The Russian Revolution

1917 - 1921

Fall of the Tsar (Czar?)• The Duma

– Russia’s Congress

• Criticizes the war effort in 1916

• Tsar Nicholas II closes it down

Rasputin

– Grigori Rasputin

• Mystic monk

• Claimed to be able to heal Alexi’s hemophilia

• Influenced royal couple

–Nicholas goes to the front, leaving wife and Rasputin in charge

• December 29, 1916

–Relatives invite Rasputin to dinner

Creepy?

While at Dinner

• Relatives poison and shoot Rasputin

– HE DOESN’T DIE

– Throw his body in the Neva River

Problems Continue

• Food Shortages

– Where’s my Beef Stroganoff?

• Fuel Shortages

• Military told to fire at protestors

– won’t fire and join protestors

Tsar Steps Aside

• March 15, 1917

–Tsar Nicholas II ends the Romanov dynasty and steps down

• Romanovs had been in power for 300 years

Provisional Government

• Liberals call for elections– Mostly members of the Duma– Saw the need for support from the Petrograd

Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies• Socialistic groups

– Mensheviks – moderates– Bolsheviks – radicals

• Run by Alexander Kerensky– Member of the Petrograd Soviet

Kerensky

Provisional Government (con’t)

• Does not pull out of WWI– Desertion grows, economy drops– Could not make changes that the Soviets

wanted – BIG PROBLEM

Lenin to the rescue

Lenin’s Tomb

Vladimir Ilyich (Lenin)

• Lenin’s Big Brother, Alexander Ilyich, tries to kill Tsar Alexander Romanov (Father of Nicholas II)

– Alexander fails and is sentenced to hanging by the Tsar

• Lenin vows to lead revolution against the Romanovs

• Lenin exiled to prison in Siberia (1895)

– Lenin goes to Germany after his release

• Germany sends Lenin back to Russia after Nicholas abdicates the throne (Why?)– To distract the Tsar from his WWI war efforts

Lenin’s Work

• Promised “Peace, Land, Bread” – Get Russia out of WWI– Peasants would get land– Everyone gets enough to eat

• “ALL POWER TO THE SOVIETS”– Soviets (committees) should be the nation’s only

government– No other political parties allowed

Karl Marx

• German philosopher who wrote Communist Manifesto with Englishman Richard Engels– Detailed theory of Historical Materialism

• All history was a fight between the bourgeise (haves) and the proletariat (have nots)

– Proletariat – working peasant class– Bourgeisie – wealthy noble landowner

• Bourgeisie would never willingly give wealth and power to the Proletariat

• Proletariate would have to revolt to overthrow the Bourgeisie• Largely influenced Lenin and Trotsky

The Revolution

• Summer 1917– Gov’t issues warrants

for Bolshevik leaders

• Fall 1917– Bolsheviks control

Petrograd Soviet through elections

• November 1917– Storm communication,

train, and electric hubs– Turn the guns of the

Aurora on the Tsarist palace

– Provisional Government surrnders

What Happened Next

• Elections held– Social Democrats - 420 seats– Bolsheviks - 225 seats

• Bolsheviks dissolve gov’t the next day– Seize power under Lenin “Winning”

• Signs Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany– Russia gives Baltic provinces, Ukraine, and Poland to

Germany

Civil War

• White (Mensheviks)– Opposed Bolsheviks– Could be

• Tsarists – want to restore the Romanovs

• Liberals – want a capitalistic democracy

• Moderate Socialists – want democracy and state run economy

• Red– Bolsheviks

• Begin to call themselves communist

• Choose red as color of revolution

Mensheviks get help

• Allies want to get rid of Bolsheviks– Bring Russia back into the war with Germany– Give soldiers and money to Mensheviks

Why the Reds Win

• Leon Trotsky– Reorganized the army

• Restored discipline• Fostered loyalty

– Taught soldiers how to read an write• Lack of unity on White side

– Different groups didn’t trust one another• Lenin used terror

– Cheka – secret police arrests anyone who is “enemy of the revolution”

• Leon Trotsky– Returns from NYC for

Russ. Rev.– Right Hand Man of Lenin

• Lenin was not anti-semitic

– Exiled to Siberia by Tsar• Escapes, moves to

Mexico• Friends with Frida Kahlo• Stalin’s assassins kills

him with an ice pick

End of the Romanov Dynasty

• July 1918

– Lenin orders soldiers to kill the Tsar and his family. Why?

• Family was exiled in Siberia

– Told they were going to get a family portrait

– Taken to basement of their home and shot

– Ended 300 year rule of Romanovs

– Anastasia – Still Alive?????

The Royal Family

Lenin and Religion

• Lenin sees religion as against the revolution– Places sever restrictions on the Russian

Orthodox Church

Ending the Civil War

• Many socialist that support Lenin flee Russia

• Communists control entire country by 1921

• White armies surrender in 1921 due to disorganization, lack of equipment, etc.

• LENIN and the Bolsheviks WINS

Next Up

•STALIN!!