History Mindset

How did police respond to the February Rebellion?

Joined the protests

RUSSIAN REVOLUTION

Background

• World War I went badly for Russia on the Eastern Front

• The Russian army was large, but technologically backwards

• Used horses and bayonets against machine guns and tanks

• The more modern German army inflicted heavy losses on the Russians

Causes of the Russian Revolution

• Anger Against The Tzar:

• Many were tired of the Romanov dynasty that had ruled them for over 300 years

• Tzar Nicholas took command of the army and failed miserably as a military leader

Causes of Russian Revolution

Losing the War:Food shortages left many starving

Many blamed the Czar for millions of dead Russians in World War I

Revolution Begins• February Rebellion 1917:

nearly 200,000 workers swarm the streets shouting to take down the aristocracy

• Armed forces and police joined protesters

• By March 1917, the czar was overthrown

Leader of the Russian Revolution

• Vladimir Lenin led the Bolsheviks (the radical left wing for the communist party)

• Promised “Bread, Peace and Land!”

Leader of the Russian Revolution

• Lenin adapted Marx’s ideas for Russia.

• First Communist leader of Russia

Leader of the Russian Revolution

• By the summer of 1917 Lenin’s Bolsheviks had seized control of the government.

• In July 1917, The czar and his family were executed.

Revolution Outcomes

Bolsheviks rename their party the COMMUNIST PARTY!

Goal: classless society, gov. run by the people

Result: Dictatorship by Lenin and his government

(In other words, the working class would

have control as a community)

Effects of Russian Revolution

• Over 80,000 dead Red and White soldiers

• Massive starvation & disease

• The formation of the secret police

Effects of Russian Revolution

• “Russia” changed to “Soviet Union”

• Capital moved to Moscow from St. Petersburg