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Chapter 27-4
The Russian Revolution
Nicholas II
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Peter Stolypin New Prime Minister
Tried to push through agrarian reforms
Designed to break down collective ownership of
the mirs
And encouraged enterprising peasants: Kulaks
Much land transferred from communes to
private ownership
Peter Stolypin
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1911 was assassinated (probably instigated by
nobles who believed his policies to be too
liberal)
1911-1914 Many industrial strikes and peasant
violence
Indications of dissatisfaction with Tsar’s regime
Russia’s poor showing during WWI led directly
to tsar’s downfall
Socialism in Russia
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1898 Vladamir Lenin founded the Social
Democratic Workers Party
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Was exiled to Switzerland
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Lenin was the heir to Marx in Socialist thought
Lenin’s Socialist Philosophy
3.
Lenin believed a highly disciplined workers’
party, strictly controlled by dedicated elite
intellectuals and full-time revolutionaries
The above is where Lenin broke with Marx
who believed that the revolution would be
controlled by the workers
Three Basic Ideas Central to Lenin’s
Philosophy:
1. Capitalism could be destroyed only by violent
revolution
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He denounced revisionism
2. Socialist revolution was possible even in
backward Russia (not yet capitalist)
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Peasants were poor…so potential revolutionaries
By 1903 The Social Democratic
Workers’ Party split
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Mensheviks (the minority) wanted to delay the
revolution until after the evolution of capitalism
and the proletariat.
They wanted a more democratic party with mass
membership
Bolsheviks (the majority) followed Lenin
After the Revolution of 1905…
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The Bolsheviks in exile planned a revolution
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Lenin and Leon Trotsky formed Workers’
Soviets: councils of workers, soldiers, and
intellectuals
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The influence of the above increased prior to
WWI
Causes for the overthrow of the Tsar
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Russia’s poor showing against the Japanese in
the Russo-Japanese War
The lack of reform after the Revolution of 1905
The impact of WWI (the most important cause)
Massive casualties, food shortages
 Tsar’s leadership seemed incompetent
 Tsarina was a German Princess and widely hated
 The influence of Rasputin
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The February Revolution of 1917
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Massive strikes in Jan. and Feb. led to food
shortages
Women rioted for bread in St. Petersburg and
were supported by workers and soldiers
Demonstrators demanded the overthrow of the
tsar and the creation of a provisional
government
February Revolution
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Thousands of soldiers who were ordered to
suppress the strike joined the revolution
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March 2, 1917 Nicholas II abdicated
The royal family was placed under house arrest
March 12th the Duma declared a provisional
government
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The Provisional Government
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Was a dual government
Constitutional Democrats and Liberals who
wanted to continue the war was one part
The Petrograd Soviet (the workers and soldiers
who actually overthrew the tsar) were the other
part…Mensheviks led the government
The Soviets accepted the above…temporarily
Alexander Kerensky
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Kerensky was the leader of the provisional
government but maintained his membership in
the Soviet
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Wanted peace without losing territory to the
Central Powers
The government WAS NOT exclusively
bourgeoisie…workers and soldiers too
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Reforms
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Equality before the law
Freedom of religion, speech, assembly
The right to form unions and to strike
Amnesty of political prisoners
Election of local officials
8-Hour work day
Kerensky
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Rejected outright social revolution
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Did not want to confiscate large landholdings
and distribute to peasants
March 1, 1917
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Army Order #1 : to replace officers loyal to the
tsar with officers who were committed to the
revolution
Placed power in the hands of elected
committees of common soldiers
Big Mistake: soldiers were worried about
possible future charges of treason
Army discipline collapsed
The Allies
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Formally recognized the Provisional government
in Russia in hopes that Russia would continue to
fight in WWI
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BUT Russia plagued by anarchy:
Nationalities and local government took matters into
their own hands
 Peasants took land (violently) from large
landowners)
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The October Revolution 1917
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Resulted in a Communist Dictatorship
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Germany arranged for Lenin to be transported
back to Russia in a sealed RR car in April 1917
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He hoped to get Russia out of the war by
inciting a more radical revolution which would
demand peace
The April Thesis
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Lenin rejected all cooperation with the
“bourgeoisie” provisional government
Called for a socialist revolution and the
establishment of a Soviet Republic
He called for the nationalization of Banks and
landed estates
“All power to the Soviets” “All land to the
Peasants” “Stop the war now!”
Lenin
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The Provisional government tried unsuccessfully
to suppress the Bolsheviks
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Lenin was forced to flee to Finland but
continued to issue directives to the Bolsheviks
while in exile
By Summer of 1917, the Bolsheviks gained a
slim majority in the Petrograd Soviet
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The Kornilov Affair August 1917
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Conservatives plotted the overthrow of
Kerensky’s government
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They were unhappy with
His handling of the war
 His inability to suppress the Bolsheviks
 The peasant seizures of land
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The Kornilov Affair
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The plot failed without bloodshed
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BUT Kerensky lost credibility with the army
AND the fear of right-wing
counterrevolutionaries played into the
Bolsheviks’ hands
They set themselves up as defenders of the
revolution
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The fall of the provisional
government
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Was largely due to Kerensky’s determination to
continue the war
AND his inability to prevent anarchy
The Politburo
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Was formed to organize the Bolshevik
revolution
Led by Lenin, Trotsky, Stalin, Zinoviev,
Kamenev and Bukharin
October 25, 1917 Trotsky (leader of the Red
Army and the Petrograd Soviet) overthrew the
Provisional government
Opponents of the Bolsheviks
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Were arrested…including many Mensheviks
The Cheka (secret police) was created to deal
with opposition…had absolute power and were
universally feared
New elections to the new Constituent assembly
Lenin’s campaign “Peace, Land, Bread”
Bolsheviks lost…had only 29% of the vote
But took power anyway by Jan. 1918
The Communist Party
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The new name for the Bolsheviks
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Though they were a minority, the Bolsheviks
were able to maintain power
Lenin’s Reforms
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Lenin gave the land to the peasants (though they
had already taken it)
But by doing this he was perceived as a friend to
the peasants
Lenin gave direct control of the factories to
committees of workers
Lenin took Russia out of the war
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
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March 1918
Lenin wanted peace at any price
Russia lost 1/3 of its population and 25% of its
land to Germany
Also lost Baltic lands: Poland, the Ukraine,
Finland
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was nullified with
Germany’s defeat
The Russian Civil War 1918-1920
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Reds (Bolsheviks) v Whites (many different
groups claiming to represent the “real” interests
of Russia and old army officers)
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Both sides brutal
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Civil War caused over 2 million people to leave
Russia
Allies sent troops to help Whites
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Archangel Expedition in Murmansk tried to
keep military supplies from going to the Reds
U.S. contributed about 5,000 troops
Allies also sent troops to Siberia to save
marooned Czechs who tried to prevent
Bolsheviks from gaining supplies AND to
prevent Japan from taking Siberia
War Communism
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Bolsheviks applied concept of Total War to the
Civil War
Declared that all land was nationalized
State took control of heavy industries and ended
private trade
Above caused a huge decline in production
Peasants were forced to deliver food to towns
War Communism
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The Cheka hunted down and executed
thousands of opponents
They executed the Romanovs
By 1921 the Reds were victorious
Communists were highly organized and
disciplined
The Whites were divided and poorly organized
Trotsky was awesome with the army
The USSR
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1922 The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
was created
The world’s first communist country
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The Russian Revolution:
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15 million died
 Economy ruined
 International trade gone
 Millions of workers fled the country
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