L4: The Russian Revolution Agenda Objective: To understand… 1.How the Bolsheviks used the civil war to consolidate power both pragmatically and ideologically. Schedule: 1.Discussion Homework 1.None

Tsar Nicholas Abdicates Members of the Duma pressed the Tsar to abdicate in order to avert a full-scale bloody revolution against the government. Nicholas accepts defeat and abdicates. With Nicholas’ abdication, Tsarism ends in Russia A new provisional government is established in Russia.

Democracy Comes to Russia The revolution was joyfully accepted throughout the country Upper and middle classes rejoiced at the prospect of a more determined and effective war effort. Workers happily anticipated better wages and more food.

Provisional Government Led by Alexander Kerenskey Provisionally government quickly established equality before the law; freedom of religion, speech, and assembly; the right of unions to organize and strike Developed a power sharing agreement with the Petrograd Soviet –Petrograd Soviet was a huge, fluctuating mass meeting of 2,00 to 3,000 workers, soldiers, and Mensheviks. –This “half-government” issued its own radical orders, often at odds with the orders of the Provisional government. –How is this consistent with Lenin’s two stage theory of revolution? Continued Russia’s involvement in the war

The Petrograd Soviet Weakens the War and Creates Turmoil in Russia The most famous of these orders was Army Order No. 1 –Stripped officers of their authority and placed power in the hands of elected committees of common soldiers. –Led to a total collapse of army discipline. –Many soldiers abandoned the front and returned home

Lenin Returns to Russia Sensing the turmoil in Russia, in April of 1917 the German government sent Lenin, his wife, and about 20 members of the Bolshevik party--all living in exile in Switzerland--back to Russia. Lenin and the Bolsheviks opposed the power sharing agreement between the provisional government and the Petrograd Soviet. –Believed that Petrograd Soviet was content to wait for communism to unfold naturally--Lenin wanted it now! The Germans hoped that Lenin would create further confusion in Russia and undermine the Russian war effort.

Lenin Returns to Russia “Dear comrades, soldiers, sailors, and workers. I am happy to greet in your persons the victorious Russian revolution, and greet you as the vanguard of the world-wide proletarian army…the piratical imperialist war is the beginning of civil war throughout Europe…world- wide Socialism has already dawned…Germany is seething…any day now the whole of European capitalism may crash. The Russian revolution accomplished by you has prepared the way and opened a new epoch. Long live the world-wide Socialist revolution.” –Lenin, qtd in N. N Sukhanov, The Russian Revolution 1917, trans. J. Carmichael, OUP, 1935.

The Bolsheviks Gain Popular Support Throughout the spring and summer, the Bolsheviks gradually increased their popular support. The Bolshevik Platform: –Immediate peace with Germany –Redistribution of land to the peasants –Transfer of factories, mines, and other industrial plants from capitalists to committees of workers in each plant. –Recognition of the soviets as the supreme power--not the provisional government. –Peace, Land and Bread!

The October Revolution 1917 In October, Lenin saw his opportunity to begin the second stage of revolution: communist take over. On October , the Bolsheviks took control of Petrograd’s electricity, railroad stations, telephones, and roadways. They then stormed the Winter Palace where the Provisional Government was stationed. Discussion: –What is your take, what happened at the October Revolution? Was it a coup d’etat or an uprising of the people?

The USSR In October 1917, following the storming of the Winter Palace, Lenin was named the head of the new Bolshevik government in Russia. Russia was renamed the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Lenin and the Bolsheviks now had the challenging of building a new government in the face of considerable opposition.

Russian Civil War The Bolsheviks faced considerable opposition from a variety of groups who opposed their potential rule. This erupted into a full-scale civil war. Russian Civil War – –Fighting between the Red Army and the White Army Red Army: Pro-Bolshevik forces White Army: Anti-Bolshevik forces made up of a variety of political and social groups

The Bolsheviks Try to Secure Victory in the Civil War In an effort to secure victory in the Civil War, the Bolsheviks undertake two programs: –War Communism –Red Terror Describe each!

Discussion To what extent do the Bolsheviks try to frame war communism and red terror as part of the people’s war? How did these actions lay the ground work for the rise of totalitarianism under Stalin?

The Civil War Ends In 1921, the Red Army finally defeated the White Army and set out to establish its new regime. What legacies did the civil war leave for the Soviet state?