Download Aim: What were the causes of the Russian Revolution?

Aim: What were the causes of the
Russian Revolution?
Key Terms
Autocrat – Ruler with absolute power
(Absolute Monarch)
 Emancipate – To set free
 Duma – Elected representative legislature (i.e.
Parliament)
 Proletariat – Industrial Working Class/Urban
Poor

Czarist (Tsarist)Russia
1) Most Populous Nation in Europe
2) Rigid Social Class Structure
 Serf Class is Emancipated (Freed)
3) Autocracy – Leader has TOTAL power
4) Czars DO NOT MEET THE NEEDS OF THE
PEOPLE
5) Not as Industrialized as Western Europe
GFMNP  REVOLUTION
Leaders in Russia
 Czar
or Tsar – Russian Ruler
 Czar Nicholas II

Brutal Leader
 Czar Alexander
 Abolished
II
Serfdom
 Czar Alexander
III
Problems in Russia
Citizens are Internally Divided
1)

2)
3)
4)
5)
Only ½ Population is Russian, All have different needs
Not as industrialized as Western Europe
No Voice in Government (No
representation)/Needs are not being met
Harsh Working Conditions/Lives for Poor
Russo-Japanese War (lost) + WWI
Bloody Sunday
January 22, 1905
 200,000 workers approached the czar’s winter
palace in St. Petersburg
 Petition for:

1) Better Working Conditions
2) More Freedom/Personal Liberties
3) Representation in Government/Elected Legislature
Troops open fire on workers
 Led to More Violence

Bloody Sunday
Early Reform in Russia
1) Czar Nicholas II created the Duma
 Duma
– Parliament, Elected Legislature
2) Prime Minister – Peter Stolypin
 Cracked
down on revolutionaries
 Agricultural/Educational Reforms to
help peasants
World War I
Tsar Enters War to Unify Nation
TOTAL DISASTER

1) Nicholas II moves to the Eastern Front to run army
 No LEADERSHIP  Tsarina is in charge
2) Russian Army is not well equipped (lack of industry)
3) Many young Russians are dying
4) War is expensive/People are starving
The March Revolution
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March 1917 – Women Textile Workers Strike
“Down with the Autocracy, Down with the War”
200,000 Stormed the Streets – Soldiers ordered to
shoot rioters but joined them instead
Czar Nicholas II Steps Down
Duma established a Provisional Government headed
by Alexander Kerensky (moderate socialist)

Free Elections, Free Speech, Freedom to Assembly and
Freedom of Religion
November BOLSHEVIK Revolution
 V.I. Lenin
Leads Bolsheviks
 “Peace, Land and Bread”
 Bolshevik Red Guards toppled Provisional
Government
 Bolsheviks in Power
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Lenin ordered all farmland to be delivered to
peasants
Gave control of factories to workers
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (leaves WWI)
Socialism/Marxism in Russia
Karl Marx Philosophy
 Proletariat would overthrow government
 Proletariat – Industrial Working Class
 Russian Marxists Split into 2 Groups:
 Mensheviks – Moderate
 Bolsheviks – Radical
 Vladimir Ilyich Lenin
Socialist Revolutionaries Formed Soviets
 Soviets – Local councils of workers, peasants and
soldiers

Civil War in Russia
 White Army
(Loyalists) vs. Red Army
(Communists)
 Leon Trotsky Leads Red Army
 14 Million Dead
 Famine, Fighting, Flu
 Lenin Restores Order
 RUSSIA= 1st COMMUNIST Nation
IMPACT OF THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION

Civil War is won by the BOLSHEVIKS (Communists)
 Lenin
takes over as Dictator
 NEW ECONOMIC POLICY (NEP)
1) Small Scale Capitalism
2) Peasants could sell surplus crops
3) Government kept control of major industries
Country Recovers from Civil War
 Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)

Aim: How did Russia become a
Totalitarian State?
Totalitarianism
Totalitarian State – A state in which the
government controls ALL aspects of its citizens’
lives.
Command Economy – Government officials make
all basic economic decisions.
Purges – Attempts to get rid of any DISSENT in
society (Violent)
Collectivization – Process of combining all private
land and placing it under government control.
Features of Totalitarian Rule
Dynamic Leader: A strong leader that provides
SIMPLE SOLUTIONS TO COMPLEX PROBLEMS.
 Police Terror: Secret police eliminate all
opposition, rule through fear.
 Indoctrination: “Brainwashing,” imparting specific
ideas/fundamentals upon youth.
 Propaganda: Government action to influence
peoples’ positions or ideas.
 Censorship: Government limitation of media

Religious/Ethnic Persecution: Targeting of
minority groups to eliminate or disenfranchise.
 State More Important Than Individual:
Individual rights and freedoms are sacrificed for the
good of the state.
 Autocratic Government/Dictatorship:
Powerful government with TOTAL control, oneparty dictatorships.

Stalin’s 5 Year Plans
Goals
1. Build Heavy Industry
2. Improve Transportation
3. Increase Farm Output
(COLLECTIVIZATION)
Results of the 5 Year Plans
Economic: COMMUNISM, Industrialized,
Increased Production, Few Consumer Goods,
Central Planning  Surpluses/Shortages
Political: Increased Stalin’s Power-Totalitarianism,
Soviet Union becomes a powerful Modern State
Social: Elimination of all dissidents, religious and
ethnic persecution, brutal regime (millions
killed), no individual rights/freedoms
Collectivization in Agriculture
Agriculture Under Government Control (Totalitarian).
State Set Prices and Controlled Supplies
 Collectives
– State owned farms
Goals of COLLECTIVIZATION:
 Increase farm/agricultural output
 Increase government power.
EXTREME Resistance to Collectivization
Kulaks – Wealthy Farmers who resisted
Collectivization by killing animals/destroying farm tools.
“De-Kulakization”: Stalin’s Goal was to “Liquidate the
Kulaks as a Class”
Government took ALL grain
 Forced Starvation
RESULTS OF COLLECTIVIZATION
1) Famine
2) Increase in Government Power
Terror Famine – Forced Famine
Ukrainian Forced Famine
(Terror Famine)
 Kulaks
= Wealth Farmers, Resisted
Collectivization, “Liquidate the Kulaks”
 Forced Starvation = 10-15 Million Dead
The Legacy of Joseph Stalin
The Great Purge:
Government sponsored ttacks against anyone that was a threat
to power. 8 – 13 Million Dead
Women: Role in workforce expanded, harsh life
Workers: Harsh Conditions, Child Labor, Low Wages,
Unions outlawed. Increased Education.
Secret Police: Cheka  KGB, Used violence and
terror to create a state of fearful obedience.
**LITTLE/NO INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS
Religious Persecution
GOAL: Replace Religion with Communism
1.
Police Destroyed Churches and
SynagoguesKilled Clergy
(Russian Orthodox Church)
2. POGROMS – Waves of Violence Against
Jews
3. Government Propaganda attacked
religion, promoted Atheism
Russian Revolution Review Terms
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Westernization: The process of becoming industrialized
and modernized (like Western Europe)
Socialism: Means of production (businesses) shared by the
public.
Communism: Classless society in which means of
production are collectively owned. Soviet Union is the 1st
communist country.
Command Economy: Economic system in which
government controls SUPPLY.
Pogroms: Waves of violence against the Jewish poulation
Absolute Monarchy: Autocracy in which the leader has
complete authority.
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Totalitarian Government: Government that controls ALL
aspects of life.
Censorship: Government control of the MEDIA
Famine: Starvation, not enough food; Stalin used a
FORCED FAMINE to crush Ukrainian nationalism.
Collective: Large government run farm; Stalin used
collectives to increase agricultural production.
Dissent: To oppose; Stalin’s Great Purge attempted to
eliminate all dissenters.
Heavy Industry: Major goal of Stalin’s 5 year plans was to
build up heavy industry (steel, coal, electricity)
Proletariat: Working class
Soviet: Local organization of workers

Commissars-Government Officials
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Kulaks: Wealthy aristocratic land owners
Gulag: Forced labor camp, prison
Atheism: Non-believer in religion
Russification: To become like Russia
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