1. Russian Revolution
CH 11.5

2. Russian Czars Russian Czars were autocrats with unlimited power.
Czars owned railroads, industrial plants, and millions of acres of Land.
They used their wealth to build palaces & to lavishly entertain guests.
The royal throne was encrusted with more than 870 diamonds and hundreds of other precious jewels.

3. Czars had Absolute Power
They controlled nearly half the peasant population.
There was no parliament or court system to question their decisions.
They could appoint and dismiss all government ministers.
The Czar commanded the army and headed the Russian Orthodox Church.
“The czar is a father, his subjects are his children, and children ought never to question their parents.”
Czar Nicholas I

4. March Revolution Unrest Deepens Nicholas Romanov II ~ Czar of Russia
Weak and ineffective leader fails to solve Russia’s basic political, economic, & social problems.
Elected Duma has no real power to make changes
Moderates pressed for a constitution and social change
Nicholas blocked attempts to limit his power
Revolutionaries plotted to over throw the Tsar
Made up of Marxists and the proletariat (workers)

6. March Revolution Impact of WWI
Factories could not produce enough supplies
Transportation system broke down
By 1915 many soldiers didn’t have riffles or ammunition
2 million casualties in just 1915
Nicholas takes charge of the “front”
Military disaster
Alexandra is left in charge of domestic issues
Alexandra relies on the advice of G. Rasputin (self proclaimed “holy man”)

7. March Revolution Czar Steps Down March 1917
Disasters on the front, low fuel and food brought the monarchy to collapse.
Workers went on strike
Women marched for bread
Duma politicians establish a provisional government
Begin to prepare a constitution
War with Germany continued
Bolsheviks (radical socialist group) take charge

8. Lenin & the Bolsheviks Brilliant Revolutionary Lenin's View of K. Marx
Read the works of Karl Marx & participated in student demonstrations
Spread Marxist ideas among factory workers along with other socialists
Lenin's View of K. Marx
Lenin adapted Marxist ideas to fit Russian conditions
Called for an elite group to lead the revolution, used the name “Bolshevik” meaning majority
Lenin Believed only revolution could bring about needed changes
“Long Live the world-wide Socialist revolution!” V.I. Lenin

9. Bolsheviks Rise to Power
Provisional govt’s mistakes
Led by A. Kerensky
Failed to end the war and deal with land reform
Growing numbers of troops mutinied and peasants seized land
Bolshevik takeover
Nov Red Guard attacked & overthrew the Provisional Government
Workers are given control of factories and mines
New Flag w/ hammer and sickle symbolized the union between workers and peasants

10. Civil War Opposing Forces
Civil war raged for 3yrs. Between the “Reds” and the counterrevolutionary “Whites”.
White armies were made up of tsarist imperial officers
“Allies” supported the Whites
fed the Communist distrust of the West.
War under Communism
Used terror against the “Whites” & to control their own people
Cheka (secret police) & forced labor camps are created
“War Communism”- Banks, factories, & railroads are taken over
Under Trotsky Red army is turned into an effective force
1921- Communists defeat their “foes”

11. Building the Communist Soviet Union
New government same problems
1923 Lenin renames Russia to Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)
Constitution w/ both democratic & socialist ideas is created
Elected legislature, citizens the right to vote (18yrs.), all production belonged to workers & peasants.
However Communist Party (NOT the people) had control (just as the Russian tsars did).

12. Building the Communist Soviet Union
Lenin’s New Economic Policy (NEP)
Allowed for some capitalist ventures,
small businesses were allowed to reopen for private profit
peasants could hold small plots of land & sell extra crops
Govt. still controlled banks, foreign trade, & large industries
By 1928 food and industrial production were back to pre-war levels.
Stalin takes over
1924 Lenin dies
Chief contenders Leon Trotsky & Joseph Stalin
Stalin outmaneuvers Trotsky and assumes control of USSR