The Russian Revolution: 1917-1921
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Transcript of The Russian Revolution: 1917-1921
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The Russian Revolution: 1917-1921
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History progresses in 4 stages:
Stage 1: feudalism
Stage 2: industrial capitalism– rise of bourgeoisie
Stage 3: socialism– communal ownership of means of production
Stage 4: communism– stateless, classless society
"The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.“ – Karl Marx, Communist Manifesto, 1848
Why was Russia an unlikely place for a communist revolution?
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Russian Empire in the 1800s• Demographics:
– 60 nationalities
– 100 different languages
– Slavs, Europeans, Middle Easterners, & Asiatic peoples
• A feudal agricultural economy (serfdom until 1861)
• Autocracy
– Government in which one person rules with unlimited authority
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Russia in the Early 1900s
• Late 19th century– state-sponsored industrialization• Russo-Japanese War– national humiliation• Revolution of 1905– lack of real reform• Results: Alienation of the lower classes
– Debts, taxes, & rent kept peasants & urban workers bound to poverty
• Opposition:
-- Mensheviks When Russia has sizable working class = socialist revolution
– Bolsheviks Revolutionary leaders could bring socialist revolution
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Russia & World War I (1914-1917)
• Military was ill-equipped & inefficient
• Losses:
– 1.7 million soldiers dead
– 5 million soldiers wounded
– 2 million civilians dead
• Food supply within Russia scarce soldiers & civilians starving
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Spring 1917• Strikes and food riots break out in
St. Petersburg– Soldiers & peasants protest & revolt
– Czar fails to put down revolts, St. Petersburg soviet (workers council) takes over city
• March 15, 1917– Czar Nicholas II abdicated (step down
from rule)
– Romanov dynasty over
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The Provisional Government
• Alexander Kerensky = prime minister
• Continued fighting in WWI =
very unpopular with the masses!
• Failed to deal with social reform,
land reform– Life in Russia did not improve!
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Response to Provisional Government
• Rival Power:• Monarchists = return to czarist rule
• Mensheviks = moderate Socialists
• Bolsheviks (later “Communists” = Radical Socialists
• Bolsheviks called for peace, land reforms, & better working conditions, but lacked organization…
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Lenin Biography• Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov = V.I.
Lenin• Intelligent, radical, &
passionate• Middle-class background
(studied law)• Brother executed by czar in
1885 dedicated his life to radical revolution (Bolshevik)
• Exiled for beliefs
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Return of Lenin• 1917 Lenin returns to
Russia (escorted by the Germans)
• Goals:– Organize Bolsheviks– Seize power from
provisional government
• “Peace, Land, and Bread”
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Bolsheviks Seize Power• Effects of World War I worsen
• November 6, 1917– Bolsheviks overthrow provisional
government– “Bloodless” coup d’etat in St. Petersburg
• Kerensky = resign; Lenin = assumes control• Bolsheviks assume absolute power by
forcefully disbanding rival parties (e.g. Social Revolutionary Party)
• Ruled country through local ‘soviets’
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A Socialist State• Bolsheviks become the Communists• End private ownership of property• Distribute land among the peasants• Workers control factories & mines• Officials:
– Leon Trotsky = Foreign Affairs– Joseph Stalin = National
Minorities
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Russia Leaves World War I
• March 1918 Lenin seeks peace with Germany
• Treaty of Brest-Litovsk– Loses Poland, Ukraine, Caucasus, etc.– Loses ¼ of land, ¾ of iron & coal, 40% of
population
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Russian Civil War (1918-1921)• 1918 Political opponents contest
Communists
• Taking Sides:
– Reds = Communists
– Whites = Moderates (assistance from U.S., France, Britain, Japan)
• Fighting destroys Russia for 3 years
– Starvation & economic depression
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Outcome of Civil War
• Lenin & Communists maintain power & defeat the Whites in 1921
• 1922 Communists rename Russia the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R. or Soviet Union)
• Long-lasting distrust of Western nations
• Communists remain in power until end of the Cold War (1989)
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