brief background of the russian revolution

8/18/2019 Brief Background of the Russian Revolution

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RUSSIAN REVOLUTION Presented By:Kurt Zeus L. DizonPOLSCI !: Po"iti#s o$ Re%o"ution&'r#( )*+ *!),

B'#-round o$ Russi': I/0eri'" Russi' 1)2*3)4,)5 6o%ern/ent:

• Ts'ris/- Absolute Monarchy which is ruled by Ro/'no% Dyn'sty. The head of state and

government is the Tsar/Czar.

• This system has also been described by the following : imperial autocracy Muscovite autocracytsarist absolutism imperial absolutism !ussian absolutism Muscovite despotism !ussiandespotism or imperial despotism.

• "ince #$#% the !omanov Tsars depend on the power of the feudal system i.e. a small noble class

which owns both the land and peasant-serfs.

• Bure'#r'#y: C(ino%ni- Syste/3 Peter t(e 6re't in #&'' set up a career ladder in the civil

service (#) rungs corresponding to hereditary nobility and military ran*s+. C(ino%ni-i werebureaucrats: life time servants of the state.

)4,) Re$or/

• !ussia was defeated in the Cri/e'n 7'r (#,%-#,$+ which led to famine and unrest in the

countryside. To solve the famine and unrest in the countryside Aleander abolish the serfdom.

• The e/'n#i0'tion o$ t(e ser$s in #,$# was the single most important event in #0th-century

!ussian history. t was the beginning of the end for the landed aristocracy1s monopoly of power.2mancipation brought a supply of free labor to the cities industry was stimulated and the middleclass grew in number and in3uence. The freed peasants had to buy land allotted to them from thelandowners with the state assistance. All the land turned over to the peasants was ownedcollectively by the /ir the village community which divided the land among the peasants andsupervised the various holdings.

• The peasant however are saddled with rede/0tion 0'y/ent because the Tsar has to compensate

the e-serf-owner. They blame the landlords and o4cials who collect the taes.

• The )4,) re$or/ is t(e #'0it'"is/ st'e in Russi'.

• 5y #,&$ the eport sale of grain rises by #)67. The landowners are ma*ing a huge pro8t.

• &67 of e-serfs don9t have enough land to feed their families. This landless army of the unfed;

provides a source of cheap labour for the capitalist industry.

•

The construction of the Tr'ns3Si8eri'n E90ress R'i"'y started.• abour Barty (!"?>B+.

The Russi'n So#i'" De/o#r'ti# L'8our P'rty also *nown as the Russi'n So#i'" De/o#r'ti#7or-ers< P'rty or the Russi'n So#i'" De/o#r'ti# P'rty was a revolutionary socialist political partyformed in #,0, in Mins* to unite the various revolutionary organizations of the !ussian 2mpire into oneparty. The !"?>B later split into MaEority1Bo"s(e%i-s+ and Minority (&ens(e%i- s+ factions with the


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5olshevi* faction eventually becoming the Communist Barty of the "oviet nion. The nterdistricts werealso formed from this party.

The 5olshevi*s founded by V"'di/ir Lenin 'nd A"e9'nder Bod'no% were by #06 a maEor

organization consisting primarily of wor*ers under a democratic internal hierarchy governed by theprinciple of de/o#r'ti# #entr'"is/ who considered themselves the leaders of the revolutionary wor*ingclass of !ussia. Their beliefs and practices were often referred to as Bo"s(e%is/

Russi'n Re%o"ution o$ )=!

• The !ussian !evolution of #06 was said to be a maEor factor to the ;e8ru'ry Re%o"utions o$

)=)2. The events of B"oody Sund'y triggered a line of protests.

• t included wor*er stri*es peasant unrest and military mutinies. t led to Constitutional !eform

including the establishment of the St'te Du/' o$ t(e Russi'n E/0ire+ t(e /u"ti30'rtysyste/+ 'nd t(e Russi'n Constitution o$ )=!,.

• According to the author "idney '""ot/ent "'ndF would not be owned by individual peasants but would

be owned by the community of peasantsG individual peasants would have rights to strips of landthat were assigned to them under the open 8eld system.

• nfortunately a peasant was unable to sell or mortgage his piece of land so in practice he could

not renounce his rights to his land and thus he would be reuired to pay his share of redemptiondues to the village commune.

• The government had created this plan to ensure the 0ro"et'ri'nis'tion o$ t(e 0e's'nts

would never happen but the peasants were not given enough land to provide for their needs. The crisis worsen when the "'nd rent dou8"es. Their earnings were often so small that theycould neither buy the food they needed nor *eep up the payment of taes and redemption duesthey owed the government for their land allotments.

*. N'tion'"ity 0ro8"e/

• !ussia was a multi-ethnic empire. !ussians saw cultures and religions in a #"e'r (ier'r#(y.

Hon-!ussian cultures were tolerated in the empire but were not necessarilyrespected. F2uropean civilization was valued over Asian or African culture and Christianity wason the whole considered more progressive and 1true1 than other religions.F

• 5esides the i/0osition o$ ' uni$or/ Russi'n #u"ture throughout the empire thegovernment1s pursuit o$ Russi?#'tion especially during the second half of the nineteenthcentury had political motives. After the emancipation of the serfs in #,$# the !ussian state

was compelled to ta*e into account public opinion but the government failed to gain thepublic1s support.

@. L'8our Pro8"e/

• The economic situation in !ussia before the revolution presented a grim picture. The

government had eperimented with laissez faire capitalist policies but this strategy largelyfailed to gain traction within the !ussian economy until the #,06s. Meanwhile Fagriculturalproductivity stagnated while international prices for grain dropped and !ussia9s foreign debtand need for imports grew.

• =ar and military preparations continued to consume government revenues. And the worst thing

is that !ussia was defeated during the Russo3'0'nese 7'r (Ieb. #06) J "ep. #06+.


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• Rur'" une/0"oy/ent runs to #6 million. At the same time the peasant tapayers1 ability to

pay was strained to the utmost leading to ides0re'd $'/ine in )4=)+ )4=3, 'nd )=!).. Edu#'ted Pro8"e/

• The Minister of the nterior Blehve designated the schools as a pressing problem for thegovernment but he failed to realize it was only a symptom of antigovernment feelings amongthe educated class. "tudents of universities of higher learning and those of the secondaryschools and theological seminaries were part of this group. To epress their feelings studentsboycotted eaminations rioted arranged marches in sympathy with the stri*ers or politicalprisoners circulated petitions or wrote anti-government propaganda.

Cre'tion o$ ' St'te Du/'

• Coming under pressure from the !ussian !evolution of #06 on August $ #06 "ergei =itte

issued a manifesto about the convocation of the ?uma initially thought to be a purely advisorybody.

• n the subseuent Kctober Manifesto the Tsar pledged to introduce further civil liberties

provide for broad participation in a new F"tate ?umaF and endow the ?uma with legislative andoversight powers.

• The "tate ?uma was to be the lower house of a parliament and the "tate Council of mperial

!ussia the upper house. aws which gave him the title of Fsupreme autocratF.

Although no law could be made without the ?uma1s assent neither could the ?uma pass lawswithout the approval of the noble-dominated "tate Council (half of which was to be appointeddirectly by the Tsar+ and the Tsar himself retained a veto. The laws stipulated that ministerscould not be appointed by and were not responsible to the ?uma thus denying responsiblegovernment.

• Iurthermore the Tsar had the power to dismiss the ?uma and announce new elections

whenever he wished

So#io3Po"iti#'" Tur/oi"

• =or*ers eperience overcrowded housing with often deplorable sanitary conditions long hours at

wor* (many were wor*ing ##J#' hours a day by #0#$+ constant ris* of inEury and death from poorsafety and sanitary conditions harsh discipline (not only rules and 8nes but foremen9s 8sts+ andinadeuate wages (made worse after #0#) by steep war-time increases in the cost of living+.

• =orld =ar added to the chaos. Conscription swept up the unwilling across !ussia. The vast

demand for factory production of war supplies and wor*ers caused many more labor riots andstri*es. Conscription stripped s*illed wor*ers from the cities who had to be replaced with uns*illedpeasants and then when famine began to hit due to the poor railway system wor*ers abandonedthe cities in droves see*ing food. Iinally the soldiers themselves who suLered from a lac* ofeuipment and protection from the elements began to turn against the Tsar.

;EBRUAR REVOLUTION

• At the beginning of Iebruary Betrograd wor*ers began several stri*es and demonstrations. Kn ''

Iebruary wor*ers at Butilov Betrograd1s largest industrial plant announced a stri*e.

• The net day a series of meetings rallies and riots were held for nternational =omen1s ?ay which

gradually turned into economic and political gatherings. ?emonstrations were organized to demandbread and these were supported by the industrial wor*ing force who considered them a reason forcontinuing the stri*es.The response of the ?uma urged on by the liberal bloc was to establish a

Temporary Committee to restore law and orderG meanwhile the socialist parties establish theBetrograd "oviet to represent wor*ers and soldiers

• The Tsar too* a train bac* towards Betrograd which was stopped on # March by a group of disloyal

troops. =hen the Tsar 8nally reached his destination the Army Chiefs and his remaining ministers(those who had not 3ed under pretense of a power-cut+ suggested in unison that he abdicate the


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throne.Kn #$ March a provisional government was announced. The center-left was well representeda member of the Constitutional ?emocratic party (@?+.The socialists had formed their rival bodythe Betrograd "oviet (or wor*ers1 council+ four days earlier. The Betrograd "oviet and the Brovisionalovernment competed for power over !ussia.

The leaders of the Betrograd "oviet believed that they represented particular classes of the populationnot the whole nation. They also believed !ussia was not ready for socialism. "o they saw their role aslimited to pressuring hesitant >8oureoisie> to ru"e 'nd to introdu#e e9tensi%e de/o#r'ti#re$or/s in Russi'. They met in the same building as the emerging Brovisional overnment not tocompete with the ?uma Committee for state power but to best eert pressure on the new governmentto act in other words as a popular democratic lobby

OCTOBER REVOLUTION

• The O#to8er Re%o"ution 's "ed 8y V"'di/ir Lenin. t mar*ed the beginning of the spread of

communism in the '6th century. t was far less sporadic than the revolution of Iebruary and came

about as the result of deliberate planning and coordinated activity to that end.

• Though >enin was the leader of the 5olshevi* Barty it has been argued that since >enin was not

present during the actual ta*eover of the =inter Balace it was really Trots-yenin instigated within his party.

• 5olshevi* leader Nladimir >enin led his leftist revolutionaries in a revolt against the ineLective

Brovisional overnment (' Kctober+. The Kctober revolution ended the phase of the revolution

instigated in Iebruary replacing !ussia1s short-lived provisional parliamentary government with

government by soviets local councils elected by bodies of wor*ers and peasants. >iberal and

monarchist forces loosely organized into the =hite Army immediately went to war against t(e

Bo"s(e%i-s< Red Ar/y in a series of battles that would become *nown as the Russi'n Ci%i" 7'r.

RUSSIAN CIVIL 7AR

• The Russi'n Ci%i" 7'r which bro*e out in #0#, shortly after the revolution brought death and

suLering to millions of people regardless of their political orientation. The war was fought mainly

between the Red Ar/y 1>Reds>5+ consisting of the uprising maEority led by the 5olshevi* minority

and the F7(ites> 'r/y o#ers 'nd #oss'#-s+ t(e >8oureoisie>+ 'nd 0o"iti#'" rou0s

ranging from the far Ri(t to t(e So#i'"ist Re%o"ution'ries who opposed the drastic

restructuring championed by the 5olshevi*s following the collapse of the Brovisional overnment to

the soviets.

• The !ed Army defeated the =hite Armed Iorces of "outh !ussia in *raine and the army led by

Admiral Ale*sandr @olcha* in "iberia in #0#0. The remains of the =hite forces commanded by Byotr

Hi*olayevich =rangel were beaten in Crimea and evacuated in late #0'6. >esser battles of the war

continued on the periphery for two more years and minor s*irmishes with the remnants of the

=hite forces in the Iar 2ast continued well into #0'%.

7'r Co//unis/

=ar communism included the following policies:o Hationalization of all industries and the introduction of strict centralized management

o ntroduction of "tate control of foreign trade

o "trict discipline for wor*ers with stri*es forbidden

o mposition of obligatory labor duty onto non-wor*ing classes

o Prodr'z%yorst-' J reuisition of agricultural surpluses (in ecess of an absolute minimum+

from peasants for centralized distribution among the remaining populationo !ationing of food and most commodities with centralized distribution thereof in urban

centers


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o Brivate enterprise banned

o Military-style control of the railways

The goals of the 5olshevi*s in implementing war communism are a matter of controversy. "omecommentators including a number of 5olshevi*s have argued that its sole purpose was to win the war

Ne E#ono/i# Po"i#y

The H2B represented a more capitalism-oriented economic policy deemed necessary after the

!ussian Civil =ar of #0#& to #0'' to foster the economy of the country which was almost ruined. The

complete nationalization of industry established during the period of =ar Communism was partially

revo*ed and a system of mied economy was introduced which allowed private individuals to own

small enterprises while the state continued to control ban*s foreign trade and large industries. n

addition the H2B abolished 0rodr'z%yorst-' (forced grain reuisitionO and introduced 0rodn'"o: a

ta on farmers payable in the form of raw agricultural product.

>enin considered the H2B as a strategic retreat from socialism. enin for 5eginners Bantheon 5oo*s: Hew Por*

• ondon #0,6+ p. )$.

• Riasanovsy!


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• Betrograd on the 2ve of @ronstadt rising #0'#. Ilag.blac*ened.net (#6 March #0'#+. !etrieved on

'6#%-6&-'$.

• Krlando Iiges A Beople1s Tragedy: The !ussian !evolution #,0#J#0') (Hew Por*: Ni*ing Bress

#00&+ &$&.

• @ronstadtin *apina #0'# Ea sen perilliset "uomessa (@ronstadt !ebellion #0'# and ts ?escendantsin Iinland+ by 2r**i =essmann.

• Ro'ert B/ 4assie #$7($,/ The Romanovs: The 1inal Chapter / Random ?ouse/ pp/ 68$+/

• 2dvard !adzins*y The ast Tsar: The ife And Death 0f

brief background of the russian revolution

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