“A lie told often enough becomes the

truth.”
-Vladimir Lenin

If you change this sentence around "Mr owl

ate my metal worm" it says the same thing.
The Russian Revolution(s)
 The Revolution of 1905
 Traces its roots back to the Napoleonic
Wars.

 When Russia officers were fighting abroad,

they became impressed by the western
European social and political reforms.

 When the officers returned to Russia,

many joined secret societies to discuss the
need for economic reform, constitutional
government, and for freeing of serfs.
 The Revolution of 1905
Czar Nicholas I resisted reform
and change, and it would take the
Russian defeat in the Crimean
War for change to happen.

In 1855, Nicholas I’s son,

Alexander II, undertook the task
of saving the autocracy and
preventing a revolution.
Nicholas I and Alexander II
 The Revolution of 1905
 Alexander II:

 Emancipated the peasants.

 Created a new representative local
government: zemstvos.
 Limited the use and authority of the secret
police.
 Eased restrictions on the press.

 Modernized the judicial system.

 Expanded the educational system.

 Reorganized the Russian Army.

 The Revolution of 1905
 Unfortunately,the reforms of
Alexander II satisfied few Russians:

 Landowners had lost both land and

power.
 The peasantry had made few economic
gains.
 Conservatives feared weakening of the
autocracy.
 Reformers pushed for greater changes.
 The Revolution of 1905
 In response to the growing discontent with
the Russian government, radical reformist
sects such as anarchists, nihilists, and
populists formed.

 Alexander II was eventually assassinated by a

revolutionist in 1881.

 When Alex. II’s son, Alexander III, assumed

the throne, he vowed to crush the
revolutionaries and reinstate the old
autocracy.
Alexander III
 He did not allow a constitution
to be created.
 He reversed several of his
father’s reforms including:
 Abolishing autonomy in the
schools.
 Restored censorship of the
press.
 Extended the powers of the
secret police.
 He also created the policy of
Russification: intolerance and
persecution of non-Russian
peoples, especially the Jews.
 The Revolution of 1905
 When Alexander III died in 1894, his son
Nicholas II rose to the throne and declared
his intentions of ruling as an autocrat.

 However,Nicholas lacked the strong will

necessary to make absolute rule effective.

 UnderNicholas, dissatisfaction grew and

soon Marxist revolutionary groups began
to develop.
 The Marxists
 Marxism:The working class, not the
peasants would lead the revolution.

 Mensheviks: Believed that Russia needed

to develop into an industrial state with a
sizable working class before a socialist
revolution could occur.

 Bolsheviks: Believed that a small party of

professional revolutionaries could use
force to bring about a socialist society in
the near future.
The Russo-Japanese War, 1904
 Withthe defeat of Russia in a war with
Japan over Manchuria, opposition to the
Czar grew.

 Urbanworkers, middle-class thinkers,

and peasants.

 Thewar put immense strain on the

Russian economy; it raised food prices,
but not wages.
 Bloody Sunday,
January 22, 1905
 Bloody Sunday,
January 22, 1905
 200,000 workers peacefully marched to
the Czar’s palace in Petrograd (St.
Petersburg) to present a petition for
reform.

 The palace guards, by order of Nicholas

II, fired onto the crowd killing hundreds.

 Thisaction set off a wave of political

protests.
 Bloody Sunday,
January 22, 1905
 The Revolution of 1905
 AfterBloody Sunday, the first soviets
(workers’ councils) were created in order
to voice their grievances.

 InOctober 1905, workers sized control of

the major cities during a strike.

 Nicholas II created the Duma, or

legislature, to help appease to strikers,
however, the Duma was only going to
serve as an advisory council rather than a
legislative body.
 The October Manifesto
 When the protestors learned of the intended
role of the Duma, nationwide strikes continued.

 Nicholas was forced to comply to the demands

of the people:
 Granted civil rights to citizens.

 Duma has the power to make laws.

 In theory, Russia became a constitutional

monarchy, in practice, Nicholas kept his
powers. By the time WWI broke out, people
were ready for Revolution again.
 1917 Revolution:
The Causes
 Mass Discontent: Low morale among
the soldiers and the people.
 Dissident Elite: Elites siding with
peasants in political opposition to the
Czar.
 Unifying Motivations: Anti-war, Anti-
Czar, and Socialism.
 Severe Political Crisis: Ineffective
government.
 Permissive World Context: WWI
 The Czar’s Government
 TheRussian government was an
autocracy: government ruled by one
person with unlimited authority.

 Czar
Nicholas II and his wife Alexandra
became unpopular due to:

 Czar was politically incompetent.

 The Czar and his wife’s reliance on the
mystic healer Grigori Rasputin.
 Food and fuel shortages; inflation.
Nicholas II and Alexandra
Grigori Rasputin
 Believed to be a psychic and a
faith healer.

 He is accredited to having been

the personal healer to Nicholas’s
son, Alexis, who had
hemophilia.

 His position as a healer put him

in a position of influence with
the royal family that many
came to distrust.

 He was later assassinated in

Dec. 1916 in an effort to save
the royal family’s power.
 “Without a revolutionary theory
there cannot be a revolutionary
movement.”
- Vladimir Lenin

The King of Hearts is the only king

without a moustache.
 The February Revolution
 March 8, 1917: 100,000s men and women
marched on Petrograd (St. Petersburg).

 They were demanding food, an end to the war,

and shouting “Down with the Czar!”

 March 11-12: Soldiers ordered to put down the

protest refused to fire on the crowd; many join
the protestors.

 March 16: the Czar abdicates and ends the 300

year long Romanov dynasty.
 The February Revolution

 During the Revolution, there were few lives

lost.
 Took place without Revolutionary intellectuals
(exiled abroad).
 Revolutions Breaks Out: Soldiers and
Citizens Unite
 The Czar Abdicates
 Nicholas Abdicates the Throne
 The Czar Abdicates
 When Nicholas II abdicated on March 16,
1917, Russia declared itself a republic.

 The Czar’s Parliament, the Duma, chose

members to set up a new provisional
government under the Czar’s brother Prince
Mikhail, a moderate reformist.

 Nicholas's brother refused to become Czar

unless that was the decision of an elected
government; he wanted the people to want
him as their leader.
 The Czar Abdicates
 The provisional government’s
responsibility was to govern Russia
until elections could be held for a
National Constituent Assembly.

 Theprovisional government
eventually came under the
leadership of the moderate socialist
Alexander Kerensky.
Alexander Kerensky
 April 22, 1881-June 11,
1970.

 Vice Chairman of the

Petrograd Soviet: a
representative body of the
city’s workers.

 Second Prime Minister of

the Provisional
Government until Vladimir
Lenin was elected by the
All-Russian Congress of
Soviets following the
October Revolution.
 Problems with the
Provisional Government
 The members reflected the social
class composition of the Duma: the
wealthy upper-class.

 Theprovisional government
represented the upper-class interests
and was viewed with suspicion from
the peasants and the lower-classes of
the Petrograd Soviet.
 Problems with the
Provisional Government
The provisional government
decided to continue the war with
Germany.

Patriotism, hatred of Germany,

and trying to preserve future
economic and technical aid from
its allies.
 Problems with the
Provisional Government
Delayed economic reforms,
redistribution of land to the
peasants, and postponed the
elections for the National
Constituent Assembly.

Feared mass desertion of troops if

redistributed land before the war
ended.
 Germany and Lenin
 Germany recognized that if Russia left the war,
they would be able to focus on the Western
Front (ending the two-front war).

 In an effort to knock out the Russians, they

decided to instigate another “Revolution” by
helping Vladimir Lenin return to Russia.

 The German leaders predicted that the chances

of Russia leaving the conflict would be much
greater if the charismatic Lenin, long an
opponent of the war, returned to Petrograd.
Who Was Lennon?
Who Was Lenin?
 Who Was Lenin?
 1870-1924.

 He came from a middle-class

background.
 His older brother, Alexander, was hanged
due to his involvement in an attempt to
assassinate Nicholas II’s father, Alex. III.
 In 1895 he was arrested and exiled for
revolutionary activities.
 During his exile, he kept a close eye on
the political situation of Russia and would
later return with Germany’s help.
 Lenin Wants Romanov Family Dead
Who was Leon Trotsky?
 He was an influential
politician in the early
days of the Soviet
Union.
 People's Commissar for
Foreign Affairs.
 The founder and
commander of the Red
Army and People's
Commissar of War.
 The Return of Lenin: The October
(Bolshevik) Revolution, 1917.
 Trotsky,Lenin, and the other
Bolshevik leaders called for a
Second Revolution in which the
workers and peasants would
seized power from the upper-
class.

 “Endthe war;” “All land to the

peasants;” and “All power to the
Soviets.”
 The Return of Lenin: The October
(Bolshevik) Revolution, 1917.
 Inearly July, the provisional government
launched an unsuccessful offensive against
Germany; Germany responded with a
successful counterattack.

 Deserting troops fled to Petrograd.

 The Bolsheviks tried to launch an
unsuccessful rebellion.
 Trotsky and other Bolshevik leaders were
jailed.
 Lenin went into hiding.
 The Return of Lenin: The October
(Bolshevik) Revolution, 1917.
 In September, conservative general Lavr
Kornilov staged an unsuccessful coup.

 The provisional government released Trotsky

and other Bolshevik leaders to lead the B’s in
assisting the pro. gov. in stopping the coup.

 As a result, the B’s were elected to majority

numbers in the Petrograd and Moscow
Soviets; Lenin decides now is the time for
Revolution.
 The Return of Lenin: The October
(Bolshevik) Revolution, 1917.

 November 7 (Oct. 25 on Julian

Calendar), Trotsky leads soldiers,
sailors, and armed workers to the
Petrograd Soviet.

 Theyoccupied transportation and

communication centers, gov. buildings,
and the Czars winter palace.
 The Return of Lenin: The October
(Bolshevik) Revolution, 1917.
 As a result of the Revolution:

 Kerensky fled.

 The pro. gov. collapsed.

 The B’s took over Moscow and other large cities.

 The B’s instructed the peasants to seize estate

and church land, abolished private ownership of
industry, and ended the war with Germany.
 Lenin and the Bolsheviks
 The Return of Lenin: The October
(Bolshevik) Revolution, 1917.

 As a result of the Revolution:

 Elections were held for the new government.

 TheB’s were in the majority, but in some

areas they had to form a coalition with
Social Revolutionaries.

 Tensions between the parties would soon

arise.
The Russian Civil War, 1918:
The Reds vs. the Whites
 The Russian Civil War, 1918:
The Reds vs. the Whites
 TheOctober Revolutionary success did
not extend across the entirety of the vast
country of Russia.

 On the periphery of European Russia,

various forces gathered, some to
overthrow the revolution and some to
establish different versions of
revolutionary society than that proposed
by the B’s.
 The Russian Civil War, 1918:
The Reds vs. the Whites
 Former Czarist generals, officers, and
soldiers organized into the White Army.

 The B leaders organized the Red Army:

1st composed of volunteers, then a draft
was instated.

 The Red Army was composed of 5

million men and was under the
leadership of Leon Trotsky.
 The Russian Civil War, 1918:
The Reds vs. the Whites
 The Capitalist countries of U.S., Britain, and
Japan sent military assistance to anti-B
armies (the White Army promised to reenter
the war).

 The White Army’s aid from the West

backfired: it increased Russian nationalism,
support for communism, and distrust of the
West.

 By 1923, the Red Army had defeated all the

White Armies and other anti-B forces.
Trotsky, Lenin, and the Red
Army in Petrograd, 1921.
Russian Civil War Map
 Life Under Lenin
 Policy
of “war communism:” direct
control of industry and peasants were
forced to send food to the cities.

 1918: Communist soldiers imprisoned

and killed the royal family.

 TheCheka, secret police, arrested

counter-revolutionaries.
 Life Under Lenin
 Severerestrictions were placed upon
the Russian Orthodox Church.

 After
1923, the Communists had
complete control over the country.

 With Lenin’s death in 1924, Trotsky and

Stalin went into a power struggle with
Stalin eventually seizing power and
exiling (and later assassinating) Trotsky
in 1929.
Communist Party!!!