THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION 1917

1. THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION1917

2. Causes of the Revolution • Autocratic government gave no political outlet to the people • Conservatism & incompetence of Tsar Nicholas II • Embarrassing defeat in Russo-Japanese War (1904-05) • Failure of 1905 Revolution • Stillborn Duma • Growth violent political opposition among factory workers

3. Causes of the Revolution • WW1 revealed the incompetence of the aristocrats and military • Average soldier had little enthusiasm for the war • Government was unable to properly supply the army or provide decent hospitals • Russia suffered massive casualties leading to high rates of mutiny & desertion

4. Causes of the Revolution • Tsarina Alexandra was extremely conservative • Guided by “holy man” Rasputin • During the war Alexandra and Rasputin basically ran the government • Scandals involving Rasputin discredited the entire monarchy • Rasputin is assassinated in 1916

5. March Revolution • Mismanaged wartime economy led to rampant inflation and food shortages • Cities flooded with refugees • March 8-11, 1917: increasingly large demonstrations in Petrograd demanding bread and democracy • Factory workers went on strike and joined • Army was ordered to fire on the crowds but refused

6. Provisional Government • March 12: Duma established the Provisional Government • March 15: Tsar Nicholas II abdicated • Provisional Government headed by Prince Lvov and Alexander Kerensky • Decided to carry on the war • Favored gradual political and economic reforms and eventual land redistribution • Little actual control of the country

7. Petrograd Soviet • Soviet: council of workers or workers • Sprang up in army units, factories, villages and major cities • Dominated by socialists and demanded radical change • Petrograd Soviet • Claimed to be the legitimate govt • Urged Russians not to fight, work or pay taxes to the Provisional Government

8. Vladimir Lenin • Political terrorist • Devoted to Marxism • Helped found Bolshevik Party in 1902 • Believed that a revolutionary vanguard must bring about revolution • Dedicated to violent revolution • Exiled to Switzerland before the war • Germany allowed him safe passage to return to Russia in April 1917

9. Lenin Steps Into the Vacuum • March: PG releases all political prisoners • April: Lenin arrives in Petrograd • Preached a message of • “Peace, Land, Bread” • “All Power to the Soviets” • “Worker Control of Production” • Bolsheviks rapidly recruited workers and soldiers

10. November Revolution • Workers frustrated with the slow pace of reform • Army tired of fighting  desertions skyrocket • Attempted army coup leads PG to arm the soviets to stop the coup • Bolshevik membership grows 5 x in one year • November 6-7: Bolshevik forces seize the Winter Palace in Petrograd and the PG flees • Bolsheviks quickly move to consolidate control over the civil service, transportation and communications • Army mostly joins the Bolshevik revolution

11. November 1917 to March 1918 • Duma is disbanded and replaced with a Council of People’s Commissars • Private property abolished and divided among peasants • Most factories entrusted to soviets • Political police called the Cheka established • Red Army created under command of Leon Trotsky • Bolshevik Party renamed Communist Party • Trotsky signs Treaty of Brest Litovsk to end the war

12. Civil War • Enemies of the Bolsheviks begin to organize a civil war against the new regime • Opponents of the Bolsheviks are called the “Whites” • Old aristocracy • Liberals • Moderate socialists • 8 foreign countries intervene on the side of the Whites including France, Japan, Britain & US • Minorities such as the Ukrainians, Poles, Finns and Georgians also fought against the Reds • Lenin’s forces are called the “Reds”

13. Civil War • 1918 • Kolchak invades from Siberia • Balts and Finns attack from the west • Ukrainians attack from the south • Allies invade from the north • Royal family is murdered • 1919 • Deniken invades from the south • Poles attack from the west • 1920 • Reds defeat Deniken and retake Ukraine • 1921 • Reds reconquer Georgia, Armenia & Azerbaijan

14. How did the Reds win? • Reds controlled central Russia • Whites were extremely politically divided • Peasants feared that the Whites would take away their land • Trotsky imposed strict military discipline on the Red Army • Cheka terrorized any and all opponents of the regime • Foreign intervention aroused Russian patriotism • Communists made very effective use of propaganda • Communists established firm control over the economy (war communism)

15. New Economic Policy (NEP) • By 1921 the economy was devastated and Western countries wouldn’t trade with Russia • Forcing peasants to turn over their grain had led to unrest, hoarding and famine • 1921: NEP allowed peasants to sell grain in a free market and keep profits • Small businesses could be privately owned • Grain production skyrocketed, prices came down, and famine ended • 1922: Russia renamed “Union of Soviet Socialist Republics”

16. Changes to Russian society • Govt tried to end the domination of ________________ • Made it easier to _______________ • Encouraged all women to get an education and enter the work force • Established free ______________ • Legalized ___________________ • Govt encouraged educational and recreational clubs • Govt tried to improve _____________ • Campaigns to eradicate epidemic diseases • Many doctors were trained and hospitals built • ____________________ rose rapidly Say NO to the oppression and vacuity of household work!

17. Changes to Russian society • Equal rights were given to all ethnic and __________ groups • Govt promoted ____________ • Almost all churches and monasteries were closed and property confiscated • Priests and monks were publically humiliated and/or sent to prison camps • All schools were secularized • _______________________ sporadically prohibited