THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTIONTHE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION19171917

Causes of the RevolutionCauses of the Revolution Autocratic

government gave no political outlet to the people

Conservatism & incompetence of Tsar Nicholas II

Embarrassing defeat in Russo-Japanese War (1904-05)

Failure of 1905 Revolution Stillborn Duma

Growth violent political opposition among factory workers

Causes of Causes of the the

RevolutionRevolution WW1 revealed the incompetence of the aristocrats and military

Average soldier had little enthusiasm for the war

Government was unable to properly supply the army or provide decent hospitals

Russia suffered massive casualties leading to high rates of mutiny & desertion

Causes of the RevolutionCauses of the Revolution Tsarina Alexandra

was extremely conservative

Guided by “holy man” Rasputin

During the war Alexandra and Rasputin basically ran the government

Scandals involving Rasputin discredited the entire monarchy

Rasputin is assassinated in 1916

March RevolutionMarch Revolution

Mismanaged wartime economy led to rampant inflation and food shortages

Cities flooded with refugees March 8-11, 1917:

increasingly large demonstrations in Petrograd demanding bread and democracy

Factory workers went on strike and joined

Army was ordered to fire on the crowds but refused

Provisional Provisional GovernmentGovernment March 12: Duma

established the Provisional Government

March 15: Tsar Nicholas II abdicated

Provisional Government headed by Prince Lvov and Alexander Kerensky Decided to carry on the

war Favored gradual political

and economic reforms and eventual land redistribution

Little actual control of the country

Petrograd SovietPetrograd Soviet

Soviet: council of workers or workers Sprang up in army units,

factories, villages and major cities

Dominated by socialists and demanded radical change

Petrograd Soviet Claimed to be the

legitimate govt Urged Russians not to

fight, work or pay taxes to the Provisional Government

Vladimir LeninVladimir Lenin

Political terrorist Devoted to Marxism Helped found Bolshevik

Party in 1902 Believed that a

revolutionary vanguard must bring about revolution

Dedicated to violent revolution

Exiled to Switzerland before the war

Germany allowed him safe passage to return to Russia in April 1917

Lenin Steps Into the Vacuum

March: PG releases all political prisoners

April: Lenin arrives in Petrograd

Preached a message of “Peace, Land, Bread” “All Power to the

Soviets” “Worker Control of

Production” Bolsheviks rapidly

recruited workers and soldiers

November RevolutionNovember Revolution Workers frustrated with the

slow pace of reform Army tired of fighting

desertions skyrocket Attempted army coup leads

PG to arm the soviets to stop the coup

Bolshevik membership grows 5 x in one year

November 6-7: Bolshevik forces seize the Winter Palace in Petrograd and the PG flees

Bolsheviks quickly move to consolidate control over the civil service, transportation and communications

Army mostly joins the Bolshevik revolution

November 1917 to March 1918 Duma is disbanded and

replaced with a Council of People’s Commissars

Private property abolished and divided among peasants

Most factories entrusted to soviets

Political police called the Cheka established

Red Army created under command of Leon Trotsky

Bolshevik Party renamed Communist Party

Trotsky signs Treaty of Brest Litovsk to end the war

Civil WarCivil War Enemies of the Bolsheviks

begin to organize a civil war against the new regime

Opponents of the Bolsheviks are called the “Whites” Old aristocracy Liberals Moderate socialists

8 foreign countries intervene on the side of the Whites including France, Japan, Britain & US

Minorities such as the Ukrainians, Poles, Finns and Georgians also fought against the Reds

Lenin’s forces are called the “Reds”

Civil War 1918 Kolchak invades from

Siberia Balts and Finns attack

from the west Ukrainians attack from

the south Allies invade from the

north Royal family is murdered

1919 Deniken invades from the

south Poles attack from the

west 1920

Reds defeat Deniken and retake Ukraine

1921 Reds reconquer Georgia,

Armenia & Azerbaijan

How did the Reds win?

Reds controlled central Russia Whites were extremely

politically divided Peasants feared that the

Whites would take away their land

Trotsky imposed strict military discipline on the Red Army

Cheka terrorized any and all opponents of the regime

Foreign intervention aroused Russian patriotism

Communists made very effective use of propaganda

Communists established firm control over the economy (war communism)

New Economic Policy (NEP)

By 1921 the economy was devastated and Western countries wouldn’t trade with Russia

Forcing peasants to turn over their grain had led to unrest, hoarding and famine

1921: NEP allowed peasants to sell grain in a free market and keep profits

Small businesses could be privately owned

Grain production skyrocketed, prices came down, and famine ended

1922: Russia renamed “Union of Soviet Socialist Republics”

Changes to Russian society

Govt tried to end the domination of ________________ Made it easier to _______________ Encouraged all women to get an

education and enter the work force

Established free ______________ Legalized ___________________ Govt encouraged educational and

recreational clubs Govt tried to improve _____________

Campaigns to eradicate epidemic diseases

Many doctors were trained and hospitals built

____________________ rose rapidly

Say NO to the oppression and

vacuity of household work!

Changes to Russian society

Equal rights were given to all ethnic and __________ groups

Govt promoted ____________ Almost all churches and

monasteries were closed and property confiscated

Priests and monks were publically humiliated and/or sent to prison camps

All schools were secularized

_______________________ sporadically prohibited