Russian Revolution

Russian Revolution

The Beginning of Sorrows • Russia was a troubled country • Deplorable working conditions • Perpetuation of serfdom • Lagging industrialization compared with rest of Europe • Inexperienced Tsar (Цар) = king • Overbearing ministers • Large country lacking infrastructure • Spans two continents • 6,000 miles across with inadequate connections

Russian Empire 1866

Tsar Nicholas II • Most influential advisor from his youth was • antidemocratic/constitution • taught to hate freedom of speech & press • Revolutionaries were hunted down • Father died unexpectedly age 45 • Nicholas was thrust into Tsarhood age 26 without adequate formal training 1896 • Last of Romanov dynasty 1868-1918

Khodynka Tragedy • Rumor spread the food ran out, precipitated a stampede • Over 1,000 trampled to death • Thousands injured • Interpreted by mystics as bad omen • Event marred the coronation of the new Tsar 1896 • Intended as a banquent celebration open to the people, est up to 500,000 did attend

Organizing the Revolution • Russia’s growing industrialization without improvement in working conditions led to growing unrest • Organized local political councils = Soviets of workers • Large organization RussianSocial Democratic Labor Party formed in 1903 in exile • Divided into two disagreeing factions: • Bolsheviks, lead by Lenin • Mensheviks

Russo-Japanese War 1905 Disaster • 6,000 miles away was Port Arthur • Overconfident, Tsar committed Russian forces in attempt to claim Pacific port from Japanese • Expected by everyone to win Russia was soundly defeated because of inability to reinforce the remote area

Russo-Japanese War • Embarrassing defeat of Russian forces by fledgling Japanese military • Demolished popularity of the young Tsar • Rendered the Russian economy in shambles • Lead to discontent that preceded Revolution of 1905

Bloody Sunday Jan 9, 1905 • Lead by socialist priest Father Gapon, 120,000 peaceful workers converged on Winter Palace with a petition. Carrying pictures of Tsar and singing, crowd fully expected to meet him.

Bloody Sunday • Against his mother & sisters advice to face the crowd, Nicolas listened to his ministers • Sent the army instead • Shots fired • Probably 1,000 killed or wounded • Far more damaging, the Russian people no longer trusted the Tsar

Revolution of 1905 • In wake of Bloody Sunday, a rash of mass strikes spread across Russia and its federated neighbors • Every oppressed group gathered in protests: ethnic minorities, workers, farm laborers, students, doctors, lawyers, engineers • There were ethnic uprisings between Armenians and Tartars resulting in massacres in Caucus region. Strikes went on for months • After the assassination of his uncle Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich in Feb, Tsar reluctantly tried to make concessions • In October, Nicholas II issued October Manifesto • Formed Dumaa type of parliamentary representation

Revolution of 1905 • Morale of all fleet sailors was low after the defeat by Japanese • Discipline was harsh • Group of sailors dedicated to revolution called Tsentralka plotted a secret mass mutiny • Mutiny on battleship Potemkin occurred prematurely • Captain and 7 of 18 officers killed • Remainder placed under arrest

Revolution of 1905 • Potemkin’s crew sailed to Odessa in an attempt to support worker’s uprising, Lenin sent representatives to help • Tsarist troops routed the uprising slaughtering hundreds • Crew fled to ship, entire Black Sea Fleet was ordered to stop them • As the ship escaped to Romania, the crews on other ships refused to fire upon them

October 28, 1987 Ivan Beshoff, Last Survivor Of Mutiny on the Potemkin AP DUBLIN, Oct. 27— Ivan Beshoff, the last survivor of the 1905 mutiny on the Russian battleship Potemkin, a harbinger of the Russian Revolution, died Sunday, his family said today. His birth certificate said he was 102 years old, but he contended he was 104. Born near the Black Sea port of Odessa, Mr. Beshoff abandoned chemistry studies and joined the navy, serving in the engine room of the Potemkin. The mutiny over poor food was the first mass expression of discontent in Czar Nicholas II's military and later came to be seen as a prelude to the 1917 Russian Revolution. The mutineers killed the captain and several officers. The entire Black Sea fleet was ordered to suppress the rebellion, but crews refused to fire on the battleship, and it sailed for 11 days before surrendering. Mr. Beshoff had said he fled through Turkey to London, where he met Lenin. He settled in Ireland in 1913, saying he had tired of the sea. Mr. Beshoff worked for a Soviet oil distribution company and was twice arrested as a Soviet spy, but became a beloved figure in the Irish community. After World War II, he opened a fish and chips shop in Dublin. His sons opened branches elsewhere in the city.

Revolution 1905 • Most significant event occurred in Moscow in Dec • Dec 5 General Strike began • Dec 7 government troops crack down • Bitter street fighting followed • Artillery used to break up demonstrations and shell workers districts • Thousand people killed, city in ruins • Dec 18 Bolsheviks surrender

Revolution 1905 • By April1906, the Revolution was ended • 14,000 executed, 75,000 imprisoned • Tsarist forces had stabilized the country • 1905 was a dress rehearsal, the revolution of 1917 would be conclude what had been started • Unlike that of 1917, the was no central organization behind the Revolution of 1905

Terrorist Activity 1906-1909 • Socialist Revolutionary Party & Bolsheviks carried out campaign of terrorism • Killed 7,293 people including 2,640 assassinations of government officials • Wounded 8,061 • Dmitry Sipyagin – Minister of Interior. Killed April 2, 1902 in Saint Petersburg. • Nikolai Bobrikov – Governor-General of Finland. Killed June 17, 1904 in Helsinki. • Vyacheslav von Plehve – Minister of Interior. Killed July 28, 1904 in Saint Petersburg. • ElielSoisalon-Soininen – Chancellor of Justice of Finland. Killed February 6, 1905 in Helsinki. • Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia – Killed February 17, 1905 in Moscow. • Victor Sakharov – former war minister. Killed November 22, 1905. • Admiral Chukhnin – the Black Sea Fleet commander. Killed July 11, 1906. • Aleksey Ignatyev – Killed 9 December 1906.

Stalin, Lenin & Trotsky

Lenin • Born Vladimir IlyichUlyanov, pseudonym Nikolai Lenin • Father was practicing Christian, an official in Tsarist regime who labored to improve the lot of the people by establishing schools • Lenin’s natural arrogance kept in check by father • Two tragedies profoundly affected him • At age 16, his father died unexpectedly • While at University of St Petersburg, his older brother Aleksandr was arrested for involvement in revolutionary plot to kill the Tsar. He was hung May 7, 1887 • Transformed Lenin into political radical • He vowed to make them pay

Lenin at Kazan University • Assisted by Prof. Kerensky young Lenin was able to get in to Kazan University • As law student he applied himself to study Marx & other revolutionaries • Eloquent orator and superb organizer Lenin welcomed into Marxist student society • Involved in riot, Lenin was expelled, then kept under surveillance by police

St Petersburg and Back • Finished law here; 1892 awarded first class law diploma, distinguished in Latin & Greek, fluent in German • Practiced law in Samara a few years • 1892 famine struck farms surrounding Samara and peasants fled to the city • Lenin refused to take part in humanitarian relief efforts: • “...famine today performs a progressive function...Psychologically this talk of feeding the starving is nothing but an expression of the saccharin sweet sentimentality so characteristic of our intelligentsia.” • 1895 founded League of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class in city of St Petersburg • Arrested Dec 1895 for plotting against the Tsar • In 1897 exiled to Siberia

Siberia • There he met Georgy Plekhanov, who introduced Marxism to Russia • Met Nadyezhda Krupskaya who help him organize a worldwide network of revolutionaries • She became his wife

Russian Social Democratic Party • Lenin came to prominence in 1903 when he joined RSDP when it held second congress in exile in London • RSDP, a Marxist organization, held its first congress but was disbanded when all nine of its delegates were arrested in 1898 (This was what Plekhanov organized) • Split into 2 irreconcilable factions • Bolsheviks (“majority”) • Mensheviks (minority”) • Bolsheviks were led by Lenin

Russian Social Democratic Party • Lenin’s position on democratic centralism* caused split • Bolshevik (Lenin) members limited to professional revolutionaries • Mensheviks believed in more open membership • Bolsheviks separated in 1912 as the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP) which changed to Communist Party after 1917 *Policy to be determined by free discussion, vote, with the Party subscribing unquestioningly to majority vote

Revolutionary Interlude • In Nov 1905, Lenin returned to Russia for the Revolution of 1905, but his exact role is unclear • After Tsarist defeat of the Revolution, he was forced back into exile in 1907. • During ten years in exile, Lenin traveled Europe organizing world revolution • He developed Leninism which justified the Dictatorship of the Proletariat

Leninism • Based on failures of 1905 Revolution, Lenin made changes • Lenin adapted Marxism to the Russian agrarian society: • Reversed Marx order to: politics over economics • Allowing for revolution to be lead by vanguard of professional revolutionaries • Establish Dictatorship of Proletariat • Education of Proletatiatby the vanguard party • Decentralized democracy practiced via Soviets (councils) where workers exercise political power

Dictatorship of the Proletariat • “. . . the dictatorship of the proletariat — i.e. the organisation of the vanguard of the oppressed as the ruling class for the purpose of crushing the oppressors. . . . An immense expansion of democracy, which for the first time becomes democracy for the poor, democracy for the people, and not democracy for the rich: . . . and suppression by force, i.e. exclusion from democracy, for the exploiters and oppressors of the people — this is the change which democracy undergoes during the transitionfrom capitalism to communism.”

Leon Trotsky • Born Lev Davidovich Bronstein of Jewish heritage, his family was not religious • He became a revolutionary at age 18 and was arrested, imprisoned age 19 for 2 years. • During which he studied and identified with the RSDP • Subsequently exiled to Siberia from 1900-1902 • Escaped in 1902 and fled to London to join party and first met Lenin and Plekhanov. He would always be more moderate than Lenin. • At the age of 23, expected to side with Bolsheviks but in 1903 during second Congress, he supported the Mensheviks • Soon parted company with Mensheviks and remained with the RSDP as “non-factional” • During Bloody Sunday, secretly returned to St Petersburg where he helped both the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks and tried to influence the latter to a more radical position.

St Petersburg Soviet • Soviets(Russ. For council) = organizations that represent workers political demands • Mensheviks established non-party St Petersburg Soviet under Khrustalyov-Nosar, a compromise figure • Consisted of a mix of Mensheviks, Bolsheviks, others • Trotsky returned from exile 1905 to be vice-chairman • After Nosar arrested, Trotsky took a more aggressive approach • Soviet was very popular among worker’s despite Bolshevik opposition • Surrounded by Tsarist troops, Soviet disbanded in Dec 1905 when leaders (incl Trotsky) arrested • While in court, Trotsky, delivered some of the best speeches in his life and solidified his reputation • Convicted, he was deported and remained in exile until 1917

Trotsky and RSDP in Exile • Trotsky joined the RSDP in London and tried to influence a more moderate course • Lenin wanted to break and form pure revolutionary Bolshevik party • Markov wanted to keep party open • Long interlude between revolutions led to heightened tension within RSDP between competing factions • Most serious disagreement between Trotsky/Mensheviks and Lenin/Bolsheviks was over “expropriations” • Robbing banks & companies to acquire funds banned by RSDP but continued by Bolsheviks • Trotsky newspaper “Pravda” (truth) was copied by Bolsheviks added further insult to injury

Split of the RSDP in 1912 • Lenin & Bolsheviks expelled their opponents from the party and renamed it Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP) • Trotsky unified remaining factions in Vienna in August 1912 (“August bloc”) • His attempts to reunify with Bolsheviks failed until 1914

Trotskyism • While in exile Trotsky developed a form of Marxism distinct from that of Lenin and Stalin • Agreed w/ Lenin re: establishment of vanguard party (dedicated revolutionaries) • Opposed “one country” view of Stalin in favor of proletarian internationalism • Worker class must act globally to defeat capitalism • Reject nationalism in favor of world communism • Advocated dictatorship of proletariat based on democratic principles

Iosep Stalin (1878-1953) • The only true proletariat among the leadership of the RSDP • Born in Georgia as IosebBesarionisdzheJughashvili • Attended orthodox seminary but expelled 1899 • Unclear reasons • After reading Lenin’s writing, joined RSDP 1903 • Full time revolutionary and outlaw • Bolshevik bad guy: organizing paramilitaries, inciting strikes, spreading propaganda and raising money through bank robberies, ransom from kidnappings and extortion Stalin

World War I • The Tsar entered World War I against Germany • In “defense of our brethren Orthodox Slavs in Serbia” • In hopes of reviving patriotism and nationalism • Ottoman Empire joined in alliance with Germany, cutting off most Russian ports in Black Sea • By mid 1915, the war was demoralizing, dissention once again was building • Strikes mounted in 1916, the Tsar attempted to close the Duma • In early 1917, a general strike in St Petersburg erupted into street fighting within the capitol city

February Revolution (1917) • Beginning in Feb 1917, the Duma refused to disband, and the army sided with the striking workers • With the arming of the workers, the police were overcome and also changed sides • Finally the ministers met with Nicholas II and persuaded him to abdicate the throne on March 2, 1917. • A Provisional Government was established to control Russian State apparatus under Alexander Kerensky but fell into competition with the socialists St Peterburg Soviet

February Revolution (1917) • The revolution caught Lenin (in exile) by surprise, he immediately sought to return • He took a gamble and went to Germany for help. • As he surmised, Germany, wanting to get Russia out of the war, knew that further revolution would derail the Russian war effort, AGREED • They hasted Lenin in a specially sealed military train across Germany and thru Sweden to the Russian border

February Revolution (1917) • Lenin denounced Provisional Govt • Stalin & Trotsky were in exile: Stalin in Siberia and Trotsky in New York City when Feb Revolution occurred • Hasted back to St Petersburg • Coalition formed of : • Bolsheviks led by Lenin • Left Socialist Revolutionaries (“Esers” from СР) • St Petersburg Soviet (workers council) led by Trotsky

Provisional Government • The uneasy arrangement of “Dual Authority” between the Provisional Government and the St Petersburg Soviet was destabilizing • Alexander Kerensky (son of Prof at Kazan Univ) promised freedom of speech, elections and release of political prisoners but decided to maintain involvement in WW I. • He faced insurmountable challenges: • Growing unrest with unpopular involvement in WW I • Lenin openly criticized the govt and circulated anti-govt propaganda • People’s expectations of the govt to relieve starvation, loss of lands and jobs were no met in time

Bolsheviks Organize • By mid 1917, the leaders of the Bolsheviks had assembled in St Petersburg. • Trotsky returned to influence the St Petersburg Soviet, the most powerful organization in the city • Realizing the need for unity, Trotsky decided to bring the Soviet over to Bolshevik position • By October it was Bolshevik-controlled • Formed Red Army from workers • Created Military Revolutionary Committee within Soviet • Lenin led Bolshevik RSDLP = the vanguard

The October Revolution • The Bolsheviks formed worker militias under their control called the Red Guards • The Red Guards were led by the capable Leon Trotsky • Bolsheviks came under the leadership of Lenin • Their cry was “Peace, Land and Bread!” • Bolsheviks allied with the St Petersburg Soviet, on signal from the cruiser Aurora, stormed the Winter Palace & overthrew the Provisional Government on October 25, 1917, • (one month before free elections were to be held.) • Conspiracy was strong; Bolsheviks encountered little to no opposition, almost no casualties • Red Guards secured the surrounding countryside

Aftermath • October 26th, 1917 congress of all Russian Soviets met • Bolsheviks had upper hand in agenda • Mensheviks and SRs walked out in protest • Congress approves handing over of state power to Bolsheviks • Decree of Peace = immediate withdrawal of Russia from World War I (Treaty of Brest-Litovsk) • Decree of Land = abolition of all private property, redistribution of estates among peasants • Formation of all Bolshevik government, Lenin as chairman

Trotsky’s Rising Star • Successfully defeated counter-attack by troops loyal to provisional govt brought back from German front in November 1917 • “All practical work in connection with the organization of the uprising was done under the immediate direction of Comrade Trotsky, the President of the Petrograd Soviet. It can be stated with certainty that the Party is indebted primarily and principally to Comrade Trotsky for the rapid going over of the garrison to the side of the Soviet and the efficient manner in which the work of the Military Revolutionary Committee was organized.” • By the end of 1917, Trotsky was second only to Lenin as the leader of new government

Almost a Failure • National elections were already scheduled on November 25, 1917 and rather than provoke public ire, the Bolsheviks allowed elections to precede • Contrary to their hopes, Bolsheviks received vote of no confidence • SRs were given a clear victory (almost twice as many votes as Bolsheviks) • Jan 5th 1918, Bolsheviks • by force dismissed the Constituent Assembly and • subsequently banned all opposing political parties • Russian Civil War 1918-1920 • Red Army vs “Whites” (coalition of monarchists, conservatives, liberals and anti-Bolshevik socialists) • White Army backed by England and America

Russian Civil War

Russian Civil War • Bolshevik actions against national elections resulted in 2-5 years of fierce fighting: • European ended 1920 • Asian carried on 1923 • Bolsheviks formed Cheka State security force (KGB later) and also Red Army • Because of Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Western Allies were against Soviets & directly supported White Army

Russian Civil War • Bolsheviks eventually were victorious and White Army was desperately evacuated by the British Royal Navy in 1920 • Between WWI and Russian Civil War 20 million Russians were killed but more (15 million) died in the Civil War than in WWI (5 million) • In 1922 there were 7 million Russian orphans “street children” • Cheka carried out 250,000 executions of “enemies of the people” • For their involvement in White Army “decossackization” expelled 300,000-500,000 Cossacks

Russian Civil War • By 1921, cultivated land had shrunk to 62 percent of the pre-war area, and the harvest yield was only about 37 percent of normal. The number of horses declined from 35 million in 1916 to 24 million in 1920, and cattle from 58 to 37 million. The exchange rate with the U.S. dollar declined from two rubles in 1914 to 1,200 in 1920 • Bolsheviks were firmly in control but not by popularity • Lenin instituted New Economic Plan (NEP) in order to provide relief and assuage public unrest • Allowed some private ventures and capitalist investments to fund industrial and development projects

The Third International • International Communist Organization (“Comintern”) • Formed in Moscow 1919 • Russian becomes the official language of Communism • Bolsheviks, led by Lenin, feared that they would be crushed by capitalism of the world unless revolution swept all of Europe • Things were ripe as Europe still reeling from WWI

Russian Revolution