The Russian Revolution

1. The Russian Revolution

2. Tsar Alexander II • He was a moderate liberal leader. • He attempted to modernize Russia with a series of Great Reforms. • Emancipation of serfs in 1861 • Lightened censorship. • Reformed the legal system • Widened the powers of the local government. • Thought about granting Russia a constitution.

3. Tsar Alexander II continued • Unfortunately, he was assassinated b y radical terrorists in 1881. • The czars that followed him were very conservative. • They abandoned Alexander’s reforms and did their best to undo as many of them as possible.

4. Czar Alexander III • Succeeded his father to the throne and halted all reforms. • He practiced autocracy-a government where he had all the power. • Anyone who questioned the absolute authority of the czar, worshipped outside the Russian Orthodox church, or spoke a language other than Russian was looked upon as dangerous.

5. Czar Alexander III continued • He used harsh measures to wipe out revolutionaries • He imposed strict censorship codes on published materials and written documents, including private letters. • He used secret police to watch both secondary schools and universities. • Teachers had to send detailed reports on every student. • Political prisoners were exiled to Siberia.

6. Alexander III continued • He also oppressed other national groups within Russia. • He made Russian the official language of the empire. • He forbade the use of minority languages in schools. • He made Jews the target of persecution and subjected them to new laws that encouraged prejudice. They were also not allowed to buy land or live around other Russians.

7. Czar Alexander III continued • Pogroms: organized violence against Jews . • Broke out in many parts of Russia. • Police and soldiers stood by and watched Russian citizens loot and destroy Jewish homes, stores and synagogues.

8. Czar Nicholas II • Became Czar in 1894. • He refused to surrender any of his power. • He had trust in the tradition of Russian autocracy. • Russia lagged behind the industrial nations of western Europe.

9. Sergei Witte (Veetyih) • He was the czar’s most capable minister. • He launched a program to move the country forward. • He raised taxes and increased foreign investments which helped finance the buildup of Russian industries. • The steel industry grew so much that around 1900, Russia was the fourth ranking producer of steel.

10. Witte continued • He also pushed for the building of the Trans Siberian Railway. ( The world’s longest-5,800 miles continuous rail line) • Britain and France helped invest in this and it was complete in 1904. • It connected European Russia in the west with Russian ports on the Pacific ocean in the east.

11. Czar Nicholas II • As industrialism grew in Russia (1867-1927), so did the discontent among Russia’s people. • Growth of factories brought new problems such as grueling working conditions, low wages and child labor. • Trade Unions were outlawed. • Exploited laborers who worked in factories and built railway lines, and organized strikes. • Workers were unhappy with their low standard of living and lack of political power. • The gap between the rich and the poor was huge.

12. Czar Nicholas II • Revolutionary movements grew during this time. • Revolutionaries believed that the industrial class of workers would overthrow the czar and followed the views of Karl Marx. • The industrial class would then form “a dictatorship of the proletariat” and the workers would rule. • Proletariat- growing class of factory and Railroad workers, miners and urban wage earners.

13. Marxist Ideas • All great movements in history are the result of an economic class struggle. • The “haves” take advantage of the “have nots”. • The Industrial Revolution intensified the class struggle. • Workers are exploited by employers. • The labor of workers creates profit for employers. • The capitalist system will eventually destroy itself. • The state will wither away as a classless society develops.

14. Czar Nicholas II • In 1903, Russian Marxists split into two groups over revolutionary tactics. • Mensheviks (Whites) - wanted a broad base of popular support for revolution. • Bolsheviks (Reds) - supported a small number of committed revolutionaries willing to sacrifice everything for radical change. Vladimir IlyichUlyanov who adopted the name of Lenin was their major leader

15. Czar Nicholas II • Lenin had an engaging personality and was an excellent organizer. • He was also ruthless • In the early 1900’s, he fled to western Europe to avoid arrest by the czarist regime, all the while maintaining contact with the Bolsheviks. • Between 1904 and 1917, Russia faced a series of crises which showed the czar’s weakness and paved the way for revolution.

16. Russo-Japanese War • In the late 1800’s, Russia and Japan were imperialist powers and competed for control of Korea and Manchuria. • Both nations signed a series of agreements over the territories but Russia broke them. • In retaliation, Japan attacked the Russians at the Port Arthur Manchuria in February of 1904. • Even though Russia outnumbered the Japanese. • Japan defeated them and news of repeated losses caused unrest and revolts in Russia.

17. Bloody Sunday: The Revolution of 1905 • On January 22, 1905, about 200 thousand workers and their families approached the czar’s Winter Palace in St. Petersburg. • They carried a petition asking for better working conditions, more personal freedom and an elected national legislature. • Nicholas was not home but his generals and police chiefs were. • They ordered soldiers to fire on the crowd.

18. Bloody Sunday continued • Between 500 and 1,000 unarmed people were killed. • Russians quickly named the event Bloody Sunday. • Lenin called it a dress rehearsal for the later revolution that would usher in a Communist regime. • Bloody Sunday provoked a wave of strikes and violence that spread across the country.

19. Bloody Sunday continued • Nicolas opposed reform, but in October 1905, he reluctantly promised more freedom. • He approved the creation of the Duma, Russia’s first parliament. It met for the first time in May 1906. • The leaders were moderates who wanted Russia to become a constitutional monarchy similar to Britain. • Hesitant to share his power, Nicholas dissolved the Duma after 10 weeks.

21. World War I • In 1914 Russia entered World War I. • They were unprepared to handle military and economic costs. • They experienced weak generals, poorly equipped troops, over four million killed, wounded or in prison in less than a year. • Defeat followed defeat revealing weakness of Nicholas and the military leaders. • In 1915, Nicholas moved to the front in hopes of rallying his troops.

22. WWI continued • His wife Alexandra ran the government while he was away. • She ignored the czar’s advisers and fell under the influence of Rasputin, a self described holy man. • He claimed to have magical healing powers. • He eased Alexis’ symptoms of hemophilia. • To show her gratitude, Alexandra allowed Rasputin to make key political decisions.

23. World War I continued • He opposed reform measures and obtained powerful positions for his friends. • He spread corruption throughout the royal courts. • In 1916, a group of young aristocrats plotted his assassination because he was taking over the government. • They lured him into a mansion and fed him poison cakes.

24. World War I • He did not die so they shot him several times. • Assuming he was dead, they threw him in the Neva River. • When his body was discovered three days later, doctors confirmed his death as drowning. • His death threw Czarina into shock. • His prediction haunted her, “If I die or you desert me, in six months, you will lose your son and your throne.”

25. World War I continued • Meanwhile, the war was destroying the morale of the Russian troops. • Soldiers mutinied, deserted or ignored orders. • On the home front, food, fuel and supplies were dwindling. • Prices were inflated and people from all classes were wanting change and an end to the war.

27. March Revolution 1917 • Women textile workers in Petrograd led a citywide strike. • Soon after riots flared up over shortages of bread and fuel. • Nearly 200,000 workers swarmed the streets. • At first, soldiers obeyed orders to shoot the rioters but later sided with them. • Soldiers fired at their commanding officers and joined the rebellion.

28. March Revolution continued • This March Revolution forced the czar to abdicate his throne. • A year later, revolutionaries executed Nicholas and his family. • The Romanov rule which spanned over 300 years had ended.

29. Provisional government • Leaders of the Duma established a provisional (temporary) government. • It was headed by Alexander Kerensky. • His decision to stay in World War I cost him the support of both soldiers and civilians. • As the war continued, conditions in Russia worsened. • Angry peasants demanded land, city workers grew more radical, social revolutionaries competing for power formed soviets-local councils consisting of workers, peasants and soldiers.

30. Provisional government • In many cities, soviets had more influence than provisional governments. • Meanwhile, Germans arranged Lenin’s return hoping he and his Bolsheviks would stir more unrest and hurt the war effort. He traveled in a sealed boxcar and arrived April 1917; • It was at this time Lenin and his Bolsheviks recognized their opportunity to seize power. • They soon gained control of the Petrograd and other soviets.

31. The Revolution • November 1917 Bolsheviks made up of armed factory workers stormed the Winter Palace. • In Petrograd they took over government offices and arrested leaders of the provisional government. • The Bolshevik revolution was over in a matter of hours. • Kerensky and his colleagues disappeared almost as quickly as the czarist regime they had replaced.

32. Russia under the rule of Lenin • Lenin ordered all farmland be distributed among the peasants. • He gave control of the factories to the workers. • The government also signed the Treaty of Brest- Litovsk. The treaty stopped the fighting between Russia and Germany. • The humiliating terms of this treaty triggered widespread anger among Russians. • They objected to the Bolsheviks and their politics.

33. 1918-1920 • The Reds and Whites fought a civil war. • Several western nations including the US sent military aid and forces to help the Whites. • Russia’s civil war proved far more deadly than earlier revolutions. • Around 15 million Russians died in the three year struggle and in the famine that followed. • The destruction and loss of life from fighting, hunger and worldwide flu epidemic left Russia in chaos.

34. 1918-1920 • The Reds triumphed and crushed the Whites. • The victory showed that the Bolsheviks were able to seize power and to maintain it. • Yet, after the civil war, Lenin and the Bolsheviks faced overwhelming problems. • Communists formed the Cheka –a secret police who killed ordinary citizens even if they were suspected of going against revolutionaries.

35. The Economy • War and revolution destroyed the Russian economy. • Trade was at a standstill and industrial production dropped and many skilled workers fled to other countries. • Lenin who helped mastermind the Bolshevik revolution shifted his role. • He turned to reviving the economy and restructuring the government.

36. New Economic Policy • In March 0f 1921, Lenin temporarily put aside his plan for a state controlled economy. • Instead he resorted to a small-scale version of capitalism. • The New Economic Policy allowed peasants to sell their surplus crops instead of turning them over to the government. • Individuals could buy and sell goods for profit. • The government controlled major industries, banks and means of communication.

37. The New Economic Policy continued • It did let some small factories, businesses and farms operate under private ownership. • Lenin encouraged foreign investment. • He formed the USSR-Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in honor of the councils that helped launch the Bolshevik Revolution- several self governing republics under the central government. • Each republic was controlled from new capital Moscow. • The Bolsheviks renamed their party the Communist Party. This was a classless society that exists after workers seize power.

38. Communists • Lenin had established a dictatorship of the Communist Party. • The communists created a constitution based on socialist and democratic principles. • The communist party held all the power. • Lenin dies in 1924 and never saw the recovery of Russia. • The USSR recovered by 1928 when the factories and farms were producing as much as before World War I. • The door was opened for a new power struggle for control of the party.