenin promises “Peace, Land, and Bread” November 1917 armed workers storm Winter Palace take over government offices arrest leaders of provisional government

Trotsky edited out of picture

Lenin’s Solution Don’t wait for history to happen You can have a socialist revolution without full-blown capitalism Peasants are potential revolutionaries & can ally with workers You need a dedicated elite of full-time revolutionaries & intellections Vanguard of the Proletariat

Lenin in Power TREATY OF BREST –LITOVSK LAND REFORM This photograph, taken between December 3rd and 15th, 1917, shows the Russian delegation under the leadership of Adolf Joffe (far right). Next to him (from left to right) are Lipski and Trotsky. The fourth person between Joffe and Trotsky has not been identified. Orders all farmland to be distributed to peasants Makes private property obsolete Gives control of factories to workers Signs a cease-fire with Germany Signs Treaty of Brest-Litovsk surrenders large part of territory to Germany

Civil War in Russia CHEKA Unburried bodies of victim of Massacre by Russian Bolshivek in Kiev, Ukraine (1919) Bolsheviks face enemies at home (White Army) White Army = many groups united by desire to defeat Bolsheviks Red Army wins a three-year war, leaves 14 million dead (on top of WWI losses)

Chaos in Russia Millions of casualties; billions in debt By 1921 wages dropped to 1/10th prewar levels Inflation over 1,000% Western countries blockade Russia Factories at a standstill

A German Revolution Too? Similar to Russia Popular uprising from below Brought down Ancien Régime Established Liberal Provisional Government Socialists take control of government Workers & soldiers create alternative governments

Why is German Case Different? Liberals & moderate socialists ally They triumph over more radical forces in councils German Marxists not as radical as Russian Marxists - more revisionist

German Social Democrats Accepted defeat (unlike Kerensky) Puts a stop to drop in soldier morale Limited by status as defeated aggressor of WW1

Spartacists Co founders: Karl Liebknecht & Rosa Luxemburg Favored uprisings that would give workers political experience (vs. Russian Marxists) Based in councils Attempt to seize power crushed by Social Democrats with help of army Murdered by army leaders- with support of Social Democrats