Download The Russian Revolution

The Russian Revolution
• A. The Fall of Czar Nicholas II
• 1. Rasputin had damaged the Czar’s popularity with
his people and the aristocracy
• 2. The war had caused severe food and fuel
shortages
– 3. On March 11,12 1917 a woman's march was held in
which the women called “Down with the Czar”
– Soldiers refused to break up the march and joined the
protest
– On the 15th of March the Czar abdicated the Throne
The Provisional Government
• With the abdication of the Czar power
transferred to a temporary government.
– The provisional government called for elections
to choose a constitutional assembly (Duma)
– The provisional government had a rival for
power .
• The Petrograd Soviet
– The Petrograd Soviet was made up of workers and
peasants belonging to various socialist groups
The Petrograd Soviet
• The Majority of the membership were
Mensheviks (Social Revolutionaries)
• A smaller more radical group was the
Bolsheviks (Communist)
Alexander Kerensky
• He was a man who could move between the
Provisional Government and the Petrograd
Soviet.
– He served as Prime Minister in the Provisional
Government and was on the Executive
Committee of the Petrograd Soviet
simultaneously
• The Petrograd Soviet will become a model
for other Soviets throughout Russia.
• Together the Soviets called for an end to the war
with Germany and transfer of land to the peasants
and control of the factories by the workers.
• This three point program quickly gained the
support of the majority of the Russian
people
The Provisional Government
makes a poor decision
• In spite of the suffering and anger of the Russian
people the Provisional Government continues to
fight the war.
– The government could not conduct the war and solve
the social problems simultaneously
– The Army faced shortages in supplies and many men
deserted.
• This caused the Provisional Government to lose
the support of the people and lead to its downfall
Lenin
• Believed that a socialist
society could be
introduced by force
• Believed that this
revolutionary movement
would spread worldwide
• Urged a revolution by his
small group of followers
to topple the Provisional
Government
The Bolshevik Revolution
• In November of 1917 the Bolsheviks under Lenin
overthrew the Provisional Government in the
name of the soviets.
– Lenin's first move was end Russian involvement in
WWI
– Lenin negotiated a separate peace with Germany, Treaty
of Brest-Litovsk, in March 1918
– Lenin did not mind the treaty because he felt that
Germany would so have a revolution and become
communist also.
Civil War in Russia
• During the early months of 1918 a civil war
began in Russia
• The Allied powers; England, France America
helped those fighting against the Bolsheviks.
– This was motivated by a desire to bring Russia back
into the war
• The Allies sent equipment, men, and money to the rebels,
called Whites, who promised quick victory over the Reds
(Communist)
• After three years of fighting the Bolsheviks (Reds)
won
Peace
• In the spring of 1918 the Germans made one last
attempt to win the war by capturing Paris.
– They come within 37 miles of Paris before they were
stopped
• The Germans had used up what was left of their
reserves and equipment and the Allies counterattacked. Lead by fresh American troops they
pushed the Germans back to the border with
Germany
• In the Middle East Arabs seeking
independence form the Ottoman Empire
joined with the British and French and
destroyed the Ottoman’s.
• By December of 1917 the English occupied the city
of Jerusalem in Palestine
The End Comes
• As the resistance of the Central Powers decreasing
the Allies drove into the Balkans and Turkey asked
for peace.
• The Italians defeated the Austrians at Vittorio
Veneto and Austria Surrenders
• Germany alone stood against the allies, the Kaiser
abdicated and fled the country and an Armistice
was signed on November 11th 1918
The Effects of the War
• Europe was shattered
• Governments were bankrupt
• Revolution threaten much of Europe
• The old Aristocratic political order was dead
– Boundaries of parts of the Middle East, Asia, and Africa
had to be redrawn
•
•
•
•
Human misery was common place
9-10 million soldiers were dead
21 million had been wounded
13 million civilians were dead
Woodrow Wilson’s 14 Points
• A peace plan whose terms included
•
•
•
•
•
•
International recognition of freedom of the seas and trade
Limitations of weapons
An end to secret alliances
Just settlement of colonial claims
The right of self-rule for all nations
The establishment of a “general assembly of nations” to settle
future problems peacefully
• It was on these terms that Germany thought the
final peace would be based
Problems develop
England could not support any plan that did
not grant them control of the seas. They
could not support the idea of open seas.
France had reservations over the idea of no
annexations, no contributions, and no
punitive damages. France demanded that
Germany pay for the cost of the war.
The Treaty of Versailles
• Punished Germany severely
• Reduced the size of Germany
–
–
–
–
France was given Alsace-Lorraine
France would control the Saar Basin
The allies would occupy the Rhineland
Poland was created out of lands previously controlled by
Germany and Austria
– Germany was stripped of its overseas colonies and the allies took
them over as mandates (The Ottoman Empire was also divided
up into mandates)
• The Germans would pay war reparations for damage and the
cost of fighting the war
• Only four of the fourteen points ended up in
the treaty
• The League of nations was included
New Nations
As a result of the treaties which ended WWI several
new nations were created from the ashes of the
German, Austrian, and Ottoman Empires
Finland
Estonia
Latvia
Lithuania
Poland
Czechoslovakia
Yugoslavia
Serbia Achieves its goal
• Yugoslavia was created as a country for the
Southern Slavs
• This was a creation that would come back to cause
problems in the future because it brought many
ethnic groups together with significant cultural
differences. Slavic Nationalism was satisfied but
new nationalistic movements were created that
would lead to the re-division of Yugoslavia in the
1990’s
The Middle East
• The Allies did not give the Arabs their
independence as promised.
• Palestine, Trans Jordan, and Iraq became English
Mandates
• Syria and Lebanon became French Mandates
• This would lead to future problems and ill feeling
between the Arabs and Western Countries
Bitter Fruits
• The seeds of the Second World War were
sown in the treatment of Germany at the
end of WWI.
• The harsh punishments dealt on Germany
caused starvation and hardships which
created fertile ground for Hitler and the
Nazi’s