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.