Russian Revolution PowerPoint presentation (.pdf)

The Russian
Revolution
(lesson 5)
1905-1924

Table of Contents

Long Term Causes of Revolution
• Czarist Rule
• Peasant Unrest
• Problems of Urban Workers
• Diversity and Nationalism

Pre-revolutionary Russia
• Russia still ruled by Czars
• Romanov dynasty still in
power
• Czar Nicholas II, the last
Russian Czar, tried to
industrialize and modernize
Russia
• Czar Nicholas resisted
political reform and tried to
suppress the ideals of selfrule
and democracy (French
Rev)
• Used harsh tactics and secret
police to keep power
http://www.gwpda.org/memoir/FrAmbRus/images/pal1.jpg

Unhappiness
Who is unhappy with the rule of Nicholas II
- Working class: terrible living and working conditions
and low wages, unions are outlawed. Socialists spread
ideas about reform among these workers.
- Minorities- ethnic and religious minorities
discriminated against
- Middle-class liberals- want self-rule
- Peasants- rigid class system. no ownership of land
and high taxes. Angry and fearful at industrialization
because of fear of change

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_-0f2OLadvVk/R5agafDOc4I/AAAAAAAAC4c/fFyX94moId8/s320/bloody-sunday.jpg
Revolution of 1905
• Defeat in war with
Japan in 1904
resulted in low spirits
• This combined with
peasant unhappiness
leads to “Bloody
Sunday”
• In January 1905,
peaceful protesters
marched in St.
Petersburg to
influence Czar for
reform
• Czar Nicholas calls
in soldiers and 1,000
deaths result
• Destroyed people’s
faith/trust in czar

Change
• After Bloody Sunday, violence breaks out
throughout Russia
• Czar Nicholas promises some reforms
• Freedom of Speech
- Establishment of Duma, elected national legislature
Duma had limited powers and did little to relieve
peasant and worker discontent. It was dissolved
when it criticized the Czar

World War I
• Russia member of Allied powers
• Russia not ready for industrialized war
• Russian soldiers not adequately prepared
• Russian people lacked confidence in Russia’s
military strength
• Russia suffered many defeats at the hands of the
Germans on the Eastern Front

The March Revolution
• Military defeats and food shortages culminated in a
revolution in March 1917
• Rioters in St. Petersburg demanded bread
• Soldiers sympathized and refused to fire on them
• With no control of his troops and facing anarchy in his
country, Czar Nicholas abdicated (gave up) his throne
in March 1917
• Provisional (temporary) government set up, promised
to write constitution
• Unpopular decision to remain in WWI

In Slow Motion
• Provision government slow to bring change
• Revolutionary socialists set up soviets, councils
of workers and soldiers, in Russian cities
• Worked within the system that was set up
• Taken over by a radical socialist party

The Rise of Lenin
• Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky headed a
revolutionary socialist party, the Bolsheviks
• Based on ideas of Karl Marx
• An elite group of reformers, the Bolsheviks,
would guide the revolution in Russia
• Promises of “Peace, Land and Bread”
• Promised an end to Russia in WWI
• Promised land reform and an end to food
shortages

Petrograd, 4 July 1917. Street demonstration on Nevsky Prospekt
just after troops of the Provisional Government have opened fire with machine guns
http://ibhistoryreview.wikispaces.com/file/view/38a2d72a.jpg/30560514/38a2d72a.jpg

• Nov. 1917, the
Bolsheviks led
soldiers, sailors and
factory workers.
Overthrew
provisional
government
• Bolsheviks
Communists
• Distributed land to
peasants and gave
workers control of
factories
• http://ssl.schoolportal.co.uk/GroupDownloadAttachment.aspGroupId=671
273&AttachmentID=591253
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Lenin in Charge
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• Withdraws from WWI
• Treaty of Brest Litovsk – costly, but knew that needed to
make peace with Germany at any price so could deal with
enemies at home
• http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/10/22/article-1222209-0021FC9000000258-784_468x266_popup.jpg

Civil War
• 1918-1921 Lenin’s Red Army vs. the Whites (those
loyal to czar)
• Nationalist groups rebelled. Independence for Estonia,
Latvia, Lithuania and Poland
• Brutal tactics: Whites slaughtered communists.
• Communists used secret police to root out enemies
• Thousands executed by Communists who were
SUSPECTED of opposing revolution
• Executed Czar Nicholas and his entire family, the
Romanovs

http://www.texemarrs.com/images/romanov_family_apr11.jpg

The Romanov Girls
http://www.alef.net/ALEFPeople/AnastasiaRomanov/RomanovGirls.Gif

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• GB, France and the US sent troops to help the Whites
• Foreign intervention stirred Russian nationalism
• Inspired the Red Army, and they defeated enemies by 1921.
• http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100102221203/cybernations/images/a/a3/Russian_civil_war_1918-
1920_white_army.jpg

One Party System
• Lenin’s new government did not have a
constitution and an elected legislature
• Communist Party, not the people, had power
• Only legal party
• Only its members could run for office
• Enforced will through military and secret police

The Economy
• Bolshevik leaders during the civil war had taken
over banks, mines, factories and RR’s.
• Led to economic disaster!
• New Economic Policy (NEP) adopted by Lenin,
1921
• Government owned banks, large industry, foreign
trade
• Allowed for private ownership of businesses
• Allowed economy to recover, peasants flourished

1922 – Lenin and Communists
had gained control over much
of Russian empire
Created the Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics (USSR).
(Soviet Union)
Russia controlled the other
states
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/Flag
_of_the_Soviet_Union.png

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http://novaonline.nvcc.edu/eli/evans/Photos/Russia/Maps/Map2000.jpg

Stalin and Communist Dictatorship
• Lenin dies, 1924
• Joseph Stalin, new
Communist leader
• He won the power struggle to
lead the party edging out Leon
Trotsky
• Rules via terror and brutality
• Great Purge – 1930s –
accused thousands of crimes
against the government.
Fearful other Communists
plotting against him
• Executions and prison camps
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http://www.onthisdeity.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Stalin1.jpg

Stalin’s Paranoia
• “It’s necessary for those feared by the many to
fear the many” –Publicius Syrus
• Purge: to remove (usually with force or by
killing) opponents or people considered
undesirable from a state or organization
• Many high officials in the communist party
were killed, ie Kamenev and Zinoviev
• Journey Into The Whirlwind by Eugenia Ginzburg

Key Terms
• One party Rule: you are free to vote for anyone
in the communist party, began with Lenin
• Totalitarianism: Government that exercises
absolute and centralized control over all aspects
of life (i.e. dictators)
• Russification: Stalin continued Czars hatred
forced assassination of ethnic minorites. Now
assimilation includes becoming a communist.
Russians hold most key positions
• Stalin was not even Russian, He was from Georgia!

The Economy Under Stalin
• Command Economy: Synonym for
communism, the gov’t takes control/commands
the economy
• Five Year Plans: Stalin ends Lenin’s NEP and
goes to command economic plan to set
industrial, agricultural, and social goals
• Heavy Industry, the creation of towns such as
Magnitagorsk Behind the Urals by John Scott
• Consumer goods decreased

Collectivization/Agriculture
• Land is pooled into large farms and people work
and live together
• All receive the same amount of benefits
• Often production quotas are forced
• People running the farms often do not know the
first thing about agriculture, Execution by Hunger
by Miron Dolot
• Kulak: “a rich peasant” a peasant who gained
economic status from Lenin’s NEP era, and was
targeted by Stalin