http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qn06W-iBfkQ

The Russian Empire

• Backward country compared to the West: 80% of the Russians were peasants and living in poverty.

Monarchy System

• Ruled by an absolute monarch (one-man show; the Tsar)

Feb 1917 REVOLUTION The Fall of the Tsar!

A revolution --- one form of government being replaced by another very different form of

government.

Feb 1917 Revolution

• Feb 1917:– Series of strikes in Petrogard, the capital city.– Soldiers refused to put down the revolt– Tsar decided to abdicate, knowing that he did not

have the support of the army or his people– A Provisional Government was set up to run the

country in place of the Tsar.

Mistakes of the Provisional Government

• Chose to keep Russia in the war. – The longer the war dragged on, the more

unpopular the Provisional Government became.

Rise of the Bolsheviks• Lenin (leader of the Bolsheviks)

campaigned against the Provisional Government while gaining support for themselves

• Bolsheviks’ slogan: “Peace, Land, Bread”.

• Incited a series of riots and strikes to break out.

• Provisional Government ordered for Lenin’s arrest, but he fled to Finland.

The October Revolution (1917)

• Overtime, discontent and opposition to the Provisional Government grew.

• Oct 1917: Lenin returned secretly to Petrograd.

• Led the Bolsheviks and the Red Guards on a second revolution to overthrow the Provisional Government.

Lenin fulfilled his promise.

• March 1918: Lenin signed the Treaty of Brest-Litvosk with Germany, even though the terms were harsh. But he knew he had to take Russia out of WW1.

Russian Civil War (Nov 1917-Oct 1922)

• Civil war = war between 2 (or more) groups of people in a country.

• The Bolsheviks and the Red Guards had to fight their opponents, the “Whites” for three long years before they eventually won the war.

Establishment of the

Bolshevik Dictatorship

In 1924, the former territories of the In 1924, the former territories of the Russian Empire were combined to Russian Empire were combined to form theform the

Moscow Moscow became the became the new capital new capital of the of the USSR.USSR.

Soviet UnionSoviet Union or or USSRUSSR..(Union of Soviet Socialist Republics)

The Bolshevik Party adopted a new name, the Communist Party.

Communist Russia was born.

The Bolshevik Party adopted a new name, the Communist Party.

Communist Russia was born.

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• By 1924, Soviet Russia governed by one-party, centralized authoritarian government.

• The Communist Party controlled the government and made all the important decisions.