1. The Russian Revolution

3. The Reign of Nicholas II
Conditions
Results
Tsar Nicholas II, Tsarina Alexandra, hemophiliac son Alexi
Nicholas, absolute monarch, naïve to the dissatisfaction in society.
Russia under Nicholas politically unstable
Liberals wanted a democratic government
Repressed minorities wanted independence
Peasants wanted land reform; workers wanted better working conditions
Military lost war with Japan in 1904
Many Russians questioned the tsar’s system

5. The 1905 Revolution Conditions Results
On Bloody Sunday the tsar’s police killed hundreds of workers marching peacefully in St. Petersburg
Revolts and strikes throughout Russia
Radicals organized workers’ councils (soviets)
Tsar concedes democratic powers, in form of legislature called the Duma, then takes those powers back
Tsar’s minister Stolypin attempts land reform and is assassinated

7. World War I in Russia Conditions Results
Russia honors alliances and joins World War I
Tsar Nicholas II takes personal command of the army
Strange monk, Rasputin, gains power with tsarina back at the court
Army suffers many military defeats
Discontent of soldiers, peasant, and workers
Russia suffers most devastating losses in World War I

9. The February Revolution
Conditions
Results
Women’s march for “bread and peace” turns into widespread revolt
Representatives of workers, peasants, and soldiers lead revolution from Petrograd Soviet
The Duma forms the Provisional Government
Tsar Nicholas abdicates
Kerensky leads the Provisional Government

11. The October Revolution
Conditions
Results
Lenin, a Marxist revolutionary, leader of the Bolshevik Party, sneaks back into Russia
Lenin protests against the Provisional Government; calls for “land, bread, and peace”
The Red Guard, under Bolshevik control, gain weapons and power
Provisional Government continues to fight in W.W. I
Russian Revolution begins October 25, 1917 as Trotsky’s Red Guard seize most of Petrograd
Lenin proclaims a socialist state, nationalizes all land
Civil War between “Reds” and “Whites” eventually won by Bolsheviks in 1922
In Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Russia drops out of W.W. I and suffers great losses

13. Soviet Union Under Lenin
Conditions
Results
Russia was devastated after World War I and Civil War - lost one half its population
By 1922, wages dropped to one-tenth of prewar levels
Western nations blockaded Russia so nothing could leave or enter
Lenin concerned new socialist experiment would fail
Lenin described his New Economic Policy (NEP) as “taking one step backward to go two steps forward”
The NEP helped to jump start the economy with small-scale capitalism
After NEP success, the Communist Party introduced measures to bring about a classless society