Russian Revolutio

n

He and Frederick Engels wroteThe Communist Manifesto

A little pamphlet that changed the world

Unrest among the people grew in Russia. The threat of open revolt in 1905 had led the czar to make some changes, but he still held all the power. At the start of World War I, the Russian people supported the war effort from a sense of patriotism. As the army met defeats, discontent grew and soldiers deserted. People rioted for bread, fuel, and an end to the war.

Russia was the most backward and autocratic of the Great Powers which fought in WWI: here the gap between government and society was larger than it was anywhere else. The Tsar (king) was Nicholas II

His empire covered nearly a sixth of the earth's surface, but he had little of the practical knowledge necessary to govern it, and he distrusted those who did

Impact of WWI

Criticism of the Tsar

Poor militarycommander

Poor political leader

Left the Tsarina incharge of thegovernment

Refused to acceptadvice from the Duma

Criticism if theTsarina

Inexperienced andincompetent ruler

Under theinfluence ofRasputin

Unpopular becauseshe was German

Role of Rasputin

Claimed to be ahealer. Disliked bymany yet heldinfluence over boththe Tsar and Tsarina

Economic problems

• Over 15 million men joined the army

• not enough workers in factories andfarms

• caused shortages of food and materials

• Railway system very poor– could not supply the troops

– could not supply the towns

– food prices rose

Impact WWIImpact WWI

Social discontent

• Food shortages and price rises causedwidespread discontent

• The war had seen the population movefrom the countryside to the cities

• The cities soon became overcrowded andpeople lived in terrible conditions

Impact WWIImpact WWI

Events of the Revolution

• Feb 22 20,000 steelworkers on strike

• Feb 23 Women take to the streets todemonstrate

• Feb 25 Now over half of Petrograd is onstrike

• Feb 26 Tsar orders troops to fire oncrowds- 40 killed

Events of the Revolution

• Feb 26 Tsar closes the Duma

• Feb 27 Soldiers mutiny and establishthe Petrograd Soviet with workers andsailors

• Feb 28 Tsar returns to Petrograd

• March 1 Tsar loses support of army

• March 2 Tsar abdicates

• March 3 Grand Duke Michael refusesthrone

Nicholas II gave up his throne in March 1917,ending imperial Russia. A temporarygovernment tried to run the country. However,the middle-class liberals who ran it did not makeenough changes to satisfy the workers andpeasants.

Lenin Tsar Nicholas & son Alexia

Rasputin

Still It Wasn’t Enough

• The temporary government did not do well

• They did not end the hated war with Germany.

• Workers formed soviets, or small councils, totalk about political and economic problems.Some soviets wanted to change Russiansociety according to Marx's view ofcommunism.

more

Results of February revolution

The ProvisionalGovernment

1. A 12 membergovernment led byKerensky

2. Planned to rule untilelections could be held

The PetrogradSoviet

A council of 2,500deputies.

Determined to sharepower with theProvisionalGovernment

Dual Government

They wanted to give workers the power and even out wealth.These radical soviets were led by Bolsheviks (called the Reds)More moderate soviets were run by socialists calledMensheviks (called the Whites).

BolsheviksReds

Mensheviks Whites

• July It fails to overthrow the government and Lenin flees to Finland.

Leon Trotsky creates the ‘Red Guards’, the Bolshevik military force.

Trotsky becomes the Chairman of the increasingly influential Bolshevik administration and political centre –

The Petrograd Soviet.

Remember – Whoever controlled the soviet could also control Russia….

November 17, 1917• Bolsheviks overthrew provisional gov’t

• Take control of Russia

• Called the October Revolution (that is the month it occurred in the Russian Calendar)

• 1918 Bolsheviks rename themselves the COMMUNIST PARTY (they dissolve the legislative assembly)

Why were the Bolsheviks able to seizepower?

• They had a strongpolitical and economiccentre in the PetrogradSoviet.

• They had their ownarmed forces, the ‘RedGuards’.

• They were organised anddisciplined and had clearplanned strategies.

• They were realistic,practical and clever insetting their short termgoals.

• The ProvisionalGovernment was weakand ineffective.

• Lenin was an inspiringleader with vision, clarityand ability.

Vladimir Illich Ulyanov, known as Lenin

The ruler of communist Russia

Section 3-6

Vladimir Ilyich Ulianov (V. I. Lenin) wasborn in 1870 to a middle-class family. Hewas educated and became a lawyer. In1887, his older brother was executed bythe czarist police for planning toassassinate the czar. This event turnedLenin into a revolutionary, and hededicated his life to overthrowing the czar.

Lenin

signs a peace treaty with Germany1918 Brest Litovsk treaty- Russia will no longer participate in WWI (now Germany will focus on France)

Russia will give up parts of what will become Poland

Civil war brewing in Russia

Communist Party imprisons the czar and family

Czar Nicholas and Family

Meanwhile

•Civil War

•Communists = Red Army

• vs.

•Conservative, right wing White Army

Fearing spread of communism - European powers support the White Army

Communist Party wins.

Rename the countryU.S.S.R.United Soviet

Socialist Republic

The United Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR) is born

USSRU.S.S. R.

• Mensheviks - Whites

• Bolsheviks - Reds

• Vladimir Lenin – 1st communist ruler of USSR

• Communist Party

• Red Army

• Karl Marx – wrote Communist Manifesto

Now, you should be familiar with the following terms