The Russian Revolution 1917

Causes of the Russian Revolution                                                                                             

Czar Nicholas II Czar Nicholas II was unable or unwilling to deal with Russia’s problems. The Russian people wanted to end absolute rule.

Gregory Rasputin While the Czar was at the front many Russians feared his influence on Alexandra.

Economic Aspects The peasants wanted the noble’s fertile lands. Factories proved unable to satisfy military and civilian needs. Severe food shortages.

Social Aspects There was widespread discontent in all classes of Russian society.

Military Causes Humiliating defeat by Japan in 1905. WWI - The Russian armies suffered series military defeats. 5,700,000 Russian soldiers were killed or wounded in the war.

The Russo-Japanese War 1905 Both Russia and Japan were competing for control of Korea. Nicholas II declared war on Japan in 1904. The Russians were defeated after a surprise attack on the Russian Navy in Port Arthur. Humiliating defeat for Nicholas II & Russia

The outbreak of Revolution In February 1917 bread riots break out in Petrograd. Factory workers went on strike. The soldiers sent to break the strikes and riots sided with the people.

The Kerensky Government March-November 1917 Czar Nicholas II abdicates in 1917. A Provisional Government under Alexander Kerensky is set up during the March Revolution.

Failure of the Provisional Government The Provisional Government failed because: It continued the war It could not feed the cities. It did not approve land seizures.

The Petrograd Soviet The Petrograd Soviet became a rival to the Kerensky Government, taking on such tasks as regulating food supply and organizing a workers militia.

Revolutionary Parties Mensheviks - Russia's moderate Bolsheviks – Russia’s Radical Marxists Karl Marx predicted that the workers would revolt against the factory in an industrial nation, note that Russia was an Agrarian society and not industrialized.

The Bolshevik Revolution November 1917                          

Vladimir Lenin 1870-1924 Founded the Bolshevik Party. Lenin was a Marxist Ideologist. Lenin was exiled for many years, but returned in April 1917 and led a revolt against the Kerensky Government Vladimir Lenin 1870-1924

Trotsky played a leading role in the October Revolution. In 1918 he organized the Red Army and led it to victory during the civil war against the White forces. Leon Trotsky 1879-1924

Lenin and the Bolsheviks promised the people what they wanted most: Food End Russia’s involvement in WWI Land for peasants. Bread, Land, & Peace

The Bolshevik Revolution November 6, 1917 On the night of November 6, 1917 Lenin and the Bolsheviks strike. The Bolsheviks seize control of the government in Petrograd.

The Bolshevik Revolution On November 7, 1917 the Petrograd Soviet (worker’s council) voted to support Lenin’s overthrow of the Provisional Government. The Bolshevik Revolution

Treaty of Brest Litovsk Russia’s treaty with Germany which takes Russia out of WWI

Civil War 1918-1921 Reds VS Whites (Bolsheviks) Lenin Kerensky Trotsky VS Anti - Stalin Bolsheviks

When the Bolsheviks came to power the imperial family was sent to the Ural Mountains. The Czar and his family were executed on July 16, 1918 in the town of Ekaterinburg. Czar Nicholas II

Results of the Civil War The Red Army under the leadership of Leon Trotsky defeated the White forces.

Results of the Bolshevik Revolution Formation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic in 1922 under the control of Lenin,Trotsky,and Stalin. Formation of a communist government based on the ideas of Karl Marx. The idea of a continued revolution to spread the ideas of Communism.