Revolutions in Russia

Ch. 14.1

How did the Policies of the Czars help to ignite the full-scale revolution?

• Autocratic policies – DictoatorialCzars (Alexander I, Nicolas I & Alexander II) resist change

• Harsh measures – Cracked down on anyone who resisted the Czarist govn’t

• Against (esp. non-Russians e.g. Jews)

• Resistance to change inflamed the masses

How did policies relating to industrialization& economic growth help to

ignite the full-scale revolution?• Grueling working

conditions• Miserably low wages• Child labor• Workers’ low standard of

living• Lack of political power • Enormous gap between

rich & poor• = civil unrest & strife

How did policies relating to industrialization& economic growth help to ignite the full-scale revolution?

Rapid Industrialization• Number of factories doubles

between 1863 and 1900; Russia still lags behind the rest of Western Europe:

- *ALWAYS HAS BEEN A MAJOR PROBLEM FOR RUSSIA

• In late 1800s, new plan boosts steel production; major railway begins

- Foreign investors & raised taxes - Trans-Siberian Railway (1891 –

1916)

How did the policies relating to the Russo-Japanese War help to ignite the

full-scale revolution?• Russia’s losses

sparked unrest at home

• Revealed the Czar’s weakness as a ruler

• Led to revolt in the middle of the war

How did the policies relating to “Bloody Sunday” help to ignite the full-scale

revolution?• Provoked a wave of

strikes & violence across the country

• Forced Czar Nicholas II to promise more freedom

• Create the Duma, Russia’s first parliament.

How did the policies relating to WWI help to ignite the full-scale revolution?

• Revealed weaknesses of czarist rule & military leadership

• Destroyed morale of Russian soldiers who cause a mutiny, deserted and ignored orders

• Price were sky-high

(Put in Notes)

World War I: The Final Blow• Heavy losses in World War I

reveal government’s weakness & people were starving back at home

• Nicholas goes to war front; Czarina Alexandra runs government

• Czarina falls under the influence of Rasputin—mysterious “holy man”

• Nobles fear Rasputin’s influence, murder him

• Army losing effectiveness; people at home hungry and unhappy

Rasputin

World War I: The Final Blow

• Czarina falls under the influence of Rasputin—mysterious “holy man”

• Promises to help the Czarina’s youngest child who was a hemophiliac

• Nobles fear Rasputin’s influence, murder him

How did the policies of The March Revolution (1917) help to ignite the full-

scale revolution?• Forced Czar Nicholas

II to abdicate his throne – A year later the royal family were executed

• Allowed Duma to set up a provisional government

The Bolsheviks gain and hold political control November 1917 Revolution

• Toppled provisional government

• Gave power to the Bolsheviks

The Bolsheviks gain and hold political control Civil war between the Red (Bolshevik)

and White (Menshevik) armies• Caused millions of deaths

from fighting & famine

• Showed that Bolsheviks were able

1) seize power

2) maintain power

15 million Russians died

* They Crushed opposition to Bolshevik rule – they won!

The Bolsheviks gain and hold political control Organization of Russia into republics

• Centralized (in Moscow) power and unified country called the “Soviet Union – USSR; the Union of Soviet states”

• The Bolsheviks rename themselves The Communist Party

Left to right: Trotsky, Lenin, and Kamenev

Karl Marx• Marx’s ideas formed the basis of the

revolutionary government

• Economist

• Disturbed by conditions caused by Industrial Rev

• Author of Das Capital and The Communist Manifesto

• Marx believed that society is divided into two groups-the haves, and the have- nots.

• The have-nots perform backbreaking labor but receive low wages while enduring poor working conditions.

• Marx believed that the Industrial Revolution had made the factory owners the haves and he called them bourgeoisie.

• The have-nots were the factory workers whom he called proletariat.

• He believed that the factory owner bourgeoisie exploited the proletariat workers

V. I. Lenin• Led the Bolshevik revolution

• “Peace, Land & Bread” Lenin’s slogan

• Restored peace and order

• 1st Communist leader of the Soviet Union

• Leader of the Bolshevik party who were Marxists or Communists

Leon Trotsky

• Helped negotiate Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

• Commanded the Red Army during civil war