Transcript Russian Revolution

Russian Revolution
Autocracy to Totalitarianism
Upholding Autocracy
Autocracy—a single ruler hold unlimited political
power
 Czar Nicholas I & Alexander II had been
mistreating & abusing peasants while social
inequalities were growing
 Alexander II was assassinated in 1881
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– Even though he was enacting some peasant reforms
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Alexander III took his father’s throne and ended
all reforms to put more power in his hands
– Wanted to strengthen “autocracy, orthodoxy, and
nationality”…all power, all Orthodox, all speaking
Russian
The Last of the Romanovs
Upholding Autocracy
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Alexander III works to end rebellions
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Strict censorship
Secret police watching over schools
Teachers reporting on student writing
Political prisoners sent to Siberia
Nationalist Reforms
– Russian is official language, no Polish
– Persecution of Jews becomes national policy
 Couldn’t buy land
 Quotas of Jews at universities
 Pogroms—organized violence against Jews
– Police looted & destroyed Jewish homes, stores, & synogogues
Pogroms
New Czar Resists Change
Czar Nicholas II takes over in 1894 &
continues autocracy
 Economic Growth
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– # of factories doubled
– 4th leading producer of steel, but still lagged
behind Europe
– Trans-Siberian Railway—world’s longest
railway
 Connected Euro-Russian to Pacific ports in 1904
Trans-Siberian Railway
New Czar Resists Change
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Revolutionary Spirit Grows
– Rapid industrialization created usual problems
– Competing revolutionary movements arise
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Marxist Groups Arise
– Industrial class should overthrow the czar
– Form a dictatorship of proletariat
– Division in groups
 Mensheviks want a democratic revolution
 Bolsheviks want a communist, dictatorial revolution
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Bolsheviks
– Supported a small number of committed revolutionaries
– Led by Vladimir Lenin, a ruthless leader that was hiding in
Western Europe from czar
Bolsheviks
Ponder This!
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What did the czars do to maintain an autocracy?
– What impact did this policy have on the future
revolution?
How did Russia’s Industrial Revolution contribute
to the growing tensions in Russia?
 What is a pogrom and why was it used?
 What is the difference between the Bolsheviks
and Mensheviks?
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Crisis at Home & Abroad
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Russo-Japanese War
– Competing over Korea & Manchuria
– Russia kept breaking treaties over use of territories
– Japan attacked & defeated Russia in 1905
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Revolution of 1905: Bloody Sunday
– 200,000 workers march on Winter Palace carrying a
petition asking for better working conditions & more
freedoms
– Nicholas wasn’t there, but police opened fire killing 1000
unarmed protesters
– Strikes & violence spread across country
– Nicholas forced to allow a Duma, Russian parliament
 He dissolved it shortly after
Russo-Japanese War
Bloody Sunday
Crisis at Home & Abroad
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World War I: Final Blow
– Nicholas brought Russia into war in 1914
– Weak generals & limited supplies allowed easy
German victories…4 million lost in 1 year
– Nicholas went to war front in 1915, leaving country to
Czarina Alexandra
 She ignored Nicholas’ advisors and fell under the spell of
mysterious Rasputin, a magical holy-man who was helping
Alexis
– Troop morale was dropping with defections &
mutinies
– Supplies ran short on home front w/ rising
inflation
Rasputin
March Revolution--1917
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Women led riots of 200,000 in Petrograd over bread and
food shortages
Soldiers initially opened fire, but then turned on their
commanding officers…spreading riots nationwide
Nicholas II was forced to abdicate his throne, ending
300 years of Romanov rule
Duma set up Provisional Government, headed by
Alexander Kerensky
 Supported the war, upsetting soldiers & citizens
 Peasants wanted land, workers wanted raises
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Competition arose among local soviets of workers,
peasants, and soldiers
 They gained more influence then Provisional Government
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Germans arranged for return of V.I. Lenin in April 1917
March Revolution
Ponder This!
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Describe the Russian psyche after the RussoJapanese War.
What was the cause and effect of the Bloody
Sunday riots?
Why were Russian people upset with the war
effort in WWI?
What was role of Rasputin?
Why did Russia withdrawal from WWI?
What was cause & effect of March Revolution?
Bolshevik Revolution
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Bolsheviks gain control of soviets in
Petrograd & other major cities
– “All power to the soviets”
– “Peace, Land, Bread”
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Provisional Gov’t topples
– Nov. 1917, Red Guard (Bolsheviks) stormed
winter palace in Petrograd…factory workers
– Took over gov’t offices & arrested leaders
– Lasted hours, Kerensky disappeared
November Revolution
Bolshevik Revolution
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Bolsheviks in Power
– Lenin orders all farmland distributed among peasants
– Workers given control of factories
– Signed Treaty of Brest-Litvosk
 Land give-away in treaty caused anger among Russians
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Civil War
– White army rises in opposition to Bolshevik reforms
w/ help from Allies
– Red army led by Leon Trotsky successfully fights back
White army and quells all rebellions from 1918-1920
resulting in 15 million dead
Leon Trotsky
Lenin Restores Order
Economy was in turmoil, trade stagnant,
industrial production decreasing, skilled labor
leaving
 New Economic Plan (NEP)
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– Put aside state run communism for small-scale
capitalism
– Allowed profits to begin to circulate through country
– Gov’t controlled rest of essential enterprises
 Major industries, banks, communication
– Encoraged foreign investment
Lenin Restores Order
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Political Reforms
– Russian contained many nationalities, posing threat to
nationalism
– Lenin organized Russia into many self-governing
republics under Soviet central control
– Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) was
created in 1922, w/ Moscow as capital
– Bolsheviks renamed to Communist Party
– Reality became a dictatorship of party, not workers
– By 1928, USSR recovered to pre WWI economic
standing
– Lenin died in 1924 of a stroke, creating a new power
struggle
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
(U.S.S.R.)
Ponder This!
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What is a soviet?
Who are the Bolsheviks?
Who was the leader of the Bolsheviks?
Why did the Treaty of Brest-Litvosk upset the
Russian people?
Describe the struggle of the Russian Civil War.
What was Lenin’s NEP?
What did Lenin call the new socialist government
he created?
The Bolsheviks changed their name to what to
honor whom?