Russian Revolution CausesConsequences Military defeat ▫Losing battles in WWI Weak Economy ▫Economic strains from WWI ▫Many men joined the armies leaving farms unattended causing food shortages (famine) Social Unrest ▫Workers rebelled due to poor working conditions and they wanted higher pay March Food riots and strikes broke out in St. Petersburg-caused by wartime misery Bad Leadership ▫Government was corrupt and oppressive ▫Tsar refused to initiate reforms Ends tsarist rule in Russia Withdrawal of Russia from World War I Creates the first Communist state ▫Formation of Soviet Union ▫Russia eventually evolves into a world power Industrial growth and organization of economy on five- year plans ▫Lenin redistributes land Moscow = New capital of Russia Comintern (International office of communism) developed

Leon Trotsky  Red Army used lower classes and peasants to build a successful army  loyal to the government Lenin  New Economic Policy promised some freedom to small business and landowners Food production began to increase and regime was able to prepare durable structure A new constitution set up a system of socialist republics U.S.S.R.- The federal system of socialist republics established in 1923 in various ethnic regions of Russia and was dissolved in 1991 Controlled by CommunistsHad mixed impacts-- it preserved ethnic Russians but did little to impact minority groups like Jews Supreme Soviet developed which acted as a parliament but was controlled by communists Comintern-Encourages the formation of communist parties elsewhere Overall: Communists take over with authoritarian rule and make it more efficient than the last form of government, even enforced a political police Russian Stabilization

Vladimir Lenin- founder of the Bolsheviks and leader of the Russian Revolution o First head of the U.S.S.R o War Problem: Solved this by signing treaty with Germany that ended hostilities and gave up parts of Western Russia- known as Treaty of Brest-Litovsk o Supported his New Economic Policy (combined capitalism with socialism), redistributed land, and nationalized banks and industry Joseph Stalin- Successor to Lenin  led through WWII o Fought for position by crushing his opponents o Strong nationalist view of communism (less focus on International Communism) o Represented the anti-Western strain on Russian tradition o Established a Five Year Plan to replace the New Economic Policy o Pushed agricultural collectivization o Furthered Cold War with the U.S. Key Players