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THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION WAS ACTUALLY MADE UP OF 2 REVOLUTIONS…..
March 1917 Revolution
Goal: To overthrow the Tzar
November 1917 Revolution Goal: Bolshevik (Communist)
Revolution
R O M A N O V
BLOODY SUNDAY • Name given to the events of
January 22, 1905 in St Petersburg, Russia
• Unarmed demonstrators marched to the Winter Palace to present a petition to Tsar Nicholas II
– Better working conditions – The right to join unions – The right to vote for a parliament – An end to the war with Japan
• Demonstrators were fired upon by soldiers of the Imperial Guard
• The killing of people resulted in a surge of bitterness towards Nicholas and his autocratic rule
• Nicholas II promises change but doesn’t deliver
• Creates Duma (elective representative parliament) to try to reduce tension
• Bolsheviks (group of revolutionaries) wanted to change life through revolution and wanted to overthrow the czar
• The Bolsheviks were led by Vladimir Lenin
• Adaptation of Marxist ideas to overthrow capitalism
• Lenin wanted proletariat (lower, working class/the “have-not’s”) to rule Russia
• Abolish private property
• Enforce social equality
• As Russia’s problems grew more serious, the Bolsheviks gained more followers
BOLSHEVIKS
• Outbreak of fighting caused patriotism, rush to join military
• At the start of the war, Russia had an enormous army of 6 million soldiers
• Despite its’ large army, Russia was NOT prepared for war
– Slow to industrialize
– Once industrialized, factories unable to produce supplies quickly
– Transportation system weak
– Equipment very outdated
PREPARATIONS FOR WAR
• Many Russian officers advanced through the ranks on connections, not ability
• Russian losses soon outnumbered victories
• Millions of Russian soldiers were wounded/killed during early battles
ON THE BATTLEFIELD
RUSSIA IN WORLD WAR I
CZAR NICHOLAS II TOOK PERSONAL COMMAND OF FORCES (1915)
• This decision made little sense since he knew very little in regard to military matters
• Czar’s fate became linked with fate of Russian armed forces • If Russian failed in WWI, Nicholas II failed his country
• Bad situation grew worse under Czar’s command
CONDITIONS IN RUSSIA WORSE THAN ON BATTLEFIELD
• Food, goods scarce; peasants grew desperate • Unpopular Czarina relied on Grigory Rasputin, viewed as corrupt,
immoral • Shaky support for Russian monarchy dipped even lower
RUSSIA WITHDRAWS FROM WWI (1917) • Mid-1917, final Russian military drive failed and led to widespread
rebellion in Russian army • Weakened Russian army collapsed, Russians withdrew from WWI
EVENTS LEADING UP TO THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION
• Russia’s unexpected defeat in the Russo-Japanese War • 1905 Revolution (Bloody Sunday) • Dissatisfaction with czar Nicholas II’s leadership
– Many believed he was indecisive and ineffective
• Great poverty and inequality within Russian society – Huge gap between the social classes
• Russia’s “defeat” (withdrawal) in WWI
• Citizens protested in streets of Petrograd, March 8, 1917
• Police, soldiers refused to shoot rioters
• Government was helpless
• Czar Nicholas II forced to give up his throne (abdicate) on March 15, 1917
• Without a leader, the Duma (parliament) established a temporary government led by Aleksandr Kerensky
• Many people unhappy with new leadership
MARCH REVOLUTION BEGINS
THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION
• Conditions ideal for Lenin • Armed Bolshevik factory
workers, Red Army, attacked temporary government, November 1917
• The Red Army was led by Leon Trotsky
• Kerensky’s government collapsed
BOLSHEVIK TAKEOVER
• “Peace, land, and bread” • Established radical Communist program • Made private ownership of land illegal • Land was redistributed to peasants • Control of factories given to workers
LENIN BECOMES LEADER
Death of the Romanov Family (1918) NY Times Article 2008
• Even though Russia withdrew from WWI in 1917, Lenin needed to officially negotiate their withdrawal
• Lenin sends Leon Trotsky (organizer of the Red Army) to negotiate peace with Central Powers
• Trotsky had to accept an agreement that was harsh on Russia (Treaty of Brest-Litovsk)
• Russia gained peace, but gave up large parts of their empire
– Lost Poland, Ukraine, Finland, and the Baltic States (~ 23% of their total territory)
– Lost ~ 26% of the coal mines in the country
RUSSIA’S WITHDRAWAL FROM WWI
CIVIL WAR • The white army received military help and financial aid from France
and the U.S. (both countries were opposed to Communism)
• Civil War raged for 3 years between Lenin’s Red Army and White Army
• Millions of Russians died in fighting, famines
• Bolsheviks finally triumphed (won), late 1920
REACTION TO THE TREATY • Bolsheviks’ acceptance of peace treaty angered many Russians
• Slogan of Revolution: “Peace, land, bread” – problematic?
• Bolsheviks’ opponents (people against the Bolsheviks) organized the White Army
• White Army included army leaders, political opponents, and wealthy Russians opposed to the Communist system and supporters of the now dead czar
COLLAPSING ECONOMY • Brought on by civil war, pushed Russia to edge of total ruin • Peasants, workers especially hard hit • Lenin introduced New Economic Policy (NEP), 1921
THE SOVIET UNION • Russia reunited with several neighboring lands, and became the
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), dominated by Communist leadership
• Lenin’s death in 1924 led to struggle for control of Soviet Union
KEY POINTS • New Economic Policy allowed some capitalist activity
• Never saw it as a permanent policy but as a temporary retreat from socialism that would give Russia a chance to recover socially and economically
• Peasants could sell food for their own profit • Tried to encourage badly needed food production
NEW ECONOMIC POLICY
THE RISE OF JOSEPH STALIN
• Grew up in a very poor family – Father was a shoemaker (and abusive alcoholic),
mother was a housekeeper • Member of the Bolshevik party and steadily
rises in power – Member of Central Executive Committee and
editor of Pravda, the official Bolshevik party newspaper
• Spends time with Lenin before his death – Lenin writes a testament stating that Joseph
Stalin be removed from the Bolshevik party – Stalin supporters conceal this document and
this assures Stalin’s rise to Secretary General of the Communist Party
• Very harsh, ruthless man – did not attend his mothers funeral and did not attempt to retrieve his son from a prisoner of war camp in 1917
• Willing to do whatever it takes to get what he wants
STRUGGLE FOR CONTROL • With Lenin dead, Joseph Stalin and Leon Trotsky fight for control of the
country • Joseph Stalin wins and becomes the new Soviet leader • Trotsky is chased away by NKVD (Stalin’s secret police) and flees to Mexico
where he is found and killed in 1940 by secret Soviet agents
THE FIVE-YEAR PLANS • Major part of Stalin’s plan to strengthen communism, modernization of
economy • First Five-Year Plan began 1928, factories and mines had production goals
DIFFERENT APPROACH • Karl Marx predicted that the state (government) would go away under
communism • Stalin took different approach, worked to return Soviet Union to totalitarian
state, controlling all Soviet life
STALIN’S SOVIET UNION
STALIN’S 5 YEAR PLANS • Government makes all decisions about production of
goods – This is called a command economy – Differs from capitalist economic system, where market forces
(supply and demand, law of competition) are the major influences on production
• Quota system with extremely high (often impossible) expectations
• Collectivization – Peasants are forced to work on collective farms that were owned
by the state; no more privately owned farms • Plans lead to huge increases in Soviet industrial output
EFFECTS OF THE 5 YEAR PLAN • Mass starvation
– The government required the peasants to sell a large portion of their crops to the state at a very low price
– Many people slaughtered their animals to rebel against being forced to give them up to the government
• The lower availability and quality of consumer goods hurt the economy
– The only things being produced were those considered necessary by the state
• Oftentimes, factories inflated their production figures, and the products created were too low in quality to actually be used
• Workers were beat, tortured, and imprisoned
• Stalin had absolute power, but feared people plotting against him • Began campaign called The Great Purge, to get rid of
people/things “undesirable” • Thousands were executed, sent to the Gulag (forced labor camp
where people were literally worked to death) • About 70% of the Communist party leadership became victims of
the Great Purge • Although exact figures cannot be determined, some historians
have estimated that Joseph Stalin may have killed as many as 15 million people!
• To put this into perspective, Adolf Hitler is believed to have killed 11 million people in the Holocaust!
THE GREAT PURGE History Channel - The Great Purge
• Stalin’s regime dominated Soviet life • Children encouraged to join youth organizations, taught attitudes,
beliefs • Religion discouraged, churches closed • Portraits of Stalin decorated public places, creating heroic, idealized
image • Streets, towns renaming in Stalin’s honor, created cult of personality • Died in 1953 • Destalinization
• Initiated and carried out by Nikita Khrushchev • Political reform that changed or removed key institutions that helped Stalin
hold power
TOTALITARIAN RULE
