aim: what events/occurrences led to the bolshevik revolution? (continuing from yesterday’s)
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Aim: What events/occurrences led to the Bolshevik Revolution? (Continuing from yesterday’s). Title: The Russian (Bolshevik) Revolution Do Now: Please complete the handout (located at the front of the room). . What is this cartoon saying about Russian Society, economy, and political - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Aim: What events/occurrences led to the Bolshevik Revolution? (Continuing from yesterday’s)
Title: The Russian (Bolshevik) Revolution Do Now: 1. Please complete the handout (located at the front of
the room).
1. What is this cartoon saying about Russian Society, economy, and political system?2. Might this political cartoon help us comprehend the MOTIVES/reasons for revolution? Why, or why not? EXPLAIN!!
Cause and Effect
What were some causes of the Russian (Bolshevik) Revolution (Oct./Nov. 1917)?
Answer(s): growing unrest, major distinctions between the “HAVES” vs. “HAVE NOTS,” lack of food/resources throughout. Entered WWI (which cost countless $$), over 2 million troops died, outdated infrastructure, including industries, inspired rebellions against a weak & corrupt czar.
Causes & Effects of Two Russian Revolutions, 1917Causes: Czarist Russia
Effects/Causes: March Revolution
Effects: Bolshevik Revolution
• Bankruptcy of Czarist Regime
• Grave impact of 3 years of war
• Military defeat in WWI
• Economic deprivation
• Riots & strikes
• Distrust in pro-German factions in Imperial Court
• War weariness
Causes
• Mutiny of the troops
• Garrisoning of the Capital
February/ March
Revolution
• Creation of the Provisional Executive Committee of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers Deputies
• Formation of the Provisional Coalition Gov’t (Dual Power) headed by Prince George Lvov, then Alexander Kerensky
• Czar Nicholas II forced to abdicate
• Royal Family shot dead
• 1st All Russian Congress• With the help of the
Germans, Lenin & the Bolsheviks (REDS) come to power in RUSSIA.
Effects
LONG-TERM CAUSE
S
Oppression of former
Serfs Geographical Isolation
Autocracy &
Absolutism of CzarsClass
inequalities
Defeat In
Crimean War
Rise of
Marxism =
Creation of
U.S.S.R.
World War I: The Final Blow
• Heavy losses in World War I reveal government’s weakness
• Nicholas goes to war front; Czarina Alexandra runs government in his absence
The impact of WWI
• Military Defeats– Russian army was big but poorly equipped– Lost two major battles in 1914– Caused loss of civilian and military morale– Tsar now held responsible for the defeats as
he had taken charge of the army
Impact of WWI
Criticism of the Tsar
Poor military commander
Poor political leader
Left the Tsarina in charge of the government
Refused to accept advice from the Duma
Criticism if the Tsarina
Inexperienced and incompetent ruler
Under the influence of Rasputin
Unpopular because she was German
Role of Rasputin
Claimed to be a healer. Disliked by many yet held influence over both the Tsar and Tsarina
Economic problems
• Over 15 million men joined the army• not enough workers in factories and farms• caused shortages of food and materials• Railway system very poor
– could not supply the troops– could not supply the towns– food prices rose
Impact WWIImpact WWI
Social discontent
• Food shortages and price rises caused widespread discontent
• The war had seen the population move from the countryside to the cities
• The cities soon became overcrowded and people lived in terrible conditions
Impact WWIImpact WWI
First Steps
• In March 1917, strikes expand; soldiers refuse to fire on workers.• Most of the tension is caused by Nicholas II personally taking
command of the military in World War I, and the war going so badly.
The Czar Steps Down
• March Revolution—protests become uprising; Nicholas abdicates throne
• Duma establishes provisional, or temporary government
• Soviets—committees of Socialist revolutionaries—control many cities
Lenin Returns to Russia
• In April 1917, Germans aid Lenin in returning from exile to Russia (pictured in disguise with his goatee shaved and wearing a wig).
The Provisional Government Topples
• In November 1917, workers take control of the government
Bolsheviks in Power
• Lenin gives land to peasants, puts workers in control of factories
• Bolsheviks sign treaty with Germany (Treaty of Brest-Litvosk); Russia pulls out of World War I– What did that mean?
Civil War Rages in Russia
• Civil War between Bolsheviks’ Red Army and loosely allied White Army
• Red Army wins three-year war that leaves 14 million dead
New Economic Policy
• In March 1921, Lenin launches New Economic Policy; has some capitalism
• NEP and peace restore economy shattered by war and revolution
• By 1928, Russia’s farms and factories are producing again
Political Reforms
• Lenin creates self-governing republics under national government
• In 1922, country renamed Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.)
• Communist Party—new name taken by Bolsheviks from the writings of Marx
Long term causesGEOGRAPHICAL ISOLATION• The great size of Russia led to geographical and
cultural isolation from the West.• The empire stretched from the Baltic to the Black Sea
and from Poland to the Pacific• Russia was therefore shielded from the liberalizing
influences of the French Revolution and the Enlightenment.
• The Empire also lagged behind in terms of industrialization
• The expanse of the empire is reflected in the large population [150 - 160 million]
Long term causesAUTOCRACY & ABSOLUTISM OF CZARS• Political parties were banned• Radicals were imprisoned or sent to Siberia as
exiles• Censorship of the press• Control of public meetings• Tsar’s word was law• Weak and limited political institutions
Long term causesCLASS INEQUALITIES• Peasants comprised 80% of the total population• Less than a third of peasants were literate• Life expectancy in the countryside was under 40
years• Peasants did not own land and all farming was done
on communal land• Peasants were heavily taxed by the commune &
corporal punishment was administered by a Land Captain
Long term causesRISE IN MARXISM• The development of the Russian Democratic
Labor Movement/Party.• Eventually split into the Mensheviks and
Bolsheviks• They felt that the industrialization of Russia
would lead to destruction of the landowning classes
• One great Marxist/Bolshevik leader was Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov
Long term causesOPPRESSION OF THE SERFS• A serf is an unfree peasant who is bound to
the land & is obligated to pay duties to the lord. If the land is sold, the serf is sold with the land.
Long term causesOPPRESSION OF THE SERFS• A serf is an unfree peasant who is bound to
the land & is obligated to pay duties to the lord. If the land is sold, the serf is sold with the land.
Immediate causesDEFEAT IN RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR (1904-05)• War over control of Manchuria and Korea
• Resulted in the annihilation of the Russian Baltic fleet by the Japanese in Tshusima
• Russia sign a peace treaty in August 1905 giving Japan control over Korea and North Manchuria
Immediate causes1905 REVOLUTION• Outcome?
– Unrestrained massacre leaving hundreds dead and others wounded [BLOODY SUNDAY]
– Assassination of the Tsar’s uncle Grand Duke Sergei who was governor-general in Moscow
– Constitutional Reform leading to the DUMA PERIOD characterized by limited democracy
Immediate causesWORLD WAR I• Russian troops experienced acute
demoralization• Gov’t mismanagement of the war effort• Russia did not possess the industrial capacity
to sustain a war in terms of:– Equipment– Supplies– Internal transport
RUSSIAN REVOLUTION• The course of the revolution may be split into
two distinctive phases
• PHASE 1: February/ March• PHASE 2: October/ November
October / November revolution• Also called the Bolshevik Revolution because
the main personalities involved were members of the Bolshevik party
• The Bolsheviks were against the Provisional government
• Each proposal made by the Provisional gov’t was contested by the Bolsheviks
Agricultural Society• Russian society under czars mostly agricultural• Unlike other European countries, Russia had not industrialized• Much of population, serfs—workers considered part of land they worked
Societal Problem• Serfs had to make regular payments of goods, labor to lords• Some in government wanted to improve conditions, unable to make reforms• Russian serfdom way of life, a major problem in Russian society
Serfs• Controlled by lords, wealthy nobles who owned land• Technically not slaves; living conditions, lack of freedom, resembled slavery• Not allowed to leave property where born; did not own land they worked
Serfdom