1. Chapter 14 World War I & the Russian Revolution ( ) Section 5 Russian Revolution and Civil War ( )
Objectives:
Explain the causes of the March Revolution.
Describe the goals of Lenin and the Bolsheviks in the November Revolution.
Outline how the Communists defeated their opponents in Russia’s civil war.
Analyze how the Communist state developed under Lenin.
How did two revolutions and a civil war bring about Communist control of Russia?

2. Russian Revolution during World War I. HD Stock Footage
The Russian Revolution of 1917.
Scenes of trench warfare on the Western Front. Ill-equipped Russian troops in the field, and suffering from pestilence and disease. Scenes of St Petersburg, Russia, March 1917, during demonstrations for increased bread rations. Responding Russian troops defect and join demands for the transfer of power from the Czar to an elected parliament. Minister of Justice in the Provisional Government Alexander Kerensky speaks to a large crowd. Czar Nicholas II, who has abdicated, sitting on a stump, with a few guards behind him. Political prisoners are freed from prisons. Leon Trotsky, speaking from a train platform, upon his return from exile in Canada. Summer, 1917, Alexander Kerensky becomes Head of the Provisional Government. Kerensky, standing in the balcony of a building, proclaims Russia a republic. A large crowd gathered outside the building. Vladimir Ilyich Lenin speaking to a large crowd on the Kerensky Republic. View of Farmer workers with shovels in a field. Lenin and Trotsky call for the members of the Farmer Worker Army Union Soviet to work against the Kerensky Republic. View of Lenin speaking against the Republic and for class warfare. Lenin's Bolsheviks seize the railroad stations, telegraph lines, and government offices. Events on November 25 after the Russian Revolution : A number of people on a street during elections called for by Kerensky. Lenin's Bolshevik loses. People in the streets. The elected assembly meets under the protection of Trotsky's Red Army and refuses to turn power over to the Lenin Soviet. The members of the elected assembly are seen finally leaving. A crowd protests against the dismissal of the elected assembly, to no avail.. Lenin speaking to a large crowd. He speaks about the power won and maintained by violence. Views of the crowd. Location: Russia. Date: 1917.
5 Minutes

3. proletariat − working class.
Terms and People
proletariat − working class.
soviet − a council of workers and soldiers.
Cheka − early Soviet secret police force.
commissar − Communist party official assigned to the army to teach party principles and ensure party loyalty. 3

4. The Russian Empire in 1914
Stretched from Eastern Europe to the Pacific Ocean.
Slow to industrialize.
Landowning nobles, priests, and an autocratic tsar controlled the government and economy.
Much of the peasant population endured stark poverty.

5. Rulers lived in luxury while their people lived in poverty.
Despite talk of reform after the Revolution of 1905, Tsar Nicholas did little to solve Russia’s problems.
Rulers lived in luxury while their people lived in poverty.
Corruption was rampant.
The Duma – (a legislative body in the ruling assembly of Russia and of some other republics of the former Soviet Union) had no real power.
Marxists tried to ignite revolution among the proletariat – the growing class of factory and railroad workers, miners, and urban workers. 5

6. Impact of WWI on Russia
World War I united many Russians, but the war strained the country’s mismanaged resources.
Factories could not produce enough supplies.
Break down of transportation system; unable to get food and supplies to the battlefield.
Soldiers had no weapons or ammunition.
Many lives were lost; casualties reached 2 million in one year. 6

7. Russians lost confidence in the government.
Tsar Nicholas traveled to the front but proved to be a poor military leader.
Tsarina Alexandra ignored the continued food and fuel shortages at home.
Her reliance on the “mad monk” Rasputin further eroded public confidence in the government.
Illiterate peasant and self-proclaimed “Holy Man.”
Became an advisor to the tsarina, who believed that he had miraculous powers after he saved her son’s life.
On December 29, 1916, was killed by a group of Russian nobles who feared for the monarchy. 7

8. The Tsar Steps Down
With disaster on the battlefield and protests at home, Nicholas abdicated – stepped down from power.
In 1917, several factors brought the monarchy to collapse:
Disasters on the battlefield
Food and fuel shortages
Workers went on strike and people marched in the streets shouting “Bread! Bread!”
Troops refused to fire on the demonstrators, leaving the government helpless.
The tsar abdicated on the advice of political and military leaders.
Revolutionary socialists set up soviets, or councils of workers and soldiers to run the government 8

9. There were two socialist revolutionary groups in Russia.
Mensheviks
Bolsheviks
Favored gradual reform
Favored higher wages, increased suffrage, and welfare programs
Believed in radical change
Favored total revolution 9

10. The Bolsheviks were led by V. I. Lenin, a Marxist, who:
Urged workers to unite and overthrow capitalism.
Called for unity among workers and farmers.
Promised “Peace, Land, and Bread.”
Video: Peace, Land and Bread 10

11. Lenin Adapts Marxist Ideas to Fit Russian Conditions
Karl Marx predicted that the working class would overthrow capitalism, but Russia did not have a large urban proletariat.
Instead, Lenin created a new party to lead the revolution, called the Bolsheviks.
The Bolsheviks rejected change through gradual and moderate reforms.
They believed that “only revolution” would bring about needed changes.
In November, 1917, Lenin’s forces attacked the provisional government, and overthrew it without a struggle.

12. The Proletarian Social State
Lenin promised the people “Peace, Land, and Bread.”
Ended private ownership of land and distributed land to peasants.
Workers were given control of factories and mines.
Created a new flag to symbolize union between workers and peasants.
Hammer and Sickle
The Bolsheviks, renamed the Communists, became the new leaders of Russia.

13. Russia Plunges into Civil War
Russia signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in March 1918, giving Germany a huge chunk of its territory and population. For three years, civil war raged between the Communists, or “Reds” and the counterrevolutionary “Whites.”
The “White” armies were made up of those who were united by their desire to defeat the Bolsheviks. They were joined by nationalist groups from many of the empire’s non-Russian regions.
The Allies: Britain, France, and the United States, sent forces to help the “Whites” - hoping to defeat the Communists and Germany.
The “Reds” appealed to nationalism and urged the Russians to drive out the foreigners.
The Allied invasion fed Communist distrust of the West.
Counterrevolutionary forces slaughtered Communists and tried to assassinate Lenin.
In July 1918, the Communists shot the former tsar and tsarina and their five children in order to cripple the counterrevolutionary forces.

14. The Communists adopted a policy of “war communism”
War Under Communism
The Communists used terror to control their own people. They organized the Cheka, - a secret police force that
Executed ordinary citizens who were suspected of acting against the revolution.
Set up a network of forced labor camps in 1919, which grew under Stalin into the dreaded Gulag.
The Communists adopted a policy of “war communism”
They took over banks, mines, factories, and railroads.
Peasants were forced to deliver almost all of their crops to feed the army and hungry people in the cities.
Peasant laborers were drafted into the military or forced to work in factories.

15. Economy Under Lenin
In 1921, Lenin adopted the New Economic Policy (NEP)
The state kept control of banks, foreign trade, and large industries.
Small businesses were allowed to open for private profit.
Peasants were allowed to keep their land and sell their surplus crops.
The standard of living improved.

16. War Communism New Economic Policy
State-controlled banks, mines, factories, and railroads
State-controlled banks, trade, and large industries
Small businesses forced to give profits to the state
Small businesses allowed to keep some profits
Farmers forced to give crops to feed the army or the poor
Farmers allowed to sell surplus crops for profit 16

17. Government Under Lenin
In 1922, Lenin united Russia into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), or the Soviet Union, and adopted a new constitution.
Set up an elected legislature.
Gave all citizens over the age of 18 the right to vote.
Workers and peasants were given control over all political power, resources, and means of production.
The Communist party continued to use the army and secret police to enforce its will.

18. Vladimir Lenin: Leader of the Bolshevik Revolution - Documentary
As a symbol of the Bolshevik Revolution during its first critical years after 1917, Vladimir Lenin's place in history seems assured. This rare archival footage taken from vaults around the world depicts the life and times of Lenin.
38 Minutes

19. Stalin Takes Over
Lenin died in 1924, which set off a power struggle between Communist leaders Trotsky and Stalin.
Trotsky urged support for a revolution against capitalism.
Stalin wanted to build Socialism at home.
Stalin eventually stripped Trotsky of party membership.
In 1940, a Stalinist agent murdered Trotsky.

20. How did two revolutions and a civil war bring about Communist control of Russia?
During the war years, Russia faced increased problems at home. Initially, the goals of the revolution were to end the war and solve the problems that the Revolution of had not.
The March Revolution brought the overthrow of the tsar and the November Revolution brought the end of the provisional government. Lenin and his successor, Stalin, created a Communist Russia. 20