Revolutions in Russia. Long-Term Causes of Revolution Czarist Rule – In the late 1800s, Alexander III and his son Nicholas II sought to industrialize

Revolutions in Russia

Long-Term Causes of Revolution

• Czarist Rule– In the late 1800s,

Alexander III and his son Nicholas II sought to industrialize Russia and build its economic strength

– They wanted to westernize and industrialized but limit the spread of the ideals of the French Revolution


– Russians wanted to introduce a new Constitution and reforms that would limit government corruption

– To combat these reforms, the rulers employed harsh tactics such as secret police


• Peasant Unrest– Rigid system of social classes still existed in Russia

at the beginning of WWI– Land-owning nobles, priests, and an autocratic

czar dominated Russia– Most peasants were too poor to buy the land they

worked– Industrialization happened slowly, and peasants

feared the new changes


• Russia still experienced Serfdom


• Problems of Urban Workers– Some peasants had moved to cities and found

jobs in new industries– They experienced all of the negative drawbacks of

industrialization• Low pay• Long hours• Poor working and living conditions

– It was among these workers that socialists spread ideas about revolutions and reforms


• Diversity and Nationalism– Russia is big… Really, Really big– Because of its size, it included MANY ethnic

minorities– Czars maintained policy of Russification…– What is Russification?

– Regardless of this policy, ethnic populations wanted to maintain their culture and nationalism remained

1st Revolution in 1905

• Defeat in the Russo-Japanese War triggered peaceful protests and petitions for reforms

• These marches were shot down by czarist troops in what came to be known as “Bloody Sunday”

• “Bloody Sunday” destroyed the people’s faith and trust in the czar and triggered strikes and revolts all over the country

Bloody Sunday - 1905

WWI and Czarist Rule

• Russia’s army was vastly inferior technologically to all others in WWI

• Massive losses crippled morale and triggered revolt in March of 1917

• Czar Nicholas II abdicated the throne the same month

The Bolshevik Revolution

• The provisional government that replaced the czar implemented only modest reforms and stayed in WWI

• Revolutionary socialists first worked within the government and set up soviets, but soon lost patience and the radical Socialist Party soon took hold


• Vladimir Lenin– Lenin and Leon Trotsky headed a revolutionary

Socialist Party , the Bolsheviks– Lenin and Trotsky adapted Marxism to fit the

situation in Russia– “Peace, Land, Bread,” end involvement in WWI,

land reform, end to food shortages


TrotskyLenin


• The provisional government lost the support of the people

• In November of 1917, the Bolsheviks brought soldiers, sailors, and factory workers in a successful uprising

• Communists gave land to peasants and factory workers factories and mines

Lenin’s Russia

• Withdrawal from WWI– In March 1918, Lenin

signs treaty that gave significant land to Germany but ended Russian involvement in the war

Lenin’s Russia

• Russia’s Civil War– From 1918 to 1921 Lenin’s Red Army battled

against the czar’s forces, the White Army– Independence movements were successful:

Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, and LATVIA!!!!– Foreign powers helped the Whites, including the

US, but the Red Army defeated its enemies by 1921

Lenin’s Russia

• One-Party Government– Although the government included a constitution

and legislature, the real power was in the hands of the only legal party, the Communist Party

– They maintained power through military and secret police

Lenin’s Russia

• New Economic Policy– During the revolution, the government controlled

everything!– The New Economic Policy, or NEP, allowed for

some private ownership of businesses– Government controlled banks, large industry, and

foreign trade

Lenin’s Russia• The Soviet Union– By 1922, Lenin and the Communists controlled all

of the old Russian Empire– Created the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

Stalin and Communist Dictatorship

• Vladimir Lenin dies in 1924 and Joseph Stalin emerges as the new Soviet leader

• Stalin ruled through terror and brutality– i.e. Great Purge

First Leaders of the Soviet UnionLenin (Soviet Leader 1917 – 1924)

Stalin (Soviet Leader 1924 – 1953)

• Chief Goal: to create a classless society with production in the hands of the people

• Allowed some private business; let some peasants hold land

• Standard of living rose for many workers and peasants

• Chief Goal: to make the Soviet Union into a modern industrial power with all protection under government control

• Created a command economy

• Brought all agriculture under government control; forced peasants to live on group farms

• Standard of living fell for most workers and peasants

• Spent time in Siberian exile before 1917 revolution

• Became Communist Party leader

• Used secret police to enforce Communist people

• Wanted to bring about a worldwide Communist revolution

Documents

Revolutions in Russia. Long-Term Causes of Revolution Czarist Rule – In the late 1800s, Alexander III and his son Nicholas II sought to industrialize