russian revolution 1 1.why did the czarist regime fail? 2.how did the bolsheviks eventually come to...

RUSSIAN REVOLUTION

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1. Why did the Czarist regime fail?

2. How did the Bolsheviks eventually come to power?

Who ruled Russia?• The Romanov dynasty ruled for 300 yrs. (1613 – 1917)

• If Czar was overthrown, industrial workers could govern Russia

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Nicholas IIAlexandra

Why was there a lack in confidence in the Czar?

• Russia was totally unprepared for war• Russia lacked:

– factories/supplies– transportation system– modern equipment– competent military leader– Lack of food– Inflation went up– Wages didn’t

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WW I – 1914

•1915 – Nicholas II took command of Russian military

•IF RUSSIA FAILS , SO TOO WOULD NICHOLAS II

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•Czar Nicholas II hoped war would unite Russia & stop talks of revolution

•patriotism increased Rapidly

WWI Conditions Worsen•As food & goods grew scarce peasants grew desperate

•Nicholas at the front Czarina left in charge (unpopular)•Alexandra took advice from Rasputin (corrupt/immoral)

•A Russian peasant and self-proclaimed mystic / holy man who gained significant influence over Tsar wife

Grigory Rasputin- “The Mad Monk” 5

Suffered from life threatening illness

•Hemophilia is rare bleeding disorder in which the blood doesn’t clot normally.•

•Rasputin – Stopped the bleeding

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Alexis

Revolution Begins•March 8, 1917 – Petrograd

•Unhappy citizens marched through the city

•Czar – ordered troop to break up demonstrations (shoot)

•Police & soldiers were sympathetic (refused)

•The Duma – (Russia’s legislature) defied Nicholas II met anyway

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Russian workers striking

Provisional GovernmentThe Duma – established temporary government

Urged Czar to step downAlexander Kerensky

March 15, 1917 – Riots protesting the shortage of food forced the Czar to abdicate

Czar Nicholas II

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Provisional Government

• mid-1917 – Kerensky’s provisional government decided to carry on the war

• Russian army was weak & collapsed

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Bolsheviks & V.I. Lenin

• Founder of the Bolshevik Party• First leader of the Soviet Union.• Spent most of the early 20th

century living in exile (primarily Britain and Switzerland).

• Devout follower of Marxism• Believed that once a Communist

revolution took place in Russia, Communism would spread rapidly around the world.

• He returned to Russia in April 1917 and orchestrated the October Revolution that turned Russia into a Communist state.

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October Revolution

• November 1917 – Bolshevik seized The Winter Palace

• Kerensky’s government didn’t put up much of a fight• Lenin established radical communist program• Promised PEACE LAND AND BREAD

– private ownership = illegal– land redistributed to peasants

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After the Revolution

• Lenin wanted to end involvement in war

• Leon Trotsky was sent to negotiate with Central Powers

• Russia lost much land to Central Powers in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

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Civil War• Some Russians disliked the negotiations & their results

• opponents of Bolsheviks = “White Army”

• France & United States supported White Army• RED ARMY vs. WHITE ARMY

– fighting & famine cost millions of lives

• late 1920 – Bolsheviks triumph

• 1921 – New Economic Policy: plan permitting some capitalist activity

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The Soviet Union

• 1922 – economy began to improve

• 1922 – Russia reunited with neighboring lands that had belonged to Russian Empire

• Became Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) or Soviet Union

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