the people of russia are unhappy: czar nicholas ii is in power, abuses it unprepared for wwi, costs...
TRANSCRIPT
The people of Russia are unhappy:Czar Nicholas II is in power, abuses
itUnprepared for WWI, costs are highSuffer incredible lossesUnequal distribution of wealth exists
Background
Czar Nicholas II
Nicholas II speaking to troops during WWI, he was on the front lines with them
Leader at battlefront, he influences czar’s wife Alexandra
Influences all decisionsMany of which are disasters
The people grow increasingly discontent with the czarist regime
Grigory Rasputin
1. Rasputin is assassinated 2. March Rev. – Strikes by women, a general
strike ensues3. Czar orders troops to disperse the crowds,
troops refuse to shoot and join demonstrators4. The Duma urges the Czar to step down5. March 15 Nicholas II steps down ending
the Romanov Dynasty!!!
Start of a Revolution
Small faction of the Marxist partyTheir leader is V.I. LeninParty is dedicated to violent revolution to
destroy capitalism
The Bolsheviks
Lenin speaking at a Bolshevik rally
“Peace, Land, Bread”Promise:
End to warRedistribute land to peasantsTransfer power to the Soviets
Led by Lenin and Leon Trotsky, the Bolshevik forces seized the winter palace, overthrow gov.
March 1918, Russia withdraws from war
Bolsheviks Seize Power
LeninTrotsky
1918-1921 the Communist Army (Red) fight the White ArmyWhite army disorganized, lots of foreign troopsRed army, led by Trotsky, more organized
Use War CommunismRed Terror (destroy all those against them)1921 Communists are in total control of the country
Civil War in RussiaVictims of the Red Terror
Firing Squad used during the Red Terror
Russia now becomes the first nation with a communist economic system
Which other countries will follow their lead????
Turning Point in History
Soviet Union
Lenin followed a policy of communismGov. control of productionPublic vs. privatizationCitizens have little choice
Peasants began to sabotage the communist program
Drought caused a great famine between 1920 & 1922, 5 million lives were lost
Industrial output decreased to 1913 levels
Lenin’s New Economic Policy *New Economic Policy
(NEP), a modified version of the old capitalist system.
Peasants allowed to sell their produce, retail stores & small industries could be privately owned & operated
Heavy industry, banking & mines remained in the hands of the government
Lenin’s New Economic Policy 1922, a new Communist
state called the *Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, USSR or Soviet Union was created.
NEP saved the Soviet Union from complete economic disaster, but threatened the goals of the communism
Dies in 1924
Joseph Stalin
http://library.usu.edu/Specol/digitalexhibits/masaryk/images/stalin.jpg
The Great Purge-Stalin had eliminated the Bolsheviks of the revolutionary era and had established a dictatorship.
Trotsky was expelled in 1927
Murdered in 1940, probably on Stalin’s orders
Five-Year Plans1928, *Five-Year Plans, -transform the Soviet
Union into an Industrial PowerLittle provision for caring of labor forceHousing declined, pitiful living conditions, real
wages declined, movement limited