1. Warm Up Discussion Questions
What were the four causes of WWI?
How did each cause the war?
Why did the United States enter the war?
Why were the peasants in Russia upset with Czar Nicholas II?

2. Pre- Revolutionary Russia
Russia was the only true autocracy left in Europe.
In 1884, Nicholas II became the last Russian czar (king).
He believed he was the absolute ruler anointed by God.

3. Russia’s Serfs
Russia was divided into 2 groups --the very rich and the extremely poor (serfs = peasants).
In exchange for working long hours for a landlord, a serf received a small log hut, a tiny piece of land, and a few animals.
Most of the serfs’ crops went to pay the landlord’s taxes.
Anyone who resisted the rules was beaten with a leather and wire whip. Many tried to escape, but few succeeded.

4. Bloody Sunday
In 1905, Russia lost a war with Japan, which angered many serfs and workers because their family members were forced to fight in the war.
On January 22nd, thousands of people marched on the Winter Palace to ask Czar Nicholas for reforms.
Palace troops shot people in the crowd; this became known as “Bloody Sunday”.
More and more riots began to occur after this…

6. Effects of WWI
In 1914, Russia entered World War I but did not do well:
Millions of soldiers were killed, wounded, or missing
People suffered severe food shortages
Soldiers did not have enough clothes, shoes, or weapons to survive.

7. Effects of WWI
Czar Nicholas ignored the signs that people were unhappy.
He was seen as a weak man & became increasingly remote as a ruler.
He did not see that changes were needed in the way that his country was run
Numerous Soviets thus began to appear on the scene…

9. Time for a change February Revolution Started in 1917
After many centuries of rule by powerful and wealthy czars in Russia the people were unhappy with the difference in wealth.
Many were also unhappy with Russian participation in WWI.
The February Revolution resulted in the overthrow of the czar and it stopped Russian involvement in the war.

10. Czar Nicolas II and his family

12. Opening of the Duma “Duma” = Russian Congress
There were 3 attempts to make the Duma work, but each was too radical & still favored only the wealthiest Russians.
In the end, there were just too many problems.
Time for another revolution…

13. Bolshevik Revolution
Led by Lenin and based on an ideology by Karl Marx
Marx’s idea was communism. In theory, communism would create a classless society, in which all people enjoy equal social and economic status.
In the beginning, communism seemed like a good option for starving and powerless people.
This civil war lasted almost 2 years. In the end Lenin won and controlled Russia
However, in practice communist governments were very controlling. Most citizens were very poor and the government officials were very rich. The governments cared little for the issues of the working class and sought above all else to keep the power.

14. Vladimir Lenin