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