The Russian Revolution PreRevolutionary Russia Only true autocracy

The Russian Revolution

Pre-Revolutionary Russia Only true autocracy left in Europe n No type of representative political institutions n Nicholas II became tsar in 1884 n Believed he was the absolute ruler anointed by God n

Crisis Moments 1905 n War with Japan n Started over Japanese aggression in Manchuria n Russia defeated n Added to discontent of the people

Crisis Moments 1905 Russian peasants went to winter palace to speak with the Czar n Nicholas was not there n Troops opened fire on the unarmed protestors n Duma started n

The Revolution of 1905 Rapid growth of (discontented) working class n Vast majority of workers concentrated in St. Petersburg and Moscow n Little help from the countryside: impoverished peasants – Populist Movements of the 1870 s and later had done little to improve their lot n – No individual land ownership – Rural Famine

n Tsar paid no attention to the Duma; it was harassed and political parties suppressed – only token land reform was passed n Nicholas was personally a very weak man; he became increasingly remote as a ruler Conservatism Continues: 1905 -1917

Alexandra: The Power Behind the Throne n Even more blindly committed to autocracy than her husband n She was under the influence of Rasputin n Scandals surrounding Rasputin served to discredit the monarch

Alexis: Alexandra’s Son with Hemophilia

World War I: “The Last Straw” War revealed the ineptitude and arrogance of the country’s aristocratic elite n Corrupt military leadership had contempt for ordinary Russian people n Average peasants had very little invested in the War n

World War I (cont) n Ill-trained, ineffective officers, poorly equipped (Russ. was not ready for an industrial war) – the result was mass desertions and 2 million casualties by 1915 ` n Result: Chaos and Disintegration of the Russian Army

The Collapse of the Imperial Government Nicholas left for the Front —September, 1915 n Alexandra and Rasputin throw the government into chaos n Alexandra and other high government officials accused of treason n

The Collapse of the Imperial Government (cont) n Rasputin assassinated in December of 1916 n Complete mismanagement of the wartime economy n Industrial production plummeted, inflation and starvation were rampant, and the cities were overflowing w/ refugees n Serious food shortages in March 1917 added to the support for change

The Two Revolutions of 1917 The March Revolution (March 12) n The November Revolution (November 6) n

The March Revolution n n Origins: Food riots/strikes Duma declared itself a Provisional Government on March 12 Czar ordered soldiers to intervene; instead they joined the rebellion…the Czar abdicated on March 17 Alexander Kerensky headed the Provisional Government. Prince Lvov – – Very Popular Revolution Kerensky favored gradual socialist reform/ saw the war effort as #1 priority

Founder of Bolshevism: Vladimir Lenin n His Early Years --Exiled to Siberia in 1897 --Moved to London in 1902 and befriended Leon Trotsky n Committed to Class Struggle and Revolution n Wrote the Communist Manifesto with Trotsky

Lenin Steps into This Vacuum n n n n Amnesty granted to all political prisoners in March of 1917 Lenin, with Germany’s help, came back to Russia A tremendously charismatic personality “Peace, Land, Bread” “All Power to the Soviets” He preached that the war was a capitalist/imperialist war that offered no rewards for the peasants/workers; he also felt the war was over with the czar’s abdication Bolshevik party membership exploded; their power was consolidated

The November Revolution n Nov. 6, 1917 n Lenin was supported by the “Red” army and the peasants n Lenin went on to consolidate his power n All private property was abolished and divided among the peasantry n Largest industrial enterprises nationalized

November Revolution (cont) n Political Police organized: CHEKA n Bolshevik Party renamed Communist Party in March of 1918

November Revolution (cont) Lenin’s 1 st task was to get Russia out of the war so he could concentrate on internal reform… n The Treaty of Brest. Litovsk negotiated with the Germans, giving them much Russian territory, population, and resources n Civil War followed, 19171920 “Reds” versus “Whites” n Complete breakdown of Russian economy and society n

www. youtube. com/watch? v=xz Pqd. Cgg. OH 8

Death of the Czar n July 17, 1918, Ipatiev House, Russia