The Russian Revolution

McKay 904-910, Palmer 18.93

The Path to Revolution

1861 1881 1894 1905 1914 1917 1918 1921

Fundamental Institutions Altered

-Serfdom-Zemstvos

Alexander III-Stolypin Policies-State sponsored Industrialization-Mir Attacked

-Kulaks grow

-Russo Japanese War-Bloody Sunday-October Manifesto

-Duma

WWI Begins

Nicholas II coronation

October Revolution(November 6)

Bolsheviks seize power

-Treaty of Brest-Litosvk

-Civil War erupts (Whites

v. Reds)

Feb. Rev.-Petrograd Food Riots

Provisional Gov. v Petrograd Soviet

Bolsheviks win

Political Parties Form-Cadets- Constitutionalists--Mensheviks- Orthodox Marxist, want to gradually achieve Comm. Rev., love Proletariat , democratic--Bolsheviks- view Mir as paradigm, skip Ind. Rev., elitist, violent

Russia and the Great War• Russians enthusiastic for

war

• Sang “God save the Tsar”

• Conservatives– Opportunity for expansion

in Balkans

• Liberals & Socialists– Alliance with GB and

France would spawn democratic reforms

Disaster of WWI• Nicholas attempted Total War mobilization

– But less effective than Germany– Industry was unable to supply soldiers by 1915

• Soldiers sent to front without rifles– Battles of Tannenberg + Masurian Lakes led to

2 million casualties by 1915• Middle class (in Duma) were supportive of war

effort and organized war activities– Formed Commercial and Industrial Committee

(in Petrograd) to increase production• Nicholas II

– Devoted family man– But Poor leader in time of crisis– Held autocratic power (Could veto & dissolve

Duma)– Retained belief in Divine Right

• Duma– September 1915 called for new government

responsible to the Duma• Tsar adjourned Duma and left for the Front

“Our Dear Friend Grigori”• Tsarina Alexandra (German)

– Took control of government– had contempt for Russians & Parliament– Under influence of Grigori Rasputin

• Rasputin – self-appointed holy man from Siberia– Believed to possess supernatural powers

and got friends appointed to prominent positions of power

– Had apparent hypnotic power over sickly (hemophilia) Alexis

– Rumored to be Tsarina’s lover– In letter to Nicholas from Rasputin

• “If I die or you desert me, in six months you will lose your son and the throne.”

• 3 aristocrats murdered Rasputin in December 1916

Click for Clip (2/3)

Clip for Clip (3/3)

The February (March) Revolution• Food shortages caused riots in February

(March 8) 1917 in Petrograd– “Down with the tsar!”

• Troops refused to fire on the rioters• Two competing authorities arose in

Petrograd– Duma Committee Organizes

• Moderate, constitutionalist– Petrograd Soviet organizes

• Revolutionary (from below)• Socialists groups tried to win over the

Petrograd• Duma set up Provisional Gov under Prince

Lvov• Admitted Alexander Kerensky (moderate

socialist) to new gov• Called for the abdication of Nicholas II• Army took the side of the revolution

– Could not vouch for the loyalty of their men

• March 17, 1917 Nicholas abdicated throne

Alexander Kerensky (center, white), charter member of the Provisional Government and its head in September-October 1917, arriving in Moscow on or about 12 August 1917.

Provisional Government (March-November 1917)• Provisional government made up of

moderate liberals took over Russian Republic– Began to draft Constitution

• Establish equality before law, freedom of religion, speech, assembly

• Right to form unions, strike• Universal male suffrage

• Fatal Mistakes– Not interested in social revolution– Refused to refused to redistribute

lands for the peasants– Vowed to continued the war

against Germany

Alexander Kerensky is speaking at a meeting of the Provisional Government in the Library of Nicholas II

Petrograd Soviet• Emerged as a competing government

with Provisional gov• Comprised of factory workers, soldiers,

radical intelligencia • Held mass meetings (2-3 thousand

workers, soldiers, socialist intellectuals)• Army Order No. 1

– Stripped officers of their authority– Placed power in hands of elected

committees of common soldiers– Meant to prevent counter

revolutionary dictator from arising– Led to total collapse of army discipline– Officers murdered– “voting with their feet” Lenin

• Many soldiers abandoned the army and seized land

Russia (Feb.-Nov.) 1917Who is in charge?

Petrograd Soviet-Workers, Social Democrats

Provisional Governemt-Kadets, Octobrists, Liberals

Bolsheviks

Lenin (1870-1924)• Devout Marxist ‘revisionist’• Exiled to Siberia for socialist agitation• Lived in western Europe (17 years) and revised

Marxism• Marxist-Leninism

– Lenin’s version of Marxism applied to Russia– Stressed that capitalism could be destroyed only

by violent revolution• Denounced social democratic/Lassalian

parties– Seduced by meager concession by

bourgeoisie government– Supported the war effort– Lenin hoped for Russia’s defeat

– Communist revolution was possible in agrarian country

• Peasant were poor and revolutionary– Rejected Marxist determinism

• Small dedicated professional revolutionary could ‘cause’ the revolution

– Not seduced by short-term gains

The Bolsheviks• Lenin arrived in April and sided with

the Soviets• Condemned any cooperation with the

“bourgeois government”• All Power to the SovietsAll Power to the Soviets• All land to the peasantsAll land to the peasants• Stop the war nowStop the war now• “Peace, Land, and Bread”

– PeacePeace with the Central PowersCentral Powers– Redistribution of Land Redistribution of Land and Bread– Transfer of factories Transfer of factories & mines toto

committees of workersworkers– Recognition of the Soviets as the Soviets as the

supreme powersupreme power (not Prov Gov)

Trotsky• Lenin’s promise of “all power to the

Soviets” was meant to crush Kerensky and the Constituent Assembly

• Kerensky (PM), General Kornilov (War hero), fought each other & weakened Provisional Gov.

• Kerensky tried to convoke a ‘preparliament’ but it was too late

• October 1917 the Bolsheviks gained a majority in the Petrograd Soviet

• Leon TrotskyLeon Trotsky– Convinced Petrograd Soviet Convinced Petrograd Soviet that

German/Counterrevolutionary plot was German/Counterrevolutionary plot was in worksin works

– Got himself elected to head revolutionary committee with power over Petrograd's military

The October (November) Revolution• November 6-7, 1917 Bolsheviks took over Bolsheviks took over

telephone exchanges, RR, electrical power telephone exchanges, RR, electrical power stations in Petrograd

• Congress of Soviets Congress of Soviets pronounced Provisional Provisional Gov overGov over and named Council of People’s Commissars (Lenin at the head) the new government

• Lenin called for the peace and redistribution of property

• Constituent Assembly (21 mil had voted for) was surrounded and dissolved

• Majority rule was replaced with Class rule– Dictatorship of the proletariat Dictatorship of the proletariat was established

• Bolsheviks renamed themselves the Communist party

• Why (did they succeed)?– Democracy became anarchyDemocracy became anarchy– Lenin and Trotsky Lenin and Trotsky were superior leaders– Bolsheviks appealed to many with “Peace,

Land, and Bread”, “All the power to the Soviets.”

Lenin sweeping Russia clean of monarchist & capitalists

• Most amazing aspect of Bolshevik coup was that it lasted

• How?• Lenin took credit for granting Peasants’ Land

– A “Russian 1789” (Great Fear) was A “Russian 1789” (Great Fear) was already under wayalready under way

– Peasant were seizing land and could not be stopped in 1917

• Made peace with Germanypeace with Germany– Brest-Litovsk ended war with the West– Gave Germany Baltic provinces, Poland,

Ukraine– Russians were tired of warRussians were tired of war

• Promised freely elected Constituent freely elected Constituent AssemblyAssembly– Socialist Revolutionaries (Peasants PartyPeasants Party)

won major victorywon major victory• Lenin disbanded them Lenin disbanded them by force after

only 1 day (1/18/1918)

Bolsheviks

• Civil War began – “Long live the Soviets,

down with the Bolsheviks.”

– Whites• Tsarist reactionariesreactionaries,

liberalsliberals, bourgeoisbourgeois, zemstvos, Constitutional Demo, MensheviksMensheviks, and Social Social Revolutionaries Revolutionaries

• United by their hatred of Bolsheviks

– Reds• Bolsheviks (Lenin &

Trotsky)

Whites v. Reds (1917-1921)

Propaganda poster from the

era (1919), depicting a caricature

Leon Trotsky (as

a large demon like figure with bright red

skin.

Trotsky slaying the Reactionary Dragon:The picture alludes to an icon of St. George slaying a dragon, popular in the Russian Orthodox church. The inscription on the worm says Counter-revolution

Whites v. Reds• 18 self proclaimed

competing governments competing with Lenin

• White Army closed in on White Army closed in on Reds in Autumn of 1919Reds in Autumn of 1919

• Yet by 1921 the Bolsheviks had prevailed

• How?• Whites

– Strategically disorganized

– Politically undefined & Politically undefined & divideddivided• Labeled conservativeLabeled conservative

• Clearly defined political beliefs• Strategically united• Superior Army

– Trotsky– Organized Red ArmyRed Army– Drastic discipline (deserters shot on sight)– Utilized former Tsar officers

• War Communism– Total War Total War concept to a civil war– Nationalized banks, industry– Authorized labor unions to take food from the

farmers– Rationed vital resources

• Revolutionary Terror– ChekaCheka (Extraordinary All-Russian Commission of

Struggle Against Counterrevolution, Speculation, and Sabotage) secret police

– Executed “class enemiesclass enemies”• Killed circus clown who poked fun at

Bolsheviks– Silenced political opposition

Why the Bolsheviks Won

The first questions you should put to the accused… To what class does he belong, what is his origin, his education, profession? These should determine the fate of the accused

Click for Clip (8:09)

Anastasia Romanov

Anna AndersonAnastasia Romanov