The Russian Revolution

March 1917: Russia begins exiting WWI as a result of mass rioting that eventually becomes the Russian Revolution

Roots of the Russian Revolution

1. Defeat in Russo-Japanese War

1904-1905 Russia and Japan both imperialist nations, that want to expand into Manchuria and Korea

Russian military, including the navy, was decimated

This marks the first time an Asian power ever defeats a European nation

2. Political Discontent

Russia was an Autocracy (government where supreme/total power rests in the hands of one person) led by Czar Nicholas II

1906: Russians petition the Czar to sign a Constitution, and to allow them a Duma (Russian Parliament)

Tensions between the Czar and the Duma escalate as each tries to maintain/take power

3. Growing landless peasants/Communism

The Industrial Revolution and Capitalist policies in Russia increased the divide between the very rich and very poor

Tensions increased as there were several waves of poor crop yields, leading to starvation

Many workers and peasants begin adopting the Communist Philosophies of Karl Marx

Karl Marx's Communism

• Capitalism is not natural: causes conflict between classes
• No Private Property

4. Incompetence and Unpopularity of the Czar

Czar Nicholas becoming increasingly unpopular with both the peasants and Czarists

Czar Nicholas II did very little to combat the problems with starvation, or the growing divide between Russians

Bloody Sunday 1905

• Workers march to St. Petersburg to protest the Car
• Hundreds massacred by the Imperial Army
• Seen as the catalyst for the Russian Revolution

5. WWI

Russians were forced to fight in a foreign political war, they did not care about, while they were starving at home

Russian causalities in WWI

• Russian soldiers very ill-equipped or trained to fight in the war
• between 1. million Russian soldiers killed
• 1.5 millions Russian civilians killed

Two Revolutions
One Russian Revolution

February (March) Revolution 1917

• Workers strikes/ peasant revolts/ bread riots
• Car Nicholas abdicates throne
• Duma establishes total control of government (established by the Bourgiouse)

Bolshevik (October/November) Revolution

• Vladamir Lenin leads a coup to overthrow Duma
• Establishes a Soviet government
• Lenin becomes a dictator of the world's first communist state

Russian Civil War

• Late 1917-July 191 (after Bolshevik Revolution)
• Anti-Bolsheviks (Whites) fight the Bolsheviks (Reds) in an effort to take back the government
• Bolsheviks win; establish Soviet government which will become the U.S.S.R
• 10th largest war ever fought: 5-9 million dead

Meanwhile, Tsar Nicholas II and his family were imprisoned.

To ensure there would be no hope for another revolution, the Bolsheviks executed Csar Nicholas II and his family

Untitled Slide

Russians had a difficult time accepting Communism fully, so Lenin issued a new plan

Lenin's New Economic Plan

• Major industries still controlled by the state
• Peasants could buy propert

Vladimir Lenin dies in 1924. His successor is one of the most notorious dicatators in human history

Joseph Stalin