Russian RevolutionMarch and Bolshevik Revolutions

March 1917

• Female factory workers went on strike• Shortages of Food and Fuel• Soldiers at first shot rioters then joined them• “Down with the autocracy!”• “Down with the war!”

Czar Steps Down

• March Revolution forced the czar to abdicate or surrender the throne– A year later the Romanov family were executed

• A Provisional Government was created– Alexander Kerensky headed the new government– Did NOT end war

Lenin Returns to Russia

• Lenin had fled earlier from Russia to Germany to avoid arrest by the Czar

• Lenin and Bolsheviks wanted to end WWI

• Germany allowed Lenin to travel to Russia

Bolsheviks Seize Power• Lenin and Bolsheviks

gained control of many major Russian cities

• Lenin’s slogan: “Peace, Land, and Bread!”

• November 1917 factory workers called Bolshevik Red Guards overthrew the government

Bolsheviks in Power

• Farmland was redistributed to peasants• Control of factories was given to the workers• March 1918 War with Germany ended – Russia gave a lot of territory to the Germans

Civil War in Russia

• Russians were angered at terms of peace treaty and the murder of the Czar and his family

• Whites vs. Reds• 1918-1920 Civil War• Bolsheviks won the civil

war and established order

Lenin Provides Order

• New Economic Policy (NEP)– Small scaled capitalism– Government controlled

businesses but allowed for some private ownership

• Political Reforms– Created the USSR to control

nationalism across Russia– Created Communist Party