worker unrest and the russian czar’s failures in the war ... · section 3 background to...
TRANSCRIPT
Section 3
Background to Revolution
Worker unrest and the Russian czar’s failures in the war led to revolution in March 1917.
DFS Trans 3
Section 3
• The Russian military suffered heavy losses during the war due to a lack of experienced leaders and adequate weapons.
• Czar Nicholas II insisted on taking charge on the armed forces, leaving his wife Alexandra to make the decisions at home.
Background to Revolution (cont.)
Section 3
• Grigory Rasputin gained Alexandra’s confidence and began to influence her political decisions.
Background to Revolution (cont.)
Section 3
• After experiencing a series of economic and military disasters, conservative aristocrats assassinated Rasputin in December 1916.
• In March 1917, working-class women led a series of strikes in Petrograd, shutting down all the factories in the city.
• The czar ordered soldiers to end the demonstration, but many of soldiers joined the protest and refused to fire on the crowds.
Background to Revolution (cont.)
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• The Duma, or legislative body, met and asked the czar to step down. Without the support of the army, Nicholas II agreed and the 300-year-old Romanov dynasty ended.
• The new leader, Aleksandr Kerensky, decided to stay in World War I, upsetting many people who wanted an end to the war.
Background to Revolution (cont.)
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• Soviets began to form in army units, factory towns, and rural areas to challenge the government’s power.
Background to Revolution (cont.)
Section 3
From Czars to Communists
Lenin and the Bolsheviks gained control and quickly overthrew the provisional government.
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• The Bolsheviks were a small Marxist party that turned to violent revolution under V.I. Lenin.
• Lenin believed that the Bolsheviks should gain control of the soviet groups throughout Russia and use them to overthrow the provisional government.
From Czars to Communists (cont.)
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• The Bolsheviks promised to:
– end the war
– redistribute land
– transfer government power to the soviets
– transfer factories and industries from capitalists to committees of workers
From Czars to Communists (cont.)
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• On November 6, Bolshevik forces took control of the government and outwardly turned over power to the Congress of Soviets.
• The Bolsheviks renamed themselves the Communists and began to focus on peace.
From Czars to Communists (cont.)
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• On March 3, 1918, Lenin signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany, which gave up eastern Poland, Ukraine, Finland, and the Baltic provinces.
From Czars to Communists (cont.)
In this treaty Russia lost…
•Poland
•Finland
•one third of it's population
•one third of it's fertile land
•54% of it's industry
•75% of its coal mines
•73% of it's iron supplies
•85% of it's sugar production
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• Civil war soon erupted in Russia.
• The Allies, who were concerned about the Communist takeover, sent troops and material aid to the anti-Communist forces (White forces) to battle the Communists (Red Army).
From Czars to Communists (cont.)
Section 3
• The first serious threat to the Communists came from Siberia, followed by Ukrainians and the Baltic regions.
From Czars to Communists (cont.)
Section 3
• The royal family was kidnapped and imprisoned in the Urals where they were eventually murdered by local soviets.
From Czars to Communists (cont.)
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• Leon Trotsky played a major role in the Red Army’s successes.
• War communism was used to ensure regular supplies to the Red Army.
• The Cheka, or Red secret police, began a Red Terror to instill fear and destroy any opposition to the Communist regime.
From Czars to Communists (cont.)
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• Foreign troops that were stationed in Russia made it easy for the communist government to call on patriotic Russians to fight foreign attempts to control the country .
• By 1921, the Communists were in total control of Russia. The civil war left the Communists resentful toward the Allied Powers.
From Czars to Communists (cont.)
VS 3
THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION and THE END OF WORLD WAR I
• Russia’s failure in the war and worker unrest led to the Russian Revolution in 1917.
• Bolshevik overthrow of the provisional government led to civil war and eventual Communist control.
• A defeated Germany signed an armistice with the Allies, ending the war on November 11, 1918.
• The Treaty of Versailles punished Germany, formed new nations, and created the League of Nations to solve international problems.
The End
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