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 What are things like in Russia in the early 1900’s?
 Almost 100 million peasants, a small noble class and
almost no middle class around 1900.
 Much of the country had been peasant farmers.
Farmers faced problems of debt and not enough land
to go around.
 The growth of industrialization had led many people
to the cities. There was a new middle class growing,
but most workers were poor, worked in bad conditions
and lived in slums.
 We saw that after the 1905 Revolution, things had
become a bit more stable.
 Tsar Nicholas had made some changes, such as
allowing the formation of the Duma, legalizing trade
unions and peasants were allowed to buy land.
 However the Tsar did not give the Duma any real
power and he and his wife were increasingly
unpopular.
 The Bolsheviks and Mensheviks continued to argue
over how a new revolution should happen.
 When WWI broke out in 1914 it soon crippled the
economy.
 As the war progressed, inflation and taxes increased, and
the people could barely supply themselves with food.
 The 1917 Revolution began with protests breaking out in St.
Petersburg in February. Protesters demanded food, an end
to the war, and more power for the Duma. Soon more
protests began and soldiers began to fire on rioters, leading
to more unrest.
 Within weeks nearly the whole city was on strike and
marching in the streets.
 The Tsar ordered the soldiers in Saint Petersburg to
put down the protests, but they mutinied and many
joined the protesters.
 A provisional government was formed, while the
socialist parties establish the Petrograd Soviet to
represent workers and soldiers.
 Nicholas was soon convinced to abdicate and the
provisional government took over.
 The provisional government and the Petrograd Soviet
would begin to complete for political influence.
 Over the spring the Mensheviks and other moderate
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socialists worked with the provisional government and its
new leader, Alexander Kerensky.
Kerensky promoted more freedoms but refused to end the
war, which made him increasingly unpopular.
He was also unable to solve the shortages of food and other
economic problems.
People were also angry that the provisional government
was not elected. Kerensky promised elections in
September.
Meanwhile the Bolsheviks opposed the war and the
provisional government.
 The leaders of the Petrograd Soviet believed that they
represented particular classes of the population, not the
whole nation. They also believed Russia was not ready for
socialism.
 They saw their role as limited to pressuring hesitant
"bourgeoisie" to rule and to introduce democratic reforms
in Russia (the replacement of the monarchy by a republic,
guaranteed civil rights, a democratic police and army,
abolition of religious and ethnic discrimination,
preparation of elections to a constituent assembly, and so
on).
 They met in the same building as the Provisional
Government so as not to compete with the Duma
Committee for state power but to put pressure on the new
government
 Believing that the Bolsheviks would weaken the Russian
war effort and perhaps even end their involvement in the
war, the Germans helped Lenin to return to Russia.
 Lenin was put on a secret train and arrived in Saint
Petersburg in April 1917.
 With Lenin's arrival, the popularity of the Bolsheviks
increased steadily.
 Over the course of the spring, public dissatisfaction with
the Provisional Government and the war, in particular
among workers, soldiers and peasants, pushed these
groups to support radical parties like the Bolsheviks.
 Once in Saint Petersburg, Lenin urged the Bolsheviks
to take power.
 The Bolsheviks had been growing in numbers and now
there were several hundred thousand members.
 Lenin allied with Trotsky, the chairman of the
Petrograd Soviet. They convinced the other Bolsheviks
the time was right for revolution.
 On 23 October 1917, the Bolsheviks' Central
Committee voted 10–2 for a resolution saying that "an
armed uprising is inevitable, and that the time for it is
fully ripe”
 On 25 October 1917, Bolsheviks led their forces in the
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uprising in Petrograd against the provisional government.
The Bolsheviks’ armed members, known as the Red Guard,
took control of key locations throughout Saint Petersburg.
The provisional government was Kerensky was forced to
flee
As Kerensky left Petrograd, Lenin penned a proclamation
"To the Citizens of Russia" stating that the Provisional
Government had been overthrown by the Military
Revolutionary Committee.
The proclamation was sent via telegram all throughout
Russia, even as the pro-Soviet soldiers were seizing
important control centers throughout the city.
 The revolutions was mostly bloodless, with a final
assault being launched against the Winter Palace,
poorly defended by 3,000 soldiers.
 While the cabinet of the provisional government
within the palace debated what action to take, the
Bolsheviks issued an ultimatum to surrender.
 Workers and soldiers occupied the last of the
telegraph stations, cutting off the cabinet's
communications with loyal military forces outside the
city.
 The various revolutionary groups debated over who
should take power and how.
 The Mensheviks and moderates left the talks, leaving
the Bolsheviks to claim power.
 “You are miserable bankrupts. You have played your
role. Go where you belong, into the dustbin of history.”
– Trotsky
 Not everyone would agree to Bolshevik control. A
vicious civil war would soon begin.