The Russian Revolution

Buildup to Revolution

- The 1917 Russian Revolution was a result of decades-long autocracy and social division. The Russian Revolution has two main parts: the February and the October Revolutions.

- “The lag” is a phrase used by Russians to describe how Russia was constantly behind the rest of Europe technologically and culturally. Serfdom existed until 1861, and Russia was not very industrialized by the early 1900s.

- In 1881, Alexander III became Czar (Tsar), stopped Alexander II’s previous reforms. He demanded, “Autocracy, Orthodoxy, and Nationality.” This means that the Czar has total power, Eastern Orthodox Christianity is required, and Russian pride is required.

- Czar Alexander III had a secret police force, required Russian only in schools, censorship, info on students supplied by teachers, criminals exiled to Siberia, Jews forbidden to buy land from Russians, etc.!

The Rise of Russian Communism

- Nicholas II became Czar in 1894, and wanted to maintain autocratic government. At his coronation, over 1,000 people were trampled to death in a mad rush to get souvenirs.

- During this time, Russia began to industrialize. With this came many problems like low wages, child labor, horrible working conditions, etc. There was a huge rich and poor gap.

- Karl Marx’s theories (1848 = “Communist Manifesto”) led to 2 major Communist groups by 1903: the Mensheviks and the Bolsheviks. Communism theorizes that a great and evil struggle between capitalists (owners) and the proletariat (workers) needed to end. They also wanted to abolish private property, social class, and eventually a society that each person would get equal resources based on their labor.

- The Mensheviks were more moderate, and sought to win public support and government reforms

- The Bolsheviks were more radical, wanted to completely overhaul society, and were fanatical in the pursuit of their goals. Vladimir Lenin became their leader, and he fled to Western Europe to evade arrest in the early 1900s.

The Russo-Japanese War- Russia and Japan in the late 1800s were growing imperialist powers. Korea and Manchuria (NE China) were disputed, and in 1904-05 the Russo-Japanese War happened.

- The Japanese easily defeated the Russians, marking the first time an “Asian” country defeated a “European” country in modern times. The defeat led to more unrest in Russia.

- Furthermore, the defeat showed how backwards Russia was in comparison to other, more industrial countries like Japan.

- US President Theodore Roosevelt won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906 for mediating a peace treaty to end the war.

Bloody Sunday- On January 22, 1905, around 200,000 workers gathered at the Czar’s Winter Palace in St. Petersburg to demand better working conditions, more freedoms, and an elected national legislature.

- The Czar was not at the palace, and the soldiers fired on the crowd, killing around 1,000 people.

- In October 1905, Czar Nicholas II created the Duma, the first Russian parliament ever, but Nicholas dissolved it only 10 weeks later.

- A wave of political unrest followed Bloody Sunday from 1905-1907, and it is referred to sometimes as the Revolution of 1905.

World War I

- Russia entered World War I to support Serbia, who were also Slavic (Russian – Slavic and Viking combo traditionally, but many Russians say they are Slavic).

- The Russian military was very unprepared and the war went poorly. There were 4 million casualties in the first year alone! Over 3 million died and 3-5 million casualties total, the most out of the Allied countries.

- Nicholas II went to the war front for inspiration, and his wife, Czarina Alexandra, ran the government. She was under the spell of Grigori Rasputin, who supposedly helped remedy her son, who suffered from hemophilia, with mystical treatments.

- There was a outrage over Rasputin, and he was murdered by Russian nobles in 1916.

The February Revolution

- The Russian Revolution broke out in March 1917 (February on old Russian calendar, so it is called The February Revolution) in Petrograd (St. Petersburg – named changed in 1914).

- Famine was in Russia, WWI was going badly, and the economy was terrible. Textile workers started to strike, and then 200,000 people went to the streets. Soldiers were ordered to shoot the crowd, but then refused to fire.

- Czar Nicholas II finally abdicated his throne, and a provisional government was set up. In 1918, Nicholas and his family were all murdered.

The October Revolution

- The new government decided to stay in WWI, and lots of unrest continued.

- Lenin, aided by the enemy Germany, returned to Russia in April 1917.

- Soviets were worker’s councils, and workers, soldiers, and peasants all formed them. They became very powerful politically.]

- The Bolsheviks, with Lenin back and campaigning, took control of the Petrograd soviet and others, and used “Peace, land, bread” as a slogan.

- In November 1917 (October Revolution), Bolshevik Red Guards (armed factory workers mostly) stormed the Winter Palace in a bloodless coup. Now, the Bolsheviks were in power with Lenin as leader.

Russian Civil War

- Within days, Lenin distributed farmland to the peasants, made factories controlled by the workers, and ended the war with Germany. Germany would gain land and this angered many Russians.

- Next, the Russian Civil War erupted, between the Whites (anti-Communists) and the Reds (Communists).

- The war lasted from 1917-1922, and the Reds would win, despite the Whites having support from many outside countries (including the USA).

- Disease, famine, murders, and war deaths claimed around 9 million lives in the war. The Russian economy was completely in ruins.

Lenin in Command

- In 1922, Russia became the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or the USSR. The US only recognized it in 1933.

- Moscow = new capital. The Communist Party was the new name for the Bolsheviks. The party ran the country like an oligarchy (Marx = dictatorship of proletariat, not a party).

- The USSR believed that a worldwide Communist revolution would emerge. In 1919, Communist International was launched (Comintern) devoted to this.

- Lenin realized how desperate the economy was, so he started the New Economic Policy (NEP) in 1921. This policy “temporarily” used some capitalism in the way of buying and selling for profit, peasants could sell surplus crops.

- Lots of excitement during this time. Education, services were available for all, racism and sexism gone, no homelessness, no unemployment…it was a new experiment in government! By 1928, pre-WWI recovery was complete.

Stalin Takes Over- Lenin died in 1924 in very poor

health. There was a power struggle between Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin.

- Stalin, a Georgian, was the general secretary. He worked expertly behind the scenes, and placing allies in key positions. By 1928, Stalin was in total control.

- Trotsky was exiled in 1929. In 1940, Trotsky was murdered with an ice pick in Mexico.

- The USSR under Stalin goes down historically as one of the most horrific regimes in all of history.

- By Stalin’s time, the focus of a worldwide spread of Communism was put on hold in favor of development at home.

- Stalin’s regime was totalitarian, and Stalin had a cult of personality develop. Fear was widespread: the secret police arrested millions, and even children were encouraged to tell on adults.

- The economy was changed to a command economy. With strict quotas, 2 separate Five Year Plans were undertaken. There was a drastic military and industrial buildup.

- People were assigned their jobs, working hours were set, people needed permission to move, and the threat of getting arrested or killed was widespread.

- Collective farms were created…these large government run farms met fierce resistance with the peasants. In total, 5-10 million died in famine, some claim this was a genocide. By 1938, 90% of farms were collective.

Life in Stalin’s USSR- Secret Police: lots of violence, constant witch hunt, also KGBwas intelligence agency.

- Great Purge: in the 1930s, there were huge purges againstany power threats to Stalin. 8-13 million people may have died.

- Indoctrination: propaganda and a cult of Stalin was everywhere in society. Russian was required language, all art, school curriculum, media, news was controlled. Socialist Realism = art.

- Religion was banned and the USSR was officially atheist. Many say that the cult of personality style of worship of Stalin counts as religion. Many held on to religious beliefs in secret.

- Women were expected to work and to be mothers…a very demanding life.

- Education was highly valued. With rare exceptions, this was the only way to a good life.

- At least 20 million people would die in Stalin’s USSR (excluding wars), some historians estimate this number to be 50-60 million. Also, millions were arrested and sent to work in the Gulags, a forced labor prison system all over the USSR. Many died there.