Image BorisMikhailovich Kustodiev The Bolshevik- A.Nair Dickerson

A.Nair Dickerson

The revolution in the Russian empire in

1917, in which the Russian monarchy

(Czarist regime) was overthrown

resulting in the formation of the world’s

first communist government.

A.Nair Dickerson

Russia’ Romanov dynasty had lasted 300

years but Nicholas II, who ascended the

throne in 1894, turned out to be the last

Czar of Russia.

How did such an ancient monarchy fall

so quickly in 1917?

A.Nair Dickerson

Rewind -1905

A.Nair Dickerson

A.Nair Dickerson

Czar Nicholas II The Last Czar of Russia

• Descendant of the Russian Romanovs.

Absolute ruler with unlimited

powers-Ruled alone and

unquestioned.

• Weak personality.

• Ignored the needs of his people.

• Czarina Alexandra, wife of Nicholas

II was German.

• Both were very unpopular.

A.Nair Dickerson

A.Nair Dickerson

• Majority of the Russians were peasants or factory workers.

• Most peasants did not own the land they farmed.

• Factory workers had to endure long hours, low pay, and

horrible working conditions.

• About 80% of Russians were poor.

• .

A.Nair Dickerson

• Economy was based on

agriculture.

• Russia was not as industrialized

as the rest of Europe.

• Russia’s war with Japan had

devastated Russia’s economy.

• Food prices went up, but the

wages remained the same.

• Many people were starving.

A.Nair Dickerson

A.Nair Dickerson

Sunday, 22nd January, 1905

On a Sunday afternoon, a large group of over 200,000 unarmed workers, their families, and supporters along with Father Gapon, a Russian priest led a peaceful demonstration in St. Petersburg.

• Demonstrators wanted to present a petition to the Czar regarding better working conditions, more wages, and freedom.

• The unarmed demonstrators were shot by the Czar's troops.

Many innocent people were killed.

A.Nair Dickerson

• Bloody Sunday sparked

several protests and strikes

by the Russian people.

• The Czar was forced to

create the Duma-the

Russian Parliament.

• Nothing really changed,

Nicholas kept power and

if members of the Duma

disagreed with the Czar

they were sent away…

A.Nair Dickerson

A.Nair Dickerson

The First World War proved

to be the last straw for the

Czar’s government.

• Millions of Russian troops

were getting killed.

• Soldiers were not well

prepared with proper

weapons, or supplies.

• . Nicholas left the

government in the hands of

his wife, the Czarina, and

the monk, Rasputin. A.Nair Dickerson

A.Nair Dickerson

Weak leadership of Czar Nicholas II.

Rasputin

Russo-Japanese War

Devastation of World War I—high casualties, economic ruin.

Food shortages, widespread hunger

low wages, landless peasants.

Economic differences between social classes.

Bloody Sunday, the massacre of unarmed protestors outside the palace

in 1905.

Overview of Causes

A.Nair Dickerson

A.Nair Dickerson

A.Nair Dickerson

THE END OF RUSSIAN

AUTOCRACY

o Three centuries of Romanov

Dynastic rule comes to an

end. Czar Nicholas II

abdicates his throne.

THE RISE OF

COMMUNISM

Lenin leads the Bolsheviks to

power.

February 1917

Revolution

October 1917

Revolution

A.Nair Dickerson

• On February 28, 1917,

Czar Nicholas is forced to

abdicate (give up) the

throne.

• A provisional (temporary)

government takes over.

• THE PROBLEM:

• Provisional government

supports the war.

• Peasants are still without

land.

A.Nair Dickerson

• Bolsheviks gain

support from peasants

with promise of land.

• Led by Lenin with

slogans such as

“Peace, Land, Bread!”, the Bolsheviks take over

the provisional

government.

The Bolshevik Party will be later named

The Russian Communist Party.

A.Nair Dickerson

A.Nair Dickerson

A.Nair Dickerson

In 1918, Lenin officially pulls

Russia out of WWI. Note: Russia stopped fighting in1917

A.Nair Dickerson

In 1918 Bolsheviks order the deaths of Nicholas II and his family.

A.Nair Dickerson

Russia shifts from the rule of one

(Czarist Regime) to a rule of a few

(Bolsheviks).

A.Nair Dickerson

A.Nair Dickerson

A.Nair Dickerson

• Communism is the theory that all

people should be equal and there

should be no classes. Everyone

should work for the good of the

country and wealth would be

equally shared amongst all

citizens.

A.Nair Dickerson

In the following years after

the two revolutions, the

Bolsheviks or the ‘Reds’

defeat the Mensheviks or

the ‘Whites’ in a civil war .

By 1923 all areas of Russia

came under communist

control and is renamed the

Union of Soviet Socialist

Republics (USSR).

CIVIL WAR

A.Nair Dickerson

A few years after the

death of Lenin in

1924 the country

comes under the

control of dictator

Joseph Stalin.

A.Nair Dickerson

In the years to come, the USSR under

Joseph Stalin emerges as the world’s

leading superpower.

A.Nair Dickerson

A.Nair Dickerson

A.Nair Dickerson

1) A major cause of the Russian Revolution of 1917 was the

A. German defeat in WWI.

B. marriage of Czar Nicholas II to a German princess.

C. existence of sharp economic differences between social

classes.

D. Russian victory in the Russo-Japanese War.

A.Nair Dickerson

• • Led the Russians in a second revolution (1917)

• • Promised “Peace, Land, and Bread”

• • Redistributed land to the peasants.

2) Which leader is being described by these statements?

A. Czar Nicholas II

B. Vladimir I. Lenin

C. Nikita Khrushchev

D. Mikhail Gorbachev

A.Nair Dickerson

• “Czar Abdicates! Provisional Government Formed”

• “Peasants Promised ‘Peace, Land, and Bread’”

3) Which event is the focus of these headlines?

A. Bloody Sunday

B. October Revolution

C. February Revolution

D. Both B and C.

A.Nair Dickerson

A. World War I created conditions within Russia that helped

trigger a revolution

B. World War I postponed the Russian Revolution by restoring

confidence in the Czar

C. the Russian Revolution inspired the Russian people to win

World War I

D. World War I gave the Czar’s army the needed experience to

suppress the Russian Revolution

A.Nair Dickerson

4) In the view of this cartoonist,

Russia under Lenin’s rule was

characterized by

A. a continuation of traditional life

B. the introduction of capitalism

C. support for a constitutional

monarchy

D. rejection of the czarist system

A.Nair Dickerson

• A) the Bolsheviks

• B) the Duma

• C) the Cheka

• D) the Whites

A.Nair Dickerson

A. the Duma

B. the Winter Palace

C. the House of Windsor

D. Petrograd

A.Nair Dickerson

A. Nicholas II

B. Lenin

C. Stalin

D. Rasputin

A.Nair Dickerson

A. WWI

B. Russo-Japanese War

C. WWII

D. Bloody Sunday

A.Nair Dickerson

A. October Revolution

B. February Revolution

C. Bloody Monday

D. Bloody Sunday

A.Nair Dickerson