Russian Revolution

1. Russian Revolution

2. Russian Government Before Revolution • Monarchy: The Czar (Tsar) • Until 1905 the Tsar's powers were unlimited. • No constitution • No political party system to check the Tsar's power • A strong secret police which terrorized the people.

3. Royal BackgroundNicholas II • Created the first secret police in Russia, brutal leader, response to revolt of army officers in 1825

4. Czar Alexander II • Abolition of serfdom • 1867 - he sold Alaska to the United States • Killed by the Revolutionary Group: The People’s Will

5. Czar Alexander III • Industrial Revolution • Harsh against revolutionaries and other liberal movements. • Desired nationalistic movement – Russian language, pogroms

6. Czar Nicholas II (1894)Last Czar of Russia • Harsh and weak ruler • Economy was bankrupt: • Russo-Japanese War • Entry into WWI became very unpopular.

7. Czar Nicholas II and Family

8. Russo-Japanese War (1904) Dispute over Manchuria with Japan Shook national confidence in their progress and Czar

9. Bloody Sunday (1905)

10. January 22, 1905 • 200,000 workers and families stormed Winter Palace in St. Petersburg – better working conditions • Guards opened fire and killed or wounded 1,000

11. Russia and World War I • Russia declares war on Austria-Hungary • War becomes unpopular • Rationing leads to starvation • Nicholas II leaves St. Petersburg to war front

12. Czar Nicholas II and his son, Alexander

13. Rasputin • Empress Alexandra welcomed Rasputin into court to treat son’s hemophilia • Czar did not trust • Believed to have divine healing powers

14. Rasputin with Admirers

15. March Revolution (1917) • 1917- protests spread through St. Petersburg • Royal palace is taken over • Czar abdicates throne • Provisional government (Duma) takes control • Provisional government unpopular after decision to stay in WWI

16. October (Bolshevik) Revolution-1917 • Lenin believed: • Power should be in soviet hands • Power passed from bourgeois to proletariat • Modernize country • Lead by VI Lenin “Peace, Land, and Bread” • 1918 March The Bolsheviks accept the peace of Brest‑Litovsk, ending WWI with Germany.

17. Civil War 1919-1920 • 1919 White Armies (royal, pro-democrats, socialists, Menshevik troops) • Attack the Reds (Bolsheviks) from all directions. • 1920- Reds defeat Whites despite support for White Army from other countries including U.S. • 14 million deaths – war, famine flu

18. Rule of Lenin 1920-1924 • Economic Reforms included the New Economic Plan (NEP) -moderate mix of capitalism and socialism • Political Reforms -Bolshevik party became Communist Party -Russia becomes the United Soviet Socialist Republics • Empowered women • Universal health care/education

19. 1924 – Stalin “Man of Steel” • Lenin Dies following multiple strokes • Leon Trotsky vs. Joseph Stalin • Lenin did not trust Stalin’s ambition, gruff manner

20. Characteristics of a Totalitarian State • Dictatorship -Absolute Authority • Dynamic Leader -Vision for the nation • State Control Over All Sectors of Society • Business, Family Life, Labor, youth groups, housing, religion, education, the arts • State Control Over the Individual • Obedience • Denies basic liberties • Organized Violence • Uses force to crush opposition

21. Stalin’s Totalitarian State • State Control of the Economy • 5 year plan, collective farms • Police Terror • Great Purge, crush opposition • Religious Persecution • Control of the individual • Propaganda (socialist realism) • Molding peoples minds • Education • Controlled by the government

23. Stalin’s 5-Year Plans • Set impossibly high quotas to increase steel, coal, oil and electricity – most fell short • Collective farming – 90% of peasants lost land – many sabotaged crops • Stalin blamed Kulaks – “wealthy” peasant farmers • Great Famine of 1932-1933

24. Holodomor 1932-1933 • Ukrainian Genocide – cheap way to starve Ukrainians instead of killing them • 2.2-7 million died