The 1905 Revolution

The 1905 revolution

War withJapan

In 1904/05 Russia and Japan fought for control of Korea and Manchuria

The Tsar expected a quick victory

Russia suffered defeats on Land and sea. Japan destroyed the Russian Navy

Tsar becomes more unpopular

Russia is humiliated

Government seen to be weak and incompetent

Conditions for the people get worse

price rises food shortages and unemployment

ResultsBackground

The 1905 Revolution

Bloody Sunday

Jan 1905 20,000 unarmed workers march to the Winter Palace

Demands - Better living and working conditions - end to war - a parliament

Soldiers fire on crowd killing 500

Tsar undermined in the eyes of the people

Support grows for revolutionaries

set off a wave of riots, strikes and murders

Events Results

Results of 1905 Revolution The October Manifesto - promise of freedom of speech, right to form political

parties Establish a Duma No new laws without consent of the Duma Broken Promises Voting system was unfair- rich had more influence than

the poor Duma had little influence over the Tsar and new laws First two Dumas were dismissed for demanding reforms Further changes introduced to excluded socialist

Why did the Revolution fail?

Japan released prisoners to aid the Tsar Most of the armed forces stayed loyal to the

Tsar October Manifesto divided the opposition The workers strikes and the peasants

uprisings were not co-ordinated No clear leader for the opposition

Russia 1906 - 1914

The Rule of Stolypin

Aim of stability

1. Repress the revolutionaries

2. Introduce reforms to improve living conditions

1911 - Stolypin assassinated

Results of Stolypin’s actions

1. Great reduction in activities of the revolutionaries

2. Richer peasants (Kulaks) now run farms for profit

3. Kulaks now loyal to Tsar 4. Cities have more food 5. Conditions for some workers improve though

many remain discontented. 1912/14 many strikes 6. Revolutionaries like Lenin learn to adopt new

more tactics

The February Revolution

1917

The fall of the Tsar

The impact of WWI

Military Defeats

– Russian army was big but poorly equipped

– Lost two major battles in 1914

– Caused loss of civilian and military morale

– Tsar now held responsible for the defeats as he had taken charge of the army

Impact of WWI

Criticism of the Tsar

Poor military commander

Poor political leader

Left the Tsarina in charge of the government

Refused to accept advice from the Duma

Criticism if the Tsarina

Inexperienced and incompetent ruler

Under the influence of Rasputin

Unpopular because she was German

Role of Rasputin

Claimed to be a healer. Disliked by many yet held influence over both the Tsar and Tsarina

Economic problems

Over 15 million men joined the army not enough workers in factories and farms caused shortages of food and materials Railway system very poor

– could not supply the troops– could not supply the towns– food prices rose

Impact WWIImpact WWI

Social discontent

Food shortages and price rises caused widespread discontent

The war had seen the population move from the countryside to the cities

The cities soon became overcrowded and people lived in terrible conditions

Impact WWIImpact WWI

Events of the Revolution

Feb 22 20,000 steelworkers on strike Feb 23 Women take to the streets to

demonstrate Feb 25 Now over half of Petrograd is on

strike Feb 26 Tsar orders troops to fire on crowds-

40 killed

Events of the Revolution Feb 26 Tsar closes the Duma Feb 27 Soldiers mutiny and establish the

Petrograd Soviet with workers and sailors Feb 28 Tsar returns to Petrograd March 1 Tsar loses support of army March 2 Tsar abdicates March 3 Grand Duke Michael refuses

throne

Results of February revolution

The Provisional Government

1. A 12 member government led by Kerensky

2. Planned to rule until elections could be held

The Petrograd Soviet

A council of 2,500 deputies.

Determined to share power with the Provisional Government

Dual Government

The October Revolution

The Bolsheviks seize power

Problems facing the Provisional Government Land - Peasants demand land Hunger - The workers in the cities were

demanding food The war - fight on or make peace Revolutionaries - how to stop the spread of

their influence The Army - needed loyalty of the army

Response of the Government

The Government promised land reforms but gave no date

The Government could not guarantee food supplies as the Soviets controlled railways

The government promised political reform in an attempt to stop revolutionaries. They failed to take any positive action.

The troops in Petrograd were now under the control of the Soviet and refused to obey the government

Results

Peasants angry with the Government started to seize land

Workers joined the Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks and other groups gathered

support The Government was losing control to the

Petrograd Soviet

Lenin returns

Lenin return from Switzerland with German assistance and issues his April theses

This called for– Overthrow of Government– End to war– Soviets to form new government – Land given to peasants– State to control factories and banks

All power to theSoviets

PeaceLandBread

Why were the Bolsheviks successful?

Role of Lenin

Organised party

Published Pravda

Avoided capture and organised the coup.

Popular slogans to raise moral and public awareness

Role of Trotsky

Joined Bolsheviks after July Days

Masterminded the events of the coup

Great military leader organised the Red Guard

Provisional Government

Kerensky knew of Trotsky's plan but had lost support of the army and so was helpless

The Bolsheviks take power

The Bolsheviks took control of the government in an almost bloodless coup between Oct 24 and 26 1917.

The first decrees

Peace

Lenin ends the war sends Trotsky to negotiate with Germany. Treaty of Brest-Litvosk

Establishes the CHEKA- the Soviet Secret Police

Factories

All factories put under control of workers committees

Land

Land taken from Church, Nobility etc and given to peasants. Land not taken over by the State (yet)

Press

All non -Bolshevik papers were banned

Brest-Litovsk Treaty On the 3rd December 1917 a conference between a Russian

delegation, headed by Leon Trotsky and German and Austrian representatives began at Brest-Litovsk. Trotsky had the difficult task of trying to end Russian participation in the First World War without having to grant territory to the Central Powers. By employing delaying tactics Trotsky hoped that socialist revolutions would spread from Russia to Germany and Austria-Hungary before he had to sign the treaty. After nine weeks of discussions without agreement, the German Army was ordered to resume its advance into Russia. On 3rd March 1918, with German troops moving towards Petrograd, Vladimir Lenin ordered Trotsky to accept the German terms. The Brest-Litovsk Treaty resulted in the Russians surrendering the Ukraine, Finland, the Baltic provinces, the Caucasus and Poland. Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, and Poland to become independent sovereign states

the treaty took away territory that included a quarter of the Russian Empire's population, a quarter of its industry [4] and nine-tenths of its coal mines

Under the treaty, Russia lost Riga, Lithuania, Livonia, Estonia and some of White Russia. These areas had great economic importance as they were some of the most fertile farming areas in Western Russia. Germany was allowed by the terms of the treaty to exploit these lands to support her military effort in the west.