The Russian Revolution, 1917

Like the French Revolution, the Russian Revolution sought not only to overthrow a government but to remake an entire society.

Unlike the French Revolution, it succeeded.

INTRODUCTION

• This mighty nation covered one-sixth of the land surface of the globe, and was populated by almost 150 million people of more than a hundred different nationalities.

The Symbol for Imperial Russia

19th Century Russia was…..

• Only 40% ethnic Russians• 80% were peasants – subsistence farmers • 60%+ = illiterate• Life expectancy = 40• Low tech and low investment• Land ownership rare• Land owned by OBSCHINA (Commune)OBSCHINA (Commune)

…still a feudal country.

• Peasants could not leave the commune without the consent of the elders

• Drought and crop failure common• 1891 = famine + cholera and typhus = 400,000

dead• 1890 – 64 % of peasants called up for military

service were declared unfit.

1919thth Century Century Russian Russian Social Social

HierarchHierarchyy

Russian Krestyanin (Peasant)

Cause 1:Suffering under

Autocracy

The people suffer under the cruel Czars, who use their secret police to kill or arrest anyone who dares to oppose his autocracy (=total power).

The oppressive rule of most 19th-century czars caused widespread social unrest for decades. Anger over social inequalities & the

ruthless treatment of peasants grew. The czar’s unfair governing sparked many violent reactions.

Nevertheless, many Russians worshipped Nevertheless, many Russians worshipped the Tsar as God’s representative on earth.the Tsar as God’s representative on earth.Peasants typically had a picture of the Peasants typically had a picture of the Tsar on a wall of their hut.Tsar on a wall of their hut.

An engraving depicting the assassination of Czar Alexander II on

March 13th, 1881.

Alexander’s son witnesses

his father’s assassination and becomes

Czar Alexander III

Alexander III: The “Russian Alexander III: The “Russian Bear” (1881-94)Bear” (1881-94)

““The The Russians Russians need the need the

whip”whip”

““Russification” under Russification” under Alexander IIIAlexander III

Mandatory Russian Mandatory Russian language in a language in a multi-national multi-national empireempire

Persecution Persecution (pogroms)(pogroms) of Jews of Jews

Mandatory Russian Mandatory Russian language in a language in a multi-national multi-national empireempire

Persecution Persecution (pogroms)(pogroms) of Jews of Jews

The victims, mostly Jewish children, of a 1905 pogrom in Dnipropetrovsk

Alexander’s Policies Alexander’s Policies (Cont.)(Cont.)

Elimination of Elimination of zemstvoszemstvos

Secret police Secret police generate mass generate mass arrests, arrests, deportations, deportations, executionsexecutions

Here’s a typical Here’s a typical secret police filesecret police file

One radical hung in One radical hung in 1887 was this 17-year-1887 was this 17-year-

old’s brother:old’s brother:

He is Vladimir He is Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, Ilyich Ulyanov, better known as better known as Lenin, Lenin, whom whom Alexander Alexander should should have hung…have hung…

In 1894, when Nicholas II became czar, he announced, “The principle of autocracy will be maintained by me as firmly & unswervingly as by

my father (Alexander III)”

He Refused to surrender any of his power.

Czar Nicholas II

Cause 2:Suffering from

Industrialization

Factory workers suffer from: low wages, long hours, and brutal working conditions.

Broom Factory, 1910

Putilov Machine Works

Russian Steel Workers

Cause 3:Spread of Marxism

With the help of revolutionaries like Lenin and Trotsky, Karl Marx’s idea of a proletariat (worker’s) revolution becomes increasingly popular.

Karl Marx, from Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts (1844)

The worker becomes all the poorer the more wealth he produces, the more his production increases in power

and range. The worker becomes an ever cheaper commodity the more commodities he creates. With the

increasing value of the world of things proceeds in direct proportion to the devaluation of the world of

men. Labour produces not only commodities; it produces itself and the worker as a commodity -- and

does so in the proportion in which it produces commodities generally.

Lenin

Leon Trotsky

Cause 4:Loss in Russo-

Japanese War (1905)

This humiliating defeat makes the Czar look weak and leads to widespread protests.

1904: How Russia expected to beat Japan

Russo-Japanese War Russo-Japanese War [1904-1905][1904-1905]

The Battle of Tsushima, May 1905: Japanese Navy sinks Russian fleet

Russia Is HumiliatedRussia Is Humiliated

Cause 5:Bloody Sunday (1905)

The massacre of unarmed protesters outside the Czar’s palace leads to strikes throughout Russia.

Unrest Among the Unrest Among the Peasants & Urban Peasants & Urban

Working PoorWorking PoorFather Georgi Gapon:

Leader of the Leader of the People OR People OR

Police Police Informer?Informer?

January 9th, 1905: 200 killed, 800 wounded, the first victims of the Russian revolution

Bloody SundayBloody SundayJanuary 22, 1905January 22, 1905

The Czar’s Winter Palace in St. Petersburg

“Bloody Sunday” (9 Jan. 1905)

3 months later: 3 months later: “Bloody Sunday”“Bloody Sunday”

Potemkin Mutiny, 1905

1905 Protests

General Strike (17 October 1905)

Cause 6:Suffering from WWI

Millions of Russians die from battle, hunger, and disease. The economy is in ruins. People are desperate for change.

Russia cannot wage an Russia cannot wage an industrial warindustrial war

MAP: The Eastern Front

World War I: “The Last World War I: “The Last Straw”Straw”

War revealed the War revealed the ineptitude and ineptitude and arrogance of the arrogance of the country’s aristocratic country’s aristocratic eliteelite

The Russian “Steam The Russian “Steam Roller”Roller”

Corrupt military Corrupt military leadership and leadership and contempt for ordinary contempt for ordinary Russian peopleRussian people

Average peasant has Average peasant has very little invested in very little invested in the Warthe War

World War I (cont)World War I (cont)

Poorly supplied Poorly supplied troopstroops

Result: Chaos and Result: Chaos and Disintegration of Disintegration of the Russian Armythe Russian Army

--Battle of --Battle of Tannenberg Tannenberg (August, 1914)(August, 1914)

Spreading Spreading DiscontentDiscontent

World War IWorld War I Russia unprepared for warRussia unprepared for war Not enough supplies (food, weapons, clothing)Not enough supplies (food, weapons, clothing) Army poorly organizedArmy poorly organized Soldiers didn’t understand why they were fightingSoldiers didn’t understand why they were fighting Tsar Nicholas II and his ministers provided poor leadership and organizationTsar Nicholas II and his ministers provided poor leadership and organization

Devastation of War – Ukraine

In 1915, the Tsar will take In 1915, the Tsar will take personal command of the armypersonal command of the army

• And that means leaving a Russia ruled by Alexandra and her closest adviser, Rasputin

The Collapse of the Imperial Government

• Nicholas left for the Front—September, 1915

• Alexandra and Rasputin throw the government into chaos

• Alexandra and other high government officials accused of treason

Alexis: The Tsarevich, or Alexis: The Tsarevich, or heir to the throneheir to the throne

• Only Rasputin can stop the boy’s hemorrhaging, the product of the hemophilia inherited from his great-grandmother, Victoria

Because of that strange Because of that strange power…power…

• The starets, or monk, becomes, as Alexandra puts it, “Our Friend,” and a powerful influence on the Romanovs

• He is also a promiscuous drunk—but the Tsarina refuses to listen to any criticism of him

In 1915, Nicholas moved his headquarters to the war front. His wife Czarina Alexandra, ran the government while he was away. She ignored the czar’s chief advisers & instead she fell under the influence of the self-described “holy-man” Rasputin.

Czarina Alexandra

Rasputin

Rasputin claimed to have magical healing powers. “Wonderful tales were told of how the stares could look into every man’s soul, foresee the future, and heal the sick by a glance of his eyes or a touch of his hands.”

Cause 7:Czar Nicholas II refused

to share power

Czar Nicholas II is a weak leader. He clings to power despite the obvious need for change.

The Last Tsar: The Last Tsar: Nicholas II (1894-Nicholas II (1894-

1917)1917)

Nicholas II’s Nicholas II’s personality personality

Terrorized by his father: He wants Terrorized by his father: He wants to please Papa…to please Papa…

But he’s a gentle family man, lacks a But he’s a gentle family man, lacks a forceful personality—Nicholas is forceful personality—Nicholas is eerily similar to Louis XVI—and to eerily similar to Louis XVI—and to Charles I of EnglandCharles I of England

Uh-oh.Uh-oh.

Terrorized by his father: He wants Terrorized by his father: He wants to please Papa…to please Papa…

But he’s a gentle family man, lacks a But he’s a gentle family man, lacks a forceful personality—Nicholas is forceful personality—Nicholas is eerily similar to Louis XVI—and to eerily similar to Louis XVI—and to Charles I of EnglandCharles I of England

Uh-oh.Uh-oh.

Nicholas II’s Nicholas II’s disastersdisasters

One of them is One of them is his marriage—his marriage—to Alexandra of to Alexandra of Hesse, “that Hesse, “that German German woman;” she, woman;” she, like Marie like Marie Antoinette, is Antoinette, is hated by many hated by many RussiansRussians

The marriage The marriage itself…itself…

……is a ‘love is a ‘love match’ The match’ The two are deeply two are deeply committed to committed to each other, each other, and they raise and they raise a beautiful a beautiful family.family.

Their coronation (Seen here: Their coronation (Seen here: Can you find the new Tsar’s Can you find the new Tsar’s Mom?) is not a good omenMom?) is not a good omen

Alexis: Alexandra’s Son with Hemophilia

Hemophilia & the Hemophilia & the TsarevichTsarevich

Event 1:February 23rd

Female textile workers in Petrograd, go on strike because of a shortage of bread. Soon they are joined on the streets by half of the cities 400,000 workers.

Petrograd

February Bread Riot (Painting)

St. Petersburg Bread Rioters, St. Petersburg Bread Rioters, 19171917

St. Petersburg Bread Rioters, St. Petersburg Bread Rioters, 19171917

Armed citizenry

February 1917: Crowds in front of the Royal Palace

Event 2:February 27

Soldiers brought in to put down rioters instead mutiny, join the rioters, and arrest their commanding officers.

Petrograd, February Revolt of the Pavlovsky Guards Regiment

Arrest of generals

Event 3:March 1

The so called “provisional government”, led by Alexander Kerenskyis formed.

Alexander KerenskyAlexander KerenskyAlexander KerenskyAlexander Kerensky• Kerensky, a

moderate socialist, will emerge as the leader of a February 1917 revolution against the Tsar

The Provisional Government

Event 4:March 2

Czar Nicholas II, is forced to abdicate (give up power) while sitting in a railroad carriage, ending 600 years of Czarist rule in Russia.

Abdication of Nicholas II

Event 5:March 8

The provisional government passes civil rights laws but decides to continue fighting WWI.

Provisional Government Provisional Government

Declared all Russian citizens equalDeclared all Russian citizens equal Freedom of speech, religion, press, and Freedom of speech, religion, press, and

assembly given to all citizensassembly given to all citizens Unions and strikes legalUnions and strikes legal Planned on continuing warPlanned on continuing war Provisional Government made these promises, Provisional Government made these promises,

but asked people to waitbut asked people to wait People tired of waiting and listened more and People tired of waiting and listened more and

more to the revolutionariesmore to the revolutionaries

But Kerensky refuses to pull But Kerensky refuses to pull Russia out of the War—he will, in Russia out of the War—he will, in

fact, launch disastrous new fact, launch disastrous new offensivesoffensives

Event 6:April 3

Vladimir Lenin returns from exile and soon dominates the Bolsheviks.

Lenin Returns to Russia

The Germans arrange for Lenin’s return to Russia after many years of exile. The Germans believe that Lenin & his Bolshevik supporters would cause unrest in Russia & hurt the Russian war effort.

Traveling in a sealed railway boxcar, Lenin reaches Petrograd in April 1917.

Peace, Bread, and Land!

Lenin Addresses the Petrograd Soviet - 1917

Event 7:June

Germans crush the Kerensky Offensive. Russia suffers 400,000 casualties. Many soldiers mutiny and join pro peace Bolsheviks.

Kerensky at the Front

Event 8:July 3

An attempted Bolshevik coup (takeover) of the provisional government fails. Lenin escapes to Finland.

Event 9:August 25

General Kornilov attempts to overthrow the provisional government and form a military dictatorship. Kerensky (leader of provisional government) asks for help from the Bolsheviks and gives them weapons. Kornilov is defeated.

General Kornilov

• Lavr Georgiyevich Kornilov (August 18, 1870–April 13, 1918)

• was a Russian army general best known for the Kornilov Affair, an unsuccessful military coup he staged against Kerensky's Provisional Government during the 1917 Russian Revolution.

Kornilov AffairKornilov Affair

To prevent this To prevent this takeover, Kerensky takeover, Kerensky freed many freed many Bolshevik leaders Bolshevik leaders from prison and from prison and supplied arms to supplied arms to many many revolutionariesrevolutionaries

Event 10:October 25

Lenin and Bolsheviks make their move. They take over the major government offices in Petrograd. Kerensky and the PG flee. The revolution spreads throughout Russia.

Bolsheviks Storming the Winter Palace

Long Live World October!

What Did Lenin Do Upon Coming What Did Lenin Do Upon Coming to Power?to Power?

Immediately proposed an Immediately proposed an end to War (WWI) (what end to War (WWI) (what peasants wanted most peasants wanted most was peace)was peace)

Proposed the distribution Proposed the distribution of all land to peasants, of all land to peasants, landowners would not be landowners would not be paid for land taken from paid for land taken from themthem

Lenin’s proposals Lenin’s proposals adoptedadopted

THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION AND THE WORLD

• Lenin and Trotsky said that the goal of socialism in Russia would not be realized without the success of the world proletariat in other countries, e.g. without German Revolution.

• Indeed, a revolutionary wave lasted until 1923.

Effect 1:The Promise Kept

Lenin gives all land to the peasants and all factories to the workers

Effect 2:Brest-Litovsk

By signing the Treaty of Brest Litovsk, Russia agrees to give Germany huge tracts of land in exchange for peace.

Signing the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk 1918The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk 1918

Germany

Russia

.Brest-Litovsk

Ukraine

Estonia

Latvia

Lithuania

Russian territory ceded to Germany

Effect 3: The Crack Down

The Bolsheviks, now renamed the Communists, brutally crack down on anyone deemed an enemy of the revolution, killing thousands and sending thousands more to Gulags, prison camp. The Communists will rule over Russia until 1991.

“Red Terror,” Summer 1918

Like the Czars he helped overthrow, Lenin established a secret police (the Cheka). He also created a system of Gulags (prison camps where he sent anyone who dared speak against the

people’s revolution.

The Gulag Archipelago by

Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Effect 4:Civil War

The Red Army (Bolsheviks) fight the White Army (Anti-Bolsheviks) for the future of Russia. Fifteen million die. The Red Army prevails.

November 1917 Election Results

Party Votes

Total (all Russia) 44,218,55

Socialist Revolutionaries 37% (48% including Ukrainian bloc)

Peasant 0.6%

Bolshevik Social Democrats 24%

Menshevik Social Democrats 3%

Other Socialist Parties 1%

Kadets 5%

Cossack Party 2%

Civil WarCivil War After signing peace treaty, Bolsheviks After signing peace treaty, Bolsheviks

faced armed resistance to their rulefaced armed resistance to their rule Civil war lasted from 1918 to 1921Civil war lasted from 1918 to 1921 Some non-Russian nationalities took Some non-Russian nationalities took

up arms to win independence from up arms to win independence from RussiaRussia

Great Britain, France, and the USA Great Britain, France, and the USA sent troops to Russia to defeat sent troops to Russia to defeat Bolsheviks because they did not want Bolsheviks because they did not want these ideas of revolution spread these ideas of revolution spread around the worldaround the world

Fight by Bolsheviks to establish Fight by Bolsheviks to establish communism in Russia, which was communism in Russia, which was renamed the Russian Soviet renamed the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic (USSR) Federated Socialist Republic (USSR) in 1918in 1918

Bolsheviks changed their name to the Bolsheviks changed their name to the Communist PartCommunist Part

Bolsheviks defeated their enemy’s in Bolsheviks defeated their enemy’s in 19211921

Results of Civil WarResults of Civil War

Much of Russia in ruinsMuch of Russia in ruins Cities, land, factories Cities, land, factories

destroyed after almost destroyed after almost eight years of fightingeight years of fighting

Millions died or fled Millions died or fled countrycountry

Bolsheviks had mammoth Bolsheviks had mammoth task of rebuilding countrytask of rebuilding country

And throw in the U.S. Army And throw in the U.S. Army (1918-20)(1918-20)

Effect 5:The Last Czar

Fearing the White Army will rescue and then rally around the Czar, the Bolsheviks execute Nicholas, his wife, and five children.

During the Civil War, the During the Civil War, the Romanov family…Romanov family…

…is kept under house

arrest by the

Bolsheviks

OlgaOlga

TatianaTatiana

MarieMarie

AnastasiaAnastasia

From the family albumFrom the family album

Their last home; it was torn Their last home; it was torn down in the 1970sdown in the 1970s

Today, All Saints Church stands Today, All Saints Church stands on the site of the homeon the site of the home

Lenin worries that the family will Lenin worries that the family will provide hope to the Whites, some of provide hope to the Whites, some of whom want a return to monarchywhom want a return to monarchy

• In the summer of 1918, he orders the Cheka, or secret police, to eliminate them.

Murder of the Romanovs, 1918Murder of the Romanovs, 1918Murder of the Romanovs, 1918Murder of the Romanovs, 1918

The basement of the home after The basement of the home after the murdersthe murders

The family’s remains, uncovered in The family’s remains, uncovered in 19911991

Lenin himself will die only four Lenin himself will die only four years lateryears later

• But not before the Bolsheviks have crushed the Whites—the Bolshevik revolution is secured.

Lenin was embalmed and put on permanent display in the Lenin Mausoleum in Moscow.

Before he dies, Lenin warns the Before he dies, Lenin warns the Bolshevik leadership about the Bolshevik leadership about the treachery of one of their own: treachery of one of their own:

Joseph StalinJoseph Stalin

Before he dies, Lenin warns the Before he dies, Lenin warns the Bolshevik leadership about the Bolshevik leadership about the treachery of one of their own: treachery of one of their own:

Joseph StalinJoseph Stalin

…and that is the quality that will enable Stalin to

become the master of Russia, from 1928 until

1953

Power Struggle after Lenin’s Death and Stalin’s Rule

Forced collectivization “The Great Famine” “The Great Terror” Purges Gulag

THE NEW FLAG

•Symbolized the union between the workers (hammer) & the peasants (sickle)

The first state emblem of Soviet Russia: “Workers of all lands, unite!”

Can you identify these important figures from the Russian

RevolutionAND

briefly describe the role each played in the revolution?

Note: These will be on the quiz.

Name: Czar Nicholas IIRole: Last Czar / Refused to

give up power

Name: Vladimir LeninRole: Led the Bolshevik revolution of 1917

Name: Leon TrotskyRole: Led the Red Army to victory in Russian Civil War.

Name: Female Textile WorkersRole: Their bread riot in March, 1917 began the Russian Revolution.

Name: General KornilovRole: Attempted coup (takeover) of PG in August, 1917 failed.

Name: RasputinRole: Controlled Russia through Czar’s wife while Czar was at front.

Name: Alexander KerenskyRole: Led PG (Provisional Government) from March-October 1917

Name: Karl MarxRole: His ideas of a worker’s revolt inspired the Russian Revolution.

End