 1. Who was the ruler of Russia at the beginning of WWI?  2. What were followers of Lenin called?  3. Who helped Lenin get back to Russia? Why?

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 Lenin and his fellow revolutionaries were known as the “Bolsheviks”  Once Lenin arrived in Russia, he received aide from Leon Trotsky, another Marxist revolutionary  They won over the population with promises of “Peace, Land, and Bread!”

 While Lenin was preparing for revolution, the Duma was still in power  They continued Russia’s involvement in World War I, even though most Russians were tired of war  The Duma also failed to pass any type of land reforms for the Russian people  The Duma was not popular with many Russians

 Unhappiness with the Duma set up perfect conditions for the Bolsheviks to start their revolution  “Red Guards” (armed factory workers) joined mutinied sailors to attack the Duma

 The Bolsheviks had overthrown the government in Petrograd  The revolutionaries take the Kremlin in Moscow and made it their HQ  Bolshevik revolutionaries took out the Duma and took power over Russia

 Bolsheviks end private ownership of land and distribute land to peasants  Workers given control over their places of work  Quickly get Russia out of World War I with the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in March 1918  This treaty had Russia give up a huge chunk of land and population  Lenin knew that Russia was still divided and would need all its materials and men for a possible civil war

 Even though the Bolsheviks gained political control over Russia, there were still people who opposed them  This unrest lead to a three year civil war  The two sides of the war were: the Red Army and the White army

 The White army was made up of tsarist imperial officers that were still loyal to the Tsar  Russia’s allies in WWI joined the white army

 The Red Army consisted of the Bolsheviks and their communist followers  They were fighting to preserve a communist Russia and Lenin  The Red Army assassinated the former Tsar, his wife, and all five of their children.

 Creation of Soviet Union. Russia reclaims much of its old Empire and puts them under communist control  Although the communists claimed that workers controlled politics and the means of productions.

 In 1921, Lenin introduces the New Economic Policy (NEP)  The NEP allows some capitalism in the economy  The government controlled foreign trade, big business, and banks  Small businesses worked for private profit

 Lenin dies in 1924–stroke  Power struggle for control of the Communist party breaks out  Two main contenders: Trotsky and Stalin