Transcript Russian Revolution

Russian Revolution
POLITICAL CONDITIONS IN
CZARIST RUSSIA
• Up to World War I, Russia in many
respects resembled France under
the Old Regime. Unlike most west
European nations, Czarist Russia
had made little progress away from
absolutism, inequality, and poverty.
• Absolutism of the Czar. The czar
ruled as an unlimited monarch and
exercised all powers. Through the
secret police he vigorously
suppressed demands for reforms
and punished reformers by
imprisonment, execution, or exile to
penal colonies in Siberia.
Alexander II
nihilism
• Terrorism by Reformers. Denied lawful means of
expressing discontent, many Russian reformers,
especially intellectuals, identified with a radical
movement called nihilism—a word derived from
the Latin meaning nothing.
• Nihilists believed that nothing was worthwhile in
Czarist Russia and that all must be destroyed in
order to apply reason and science to the building
of a better society.
• The nihilists therefore turned to underground
activity and terrorism.
• They spread anti-Czarist propaganda among the
peasants, and turning to violence, they
assassinated a number of government leaders
including, in 1881, reformist Czar Alexander II.
Thereafter the nihilist movement was destroyed by the new czar—indicating that
individual acts of terrorism could not undermine the Czarist government.
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Social Conditions
in Czarist Russia
Rigid Class Distinctions.
(1) Privileged classes.
a) The clergy of the state-controlled Russian Orthodox
Church preached obedience to the czar.
b) The nobility owned much land and held important army
and government positions.
(2) Unprivileged classes.
a) The peasants, constituting the masses, lived impoverished lives and worked hard without prospect of
advancement.
b) The city workers, few in number, faced conditions that
were hardly better.
c) The unprivileged classes remained mostly illiterate, for
the czar's government feared that education would teach
the common people "dangerous" ideas.
Severe Czarist reforms
Russification. Subject peoples, such as Poles,
Finns, Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians, and
Armenians, were pressured to adopt the
Russian language, culture, and religion. They
bitterly resisted the government's attempts to
destroy their national heritages.
Persecution of Jews. Jews were forbidden to
own land, were almost completely barred from
educational institutions, and were required to
live in restricted districts, called the Pale of
Settlement.
They were victimized recurrently by governmentinspired outbursts of violence, called
pogroms.
- carried out by Cossacks
Anti-Jewish riots served the Czarist government
by diverting the attention of the people away
from their own deplorable conditions.
.
After a series of brutal pogroms in 1881, following the assassination of Czar
Alexander II, many Jews began to flee Russia, migrating chiefly to the United
States
Economic Conditions
in Czarist Russia
• An Agricultural Country. Russia raised great
quantities of sugar beets and grains. Its
peasants, using primitive methods and
lacking sufficient land, eked out a wretched
living.
– Subsistence farming- only produce to survive.
• Beginnings of Industrialization (Late 19th
Century). With landless peasants providing
cheap labor and French investors supplying
capital, Russia began its industrial
revolution. The Russians constructed iron
and steel mills, textile factories, and
railroads. An ambitious project, spanning the
width of Russia from St. Petersburg (now
Leningrad) to Vladivostok, was the TransSiberian Railroad.
Russian Workers
• Russia's industrial
beginnings created two
new economic classes:
workers and capitalists.
• The workers resented their
low wages and slum
conditions.
• The business owners
resented the privileged
position of the nobility.
• Both groups desired a voice in the
government and opposed Czarist
absolutism.
REFORMS IN CZARIST RUSSIA
Fearing unrest that accompanied military
defeats, two czars made concessions to
the people. Czarist reforms, in the long
run, brought little change. Czarist Russia's
failure to solve its problems made
revolution almost inevitable.
1. Emancipation of the Serfs (1861)
In 1861 reformist Czar Alexander II, by edict,
freed the serfs, purchased land from the
nobles, and sold this land to peasant
village communities called mirs. The mirs
were instructed to assign plots to their
members, who would pay for the land over
a period of 49 years.
2. Establishment of a Legislature (1905)
City workers revolted for reforms and started
the Revolution of 1905. The czar
acknowledged their and issued the
following reforms:
Czar Reforms
• Reform Measures. Czar Nicholas II
• (1) promised to guarantee certain
personal liberties,
• (2) established a lawmaking body, the
Duma, and
• (3) permitted Duma elections by
universal male suffrage.
• Absolutism Restored. As the
revolutionists quarreled among
themselves, the czar used the soldiers
returning from the war to spread terror
and reestablish his control.
– Thereafter, he restricted suffrage to the
upper classes and limited the power of
the Duma, making it into a "debating
society."
Revolution of 1917
Revolutions of 1917
• March Revolution – Czar is overthrown
• November Revolution – Communist resize
power
Underlying Causes of the March
Revolution
• (1) Political. The people wanted an end to
Czarist absolutism and repression.
Especially the middle class and workers
desired a voice in the government.
• (2) Economic. Peasants wanted the
nobles' fertile lands. City workers wanted
better economic conditions.
• (3 Social. Subject nationalities wanted an
end to discrimination and Russification.
Immediate Causes: Czarist
Wartime Incompetence
•
. (1) On the battlefront. Soldiers received
inadequate food, clothing, and battle
equipment; officers, chiefly nobles, often
lacked ability; Russian armies met with
defeat after defeat; casualties ran high.
(2) On the home front. Factories proved
unable to satisfy military and civilian
needs; railroad transportation broke
down; cities faced food shortages; prices
soared.
The March Revolution
• With soldiers war weary and deserting, peasants
rioting, workers striking, and Duma members
demanding reform, Russia was ripe for
revolution.
• In March, 1917, soldiers defied government
orders to fire on striking city workers in
Petrograd (St. Petersburg); railroad workers
delayed the czar's return from the fighting front
to Petrograd; and the Duma spurned Czarist
commands to dissolve.
• Czar Nicholas II, realizing that his authority was
gone, abdicated the throne.
The Provisional Government
Fails (March–November, 1917).
•
•
This temporary government was headed first
by the liberal Democrat Prince George Lvov
and later by the moderate Socialist Alexander
Kerensky. Dominated by middle-class liberals,
this temporary government guaranteed civil
liberties, freed political prisoners, and sought
to establish a west European type of
democratic regime.
The provisional governmentlost support among
the public and especially among the newly
organized soviets (councils) of workers and
soldiers.
The Russian Revolution
Provisional Government
Bolsheviks
• Duma established temporary
government
• Led opposition to Kerensky’s
provisional government
• Led by Aleksandr Kerensky
• Wanted fundamental change in
government and society
• Many unhappy with new
leadership
Bolshevism
• Abolish private property
• Enforce social equality
• Later known as MarxismLeninism
• Planned Marxist revolution
Vladimir Lenin
• Bolshevik leader forced to live
outside Russia
• Returned, April 1917
• Germany hoped Lenin would
weaken Russian war effort
The Bolshevik Revolution
Kerensky’s final offensive
• Kerensky ordered final military offensive against Central Powers
along Eastern Front, mid-1917
• Drive failed and led to widespread rebellion in Russian army
• Weakened Russian army collapsed
Bolshevik takeover
• Conditions ideal for Lenin
• Armed Bolshevik factory workers,
Red Guard, attacked provisional
government, November 1917
Lenin became leader
• Established radical Communist
program
• Made private ownership of land
illegal
• Known as October Revolution
• Land given to peasants
• Kerensky’s government collapsed
after nearly bloodless struggle
• Control of factories given to
workers
After the Revolution
Lenin sought to end Russian involvement in
World War I
• Sent Leon Trotsky to negotiate peace with Central
Powers
• Russia’s army virtually powerless
• Trotsky had to accept agreement harsh on Russia
• Russia gained peace, gave up large parts of empire
Reaction to Treaty
• Bolsheviks’ acceptance of peace treaty angered many Russians
• Bolsheviks’ opponents organized the White Army
• White Army included army leaders, political opponents, wealthy
Russians opposed to Communist system
Civil War
• White Army received military help from France, U.S.
• Civil War raged for 3 years between Lenin’s Red Army and White
Army
• Millions of Russians died in fighting, famines
• Bolsheviks finally triumphed, late 1920
New Economic Policy
Collapsing economy
• Brought on by civil war, pushed Russia to edge of total ruin
• Peasants, workers especially hard hit
• Lenin introduced New Economic Policy, 1921
Key points
• New Economic Policy permitted some capitalist activity
• Peasants could sell food at profit
• Tried to encourage badly needed food production
The Soviet Union
• Russia reunited with several neighboring lands, became Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics, dominated by Communist leadership
• Lenin’s death in 1924 led to struggle for control of Soviet Union
Lenin
Stalin
Joseph Stalin &
The Totalitarian State
A New Leader for the U.S.S.R.
• After Lenin died in 1924, Joseph Stalin took control and
remained in control until he died in 1953.
• Stalin abolished NEP and replaced it with a command
economy.
• A Command Economy – is when the government has
complete control of industry. It decides what is to be
produced, how much is to be produced, and the price.
• Stalin did this because he wanted to make the Soviet
Union a Socialist State . To be totally controlled by the
Communists, with him as the head of the Communist
Party
Reign of Terror – People lived in
dread of being arrested by the
secret police. In so-called purges,
Stalin had other potential leaders
arrested and executed. Stalin built
enormous slave labor camps in
Siberia, known as the gulags. Tens
of millions of people died.
Collectivization – Private land was
taken from the peasants, who were
forced to join collective farms owned
by the government. When peasants in
the Ukraine rejected this, Stalin
seized their food supplies and sealed
off the entire region. Millions of
Ukrainians starved to death.
Changes Under Stalin
Five-Year Plans – Stalin successfully
turned his nation from an agricultural
into an industrial country. The Five
Year Plans meant that all aspects of
the economy were controlled by the
government. Heavy industries were
developed, while consumer needs
were ignored.
Glorification of Stalin – Stalin
glorified his part in building the nation,
portraying himself as Russia’s
greatest leader. Streets were named
after him; his picture appeared
everywhere. Statues portrayed him as
a gentle, fatherly ruler. Children
memorized his sayings in school.
Sequence
What events took place after the Russian
Revolution?
Answer(s): The Bolsheviks formed the Red Army
which fought against the White Army. The White
Army was made up of army leaders, political
opponents of the Bolsheviks, and wealthy
Russians.