Russian Revolution

1900-1905

Anna Ryan, Brendan Wu, Jocelyn Ng & Kailene Chen

8-6

Russian Empire, 1900

Describe the land and people of Russia in the 1900’s

Russia’s land is huge. The land was quite useless, only 5% was used for farming because of the cold climate.

In the 1900’s about 125 million people lived in the Tsar Nicholas’s empire, less than half were Russians. Because there were many different types of people living in Russia they all had their own languages, and their own customs. People were not evenly spread out throughout the country; most of the people lived on the 5% of the land that was good for farming. The majority of people were peasants (4 of 5). The capital of Russia was St. Petersburg.

Who was Czar Nicholas II? Describe his leadership style.

Czar Nicholas II was the last Emperor of Russia. He was an autocrat, which means he does not have to share his power with anyone. Even thought he didn’t have so share his power, he hired thousands of civic workers because of the mass population of Russia. Czar Nicholas did not allow anyone to question his decisions or challenge his power. His secret police, the Okhrana censored literature, spied on political groups and arrested anyone who criticized the government. If workers or peasants disobeyed the orders or refused to work, the Cossacks would kill anyone who doesn’t escape. The prisoners he captured would be sent off to the cold lands of Siberia.

Czar Nicholas II

Cossack

How were the Land and People of Russia Divided by Class and

Wealth?In the early 20th century, the

majority of the Russian people lived in poverty. Starving and illiterate, many of them were peasants, not being able to easily own their own land. The rest were factory workers who worked for starvation wages in factories in Russia’s major cities.

The tiny Russian upper class was fabulously rich. Although they exploited them, most the bottom class looked up upon their rulers. The aristocrats ruled over a massive lower class with no rights and depended on that proletarian mass to support their extravagant lifestyles.

Russian Aristrocrat

Russian Peasant

Who was Karl Marx and how did his ideas divide Russia?

Karl Marx was a German socialist who was considered as one of the most important socialist of all time.

In his life, he wrote a book called Communist Manifesto and influenced a Russian man named Lenin to bring a great revolution to his native Russia. Lenin introduced the idea of communism to Russia but not everyone agreed. Different groups including the liberals and the socialists were formed and Russia split up supporting Lenin’s idea or not supporting his idea.

Karl Marx

GlossaryWord Definition

St. Petersburg Capital of Russia during the 1900’s

Siberia Northern region where prisoners were sent for hard labor

Autocrat A monarch who doesn’t have to share power

Cossacks Mounted soldiers who beak up mobs and kill people

Okhrana A secret force set up by the Czar who spy, censor, and arrest people who criticize the government

Karl Marx A German writer who wrote the Communist Manifesto

Communist A society in which people work and are paid for their abilities

Liberals Property owning Russians who are loyal to the Czar

Sources CitedPictures:http://images.vector-images.com/102/g604_russia_empire.gif

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b1/Hammer_and_sickle_transparent.svg/604px-Hammer_and_sickle_transparent.svg.pnghttp://www.arco-iris.com/George/images/cossack_nikitin.jpg

http://images.encarta.msn.com/xrefmedia/aencmed/targets/maps/mhi/T045091A.gif

http://www.russiannobility.org/images2/Nickolas2.jpg

http://www.reversespins.com/notovich.jpg http://cache.viewimages.com/xc/3162918.jpg?v=1&c=ViewImages&k=2&d=41CAE2DF95708CE269B694CC56A9F87EA55A1E4F32AD3138

http://www.corbis.com

Information:

Russia in the War and Revolution – Russia 1900-24

Leaders of the Russian Revolution

http://www.encarta.com

From Tsar to Stalin (movie)

1905-1917Russian Revolution

By:Avril KoblitzJason WooOliver Bech

Stephanie Young8-6

What was Bloody Sunday and why did it happen?

January 1905 crowd of 200,000 workers marched to the Tsars Winter

palace in St. Petersburg to petition for better working conditions. The

workers were lead by Father Gapon who was the leader of a the

workers organization, and sympathized with the poor workers. The

workers carried religious icons and pictures of Nicholas to show their

peaceful intent. The authorities were nervous and over reacted by

opening fire on the crowds and killed more than 500 workers, and

injured thousands more. Lenin was happy to hear of this days news of

the breakdown of law and order. This massacre became known as

“Bloody Sunday”.

What changes in the Tsar’s government followed by Bloody

SundayAfter the events on Bloody Sunday, riots and strikes led byworkers and peasants were persistent. On September1905, a general strike occurred in the whole country,making Tsar Nicholas II issue a document called theOctober Manifesto in October 1905, declaring the creationof the Duma, an elected parliament by the people. But thefirst 3 Dumas were controlled by the tsar completely. TheBolshevik leader Lenin watched the whole country goingthrough these affairs from his exile in Switzerland. Leninand his Bolsheviks would later successfully overthrowautocracy and introduce communism in the country.

How did World War I affect Russia and the Tsar

Most important was the 15.5 million young men who weredrafted as soldiers and went to war. This more than halvedthe number of people available to work in factories. Russiaalso depended on trains to supply food and raw material.But the lack of workers made all the coal mines close. Thiscaused starvation for a lot of soldiers. Russia’s money alsolost value. The Tsar slowly lost power and the trust of people duringthe war. The people felt abandoned when Tsar Nicholasleft the people to go and help command troops. This leftAlexandra in control of Petrograd. Alexandra wascompletely under the influence of Rasputin. The Tsar lostpower after the war during the October Revolution.

What were the causes of the Feb/March Revolution?

In 1917, protest rallies were organized by socialists. About

385,000 workers went on strike. This caused

transportations and newspapers to be unavailable. Troops

had been sent by the Tsar, but they refused to attack the

strikers. By February 28, all of the Tsar’s troops had

surrendered and his ministers had been arrested. Tsar

Nicholas II had agreed to abdicate and give up his throne

To his brother, Grand Duke Michael.

VocabularyWord Definition

Bloody Sunday March for better working conditions, ending bloodily

Vladimir Lenin The leader of the Bolshevik and Marxist

Duma Elected parliament of the people October

ManifestoDocument that Tsar issued on October of 1905

Abdicate To step down from powerBolshevik Member of Russian majority or

socialist party

Bibliography

Information

• “leaders of the Russian Revolution”

• “Russia in war and revolution”

• “encarta.com”

Pictures

Corbis.com

Russian Revolution 1917-1918

Class: 8-6

Name: Maura Dentino, Diana Redza, Jacques Van Anh, Hoi Fung Ma

Who was Alexander Kerensky and what problems did his Provisional Government face?

When the Tsar’s government fell, Alexander Kerensky, a young man raised in the village of Simbirlse, accepted the post of Minister of Justice in the newly established Provisional Government, which faced many problems. Many Russians were upset with the way it handled the war and many soldiers wanted to stop fighting. However, Kerensky wanted to continue fighting in the war. Many were influenced by the Soviet and many were formed in other towns. As the Bolsheviks gained popularity, Kerensky became Prime Minister but shortly after, his government fell.

What were the causes of the Nov/Oct Revolution? The Provisional Government took care of Russia until elections could be held, but were not confident enough and since soldiers deserted, they delayed elections, losing support. Also, they failed to give the peasants their land, who then took control of their farming land, causing countryside violence which delayed harvest and started food shortages. On the other hand, the Bolsheviks gained support. Lenin, together with Trotsky and Stalin, made the slogan: “Peace, Bread, and Land”, knowing people wanted all three points. However, the Provisional suppressed demonstrations and arrested a few leading Bolsheviks, therefore Lenin started the Bolshevik revolution.

Who was Vladimir Lenin and how did he come to power?

Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (Lenin) was one of Russia’s greatest historical figures, born on April 20th, 1870. The book Das Kapital, by Karl Marx influenced him to fight for communism. He brought everyone who disliked the current government type to bring about a revolution. He called his allies and himself Bolsheviks. During their first act they marched peacefully, yet, many died. The Bolshevik then invaded Petrograd’s Winter Palace which dethroned the king. He was later elected President of the Soviet of People’s Commission because of his popularity. He also created an army called the Red Guards.

What immediate actions did Lenin take following the Oct/Nov Revolution?

After the Oct/Nov revolution, Lenin set up a government called Sovnarkom, the council of people’s commissars. Being chairman, Lenin had the power to make many decrees to create a better Russia. The most popular decrees were backing off from the war with Germany and less work hours for workers to have rest on Sunday. Lenin made these decrees so Russia can slowly recover from the political and economical damage the war caused. The decrees made Lenin extremely popular, turning him into Russia’s hero but with a price of selling one third of Russia’s population to Germany for the peace treaty with Germany.

Vocabulary

Word Definition

Alexander Kerensky Leader of the Provisional Government

Vladimir Lenin Leader of the Bolsheviks

Petrograd Modern-day Moscow

Provisional providing or serving for the time being only

Red Guards The army of the Bolsheviks

Treaty a formal agreement between two or more states

Works Cited• http://www.encarta.com • http://library.thinkquest.org/C0112205/leading.events.html • Russia in War and Revolution• From Tsar to Stalin (video)• Leaders of the Russian Revolution

Images cited•http://www.dreamsaddict.com/Orpheus/Images/History/Kerensky.jpg

•http://www.marxists.org/subject/bolsheviks/bolsheviks.jpg

•http://www.flickr.com/photos/sergei1971/2126397038/

•http://library.ulster.ac.uk/images/Karl%20Marx.jpg

•http://www.corbis.com

Russian Revolution1918-1924

Ciera Rife, William PettersenJoey Cheung 8-6

What opposition did Lenin face during the Civil War? How did he win

the war?During the Civil War, Vladimir Lenin faced the White Army or the Mensheviks. The Mensheviks were his biggest opposition. Lenin was the leader of the radical socialists’ Bolshevik party as well as

Trotsky. The Red Army which Lenin was a part of, gradually started to win the civil war. After the revolution, Lenin was head of the new Soviet government that formed in Russia. He became the leader of the USSR upon its founding in 1922. Lenin held the

highest post in the Soviet government until his death in 1924, when Joseph Stalin assumed power.

Red Army

How did Lenin try to fix Russia’s Problems following the Civil War?

After the war things were put in to place with a set of rules called the War Communism. There was

a revolt of sailors against the War Communism. The War

Communism was not what the Bolsheviks promised after the

war. So Lenin decided that there had to be a change in policy so

that there were no more uprisings. He made the New

Economic Policy (NEP), which stated that; peasants could sell their own crops. Peasants that increased their food production pay less tax. Factories with less than twenty workers would not

be nationalized, and people could use money again. Lenin

Who was Joseph Stalin and how did he differ from Leon Trotsky?

Following Lenin’s death in 1924, two of his followers, Stalin and

Trotsky, wanted to succeed to his position and become the USSR leader. Both claimed to want

equality and change yet both had different things in mind. If Trotsky

would have come to power, the ideals of a world wide communist revolution would unfold. Trotsky

looked not only at the present but also the future development of communism. However, Stalin

became Lenin’s successor, betrayed the ideals of Marxism

and replaced the Tsar with a new dictator. During the “Red Terror”, Stalin used the Cheka created and censored an industrialized Soviet Union yet neglected the reasons

for evolution in the first place, for equality.

Stalin

Trotsky

GlossaryWord Definition

Reds “Bolsheviks” led by Lenin and Trotsky

Whites “Mensheviks” led by Martov

Cheka Russian Secret Police

War Communism

Term for the economic and social polices from RSFSR

New Economic Policy (NEP)

A policy of temporary economic liberalization in the USSR

Red Terror Campaign of terror in RSFS against party and suspected opponents of Stalin

USSR Soviet Union

Works CitedInformation• Russia in War and Revolution - Josh Brooman• Leaders of the Russian Revolution – Fred

Newman• www.encarta.com• From Tzar to Stalin

Pictures• www.google.com

Russian Revolution1924-1941

8-6

Horace Hou, Christopher Liu, Manami Masayama, Simon Wu

What impact did Stalin have on agriculture and Russia’s

farmers?After Lenin died, the economic growth started to decline and the peasants weren’t producing enough crops. Instead of giving the peasants economic incentives to grow crops, Stalin made a policy that forced them into state-owned collective farms. Also, he intended to liquidate the kulaks as a social class and was sent to another place. Because his plan required money, he decided to use up all the resources he could from the countryside. This nearly collapsed the agriculture in the countryside in Russia and deaths of millions of peasants from famine.

Russian farmers at work in a collective game.

What Impact did Stalin have on industry and Russia’s industrial

workers?Stalin's influence on the industry and its workers were greatly admired at the start. Stalin introduced the 5-year plan, it was great, the workers loved it and were excited to start the task they had. Even tough they had to increase their production at least double they still did it. In the first 5-year plan Stalin changed the length and made it shorter by 1 year because the workers were working harder than he expected. After the change the workers were angered and in the 2nd 5-year plan they weren't as interested as before.

Promoting the 5 year plan

How did Stalin deal with the opposition to him or his

leadership?With time, Stalin took control of party members to know about everything. Then using his power he got alliances and purged his oppositions with his secret police (NKVD). In the secret police there is also a organization called Gulag which is in charge of the slave labor camps. In 1929 he was the new leader in Russia. Stalin joined the Rightists, Trotsky wanted to continue Lenin’s plan for the New Economic Policy. Stalin disliked the plans, but soon got the members respect. Once he got the respect he voted out Trotsky. Once he got rid of them he ended the NEP with the help from the members.

Their leader Stalin

How did Stalin promote himself and still maintain his popularity

with the Russian people?Everyone knew that Stalin was a leader. They could hardly fail to know it, because picture and posters of Stalin was everywhere! His main tool that made him so popular was his wide use of propaganda. Every shop displayed his bust. In offices, factories, and in the corner of the street was pictures of Lenin and Stalin. There are also many Streets, towns, buildings named after him. The newspapers referred to him as ‘Man of Steel’, ‘Iron Soldier’ and many other similar names. His name was mentioned everywhere. It also appeared in films, plays, poems, stories, and novels!

A poster of Stalin with people admiring him

VocabularyVocabulary Word Definition

Collectives made of a group of people in a group

Kulak A wealthy peasant who owns land and hires workers

Famine Extreme shortage of food, could lead to deaths.

Five-year Plan A plan for economy or industry in which goals are set and reached in 5 years.

Gulag System of forced labor camps in the Soviet Union

Purges To eliminate politicians or others that are considered undesirable.

Propaganda Information that is spread for promoting a cause.

NKVD Stalin’s secret police organization.

Bibliography

Information

Stalin and the Soviet Union (Book)

http://encarta.msn.com

Pictures

http://images.google.com

Russian Revolution1939-1953

Class 8-6Janita Zhang, Sang Woo Chun & Ryan Moore

Describe Russia’s relationships with other countries prior to WWII

Before World War II many countries did not want to be involved with the USSR. The Nazi-Soviet pact was signed by Russia and Germany to remain neutral in the event of war and to divide up territories. In 1941 a neutrality pact was signed by Russia and Japan as insurance in case they would be attacked. Once Stalin lead the Comintern, an alliance of Communist country designed to make sure they obeyed Soviet rule, Russia became really good friends with several countries including China.

Signing the Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact

Stalin signing the Nazi-Soviet pact

What impact did WWII have on Russia and Stalin’s power?

WWII changed the Russian army’s reputation from an average army to the superpowers. The scorched earth policy used by the Soviet people during the war caused more death and destruction than ever before suffered. Stalin instituted a policy of isolation from the West known as the Iron Curtain. This prevented Russians from traveling and involved rigid censorship therefore limiting the freedom of the people. In order to solidify authority, Stalin worked at building up a feeling of nationalism by glorifying past heroes.

Even though many groups of people thought Stalin was a cruel leader, he is still Russia’s well known famous leader of all times. He Stalin solidified Russia thus having part in what Russia is today.

1941 Joseph Stalin calls for a scorch earth policy in broadcast.

The Iron Curtain divided up Europe.

What actions did Stalin take following WWII to rebuild and extend Russia’s power?

To direct task of reconstruction, Stalin announced a fourth Five-Year Plan which was that of complete military armament. Massive amounts of money and resources were pumped into the defense industry. Through Stalin, as the head of the Comintern, directed the Soviet Union from a backwards country to a first rate industrial and military power. With all the uproar in Europe and the thunder heads of war gathering, Stalin turned his attention towards modernizing the Red Army. Stalin ordered one of the largest military build ups and defensive programs that the world had ever seen. Under the fourth Five-Year Plan, Preparations were made by reconstructing a modern defense industry, military aviation, an up-to-date navy, civil-defense training for the whole population.

Stalin modernized the Russian Red Army turning it into a bigger and stronger army.

GlossaryWord Definition

Comintern An alliance of Communist countries designed to make sure they obeyed Soviet rule.

Nazi-Soviet Pact An agreement signed August 1939 between Germany and Russia to remain neutral in the event of war and to divide up territories. The pact ended when Germany invaded Russia in 1940.

Neutrality Pact April 1941, Japanese signed a neutrality pact with the USSR as insurance against an attack from that direction if they were to come into conflict with Britain or the US. When Germany invaded Russia, Japan broke the pact and joined the West.

Scorched Earth Policy A policy of destroying crop or buildings, especially by burning, or of removing anything that might be useful to an advancing enemy in wartime.

Reconstruction The reconstruction of the fourth Five-Year Plan put great emphasis on building up heavy industry and the transport system, and not much emphasis on consumer goods.

Iron Curtain A policy of isolation setup by the USSR after WWII that involved rigid censorship and restrictions on travel.

Works Cited

Information"MSN Encarta : Online Encyclopedia, Dictionary, Atlas, and Homework." 2000. Microsoft. <http://www.encarta.msn.com>.

Brooman, Josh. Stalin And The Soviet Union; The USSR 1924-53. Longman Twentieth-Century History Series.

Pictures"Corbis: stock photography and digital pictures." Corbis Corporation. <http://www.corbis.com>.

"Google Image Search." 2000. Google. <http://images.google.com/>.