Transcript Slide 1
The Russian Revolution http://hisvorpal.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/lenin.jpg Lenin • First modern dictator of the 20th century • Had a lifelong hatred for the Czarist regime • Formed a revolutionary group based on the writings of Karl Marx • Leader of the Bolsheviks (All-Russian Communist Party) • Anti-terrorism The Romanovs The War & the Tsar • over ½ all arable land owned by the aristocrats • long standing food shortages • inefficient war effort (politically, militarily & economically) • of 15.5 million soldiers, 1.7 mill dead, 4-5 mill wounded, 2.4 mill POWs & 1.5 mill deserters Nicholas II went to the front and left his wife, the Tsarina, in charge; she was influenced by Rasputin, a semimad monk; people blamed them for the deaths and the other problems March Revolution (Coup d’Etat) - 200,000 strikers were joined by women waiting in bread lines -called for the overthrow of the Tsar - The Cossacks (troops of the Tsar) refused to attack them - Troops who were sent out to stop the protestors shot their own commander and joined the protestors -The Tsar abdicated - The Soviet (council of radical workers) and the Duma (parliament) declared a Provisional Government – temporary Provisional Government • Kerensky (socialist revolutionary, rival of Lenin) was the leader of this provisional government • Real power was in the hands of the elected leaders of the Soviet workers & soldiers • Their goal was to pursue war more effectively, but the people wanted peace & this gave Lenin his chance Provisional Government cont’d • Peasants were growing tired of waiting for land reform • Kerensky mistakenly thought Russians wanted to be democratic • Challenged by the army’s commander General Kornilov; with help of Bolsheviks, the coup failed • Kerensky lost even more support Lenin • Bolshevik leader comes home from Switzerland where he was in exile • Germans smuggled him back to Russia because they thought he would cause trouble for Russia; knew he’d pull Russia out of the war • His slogan was “Peace, Land, and Bread” Lenin’s April Thesis • Communist Revolution • Immediate peace • Seizure of land from aristocrats • Soviets (councils of workers a& soldiers) to have all power • Seizure of factories October Revolution “Peace, Bread, Land” Bolsheviks with Lenin in control take power without significant government or army resistance • http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/Kustodiyev_bolshevik.JPG Treaty of Brest-Litovsk • Signed on March 3, 1918; negotiated by Trotsky (Lenin’s army Lieutenant) •armistice on the Eastern Front of the First World War - was very humiliating for Russia •Russia loses 1/3 population, 1/3 agricultural lands & ¾ of its industries (coal & iron ore) •Germany takes control of Finland, Poland, Baltic & Ukraine & demands reparations from Russia http://au.encarta.msn.com/media_1461500646/treaty_of_brest-litovsk.html The Civil War Whites vs Reds • War was unleashed by Treaty of Brest-Litovsk • Bolsheviks (Reds) controlled Petrograd, Moscow and the central Russian Heartland • Whites (& Cossacks) were hostile forces who surrounded the Bolsheviks • Allies supported the Whites with equipment and some troops. Reds were internationally isolated. Civil War 1917-1921 • Reds (Communists) were outnumbered but they did control transportation lines • Reds troops had superior morale & determination • Trotsky was a good organizer & motivator • White army suffered lack of unity (generals were jealous of one another) • Western support of the Whites made them appear to be tools of foreign governments while the Red army was clearly fighting for an independent Russia Reds-Victorious in 1922 Russia became the USSR around 1923 (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) Bolsheviks became known as the Communists Lenin’s Economic Policies War Communism 1917-1920 • Lenin’s plan to stabilize the economy • Peasants were forced to give up all surplus crops to feed the Red Army • Workers were told where to work & often forcibly moved hundreds of kilometers to a new factory • By 1920, 37,000 factories were overtaken by the state • There were food shortages & strikes & riots; very serious dissatisfaction NEP – New Economic Policy • Plan to rejuvenate the economy; intended as a temporary measure • Return to individual economic initiative & profit; Peasants were to hand over a fixed proportion of their crops as tax to the state, but allowed to keep leftovers for self or sale • Firms returned to former owners & incentive schemes were set up to encourage more production • Agricultural output increased rapidly • This threatened communism (ironically) Lenin’s death & Emergence of Stalin • 1924 Lenin died; result of 3 strokes • power struggle ensued • Left wing – Trotsky. Opposed to the NEP, wanted a militant & socialist policy at home to promote revolution abroad – worldwide Communism • Right wing – believed that world revolution did not have to happen right away. They approved of the NEP • Center – believed socialism could be built in one country. Stalin was the leader. This idea (communism in one country) appealed to most Russians Task – Global Forces p.72-75 in paragraph form, answer these two questions 1. In the five years between March 1917 and the end of 1921, the Bolsheviks emerged as the absolute rulers of Russia. Explain the success of the Bolsheviks during this period. 2. “The Provisional Government’s records combined remarkable liberalism with an inability to solve pressing, crucial problems”. What were the “pressing, crucial problems” which led to the downfall of the Provisional Government and the seizing of power by the Bolsheviks?