Transcript Russian Revolution - Anderson High School

Russian Revolution
“Peace, Land, and Bread”
Introduction
Russian Monarchy
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Alexander III clung to the principles of
autocracy.
Censorship codes were enforced to restrict
printed material.
Teachers were to write detailed reports on every
student.
Other ethnic groups were oppressed to establish
a uniform culture.
Alexander made Jews the target of persecution.
Pogroms broke out in many parts of Russia.
Nicholas II
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Became Czar in 1894.
Maintained principles of
autocracy.
Built up Russian industry
through high taxes and
foreign investment.
Completed the TransSiberian Railway in 1904.
Trade unions were
outlawed.
The gap between rich
and poor grew.
Click Picture
Russian Marxists
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In 1903, split into two groups.
 Mensheviks:
Wanted a broad base of popular
support.
 Bolsheviks: Supported a small number of
committed revolutionaries.
Lenin became the major leader of the
Bolsheviks.
 Lenin fled to Western Europe to avoid
arrest by the czarist regime.
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Bolsheviks
Regime
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ancient or old regime
old order
monarchical system of government
legally privileged orders or estates (nobility, clergy)
peasant agriculture (serfdom) and state-regulated
markets and industry
(mercantilism)
government bureaucracy reserved largely for the
nobility
culture dominated by Catholic Church and courtly life
Marxism
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Defined by Karl Marx
in The Communist
Manifesto.
Crises which led to Revolution
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Russo-Japanese War
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Bloody Sunday
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World War I
Russo-Japanese War
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Both Russia and Japan
competed for the control
of Korea and Manchuria.
Russia broke the
agreement with Japan
and Japan attacked.
In February 1904, Japan
defeated Russian troops
at Port Arthur, Manchuria.
Further defeats led to
revolts on the home
front.
Bloody Sunday
On January 22, 1905, 200,000
workers and their families
petitioned the Czar at his winter
palace in St. Petersburg.
 The Czar was not present, but his
soldiers were. They opened fire on
the unarmed crowd and between
500 and 1000 people were killed.
 To halt the revolts happening
across the country, Nicholas II
reluctantly created a Duma
October 1905.
 The Czar dissolved the Duma in
May 1906 because he did not wish
to make the change to a
constitutional monarchy.
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World War I
Russia’s weak generals and poorly equipped
troops were no match for the German Army.
 Russia’s involvement in WWI revealed the
Czar’s weaknesses of rule and military
leadership.
 The war destroyed morale and soldiers mutinied,
deserted, or ignored orders.
 Food and fuel supplies on the home front were
low and people were clamoring for a new leader.
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Rasputin
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A self proclaimed holy
man, Rasputin claimed to
have magical healing
powers.
He gained the trust of
Czarina Alexandra by
attending the ailments of
her sick boy Nicky.
In reward, Czarina
allowed Rasputin to make
key political decisions
while the Czar was at the
front lines of WWI.
Who Is Rasputin
Death of Rasputin
The March Revolution
In March 1917, the women textile workers
in Petrograd led a city wide strike.
 Riots later appeared because of a
shortage in bread and fuel.
 At first soldiers obey their orders to shoot
the rioters but, later sided with the
workers.
 Crowds shouted “down with autocracy!”
and “down with the war!”
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Czar Steps Down
Czar Nicholas II
abdicated his thrown
to stop the violence.
 A year later the Czar
and his family were
murdered by the
revolutionaries.
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The End of the Romanov
Provisional Government
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Leaders of the Duma set up a provisional
government.
Its leader was Alexander Kerensky.
His decision to continue fighting the war cost
him his support of the soldiers and civilians.
Social revolutionaries, competing for power,
formed soviets.
In most cities, soviets had more power than the
provisional government.
Bolshevik Revolution
Once Lenin returned from exile in Europe he led
the Bolsheviks in the take over of the Petrograd
soviet.
 Lenin rallied the people and gave them the
slogan “peace, land, and bread”.
 In November 1917, the Bolsheviks stormed the
Winter Palace in Petrograd and arrested the
provisional government.
 The Bolshevik revolution was over in matter of
hours.
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Bolsheviks in Power
Lenin ordered all the farmland distributed
among the peasants and control of the
factories given to the workers.
 In March 1918, Russia and Germany
signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk which
ended World War I for Russia.
 The humiliating terms of the treaty turned
some Russians against the Bolsheviks.
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Russian Civil War
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From 1918 to 1920 a civil war raged between
the White Army (counterrevolutionaries) and the
Red Army (Bolsheviks).
The Red Army was led by Leon Trotsky.
The White Army was aided by the U.S. and
other Western nations.
The Bolsheviks eventually destroyed the White
Army and proved they could seize power and
maintain it.
Approximately 15 million Russians died during
the Civil War.
Civil War
Lenin in Power
After the revolution, Lenin shifted his
energy to reviving the Russian economy
and restructuring the government.
 In March 1921, he launched the New
Economic Policy.
 Under the NEP, peasants could sell their
crops instead of turning them over to the
state. Individuals could buy and sell goods
for profit.
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A New Government
Political Reforms
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Lenin organized Russia into several selfgoverning republics under one central
government.
In 1922, the country was named the Union of
Soviet Socialists Republic (USSR).
The Bolsheviks renamed their party the
Communist Party.
In 1924, the Communists created a constitution
based on socialist and democratic principles.
Lenin had created a dictatorship of the
Communist Party, not a “dictatorship of the
proletariat” as Marx had promoted.
Death of Lenin
Lenin had several strokes and spent 18 months
as a semi-invalid.
 In 1924, Lenin died.
 Lenin’s death left a void in the Communist
power structure which created a power struggle
for control of the party.
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Lenin