The Russian Revolutions: March 1917 November 1917 1928-1939.
Russian Revolution 1905-1917
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Transcript of Russian Revolution 1905-1917
Russian Revolution 1905-1917
Economic Weaknesses
• Backwards• top 1% controls
majority of Land & wealth
• bottom 85% = peasants• Landless &
extremely poor
Typical Noble Estate
Russian Peasants
Economic Weaknesses
• Govt. Modernization Program:• Raised taxes• Borrowed money• Hired foreigners to
run factories• Workers paid low
wages• extremely poor
conditions
Women Textile Workers
Extensive Foreign Investments &
Influence
Building the Trans-Siberian RR[Economic benefits only in a few
regions.]
Political Weaknesses
• Autocratic ruler• Ignorant to Russia’s
problems• No personal
freedoms• Govt. opposition not
allowed• Political divisions
Tsar Nicholas II
Social Weaknesses
• Citizens = internally divided:• Only ½ population =
Russian• Desires:
• Minorities—independence
• Workers—better conditions
• Peasants—land reform
Bloody Sunday January 9, 1905
• Peaceful demonstration of workers
• Demands: • end to war• formation of a constituent
assembly• Troops open fire on
workers
Father Gapon
Bloody Sunday
• Result:• widespread riots &
strikes (spring-summer)
• Radicals organize workers into ‘Soviets’
• October—nation paralyzed by 10 day strike
• Tsar agrees to make changes
Demonstration at the winter palace in St. Petersburg
Bloody SundayJanuary 22, 1905
The Czar’s Winter Palace in St. Petersburg
October Manifesto• Russia’s first
constitution• Establishes the
‘Duma’-First Parlament
• Grants some civil liberties
• Results:– Divides opposition
• October Manifesto in practice:• Had little power• Tsar could veto
decisions & dismiss members at will
Duma
World War I
•Tsar enters war with hope of unifying nation
• Army suffers defeat after defeat
• Morale decreases• Desertions increase
World War I
• 1916 Nicholas II takes over Army– Weaknesses of govt.
further exposed– War increases
suffering & discontent– Revolution is near
Rasputin• Nicholas II leaves country
to command army• Tsarina in charge of gov’t• Heavily influence by
Rasputin, ‘the Holy Man’ – given power to make
governmental decisions• Dislike by nobility—
murdered– Scandals surrounding Rasputin served to
discredit the monarchy
The Collapse of the Imperial Government
• Rasputin assassinated in December of 1916
• Refusal to receive assistance of the Russian Middle Class
• Complete mismanagement of the wartime economy
March Revolution 1917
• Strikes & bread riots break out in Petrograd. • Soldiers, sent to
restore order• Ordered to shoot
rioters, instead, shoot the officers and join rioters
March Revolution 1917
• Abdication of Tsar Nicholas II– Orders the dismissal
of the Duma– Instead the Duma
forms a Provisional government.
– Next day - March 15, 1917 abdicates
Petrograd Soviet 1917
• Competes for power• Extremely well
organized & supported
• Increases power w/failures of provisional govt.
• Lenin returns from exile
April – October 1917
• April 23• Lenin calls for power to
the soviets• Rallies behind the
slogan: “Peace, Land, Bread”
Lenin’s Speech
April – October 1917
• July 3-5, increased support from sailors, workers, & peasants.
• Lenin—October 24• Call to power speech• Demands action now
October Revolution 1917
• Bolsheviks launch successful coup• Establish the ‘Cheka’• Political opposition
banned• Confiscate church
property• Treaty of Brest-litovsk
March 1918• Assassination of Tsar &
his family July 16, 1918
Civil War War Communism (1917-
1921)• Lenin: “Dictatorship
of the Proletariat”• Bolsheviks focus on
maintaining power• Red Army (Bolsheviks)
led by Trotsky vs. the Whites (socialists, nationalist, liberals)
War Communism (1917-1921)
• Nationalize industry, banks, & forbid strikes
• All men under 50 drafted
• Result: – famine, worker
revolts, political divisions
– Leaves Russia w/out industry, transportation, & trade.
NEP
Goal: increase food productionIntroduce incentives: Small factories, businesses, & farms allowed to return
to private ownership Large factories, banks, railways, & communication kept
under state controlResult: huge successSoviet Union (USSR) established 1922
NewEconomic
Policy1921
Section 2 – Totalitarianism
Totalitarianism• Totalitarianism• Stalin builds a totalitarian state.
– Stalin’s dream– Great Depression
• Other totalitarian governments emerged.– Germany – Hitler– Italy – Mussolini– China - Mao Zedong– North Korea - Kim Il Sung
• Result of Totalitarianism
Similar characteristics of all totalitarian States
• Dictatorship and One-Party Rule• Dynamic Leader• Ideology• State Control Over All Sectors of Society• State Control Over the Individual• Dependence on Modern Technology• Organized Violence
An Industrial Revolution• 1st and 2nd Five-Year Plan
– set impossibly high quotas• Government controlled the
worker's life.• made impressive gains.• agricultural nation → industrial
nation
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1928 1933 1938
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An Agricultural Revolution
• 1st and 2nd Five-Year Plan• Collective farms• Resistances of peasants• Kulaks• development
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LivestockWheat
Police Terror• Used terror and violence to stop the opposition• No privacy• GREAT PURGE: campaign of terror. • Eliminate whoever got in Stalin’s way• 1939; ended the great purge • Historians said that Stalin is responsible for all deaths
Indoctrination and Propaganda• Indoctrination: Instruction in the government’s beliefs. • Propaganda: biased or incomplete information used to sway
people to accept certain beliefs or actions. • ART was used for Propaganda • Socialist realism: Artistic style that praised Soviet life and communist values.
Censorship• Stalin wouldn’t tolerate individual creativity that threatened
the conformity and obedience required of citizens in a totalitarian state.
• Controlled ALL medias• No privacy• Even children were supposed to tell the government about
what they heard from their family.
Religious Persecution• Ideals of communism• The Russian Orthodox church was the main target of
persecution. • Other religions also suffered. • Destroyed religion
Soviet Women
• Equal rights • Under 5year plans, they
were forced to join the labor force.
• Educational opportunities.• Medicine was popular. • 1950: There were 75% of
women Soviet doctors• Job, child, and housework. • Motherhood was a
patriotic duty.
Education• Controlled all education.• College professors and students who went against the
communist party lost their jobs or faced imprisonment.• Needed many skilled workers.