the russian revolution causes 2010
DESCRIPTION
Causes of the Russian RevolutionTRANSCRIPT
The Russian Revolution
How it unfolds…
Social Causes
• Most of Russia’s population was poor peasants
• There was almost no middle class, so most business owners were foreign
• Proletariat (workers) had low wages and poor working conditions
• Reformers like Lenin and the Bolsheviks encouraged Communist Revolution
Political Causes
• Russia was ruled by absolute monarchs called Czars
• Czars limited rights and freedoms; used censorship and secret police to keep order
• Czars were unable to solve Russia’s problems
Economic Causes
• Most Russians were poor• Russia’s industry was mostly owned by
foreign businessmen• General lack of money; economic
stagnation• Food and fuel shortages
Military Causes
• 1904- Russo-Japanese War: Fought over control of land in China. Russia’s loss = 1st time a Western power looses to a non-Western country. People angry and embarrassed
• 1905 Revolution: Palace guards kill unarmed protestors
• 1914-1918: World War I: It’s an expensive blood bath, people demand peace
The March Revolution: 1917
• Begins as a workers strike in Petrograd demanding bread
• Czar Nicholas II orders army to disperse the protestors
• Army refuses to fire on people• Czar Nicholas realizes he is powerless
and resigns• Provisional government established, and
Soviets rule locally
November Revolution
• World War I still going, no problems have been solved.
• Lenin and Bolsheviks promise “Peace, Land, and Bread”
• Bolsheviks overthrow the Provisional Government
• New Communist government established with Lenin in Charge
The Russian Civil War 1918-1921
• Communists (Red Army) fight royalists (White Army)
• Western powers, fearing communism, support the Whites
• Both sides commit atrocities• Lenin uses War Communism: putting all of
the nations economy directly into fighting the war
• Red army wins, but Russia is in ruins
The Soviet Union (USSR)
• After 1921 Lenin rules Russia• New Economic Policy (mixes some
capitalism into the communist economy) helps rebuild the Russian economy
• Lenin creates the Soviet Union, then dies in 1924
• Stalin becomes the new leader of the USSR
Stalin’s Russia
• Stalin wanted to create a truly communist state
• Stalin took the land away and created collectives, government owned farms
• When the peasants resisted, Stalin punished them
Stalin’s Five Year Plans
• Stalin wanted to create a truly communist state
• Stalin took the land away and created collectives, government owned farms
• When the peasants resisted, Stalin punished them
• Millions die
Life in a Totalitarian State
• Stalin ruled as a tyrant, controlling all aspects of his government
• He used secret police to spy on the people• Art and music were controlled and became
propaganda• Dissidents were punished, usually by
being exiled to labor camps in Siberia
Life in a Totalitarian State
Cult of Personality
• Stalin controlled art, music and culture as a way of glorifying himself
• He took over churches and turned them into museums of communism
• He was always portrayed as the savior of the people
• Those who disagreed didn’t last long!
The Great Purge
• Stalin’s Reign of Terror• He tried to get rid of people who posed a
threat• This included kulaks, Jews, intellectuals,
military officers, and so on• By the end, the USSR was weak and
nearly lost WWII to the Germans!
Into the Future…
• Stalin ruled as a ruthless dictator through WWII and into the 1950s
• He allied with the USA and Britain against the Nazis in WWII
• After WWII, the USSR entered into the Cold War with the USA and the other Western democracies