RUSSIAFROM ABSOLUTISM TO REVOLUTION

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THE TSARIST EMPIRE

THE TSARIST EMPIRE

• Despite the liberal revolutions of the 19th century, the Russian Empire continued to be an absolute monarchy.

• The Russian absolute monarchy was ruled by the tsar.

THE TSARIST EMPIRET

he ts

ar Concentrated all the powers

Was supported by:

The nobility

The orthodox Church

The army

Burocracy

THE TSARIST EMPIRE

THE LAST TSAR: NICOLAS II AND HIS FAMILY

• Political situation:

• Civil rights were not recognised.

• Political parties faced repression.

• There was a Parliament called

DUMA:

• Its powers were very limited.

• The Tsar could gather or disolve

the Duma whenever he wanted.

THE TSARIST EMPIRE

• The economy

THE TSARIST EMPIRE

There was a semi-feudal economy:

A wealthy minority owned most of the agricultural land.

A peasant majority worked the

agricultural land.

• The pesants were extremely poor.

THE TSARIST EMPIRE

Russian peasants at the beggining of the 20th century.

• The economy

THE TSARIST EMPIRE

Industrialisation

Heavy industry

and railways

The working class

increased.It depended on foreing capital and on the State

The bourgeoisie was smaller and less significant than in other European

countries.

A capitalist economy could not develop.

• Working-class assembly in a Russian factory. 1905.

THE TSARIST EMPIRE

Po

litic

al

pro

ble

ms

1898

1903

1905

1914-1917

THE TSARIST EMPIRE

THE TSARIST EMPIRET

he

op

po

siti

on

Liberal parties Bourgeoisie

Revolutionary parties

Social revolutionary party Peasants

Social democratic party Workers

THE TSARIST EMPIRE• In 1898, the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party

(RSDLP) was formed.

It was composed by workers.

Its aim was to establish a Social state based on the principles of Marxist ideology.

THE TSARIST EMPIRE• In 1903, the RSLDP divided into two separate factions:

Moderate faction.

Martov argued that gradual reforms could achieve a Socialist state.

The Mensheviks

Radical faction.

Lenin argued for an immediate revolution to remove the tsar from power and establish a Socialis state.

The Bolsheviks

THE TSARIST EMPIRE• THE REVOLUTION OF 1905

• Trigger: • Russia tried to expand to Japan, but Japan defeated Russia.• Russia suffered an important economic crisis.

• January 1905:

• There were protests against the tsar´s absolutist regime.

• The Russians went to the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, residence of the Tsar, to ask him to make political changes.

THE TSARIST EMPIRE• THE REVOLUTION OF 1905

• January 1905:

• In response to the repression:• Workers and soldiers formed a revolutionary council or SOVIET in the

city of St. Petersburg.

Bloody Sunday: The government suppressed the protests with violence. As a result, there were a lot of dead and wounded people.

THE TSARIST EMPIRE

• From 1914-1917, Russia took part in

WWI:

• It worsened the economic and political

problems that the empire was already

experiencing.

• This caused more discontent and protests

because Russian soldiers did not have

enough food or military equipment.

• This led to a revolution in 1917.

• Video about Nicholas II: Russia's Last Emperor.• Part 1• Part 2

THE TSARIST EMPIRE

THE REVOLUTIONS OF FEBRUARY AND OCTOBER 1917

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION OF 1917• Why is the Russian Revolution so important?

• It´s an important milestone in the Contemporary History:

1. It means the emergence of a new model of State based in

Socialism.

2. It means the end of the liberal Revolutions.

3. Two different social systems emerged: socialism and

capitalism.

THE REVOLUTION OF FEBRUARY 1917• What are the causes of the revolution of 1917?

• Russia´s participation in the First World War caused more discontent and protests because Russian soldiers did not have enough food or military equipment.

THE REVOLUTION OF FEBRUARY 1917• When did the Russian Revolution begin?

• The Russian Revolution began on 23rd February with a demonstration in St- Petersburg.

• Slogan:• Peace and Bread.

• What happened next?

• On 25th february there was a general strike.• On 26th february the tsarist troops refused to shoot

against the strikers.

THE REVOLUTION OF FEBRUARY 1917

The tsarist army

THE REVOLUTION OF FEBRUARY 1917• There were demonstrations before the Palace of the Tsar.

THE REVOLUTION OF FEBRUARY 1917What was the result of these protests?• The protests involving peasants, workers and soldiers

forced Nicolas II to abdicate.

THE REVOLUTION OF FEBRUARY 1917

• What happened after the abdication of Nicolas II?• At first, the Mensheviks formed a

provisional government led by Kerensky.• The provisional government:

• Declared Russia a republic.• Made political parties legal.• Its aim was to establish a liberal political

system.• But the provisional government did not take control over all the Russian territory:• Because it was in favour of taking part in WWI

THE REVOLUTION OF FEBRUARY 1917

• Which alternative government emerged in Russia?

• The Bolsheviks opposed the Mensheviks and established and alternative government based on the soviets.

• The soviets spread throughout Russia.• Peasants, workers and soldiers formed soviets.• They had their own army: The Red Army.

THE SOVIETS´ IDEOLOGY

The key character: LENIN• Lenin was the leader of the Bolsheviks.

• He was the promoter or the Russian Revolution.

• He established a program

to be followed in the Revolution

based on his famous “April Theses”

THE SOVIETS´ IDEOLOGY

• “April Theses”• These theses consisted on:

• Withdraw of WWI.• Redistribution of lands to all the pesants.

• Control of the factories by the workers comitees.

• Autonomy for the different Russian nacionalities.

• Delivery of power to the soviets.

THE REVOLUTION OF OCTOBER 1917

• What happened in october 1917?• There was another revolution:

• The soviets controlled by the Bolsheviks took control over St. Petersburg and stormed the Winter Palace.

• As a result, the

provisional government

fell.

THE REVOLUTION OF OCTOBER 1917

• What were the consequences of the fall of the provisional government?• The Bolsheviks sized control of the government and Lenin became the new leader of Russia.

THE REVOLUTION OF OCTOBER 1917

What were the consequences

of the fall of the provisional government?• Russia signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with the German Empire in March 1918:• This allowed Russia to withdraw from an unpopular war.

• But in return the Bolsheviks agreed to give large amounts of land and resources to Germany.

REMEMBER!!THE CRISIS OF 1917 IN WWI

(We saw this slide when learning about WWI).

• The Russian Revolution.• The Tzar was overthrown and a

Communist government was imposed.

• The new government signed the Peace Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (1918):

• Russia withdrew from the war and gave a big part of territory to Germany.

THE REVOLUTION OF OCTOBER 1917

• What were other consequences of the fall of the provisional government?• Land was redistributed among the poorest peasants.

• Minor nationalities were recognised.

1918

• At the beggining of 1918 the Revolution had succeeded.

1918

What did the Bolsheviks do after taking power?• In July 1918 they killed the tsar Nicolas II and his family.

VIDEO: Murder Of The Romanovs

Min. 22:07

1918

What did the Bolsheviks do after taking power?• They began persecuting their opponents:

• Supporters of the Tsar: landowners, high-ranking military, Orthodox Church.

• Supporters of the liberal political system.

THE CIVIL WAR: 1918-1921

In response to these events, a civil war broke out:

Between two

groups

White Russians

The counterrevolutionaries,

supported by the foreign powers.

Red Army

The Bolshevik forces, who supported the

Revolution.

THE CIVIL WAR: 1918-1921

Who won the war?

The war was won by the Bolsheviks, thanks of the influence of Trotksy in the Red Army.

CHANGES IN ECONOMY, SOCIETY AND POLITICSECONOMY• In 1921 a NEW ECONOMIC POLICY (N.E.P.) was

established to improve:• The production• The social conditions

• One of the most important actions was:• The State controlled transports,

foreign trade, the banks and great

enterprises.

CHANGES IN ECONOMY, SOCIETY AND POLITICSA NEW STATE• In 1922, Lenin established the UNION OF SOVIET

SOCIALIST REPUBLICS (URSS or Soviet Union).

• It was a federation of republics.

• It was a plurinational and multiethnic state.

CHANGES IN ECONOMY, SOCIETY AND POLITICS• The flag of the USSR (1921-1991)

CHANGES IN ECONOMY, SOCIETY AND POLITICS• The flag of the USSR (1921-1991)

The sickle and the hammer is a symbol which represents the union of the workers. It was also used to represent the communism and its political parties.

It is composed by a hammer overlapping a sickle. This tools are the symbol of the industrial proletariat and the peasants, respectively.

The overlapping of both tools symbolizes the unity between all the workers.

CHANGES IN ECONOMY, SOCIETY AND POLITICS• The flag of the USSR (1921-1991)

The red five-pointed star is one of the symbols of Socialism and Communism.

It represents:• the five fingers of the worker´s hand • the five continents. It is related to the

internationalism of the marxist slogan “Proletarians of all countries, unite!”.

• the five social groups who led the establishment of Socialism: the youth, the militaries, the workers, the peasants and the intellectuals.

CHANGES IN ECONOMY, SOCIETY AND POLITICSPOLITICS• In 1923 a new constitution was established.

• It was based on Communist principles.

CHANGES IN ECONOMY, SOCIETY AND POLITICSPOLITICS• In the USSR, Karl Marx´s idea of the dictatorship of the

proletariat was put into practice through a system in which workers´ interests were represented by one political party: the communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU).• The party controlled the soviets.• The soviets directed all state

institutions.

CHANGES IN ECONOMY, SOCIETY AND POLITICSPOLITICS• Under the Communist system, the state also controlled

the means of production, such as factories and energy sources, as well as trade and finance.

http://kristaris2007.blogspot.com.es/2007/11/weblog-project-russian-propaganda.html

LENIN AND THE INTERNATIONALISM

• Lenin thought that it was necessary to spread the revolution outside the USSR.

• In 1919 Lenin created the Third International (KOMITERN).• Other countries were invited in

order to create communist parties.• The communists parties followed the

model of the CPSU:• Very centralised party.• Not much democratic party.• Critics were considered dissidence (people

who disagrees with the government)

• In 1924 the USSR was recognised by many countries.

• VIDEO• Lenin´s speach 1919• What is the Soviet Power?

Comrade Lenin cleans the world from garbage.

• EXERCISES ON PAGE 173• 16• 17• 18• 19• 20