1. World War I and the Russian Revolution (1914–1924)
Lesson 4 Revolution in Russia

2. World War I and the Russian Revolution (1914–1924)
Lesson 4 Revolution in Russia
Learning Objectives
Explain the causes of the February (March) Revolution.
Describe the goals of Lenin and the Bolsheviks in the October Revolution.
Summarize the outcome of the civil war in Russia.
Analyze how Lenin built a Communist state in the Soviet Union.

3. World War I and the Russian Revolution (1914–1924)
Lesson 4 Revolution in Russia
Key Terms
proletariat
soviets,
V. I. Lenin
Cheka,
commissars,

4. Causes of the February Revolution
The year 1913 marked the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty. Everywhere, Russians honored the tsar and his family. Tsarina Alexandra felt confident that the people loved Nicholas too much to ever threaten him. “They are constantly frightening the emperor with threats of revolution,” she told a friend, “and here,—you see it yourself—we need merely to show ourselves and at once their hearts are ours.”

5. Causes of the February Revolution
Confusion on the date of the Revolutions?
Roots of Discontent
Most in Russia poor peasants
Nicolas II ineffective leader
Crack down on radicals
Revolution among the Proletariat-
World War I Intensifies Discontent
War strained Russia’s resources
Russians died in staggering numbers
Nicolas left for front
Left wife Alexandria in charge
She relied on weird dude Rasputin
Tsar Nicholas II Steps Down
Bread riots
Duma politicians take over
Stay in the war

6. Causes of the February Revolution
This photo shows the Russian royal family—Tsar Nicholas II, his wife Tsarina Alexandra, and their children—in Four years later, they would all be murdered as a result of revolution and civil war.

7. Lenin Leads the Bolsheviks
Outside the provisional government, revolutionary socialists plotted their own course. In Petrograd and other cities, they set up soviets, or councils of workers and soldiers. At first, the soviets worked democratically within the government. Before long, though, the Bolsheviks, a radical socialist group, took charge. The leader of the Bolsheviks was a determined revolutionary, V. I. Lenin.

8. Lenin Leads the Bolsheviks
The Making of a Revolutionary
Workers set up soviets-
Lenin Adapts Marxism
Lenin followed teachers of Karl Marx
Wanted to set up a dictatorship of the proletariat

9. Lenin Leads the Bolsheviks
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin took his revolutionary ideas directly to the people, addressing crowds in the streets.

10. The October Revolution Brings the Bolsheviks to Power
Lenin threw himself into the work of furthering the revolution. Another dynamic Marxist revolutionary, Leon Trotsky, helped lead the fight. To the hungry, war-weary Russian people, Lenin and the Bolsheviks promised “Peace, Land, and Bread.”

11. The October Revolution Brings the Bolsheviks to Power
Causes of the October Revolution
Germany helped Lenin return from exile to Russia
Lenin and Trotsky start pushing revolution
Russian Duma stayed in the war
Kerensky Offensive-
The Bolsheviks Seize Power
Red guard and Lenin’s forces overthrow the provisional govt
End private ownership and take control of factories
Communist became the new masters

12. The October Revolution Brings the Bolsheviks to Power
Crowds gather in Dvortsovyi Square, Saint Petersburg, to support the Bolshevik cause on May 1, 1917.

13. Civil War Erupts in Russia
After the Bolshevik Revolution, Lenin quickly sought peace with Germany. Russia signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in March 1918, giving up a huge chunk of its territory and its population. The cost of peace was extremely high, but the Communist leaders knew that they needed all their energy to defeat a collection of enemies at home. Russia’s withdrawal affected the hopes of both the Allies and the Central Powers.

14. Civil War Erupts in Russia
The Opposing Forces
Reds signed treaty with Germany
Fought the Whites-
Britain, France, and US all sent forces to help the whites
Japan seized Russian lands
Communist execute Tsar, wife, and five children
Terror and War Communism
Cheka- secret police to keep people in line
Execute ordinary citizens
Forced labor camps- Gulag
War communism-
Trotsky turned Red army into fighting force
Comissars-

15. Civil War Erupts in Russia
A crusading white knight slays the red dragon in this Russian civil war propaganda poster. Its title is “For a United Russia.” Draw Conclusions Which side in the Russian civil war made this poster? Why?

16. The Communist Soviet Union Emerges
Russia was in chaos. Millions of people had died since the beginning of World War I. Millions more perished from famine and disease. Lenin faced the enormous problem of rebuilding a shattered state and economy.

17. The Communist Soviet Union Emerges
New Government, Old Problems
On outside, everything looked hunky dory
In reality, the small Soviet elite controlled everything
Millions died
Lenin Abandons War Communism
War communism was backfiring
Why?
NEP- allowed some capitalism
Stopped squeezing peasants for grain
Stalin saw NEP at temporary fix
Stalin Comes to Power
Lenin died in 1924
Stalin won the power struggle and became the leader
Had Trotsky and others killed
How?
Stalin was ruthless

18. The Communist Soviet Union Emerges
Analyze Maps Russia was by far the largest of the various republics that made up the Soviet Union. How do you think nationalism affected the Soviet Union?

19. The Communist Soviet Union Emerges
The hammer and sickle, the emblem of the Soviet Union, represented the union between the urban industrial workers (the hammer) and the rural peasants (the sickle).

20. Quiz: Causes of the February Revolution
Which of the following factors was a cause of Russia’s March Revolution ?
A. Russia’s economy remained solely focused on agriculture.
B. Nicholas was a strong ruler who used force to impose his authority.
C. Russia experienced food and fuel shortages and huge casualties in World War I.
D. The outbreak of war in 1914 fueled national pride and united Russians.

21. Quiz: Lenin Leads the Bolsheviks
How did Lenin plan to apply Marxism to Russia?
A. by putting Mensheviks in charge of government policy
B. by spontaneously overthrowing capitalism
C. by creating an elite Socialist ruling party to lead a revolution
D. by instituting widespread suffrage reform

22. Quiz: The October Revolution Brings the Bolsheviks to Power
How did the Russian provisional government contribute to the outbreak of the October Revolution?
A. by restoring power to the tsar
B. by redistributing land to peasants
C. by keeping Russia in World War I
D. by giving Lenin a position of leadership

23. Quiz: Civil War Erupts in Russia
How was Lenin’s “war communism” similar to tsarism?
A. Both relied on secret police, terror, and autocratic rule.
B. Both were based on the popular appeal of a strong, charismatic leader.
C. Both furthered the rights of individuals over the interests of the state.
D. Both were based on the inherited power of the landed aristocracy.

24. Quiz: The Communist Soviet Union Emerges
Why were political reforms ineffective under Lenin’s government?
A. Voting rights were limited.
B. The party held all of the real power.
C. Only property owners had the right to vote.
D. The Supreme Soviet was not an elected representative body.