1. The Russian Revolution
Revolution: a forcible overthrow of a government or social order in favor of a new system.
synonyms: rebellion, revolt, insurrection, mutiny, uprising, riot, rioting, insurgence, seizure of power, coup (d'état)

2. Romanov Family ruled Russia for 300 years
Some well-known Romanovs include Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, and Ivan the Terrible
Nicholas II was Czar of Russia during the Russian Revolution

3. The 1905 Revolution Russia was divided into 2 groups:
the very rich and the very poor (serfs, or peasants)
In exchange for working long hours for a landlord, a serf received a small log hut, a tiny piece of land, and a few animals.
Most of the serfs’ crops went
to pay the landlord’s taxes.
The Russian people had had enough!

4. Bloody Sunday Massacre
A group of citizens marched to the winter palace in St. Petersburg (aka Petrograd) to present a petition to Czar Nicholas II. Soldiers fired on the crowd, killing several. Massive strikes and riots followed.

6. Czar Nicholas’s October Manifesto promised:
civil liberties (e.g., freedom of speech, press, and assembly)
the creation of a legislative body called the Duma whose members would be popularly elected and whose approval would be necessary before the enactment of any legislation.
The first Duma met in April of 1906, but it had only limited control over the budget and no control at all over the executive branch of the government.

7. 1914
The Great War
Nicholas II blamed as Commander in Chief
His wife Empress Alexandra was German born; people thought she supported Germany
People suffered severe food shortages
Soldiers did not have enough clothes, shoes, or weapons.

8. 1917 Hardships continued under Imperial rule:
chronic food shortages, disease, and loss of life in the “Great War”
Two revolutions in Russia that year resulted in…
The end of hundreds of years of imperial rule, and…
Political and social changes that would lead to Communism and the formation of the Soviet Union

9. The February Revolution
International Women’s Day: Women protest bread shortages…
Joined the next day by workers and students carrying signs that read “Down with the Czar”
Troops that were to put down the disorder mutinied and joined the protesters. Officials were arrested, police stations attacked

10. More about the February Revolution…
Czar Nicholas II abdicated the throne
A provisional government put in place
National Assembly shared power with the “Petrograd Soviet” (the St. Petersburg Assembly) consisting of workers and soldiers. They controlled troops, transport, and communications.
Petrograd Soviet more radical than the National Assembly
The National Assembly chooses Kerinsky, a socialist, as the Prime Minister of Russia

11. June-July 1917 Things going horribly with
the war: many casualties and desertions

12. June-July, 1917
“The July Days”: mutinies; open fire on protesters; police crackdown
Lenin, the leader of the revolution, flees to Finland with the help of Stalin
Trotsky arrested

14. The Bolsheviks: Bread! Peace! Land! Opposed the war
(Bolshevik means “One of the majority”; a division of the Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party
(A political party is an organization that seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office)
The Bolsheviks were socialists, but more extreme than the provisional government

15. The Bolshevik Revolution (The October Revolution)
Armed forces (White Guards)
marched on Petrograd to
restore order
The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, and the Red Guards, won the uprising and overthrow the provisional government. Kerinsky fled. Lenin took power.

16. Czar Nicholas II and the Romanov Family are executed.

17.
Bolsheviks (Reds) fought and won a civil war against the White Army.
1922
Lenin established the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) under the control of the Communist Party.

18. 1929
Joseph Stalin
Became sole ruler of the USSR, creating a totalitarian state.
Transformed USSR from a peasant society into an industrial and military superpower.
He ruled by terror. Millions of his own citizens died during his brutal reign.