Year 12 HistoryNCEA

2.5 Force or Movement

The Russian Revolution

Causes of the Causes of the 1917 Communist 1917 Communist

RevolutionRevolution

95% of the population were impoverished peasants

The Tsar adhered to his beliefs that he was destined to rule

autocratically

There were no elections, no free speech.

There was wide spread censorship.

The bulk of the people wanted an elected constituent assembly.

Three major political parties emerged all hoping to bring change:Marxist Social Democrats - (Bolsheviks and Mensheviks) wanting revolution.Social Revolutionary Party – opposed to the Tsar, supported by peasants.Constitutional Democratic Party (Kadets) – wanting the British system.

Lenin was single minded in his determination to introduce a

modified form of Marxist communism.

Lenin was partially funded by the Germans and the Japanese who

saw an advantage in Russia being embroiled in a revolution.

People’s despair at World War One was aimed at the Tsar.

1915 The Tsar left the Tsarina and by implication, Rasputin, in charge while he went to lead the troops.

1916: There were harsh conditions in Petrograd. Morale was low in the army causing desertions. Rasputin was assassinated.Abdication was openly discussed.

Trotsky was crucial in organising the Red Guard and promoting

Communism to the people.

Lenin subsequently gained power because those in opposition to his

ideas were disunited.

Lenin had the support of the army.

Consequences of Consequences of the 1917 the 1917

Communist Communist Revolution Revolution

Lenin issued many decrees instituting Communism including

censorship and no free speech

Lenin moved the capital to Moscow in fear of a German

invasion.

The election for a Constituent Assembly in late 1917 was a disaster for the Bolsheviks.

January 1918 Lenin dissolved the newly elected Assembly.

Democracy was over and Lenin was now as autocratic as the Tsar

had been.

The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk removing Russia from the war was

a crushing defeat.

Bolshevik enemies, called White Armies fought Lenin’s new regime

resulting in a Civil War.

The Romanovs were assassinated July 1918.

Lenin instituted War Communism in 1918. These were unrealistic expectations which impacted

harshly on the people.

By 1920 Lenin had won the Civil War.

By 1921 between five and seven million Russians starved in the

resulting famine.

There were rebellions in Petrograd.

In 1921 Lenin introduced a New Economic Policy - easing his

previously harsh War Communism.

By 1923 conditions began to improve.

Russia changed its name to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

– USSR.

A Communist Russia had in part an influence on:Nazi rise to power.Fall of China.Cold WarMiddle East Crisis

The Influence of The Influence of Communism on Communism on people’s livespeople’s lives

Communism gave people the hope of equality and a share of the

nation’s wealth.

All classes and personal possessions were to be abolished.

All titles were abolished, people were to call each other ‘comrade’

or ‘citizen’.

There was to be no religion.

Between 1918-22 there was a Civil War or Red Terror which killed 10

million people.

Lenin introduced War Communism in 1918 to fund the Civil War.

By 1921 inflation was out of control; a train ticket cost one

million times more than in June 1917.

Coal, sugar and steel production collapsed. Only one third of trains

were in working order. People were paid in goods rather than

money.

Famine caused the deaths of 5-7 million people. Some cannibalism

occurred.

People fled to the countryside. The population of Petrograd fell from

2.5 million to 600,000.

Peasants supported the Reds because they feared the Whites

would take their newly gained land away.

1921 workers in Petrograd held meetings to protest at the way the

Communists were running the country.

1921 peasants rebelled against the harsh treatment of War Communism. The Red Army and Cheka were sent to brutally crush them.

Kronstadt sailors mutinied demanding the communism they had been promised in 1917. The

Red Army and the Cheka were sent to stop them. 15,000 were killed.

Lenin introduced the New Economic Policy (NEP) in 1921 to

alleviate the suffering of the people under War Communism.

By 1922 there were improvements for the ordinary people; electricity

and literacy

Successful peasants were called Kulaks but Communists worried they may become too powerful.

Businessmen did well under the NEP they were called Nepmen.

Some Communists thought that Lenin was compromising their

ideals but Lenin said

”We are now retreating…in order to get a better run for our long leap

forward.”