Background to Revolution

In March 1917, the czar’s failures at the frontand worker unrest led to revolution.

Reading Connection Do you remember the causes ofthe 1789 Revolution in France? Read to learn what caused theRussian Revolution.

After its defeat by Japan in 1905 and the Revolutionof 1905, Russia was unprepared militarily and techno-logically for the total war of World War I. Russia had nocompetent military leaders. Czar Nicholas II insistedon taking charge of the armed forces despite his lack oftraining. Disastrous leadership in World War I wasonly one of the causes for the Russian Revolution.

Besides poor leadership, Russian soldiers sufferedother hardships during World War I. They trainedusing broomsticks because Russian industry wasunable to produce the necessary weapons. Other sol-diers were sent to the front without rifles and told topick one up from a dead comrade.

Given these conditions, it is not surprising that theRussian army suffered incredible losses. Between1914 and 1916, two million soldiers were killed, andanother four to six million wounded or captured. By1917, the Russian will to fight had vanished.

Beginnings of Upheaval Czar Nicholas II was anautocratic ruler who relied on the army and bureauc-racy to hold up his regime. Furthermore, he wasincreasingly cut off from events by his German-bornwife, Alexandra. She was a willful and stubbornwoman who had fallen under the influence of Grigori Rasputin (ra•SPYOO•tuhn), an uneducatedSiberian peasant who claimed to be a holy man.Alexandra believed that Rasputin was holy, for healone seemed able to stop the bleeding of her sonAlexis. Alexis, the heir to the throne, had hemophilia(a deficiency in the ability of the blood to clot).

With the czar at the battlefront, Alexandra madeall of the important decisions. She insisted on firstconsulting Rasputin, the man she called “herbeloved, never-to-be-forgotten teacher, savior, andmentor.” Rasputin’s influence made him an impor-tant power behind the throne. He did not hesitate tointerfere in government affairs.

As the leadership at the top stumbled its waythrough a series of military and economic disasters,the Russian people grew more and more upset withthe czarist regime. Even conservative aristocrats whosupported the monarchy felt the need to do some-thing to save the situation.

441CHAPTER 8 War and Revolution

John Reed, an American journalist, described theseizure of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, seat ofthe Russian government, on the night of November6, 1917. His description captures the moments thatheralded the Bolshevik Revolution:

“After a few minutes huddling there, somehundreds of men began again to flow forward. Bythis time, in the light that streamed out of theWinter Palace windows, I could see that the firsttwo or three hundred men were Red Guards [rev-olutionaries], with only a few scattered soldiers.Over the barricade of firewood we clambered,and leaping down inside gave a triumphant shoutas we stumbled on a heap of rifles thrown downby the guards who had stood there. On both sidesof the main gateway the doors stood wide open,and from the huge pile came not the slightestsound.”

John Reed, American eyewitness to the Russian Revolution

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For a start, they assassinated Rasputin in Decem-ber 1916. It was not easy to kill this man of incrediblephysical strength. They shot him three times andthen tied him up and threw him into the Neva River.He drowned, but not before he had managed to untiethe knots underwater. Rasputin’s death occurred toolate, however, to save the monarchy.

The March Revolution At the beginning of March1917, a series of strikes led by working-class womenbroke out in the capital city of Petrograd (formerly St.Petersburg). A few weeks earlier, the governmenthad started bread rationing in Petrograd after theprice of bread had skyrocketed.

Many of the women who stood in the lines waitingfor bread were also factory workers who worked 12-hour days. A police report warned the government:

“Mothers of families, exhausted by endless stand-ing in line at stores, distraught over their half-starvingand sick children, are today perhaps closer to revolu-tion than [the liberal opposition leaders] and ofcourse they are a great deal more dangerousbecause they are the combustible material for whichonly a single spark is needed to burst into flame.”

On March 8, about 10,000 women marchedthrough the city of Petrograd demanding “Peace andBread” and “Down with Autocracy.” Soon the women

and other workers called for a general strike. Thestrike shut down factories in the city on March 10.

Alexandra wrote her husband Nicholas II at thebattlefront, “This is a hooligan movement. If theweather were very cold they would all probably stayat home.” Nicholas ordered troops to break up thecrowds by shooting them if necessary. Soon, how-ever, large numbers of the soldiers joined the demon-strators and refused to fire on the crowds.

The Duma, or legislative body, which the czar hadtried to dissolve, met anyway. On March 12, it estab-lished the provisional government, which mainlyconsisted of middle-class Duma representatives. Thisgovernment urged the czar to step down. Because heno longer had the support of the army or even thearistocrats, Nicholas II did step down, on March 15,ending the 300-year-old Romanov dynasty.

The provisional government, headed by AlexanderKerensky (keh•REHN•skee), now decided to remainin the war to preserve Russia’s honor. This decisionwas a major blunder. It satisfied neither the workersnor the peasants, who wanted an end to the war.

The government was also faced with a challenge toits authority—the soviets. The soviets were councilscomposed of representatives from the workers andsoldiers. The soviet of Petrograd had been formed inMarch 1917. At the same time, soviets sprang up inarmy units, factory towns, and rural areas. The soviets,

Rasputin (shown below) had great influence over Czar Nicholas II and his family, seen here in a 1913photograph. Why was Rasputin able to influenceRussian political affairs?

History

442 CHAPTER 8 War and Revolution(l)Hulton/Archive by Getty Images, (r)Bettmann/CORBIS

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Under Lenin’s direction, the Bolsheviks became aparty dedicated to revolution. Lenin believed thatonly violent revolution could destroy the capitalistsystem. The vanguard, or forefront of the party lead-ership, would make the decisions necessary toaccomplish the task. Only these disciplined profes-sional revolutionaries could ensure victory.

Between 1900 and 1917, Lenin spent most of his timeabroad. When the provisional government was formedin March 1917, he saw anopportunity for the Bolshe-viks to seize power. Ger-man military leaders,hoping to create disorder inRussia, shipped Lenin toRussia in April 1917. Leninand his associates were in asealed train to prevent theirideas from infecting Ger-many. Lenin’s arrivalopened a new stage in the

The Mystery of AnastasiaCzar Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra, and their five chil-

dren were murdered on the night of July 16, 1918. Soonafter, rumors began to circulate that some members ofthe family had survived.

In 1921, a young woman in Dalldorf, Germany,claimed to be the Grand Duchess Anastasia, youngestdaughter of Nicholas II. Some surviving members of the

Romanov family became convinced thatshe was Anastasia. Grand Duke Andrew,

Nicholas II’s first cousin, said aftermeeting with her, “For me there isdefinitely no doubt; it is Anastasia.”

Later, the woman claiming to be Anastasia came tothe United States. While in New York, she registered at aLong Island hotel as Anna Anderson and soon becameknown by that name. In 1932, she returned to Germany.During the next 30 years, she pursued a claim in Ger-man courts for part of the estate left to Empress Alexan-dra’s German relatives. In the 1960s in the United States,she became even better known as a result of a popularplay and film, Anastasia.

In 1968, Anna Anderson returned to the United States,where she died in 1984. In 1994, DNA testing of tissuesfrom Anna Anderson revealed that she was not theGrand Duchess Anastasia. In all probability, Anna Ander-son was Franziska Schanzkowska, a Polish farmer’sdaughter who had always dreamed of being an actress.

The woman claiming to be Anastasia convincedmany people of the authenticity of her claim. Whatdo you think might have motivated her to act out thepart of Anastasia for so many years?

! AnnaAnderson

" GrandDuchessAnastasia

HISTORY

Web Activity Visit theGlencoe World History—Modern Times Web site at and click on Chapter 8–Student Web Activity tolearn more about theRussian royal family.

wh.mt.glencoe.com

largely made up of socialists, represented the moreradical interests of the lower classes. One group—theBolsheviks—came to play a crucial role.

Identifying Develop a sequence ofevents leading to the March Revolution.

The Rise of Lenin and the Bolsheviks

Lenin and the Bolsheviks gained control andquickly overthrew the provisional government.

Reading Connection How has political change beenbrought about in the United States? Read to learn how Leninproposed to make changes in Russia.

The Bolsheviks began as a small faction of aMarxist party called the Russian Social Democrats.The Bolsheviks came under the leadership ofVladimir Ilyich Ulianov (ool•YAH•nuhf), known tothe world as V. I. Lenin.

Reading Check

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Civil War in Russia

A civil war started in Russia between groupsopposed to the Bolshevik regime and the Bolsheviks.

Reading Connection What groups were involved in theAmerican Civil War? Read to find out what groups of Russiansfought each other between 1918 and 1921.

Many people in Russia were opposed to the newBolshevik, or Communist, government. Theyincluded not only groups loyal to the czar, but alsoliberals and anti-Leninist socialists. Liberals oftensupported a constitutional monarchy, while a num-ber of socialists supported gradual reform. Thesesocialists expected to work for a socialist statethrough much more democratic methods than Lenin.They were joined by the Allies, who were extremelyconcerned about the Communist takeover. The Alliessent thousands of troops to outlying parts of Russiahoping to bring it back into the war. Although Allied

forces rarely fought on Russian soil, they gavematerial aid to anti-Communist forces.

Between 1918 and 1921, the Communistor Red Army was forced to fight on many

fronts. The first serious threat to theCommunists came from Siberia. Herethe anti-Communist or White forceattacked westward and advancedalmost to the Volga River before beingstopped.

Attacks also came from the Ukraini-ans in the southwest and from the Balticregions. In mid-1919, White forces sweptthrough Ukraine and advanced almost toMoscow before being pushed back.

By 1920, however, the major Whiteforces had been defeated and Ukraine retaken. Thenext year, the Communist regime regained con-trol over the independent nationalist governments in Georgia, Russian Armenia, and Azerbaijan (A• zuhr•BY•JAHN).

The royal family was another victim of the civilwar. After the czar abdicated, he, his wife, and theirfive children had been taken into captivity. In April1918, they were moved to Yekaterinburg, a miningtown in the Urals. On the night of July 16, membersof the local soviet murdered the czar and his familyand burned their bodies in a nearby mine shaft.

Identifying Who opposed the newBolshevik regime?

Reading Check

444

Russian Revolution. Lenin maintained that the sovietsof soldiers, workers, and peasants were ready-madeinstruments of power. He believed that the Bolsheviksshould gain control of these groups and use them tooverthrow the provisional government.

The Bolsheviks reflected the discontent of the peo-ple. They promised an end to the war, the redistribu-tion of all land to the peasants, the transfer offactories and industries from capitalists to commit-tees of workers, and the transfer of governmentpower from the provisional government to the sovi-ets. Three simple slogans summed up the Bolshevikprogram: “Peace, Land, Bread,” “Worker Control ofProduction,” and “All Power to the Soviets.”

By the end of October, Bolsheviks made up a slightmajority in the Petrograd and Moscow soviets. The number of party members had grown from50,000 to 240,000. With Leon Trotsky, a dedicated rev-olutionary, as head of the Petrograd soviet, the Bol-sheviks could claim power in the name of the soviets.During the night of November 6, Bolshevik forcesseized the Winter Palace, the seat of the provisionalgovernment. The government quickly col-lapsed with little bloodshed.

The overthrow of the provisional gov-ernment coincided with a meeting inPetrograd of the all-Russian Congressof Soviets, which represented sovietsfrom all over the country. Outwardly,Lenin turned over the power of theprovisional government to the Con-gress of Soviets. The real power, how-ever, passed to a Council of People’sCommissars, headed by Lenin.

The Bolsheviks, who soon renamedthemselves the Communists, still had along way to go. Lenin had promised peace,and that, he realized, would not be an easytask. It would mean the humiliating loss of much Russian territory. There was no real choice, however.

On March 3, 1918, Lenin signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany and gave up eastern Poland,Ukraine, Finland, and the Baltic provinces. To his crit-ics, Lenin argued that it made no difference. Thespread of the socialist revolution throughout Europewould make the treaty largely irrelevant. In any case,he had promised peace to the Russian people. Realpeace did not come, however, because the countrysoon sank into civil war.

Examining What was Lenin’s planwhen he arrived in Russia?

Reading Check

CHAPTER 8 War and Revolution

V. I. Lenin

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Triumph of the Communists

A major reason for Communist victory wasthat the Bolsheviks were united, while their opponentswere not.

Reading Connection Have you seen a group failbecause it could not agree on goals? Read to understand thefailure of the Whites.

How had Lenin and the Communists triumphedin the civil war over so many opponents? One reasonwas that the Red Army was a well-disciplined fight-ing force. This was largely due to the organizationalgenius of Leon Trotsky. As commissar of war, Trot-sky reinstated the draft and emphasized rigid disci-pline. Soldiers who deserted or refused to obeyorders were executed on the spot.

A second reason was that the anti-Communistforces were disunited. Political differences createddistrust among the Whites and prevented them fromcooperating effectively. Some Whites insisted onrestoring the czarist regime. Others believed thatonly a more liberal and democratic program had anychance of success.

The Whites, then, had no common goal. The Com-munists, in contrast, had a single-minded sense ofpurpose. Inspired by their vision of a new socialistorder, the Communists had the determination thatcomes from revolutionary zeal and convictions.

The Communists were also able to translate theirrevolutionary faith into practical instruments ofpower. A policy of war communism, for example,was used to ensure regular supplies for the RedArmy. War communism meant government controlof banks and most industries, the seizing of grainfrom peasants, and the centralization of state admin-istration under Communist control.

Another Communist instrument was revolutionaryterror. A new Red secret police—known as the Cheka—

445CHAPTER 8 War and Revolution

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Russian Revolution and Civil War, 1917–1922

The Russian Revolution and civil war resulted in significantchanges to Russia’s boundaries.

1. Interpreting Maps Compare the area of Russia underBolshevik control in 1919 with the area not underBolshevik control. Which is larger? Which containedRussia’s main cities?

2. Applying Geography Skills Pose two questions foryour classmates to determine whether or not they candescribe the changes in Russia’s boundaries resultingfrom the Russian Revolution and World War I.

Western boundary of Russia, 1914Russia, 1922Land lost by Russia (Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, 1918)Center of revolutionary (Bolshevik) activity, 1917–1918White Russian (anti-Bolshevik) or Allied attack, 1918–1920Area under Bolshevik control, October 1919

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446 CHAPTER 8 War and Revolution

began a Red Terror aimed at the destruction of all thosewho opposed the new regime (much like the Reign ofTerror in the French Revolution). The Red Terror addedan element of fear to the Communist regime.

Finally, the presence of foreign armies on Russiansoil enabled the Communists to appeal to the power-ful force of Russian patriotism. At one point, over ahundred thousand foreign troops—mostly Japanese,British, American, and French—were stationed inRussia in support of anti-Communist forces. Theirpresence made it easy for the Communist govern-

Checking for Understanding1. Vocabulary Define: soviets, coincide,

irrelevant, war communism.

2. People Identify: Alexandra, GrigoriRasputin, Alexander Kerensky, Bolshe-viks, V. I. Lenin, Leon Trotsky.

3. Places Locate: Petrograd, Ukraine,Siberia, Urals.

Reviewing Big Ideas4. Explain why Lenin accepted the loss of

so much Russian territory in the Treatyof Brest-Litovsk.

Critical Thinking5. Connecting

Events How did the presence of Alliedtroops in Russia ultimately help theCommunists?

6. Organizing Information Using a chartlike the one below, sequence the stepsthe Communists took to turn Russiainto a centralized state dominated by asingle party.

Analyzing Visuals7. Examine the photograph of Czar

Nicholas II and his family shown onpage 442 of your text. Is this photo-graph an idealized view of royalty? Do you think Russians thought of the royal family like this during World War I?

CA HI1

8. Expository Writing Write an essaycomparing the economic, political,and social causes of the American,French, and Russian Revolutions.

CA 10WA2.3a,b

Steps to Communist Control1.2.

For help with the concepts in this section of Glencoe WorldHistory—Modern Times, go to andclick on Study Central.

wh.mt.glencoe.com

Study CentralHISTORY

The Red Army is shown marchingthrough Moscow. Between 1918and 1921, the Red Army facedresistance from both the Allies andthe anti-Communist or Whiteforces. Who was the Communistcommissar who shaped the RedArmy?

History

ment to call on patriotic Russians tofight foreign attempts to control thecountry.

By 1921, the Communists were intotal command of Russia. In thecourse of the civil war, the Commu-nist regime had transformed Russiainto a centralized state dominatedby a single party. The state was also

largely hostile to the Allied powers, because the Allieshad tried to help the Communists’ enemies in the civilwar.

Contrasting Why did the Red Armyprevail over the White Army?

Reading Check

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