 Russian Revolution is culmination of problems  19 th century czars were cruel and oppressive ◦ Caused social unrest ◦ Army officials revolt in 1825 ◦ Czar Alexander II assassinated in 1881 by revolutionaries

 Alexander III becomes czar in 1881 ◦ Halted all reforms ◦ Liked autocracy  Form of government where one person has total authority

 Believed opposition was dangerous: ◦ Anyone who questioned absolute authority of czar ◦ Anyone who worshiped outside Russian Orthodox Church ◦ Anyone who spoke language other than Russian

 Alexander III wipes out revolutionaries ◦ Strict censorship codes ◦ Secret police force  Watched secondary schools and universities  Teachers sent reports on every student ◦ Political prisoners sent to Siberia

 Alexander III tries to establish uniform culture ◦ Oppressed other groups ◦ Russian made official language  Forbade use of minority languages in schools

◦ Targeted Jews with pogroms  Russian citizens looted and destroyed homes, stores, and synagogues  Police and soldiers stood by and watched

 Rapid industrialization changes Russia ◦ # of factories doubles from 1863 to 1900  Russia still lagged behind western Europe ◦ 1890s – Nicolas II launches industrialization plan  Government increases taxes and seeks foreign investments  Boosted growth of industry, especially steel  1900 – Russia 4 th ranking producer of steel

 Trans-Siberian Railway ◦ Begun in 1891 ◦ Finished 1916 ◦ Linked European Russia with Russian ports on Pacific Ocean ◦ Worlds longest continuous rail line

 Industrialization causes problems ◦ Grueling working conditions ◦ Low wages ◦ Child labor ◦ Gov’t outlaws trade unions ◦ Workers organized strikes  Upset over low standard of living  Lack of political power

 Believed workers would overthrow the czar ◦ Workers would form “dictatorship of proletariat”  Workers would rule the country  1903 – two factions ◦ Mensheviks  Moderate  Wanted broad base of popular support for revolution

 Radicals ◦ Supported small # of revolutionaries willing to sacrifice everything for change  Led by Vladimir Lenin ◦ Engaging personality and excellent organizer ◦ Extremely ruthless ◦ Early 1900s fled to western Europe to avoid arrest ◦ Waited until he could return and take power

 Russo-Japanese War ◦ February 1904  Japanese attack Russians in Manchuria ◦ News of Russian losses sparks unrest at home ◦ Results in revolt during war

 January 22, 1905  200,000 workers and families approach the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg ◦ Brought petition with them  Better working conditions  More personal freedom  Elected national legislature  Soldiers open fire on the crowd ◦ 1,000 wounded ◦ Several hundred killed

 Provoked wave of strikes and violence  Oct 1905 Nicholas II promises more freedom  Approved creation of the Duma ◦ Russia’s first parliament ◦ Met in May 1906 ◦ Leaders were moderates who wanted constitutional monarchy ◦ Czar dissolved after 10 weeks

 1914 – Nicholas II drags Russia into WWI ◦ Russia unprepared  Weak generals  Poorly equipped troops ◦ 4 million killed, wounded, or taken prisoner within a year

 1915 ◦ Nicholas II moves headquarters to war front  Hoped to rally troops ◦ Left wife, Czarina Alexandra, in charge of government  Ignored czar’s advisers  Turned to Rasputin

 Began as healer to Czar’s son Alexei  Became political figure ◦ Alexandra’s most trusted confidant ◦ Opposed reforms ◦ Filled positions will loyal friends  Opposed by many nobles ◦ Murdered in 1916  Poisoned, shot 3 times, clubbed, stabbed, drowned

 Soldiers mutiny ◦ Desert or ignore orders  Home Front ◦ Food and supplies low ◦ Inflation ◦ People want change  Demand end to war

 March 1917 – textile workers strike in Petrograd ◦ Riots ensue  Shortage of bread and fuel ◦ 200,000 flood the streets  Soldiers refuse to shoot rioters  Eventually join them

 Local protests lead to general uprising across Russia  Forced czar to step down ◦ 1918 Nicholas II and family executed  Revolution takes down czar ◦ Fails to create stable government

 Duma established provisional government ◦ Led by Aleksandr Kerensky ◦ Continues WWI  Loses support of soldiers and civilians  Russia gets worse ◦ Peasants demand land ◦ Workers grow radical  Soviets formed ◦ Local councils ◦ Workers, peasants, soldiers  Lots of influence

 Lenin returns to Russia ◦ Germans support Lenin’s return  Presence would hurt Russia and the war effort  April 1917 – arrives in Petrograd

 Bolshevik Revolution ◦ Bolsheviks and Lenin take control of Petrograd ◦ Fall 1917  People in many cities support Bolsheviks

 Bolshevik Red Guards ◦ Nov 1917 ◦ Armed factory workers storm Winter Palace in Petrograd ◦ Take over gov’t offices and arrest leaders of gov’t  Kerensky and colleagues disappear

 Lenin orders all farmland distributed among the peasants ◦ Gave control of factories to the workers  Sign Treaty of Brest-Litovsk w/Germany ◦ March 1918 ◦ Russia surrenders territory to Germany ◦ Triggers opposition to Bolsheviks

 Opposition forms White Army ◦ Different groups  People who supported return to rule of czar  People who wanted democratic government  Socialists that opposed Lenin

◦ United by desire to defeat Bolsheviks  Barely cooperated ◦ Supported by Western Nations  Sent military aid and forces to Russia  Red Army led by Leon Trotsky

 Deadly struggle ◦ 14 million died  Fighting and famine  Russia left in chaos  Red Army crushed opposition ◦ Bolsheviks could seize power and maintain it

 How did Lenin win? ◦ Red Army was well disciplined  Leon Trotsky reinstated draft and insisted on discipline  Soldiers who deserted were executed ◦ Disunity of White Army

◦ The Cheka  Secret police  Began Red Terror  Destroyed those that opposed Lenin ◦ Patriotism  Foreign presence led to unification ◦ Communists in total command of Russia

 New Economic Policy – not state-controlled ◦ Allowed peasants to sell surplus crops ◦ Didn’t have to turn them over to gov’t ◦ Gov’t controlled major industries  Banks  Means of communication  1928 – Russia had recovered from WWI ◦ Farms and factories produced as much as before the war

 1922 – Lenin forms Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ◦ Bolsheviks saw nationalism as a threat ◦ Lenin organized small self-governing republics

 Bolsheviks become Communist Party ◦ 1924 create constitution  Based on socialist and democratic ideas ◦ Held all the Power ◦ Established Dictatorship of Communist Party

 1922 – Lenin suffers stroke  Trotsky vs Stalin (“Man of Steel”) ◦ Lenin saw Stalin as dangerous  1928 – Stalin gains control of Communists ◦ 1929 – Trotsky exiled