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!!
