Failures of Czar Nicholas II: 1. Refused to address grievances of workers & peasants (poverty, hunger, personal freedoms) 2. No legitimate Duma (no Constitutional monarchy) 3. Disastrous war with Japan (proves lack of industry, modernization) 4. Disastrous war with Germany & Austria-Hungary (WWI), leading to massive deaths (replacements drafted), shortages, inflation, starvation 5. During war, left for front, leaving government administration in the hands of his wife and Rasputin, a peasant advisor and family confidant whom most Russians resented and didn’t trust

1)The “March Revolution” of 1917 (aka the ‘February Revolution’): Women workers initiate a city-wide strike in the capital of St. Petersburg (soon to be renamed ‘Petrograd’)… … strike turns into an ongoing, violent protest over shortages of bread and fuel. 2) The fate of Czar Nicholas II and the Romanov dynasty is sealed: In the short-term, the riots signify that the Czar has lost control of the capital, and the country… he is advised by his generals to abdicate. In the long-term, he (and the entire royal family) will be executed by Bolshevik revolutionaries (16 months later).

3) Why the “March Revolution” of 1917 succeeded: Soldiers in the Russian National Army refused orders to shoot upon the protesters & rioters, and, having sympathy for their misery, instead joined the protesters, choosing to turn their guns on their officers, instead.

4) Following the abdication of the Czar, Russia is governed by… A “Provisional [temporary] Government” However, the provisional government lacked legitimacy with the people of Russia (and Marxist revolutionaries, especially!); was made up of middle & upper-class liberal intellectuals. The provisional government, led by Kerensky, made the fatal choice to honor obligations to Russia’s allies in WWI, and thus foolishly continued fighting in the war (failing to recognize that this was a key reason the czar lost his power!).

5) More popular than the Provisional Government, politically: SOVIETS Local worker councils - were being established all across the country, in every major city - also included peasants and soldiers - being comprised of working class Russians, had large numbers with committed membership - membership included many socialist revolutionaries (Mensheviks and Bolsheviks) - council decisions were democratic; “soviets” were basically similar to a large, mixed labor union… provided workers with a direct political voice (though they didn’t all agree on a single plan of governance).

6) Russians welcome Lenin’s return from exile in April, 1917: Germans sneak Lenin back into Russia, anticipating (correctly) that he would create political discord for the Russian government (czar or provisional), and thus undermine the Russian war effort against Germany. The timing is perfect… he is free to stir up revolution in Russia, eliminating the threat of an Eastern Front for Germany.

Russians welcome Lenin’s return from exile in April, 1917: Lenin would also begin to gain control of the Petrograd Soviet, soon expanding to worker soviets coming under control by Bolshevik leaders all across the country. The Bolsheviks began to assemble their own army from the worker soviets, forming “Red Guard” units in all major cities. This ‘Red Army’ would protect all areas under revolutionary control, and further persuade National Army soldiers to switch sides.

7) Lenin's core message: BREAD! LAND! PEACE! … tells the people what they want to hear!

8) Oct 24, 1917 (The “October Revolution”): [Due to different calendars, some resources date as November] Bolshevik Red Guards overthrow the Provisional Government, arrest its leaders, seize government offices with little to no resistance (temporary gov. lasted only 8 months!). Bolsheviks now control the capital and assert themselves as the new “legitimate” government of Russia.

9) The Bolsheviks keep their campaign promises! - Farmland is seized from wealthy landowners and redistributed to the peasants. - Control of factories is handed over to workers (industries are nationalized under soviet control). - Russia officially ends the war with Germany in March, OR - LAND… BREAD… PEACE!

10) Despite their growing popularity, Bolshevik policies are making them unpopular with a large number of Russians: The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (March, 1918) gave away 25% of Russia's valuable European territory (ALL the farmland in Ukraine, resources, mines, factories)... an insult to Russian nationalists! Lenin is unconcerned… WHY?

10) Despite their growing popularity, Bolshevik policies are making them unpopular with a large number of Russians (continued): ALSO… NOT MENTIONED IN TEXT… Lenin permitted working-class voting in a new, re-established Duma for the proletariat… but when the Bolsheviks did NOT win a majority of parliamentary seats, he dissolved it! The Bolsheviks also ruthlessly clamp down on any dissent or disagreement in areas under their control, even establishing a secret police. (remind you of anyone else?)

11) As resentment and opposition toward Bolshevik policies grow, Russia ends up in… CIVIL WAR (1918 – 1922) The Red Army (Bolsheviks) vs. The White Army (everyone else: czarists, republicans, liberals, other socialists & radicals, minority ethnic [non-Russian] nationalists, etc.)

12) Russian civil war political groups: Word bank:BolsheviksCzarists MensheviksNationalistsRepublicans Socialists

13) Red Army advantages over the White Army: → Reds are unified, organized, ruthless, aggressive, determined, and well led (Trotsky) → Whites are a divided collection of multiple Russian political groups, and thus not as unified, organized, or disciplined (united only by their hatred of Bolshevism) → Fear among peasants and workers that if the White Army won, there would be a return of bourgeoisie power (and widespread poverty) → Resentment of foreign armies assisting White Army (insulting to Russian nationalism)… characterized as “western imperialists” by the Red Army, to rally support against the Whites

14) The Western [Allied] nations get involved in Russia’s civil war: Come to the aid of the WHITE ARMY (including U.S. troops of the Polar Bear Expedition)… WHY? In the short-term, U.S., Britain, & France wish to maintain pressure on Germany’s Eastern Front in WWI… White Army forces would continue fight against Germany, Red Army didn’t. In the long-term, the U.S. & West want a democratic & capitalistic government running Russia... Bolsheviks are neither. Effect: Russian support for Bolsheviks INCREASES; White Army loses popular support for seeking assistance of “foreign invaders”.

15) Russia’s participation in World War I ends in late 1917; by 1918, their civil war was well underway (Red Army vs. White Army). How do the two wars compare, in terms of devastation? Russian civil war ( ) is FAR more deadly & destructive: - ALL fighting was on Russian territory, resulting in more physical destruction in Russia. - More than 14 million dead! … more than FOUR TIMES as many Russians died in their civil war than died fighting in World War I!

16) Economic problems from the Russian civil war: 1. No trade, no foreign investment 2. Industrial production dropped (factories destroyed, labor force reduced) 3. Lack of skilled workers, in particular (fled the country, killed, imprisoned, or forced into subsistence farming) War had their economy in ruins… and the Bolsheviks better FIX IT fast, or they’ll begin to lose popular support the same way the Czar did!

17) Lenin's post-civil war economic recovery plan: New Economic Policy - Peasants could sell surplus production for individual profit in the free market - Allowed some private ownership of businesses and factories (though the Bolshevik government will maintain nationalized control of major industries) - Encouraged foreign investment Ironic?! Lenin calls for stimulative economic policies that apply CAPITALIST principles (i.e., the very thing the Bolsheviks condemned!)… … but only temporarily, until the economy recovers (Lenin’s successor will cancel this plan).

Q.O.D.: What symbols did the Communists adopt for their country’s new national flag? WHY? Today’s Goal: Be able to identify and explain the early ECONOMIC and POLITICAL policies they initiated immediately thereafter.

18) Lenin is still concerned about the nationalist goals of non-Russian ethnic groups under Russian (and Bolshevik) control. His solution: Russia is reorganized into 15 “self-governing republics” under the central government. Translation: non-Russian Bolsheviks carry out the directives of Russian Bolsheviks. 19) As part of this political reorganization… - Bolshevik Party is rebranded the COMMUNIST PARTY. - Russia  Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) a.k.a. the “Soviet Union” - AND capital moves from Petrograd to Moscow

20) Lenin’s realpolitik vs. Marxist theory: Marxism = a “dictatorship of the proletariat” (the working class collectively runs society) Leninism = a dictatorship of the Communist Party (small group of party leaders) Lenin wanted to impose his vision without interference from competing political parties (whom he labeled as counter-revolutionary “enemies of the state”).

MARXISM = COMMUNISM BOLSHEVISM = LENINISM = COMMUNISM COMMUNISM = SOCIALISM + DICTATORSHIP BUT… AS AN ECONOMIC SYSTEM, SOCIALISM CAN (AND DOES) ALSO EXIST IN MULTI-PARTY, LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC REPUBLICS… …modern socialist parties have representation in numerous democratic nations, and support common lower & middle class interests by limiting the power of the upper class (i.e through tax policy)

Bolshevism, Communism, Marxism, Socialism: MARXIST THEORY STEP 1: proletariat (workers) seize power from bourgeoisie (rich) STEP 2: Communist leadership TEMPORARILY runs government “on behalf” of the workers, while preparing them to self-govern. STEP 3: worker soviets eventually control government & economy, democratically, w/ shared prosperity (socialism!) STEP 4: after a global revolution, workers (proletariat) collectively own & run economy & society… a “stateless” and “classless” world of worker collectives (no nations!) COMMUNISM IN REALITY: Stops at STEP #2 (only operates as an autocracy) BOLSHEVISM VS. MENSHEVISM: The Bolsheviks never get past step 2… The Mensheviks wanted to SKIP step 2 (didn’t trust Bolshevik leaders to ever hand power back to the proletariat)

21) After Lenin's death in 1924, party leaders TROTSKY and STALIN compete for control... … Stalin wins, due to his power to manipulate & promote his own supporters within the party (including the secret police)... selected those loyal to him, gains control of the party as a whole... becomes dictator.

BONUS #1: Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ?!?!?! - a forced “union” - soviets were democratic, Bolsheviks were autocratic - Socialists for workers, Bolsheviks for party leaders - Republics can only “vote” for one party! BONUS #2: “dictatorship of the proletariat” = oxymoron? Inconsistency: Dictatorship = autocratic power of ONE Proletariat = democratic power of MANY (the working class!) Bolshevik party leadership asserted power for itself, under the cover of “serving” all workers (serving its own power interests, in reality)