The Russian Revolution

Overview

• Russian Revolution – one of the most important consequences of WWI

• This revolution would have far-reaching consequences for the rest of the world

Roots of Revolution

• Russian Czars ruled as autocrats (absolute rulers)• Used secret police and strict censorship

• Majority of Russians were serfs• Illiterate and bound to the land• Small group of nobles owned the serfs and enjoyed vast

wealth• Social conditions kept the country economically

underdeveloped

Roots of Revolution

• Crimean War 1854-1856• Russia trying to protect Orthodox Christians• Russia lost

• Czar Alexander II liberated the serfs in 1861• Introduced an elected assembly and other reforms• Assassinated by Russian Revolutionaries shortly afterwards• All attempts at reform stopped• Later Czars returned to policy of harsh repression

• Serfs became landless peasants paying rent to former owners

Roots of Revolution

• Russian nationalism influenced Russian rulers• Their empire was identified by their autocracy, Russian

nationality, and the Russian Orthodox Church• Russification of Slav states in the Balkans• Protectors of these states

Road to Revolution

• 1900 – Russian Empire stretched from Eastern Europe to Pacific Ocean

• Still considered backward country• Peasants and factory workers in poverty• Landowning nobles had wealth and leisure• No democratic reform• Secret revolutionary societies formed among the educated

elite

Revolution of 1905

• Russia defeated in Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905)• Bloody Sunday• Troops trampled unarmed demonstrators in St. Petersburg• Revolutions broke out around the country• Peasants seized lands, workers demonstrated and went on

strike• Czar Nicholas II created the Duma• Elected legislature• Only the very wealthy could vote for members

February Revolution – March 1917

• Russia was ill-prepared to World War I• Widespread defeats and food shortages

• 1917 – Food riots broke out in cities all across Russia• March 1917 – troops refused to fire on

striking workers• Czar Nicholas abdicated the throne;

leaders of Duma declare Russia a republic• Refused to withdraw from war and could

not win support of the people

February Revolution – March 1917

• Alexander Kerensky prominent leader of provisional government• Instituted parliamentary rule based on western liberalism• Supported religious and other freedoms• Resisted major land redistribution expected by peasants

October Revolution – November 1917

• Vladimir Lenin returned to Russia from his exile in Switzerland• Germany sent him back hoping to close to Eastern Front• Follower of Karl Marx

• Bolsheviks (Lenin’s supporters) promised “Peace, Bread, and Land”• Seized power in second revolution November 1917

USSR

• To prevent nationalism from spreading among Russia’s many ethnic groups, the country is organized into several smaller republics with a central government in Moscow.

• Bolsheviks renamed to Communists and changed the name of the country to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R) or Soviet Union• World’s first Communist country

Russia leaves WWI

• When Lenin seizes power in November 1917, he offers Germany a truce

• Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (1918) ends Russia’s participation in World War I • Loses the Baltic States, Finland, and Poland that emerge

as independent nations after the Treaty of Versailles is signed

• War threat on the Eastern Front is eliminated for Germany, which moves its forces to the Western Front and mounts one last unsuccessful attempt to overrun France

Soviet Union Under Lenin

• Bolsheviks convinced world revolution would happen• Lenin added new ideals to Marx’s Communist vision• Small group of party leaders would lead country to

Communist equality • “Temporary dictatorship” needed

• Several internal and external groups attempted to reinstate provisional government

• Redistributing land to peasants and nationalization of industry sparked major protests• Worker groups called soviets take over the factories

Russian Civil War 1919-1921

• Civil war between the “Reds” [Lenin’s supporters] and the “Whites” [wanted to return to Czar rule] erupted• Several powers, including the US sent support to the Whites

• The Red Army had more support from peasants and workers• Lenin was willing to promote army officers from humble

backgrounds and troops believe they were fighting for a new regime.• Leader of Red Army Leon Trotsky helped regained stability

• Lenin murdered Czar Nicholas and his family• After two years, the Reds came out victorious• Widespread famine that follows leads to over 15 million Russian

deaths before the White Army is defeated

Lenin’s New Economic Policy

• Economy in shambles, peasants no longer growing food afraid government would seize it

• 1921 – New Economic Policy “N.E.P” – some private ownership permitted on a small scale in manufacturing and agriculture

• Policy seemed to be working when Lenin died in 1924

Death of Lenin

• Lenin died suddenly in 1924• No clear path for leadership succession• Major struggle between lieutenants behind closed doors• Leon Trotsky was a favorite to succeed, but in the end

Joseph Stalin won• Ruled from 1927 until death in 1953

Aftermath

• Stalin ignored international communist revolution to focus on “socialism in one country”• Focused on strengthening Russian industrialization and

agriculture • Russia continued to remain isolated from the rest of the

world• Stalin settled in as old style authoritarian Russian ruler