Revolutions in Russia

Introduction

The Russian Revolution was like a firecracker with a very long fuse. The explosion came in 1917, yet the fuse had been burning for nearly a century. The cruel, oppressive rule of most 19th-century czars caused widespread social unrest for decades. Army officers revolted in 1825. Secret revolutionary groups plotted to overthrow the government.

Czars Resist Change In 1881,

revolutionaries angry over the slow pace of political change assassinated the reform-minded czar, Alexander II. Russia was heading toward a full-scale revolution.

End to Reform

In 1881, Alexander III becomes czar and ends the reforms of his father, Alexander II.

Alexander III institutes autocratic rule, suppressing all opposition and decent.

Czars Continue Autocratic Rule

Government censors written criticism; secret police monitor schools

Non-Russians living in Russia are treated harshly

In 1894, Nicholas II becomes czar and continues autocratic ways

Rapid Industrialization

Number of factories doubles between 1863 and 1900, but Russia still lags behind other European countries.

In late 1800s, new plan boosts steel production and a major railway begins

The Revolutionary Movement Grows

Industrialization breeds discontent over working conditions and wages.

Growing popularity of Marxist idea that proletariat (workers) will rule

Bolsheviks—Marxists who favor revolution by a small committed group

Lenin

Lenin—Bolshevik leader—an excellent organizer and inspiring leader

Bloody Sunday: The Revolution of 1905

In 1905, 200,000 workers march on the czar’s palace to demand reforms

The army fires into the crowd, killing many

Massacre leads to widespread unrest; Nicholas if forced to make reforms

The short lived Duma

The Duma, Russia’s first parliament, meets in 1906

Czar is unwilling to share power, dissolves the Duma after only 10 weeks

World War I: The Final Blow

Heavy losses in World War I reveal government’s weakness

Nicholas goes to war front; Czarina Alexandra runs government in his absence

Rasputin

Czarina falls under the influence of Rasputin—a mysterious “holy man”—who she believes has the power to heal her son.

Nobles fear Rasputin’s influence and murder him

Army losing effectiveness; people at home are hungry and unhappy

The March Revolution

In March 1917, strikes expand; soldiers refuse to fire on workers.

Most of the tension is caused by Nicholas II personally taking command of the military in World War I, and the war going so badly.

The Czar Steps Down

March Revolution—protests become uprising; Nicholas abdicates throne

Duma establishes provisional, or temporary government

Soviets—committees of Socialist revolutionaries—control many cities

Lenin Returns to Russia

In April 1917, Germans aid Lenin in returning from exile to Russia (pictured in disguise with his goatee shaved and wearing a wig).

The Bolshevik Revolution

In November 1917, workers take control of the government

Bolsheviks in Power

Lenin gives land to peasants, puts workers in control of factories

Bolsheviks sign treaty with Germany; Russia pulls out of World War I

Civil War Rages in Russia

Civil War between Bolsheviks’ Red Army and loosely allied White Army

Red Army wins three-year war that leaves 14 million dead

Lenin Restores Order with a New Economic Policy

In March 1921, Lenin launches New Economic Policy; has some capitalism

NEP and peace restore economy shattered by war and revolution

By 1928, Russia’s farms and factories are producing again

Political Reforms

Lenin creates self-governing republics under national government

In 1922, country renamed Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.)

Communist Party—new name taken by Bolsheviks from the writings of Marx

Stalin Becomes Dictator

Trotsky and Stalin compete to replace Lenin after Lenin’s death

Joseph Stalin—cold, hard Communist Party general secretary in 1922

Leon Trotsky

Joseph Stalin

Stalin gains power from 1922 to 1927

Lenin dies in 1924 Stalin gains

complete power in 1928; Trotsky is forced into exile.

Trotsky is murdered in Mexico City in 1940 by an NKVD agent.

Room where Trotsky was murdered (above); Trotsky’s murderer, NKVD agent, Romón Mercader (right).