Download Russian Revolution Student Handout

Name: ___________________________________________________________________Period: __________ Date: __________
Russian Revolution
Standard: Be able to identify the major political and economic factors that shaped world societies between
World War I and World War II.
Essential Question: What were the major political and economic factors that shaped world societies
between World War I and World War II?
Determine the causes and results of the Russian Revolution from the rise of the Bolsheviks under
Lenin to Stalin’s first Five Year Plan.
The Russian Revolution
Czarist Russia:
Impact of World War I:
March Revolution:
Provisional Government:
Rise of the Bolsheviks
Vladimir Lenin:
Out of Exile:
Bolshevik Revolution:
Civil War:
Essential Question: What were the major political and economic factors that shaped world societies
between World War I and World War II?
Results of the Russian Revolution:
Establishment of the Soviet Union
Challenges:
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR):
New Leadership
Leon Trotsky:
Joseph Stalin:
Stalin’s Five Year Plan
Description:
Industry:
Agriculture:
Response:
The Purge:
Russian Revolution
Standard: Be able to identify the major political and economic factors that shaped world societies between
World War I and World War II.
Essential Question: What were the major political and economic factors that shaped world societies
between World War I and World War II?
b. Determine the causes and results of the Russian Revolution from the rise of the Bolsheviks under
Lenin to Stalin’s first Five Year Plan.
The Russian Revolution
Czarist Russia:
 under Nicholas II
 lagged behind the rest of Europe
 technology was not as advanced
 lacked modern industrialization
 entered World War I and was not prepared for
war
 the nation was poor
 many peasants were starving
March Revolution:
 erupted in 1917
 among the lower working classes, strikes broke
out
 Czar Nicholas II ordered troops to put down the
uprisings
 many of his soldiers switched sides and joined
the rebellious crowds
 Czar Nicholas II abdicated the throne on March
12
Rise of the Bolsheviks
Vladimir Lenin:
 a Russian revolutionary (a Marxist)
 opposed the czarist regime
 went into exile and fled to Switzerland after
being arrested for his revolutionary views and
imprisoned in Siberia
Bolshevik Revolution:
 Promised to redistribute land and food to the
poor, put power in the hands of the people, and
pull Russia out of World War I
 soon seized control of the Russian Government
 sign peace treaty with Germany and leave World
War I
Impact of World War I:
 exhausted more money and food away from
Russia’s citizens to support the war effort
 millions of Russians, both soldiers and civilians,
suffered and died
 the czar became more unpopular
 people of all classes began calling for change in
the Russian government
Provisional Government:
 Provisional(temporary) government takes over
 Russia stays in World War I
 Russian people continued to suffer
Out of Exile:
 Lenin returned to Russia
 with support of Germany
 became the leader of a socialist party known as
the Bolsheviks
Civil War:
 three-year war
 between the Bolsheviks and other Russian
factions that opposed their communist ideas
 allied countries (Great Britain, France, Japan, and
the United States) also sent troops to Russia to
support the anti-Communist forces
 wanted to encourage Russia to re-enter the war
 the Bolsheviks eventually won
Essential Question: What were the major political and economic factors that shaped world societies between World War I and
World War II?
Results of the Russian Revolution:
 by 1921 Russia was firmly Communist
 leaders never forgot the way Western nations sided with the anti-Communists
 start of mistrust between the West and Communist East
 transfer of power in Russia from aristocrats to leaders from the lower classes
 Russia ushered into the industrial age
 people moved out of the country and into the cities
 importance of education to catch up to the West
 Bolsheviks determined to become self-sufficient from Western Europe
Establishment of the Soviet Union
Challenges:
 famine killed millions in Russia
 nation’s industry collapsed
 Lenin’s New Economic Policy
 allowed a limited amount of private ownership, while still
maintaining state control over large industries and banks
New Leadership
Leon Trotsky:
 lead the army during the Bolshevik Revolution and the
Russian Civil War
 leader of a faction after Lenin’s death
 wanted to turn back Lenin’s economic changes
 allow the state to seize all property and launch a massive
program of industrialization
 followers believed that the Soviet Union should do all in its
power to encourage communist revolutions in other nations
Stalin’s Five Year Plan
Description:
 a plan for economic and military development
Industry:
 sought to increase industrialization in the Soviet Union
 established new, industrial cities and focused on the
production of capital goods (goods used to make other
goods, such as machines)
Response:
 many peasants resented this plan
 protesteded by hoarding crops and killing livestock
 the protest contributed to a famine that killed millions of
Soviets during the early 1930s
 Stalin’s policies did successfully increase industrial
production
 did little to care for the new industrial workforce
 many Soviet workers lived in poverty as they worked long
hours
 communism offered no promise of more money or
promotions for hard work
 Stalin’s government appealed to national loyalty and used
the fear of punishment as motivation for Soviet workers
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR):
 established in 1922 by the Communist Party
 improved agricultural conditions and new policies revived
the economy
 Lenin died in 1924
Joseph Stalin:
 emerged as the nation’s dictator
 joined the Bolsheviks in 1903
 won Lenin’s favor after leading a bank robbery to get
money for the party’s cause
 became general secretary of the party under Lenin
 responsible for appointing people to important party posts
 used his position to appoint people who later helped him
seize and maintain his power
Agriculture:
 transformed agriculture
 instead of independent farms owned by peasants, Stalin
collectivized agriculture
 people worked state-owned land together instead of owning
private land
The Purge:
 systematically eliminated those perceived to be a threat
 had Bolshevik leaders and a number of military officers
tried and convicted of crimes
 many were executed
 others shipped to prison camps in Siberia
 Trotsky fled to Mexico, only to be murdered with a pickax
in 1940
 Stalin murdered millions of his own people before the end
of his regime in 1953