Download Russian Revolution

Russian Revolution
Whoo
hoo!
1917 (February, March Revolution)
• Spontaneous worker uprising
• Causes existed for long time
Aw, man!
I missed
the
beginning.
Bread shortage protest (Feb 23 OS /
March 8 NS)
–
–
–
–
–
Started Vyborg factories / plants: no black bread
Spread: Petrograd, Rozhdestvenskii, Liteinyi districts
In 1 day, 87 534 men on strike
Forced trams to quit
Chased by police, dispersed, gathered elsewhere
Feb 25 OS / March 10 NS: Food
Shortage Telegram
• Feb 24: 200 000 workers on strike
• Stopped streetcars
• Feb 23-4: workers to Nevsky, dispersed, but
violence
• No force from troops, but 4 injured
• Feb 25 entered Nevsky: resisted by troops,
dispersed by Cossacks
• Police officer killed, 100 Light Guards + 5
Reserve Cavalry Regiment squads called in
Feb 26 OS (March 11 NS):
Telegram from Commander to Tsar
• Feb 25, Tsar on front lines
• Demonstrators rallied against war: “Down
with the war!”
• Warned about arms used against
• Platoon of Dragoons opened fire on
crowd: killed 3, wounded 10
• Feb 26: 240 000 workers on strike
• Tsar Nicolas: order all to be stopped next
day
Revolutionaries Take Over
• With protests, rev. leaders took advantage
• Bolscheviks, Mensheviks, Socialist
Revolutionaries banded together: called 3-day
general strike
• “lawnessness,” government “paralyzed,”
• Transportation, food supply, fuel stopped
• Disorderly shooting in streets, troops shooting
one another
• Feb 26 OS (March 12 NS): 60 000 soldiers join
revolutionaries
Soviet (Council) Established
• Striking workers + Soldiers: Bolsheviks,
Mensheviks, Social Revolutionaries
• Later challenges Provisional Government,
set up by Duma (National Gov. in Tsarist
Russia – little power)
• Revolutionaries control Petrograd
– 4 regiments of Home Guard joined rev.
– More troops join: tired, propaganda
Provisional Government
-- Chairman of State arrested
-- Disobey Tsar: don’t dissolve Duma
-- Duma; some party leaders create rev. gov.:
Petrograd Soviet Workers + Soldiers’ Deputies –
elects council from workers, rebel troops
-- declare all Russians equal, grant: freedom of speech,
religion, press, assembly, legal unions / strikes
-- plan to continue war
Telegram to Tsar: former gov. members removed,
admin. Power given to Provisional Gov.
Tsar Nicholas Abdicates
(steps down): March 2 OS /
March 15 NS
• Gives title to son Alexis, with
Tsar’s brother to have
control
• Brother refuses succession
• Romanov line ends (1613 –
1917)
• Tsar returns to palace,
arrested, confined to palace
• Provisional Government now
has power
He he.
See ya.
Provisional Government
• Goals: prepare for permanent gov, continue in
WW1 against Germany
• Believed all land to go to peasants, didn’t do this
• Peasants upset
• Inflation on rise, transportation not working, food
shortages, low industry production
• Demonstrations against gov, mainly about war
• Soldiers / Workers / Peasants: all wanted
peace, reform, land
• Gov asked them to wait.
• Tired of waiting, people turned to revolutionaries
So, Conflict of Power to Run
Russia:
• Provisional Government (old
Duma, new members)
VS
• Petrograd Soviet of Workers’
& Soldiers’ Deputies
(Bolsheviks, Mensheviks,
Socialist Revolutionaries)
I’ve got
good bets
on those
Bolshis . .
Soviets Appearing All Over Russia
• Wanted socialism in Russia
• Against Provisional Government
• Included Petrograd Soviet of
Workers & Soldiers’ Deputies
• Success of revolution depended
on support around Russia
• Soviets spread revolution around
Russia
A Soviet
is a
Council,
my
comrades
Where’s Lenin?
• During Feb. Revolution: in exile
(Switzerland) – Trotsky in US
• Arrived Petrograd: April 16, met
Bolsheviks, Soviet reps, 100s
others
Uh . . .
Right
here . .
.
More Demonstrations /
Strikes
• Bolsheviks incited more, 1000s joined
mass demonstrations: May, June
– Bolsheviks demanded end to Provisional
Gov.
– Carried signs: “All Power to the Soviets,”
“Bread, Peace & Freedom”
– Most supported Provis. Gov, against
Bolsheviks
– End June: Prov. Gov little power, Soviets
= no direction, Lenin leading Bolsheviks
– Groups plotted against each other for
control
Go, my
little
comrades
, go!
Alexander Kerensky
• June, became leader of small
socialist party, now prime
minister of Russia
• Main goal: parlaimentary
democracy: gov. directly
elected by people
• Well educated, great speaker
• Lacked strong leadership
• Faced opposition in weeks
I shall
squash
you like
the little
svolotch
you are.
Kornilov Affair
• 1st serious opposition to Kerensky
(Sept)
• General Kornilov tried to overthrow
Prov. Gov., but military takeover never
happened
• To prevent, Kerensky freed from
prison many Bolsh. Leaders
• Supplied arms to many
revolutionaries – (later known as Red
Guards) -- key role in Oct./ Nov.
Russian Revolution
He he.
Silly
man
with
your
silly
guns.
Bolsheviks
• Lenin arrived, but group not strong to
overthrow Prov. Gov.
Excuse,
me . . .
• Continued to plan to overthrow
Over here .
..
• Promised:
– End to war
– Land to peasants
– Food into shops
Greatest gains of all 3 rev. groups since March:
support in Russia rising for Bolsheviks
October / November Revolution =
Bolshevik Revolution
• All over, peasant rebellion: raiding,
seizing land, livestock, etc.
• Sept. 25: Lenin hiding in Finland,
letter to Bolsheviks w/ plans for armed
seizure of Prov. Gov.. Bolsheviks
couldn’t decide where to seize gov.
• Oct. 23: Lenin, in disguise, to secret
Bolshevik meeting in Petrograd.
Stalin there. Lenin convinced
members to rebel: armed uprising b/c
had strong leaders, well-organized
I looked
swingin’
in my
fake wig
and
beard.
• Nov 4: Mass Bolshevik meeting (1000s)
• Nov 5: Kerensky: special cabinet meeting for
Prov. Gov – declaring Russia in state of
emergency, to arrest Trotsky, other Bolshevik
leaders
• Nov 6: Prov. Gov ordered “Aurora” to sea,
commanders (Bolsheviks) told “no” by Trotsky,
who then orders removal of 1000s guns from
Fortress of Peter & Paul to arm Red Guards
(Bolshevik troops)
• Nov 6 (evening): Bolsheviks strike, seize
important buildings, services: railroad,
telegraph, banks, printing plants, powerhouses
• Nov 7: Trotsky declares overthrow of
Prov. Gov, Soviets in power
• Kerensky escapes in US embassy car
• Bolshevik troops surround Winter
Palace, give Kerensky ministers
ultimatum (surrender or we shoot),
ministers refuse
• “Aurora” and Peter & Paul Fortress fire
blank shots at Winter Palace to begin
attack: Bolsheviks (soldiers, sailors,
workers Red Guards) storm palace
• Nov 8: Prov. Gov. does not resist,
Bolsheviks control government (2pm),
arrest Prov. Gov ministers
Uh! Uh!
Uh!
Tremble at
my power!
Resistanc
e if futile!
And the new leader is . . .
Lenin (in
Petrograd)
-- new government controlled by
Bolsheviks – soon to be the
Communist Party
Thank you,
thank you!
I’d like to
thank my
mother for
her support,
and my
dog, Fluffy .
..
Bolsheviks: 1, Provisional
Government: 0
• Why?
• Kerensky not good leader
• Prov. Gov disorganized
• Bolsheviks organized, wellplanned, dedicated to goals,
carried them out
(so remember these points if you want to ever
take over a government)
Man, I
guess
those
Transfer
able
Skills did
come in
handy.
So, what did our pal Lenin do?
• Proposed end to war, promising peace
• Proposed land distribution to peasants,
(landowners not to be paid for land taken)
• New Government:
– led by Bolsheviks (of course) adopted proposals
– appointed Lenin as Chairman (most important) of new
gov: “Council of People’s Commissars”
If I’d
– Stalin appointed Commissar of National Minorities known
Stalin
– Trotsky appointed Commissar of Foreign Affairs
was
going to
be such a
Svolotch,
I would
have
voted for
Did Everyone Like the Bolsheviks?
• Moscow: officials of Prov. Gov fought
them, surrendering after several days of
fighting
• Kiev (Ukraine): Bolsheviks defeated Boo.
• Had weak control in Siberia, Georgia,
Armenia, Central Asia
• Strongest in Central Russia, large cities
Russian Democracy
• Constituent Assembly (Nov 25)
Body set up
to draft
• Socialist Revolutionaries
country
constitution
Party = 2 X votes of Bolsheviks
-- peasants wanted to own land,
Bolsheviks had no plan to gain
peasant support (majority voters)
-- Jan 18, 1918: Bolsheviks (minority)
wanted control, posted soldiers
So much
for
outside to prevent SRPs from
democrac
entering, closed down assembly
y...
Lenin’s Way to Get Peasants
• End war: Lenin signed treaty of BrestLitovsk b/w Germany & Russia
• Treaty = German occupation of Ukraine,
Belorussia, Baltics, Finland
• Russia lost ¼ farmland, 1/3 population, all
coal mines, ½ industries = lots of $$$
Civil War
• After treaty, armed resistance to Bolshevik rule
• 1918-1921: long, bloody civil war
• Came out of Prov. Gov. overthrow (1917) from
people disliking Lenin / Bolsh. Socialist policies
• Uprisers: opposers to Bolsheviks, non-Russians
(for independence), troops from Great Britain,
France, US (fear of Bolshevik ideas)
• Fight for control & Bolsheviks for Communism
• Russia named “Soviet Federated Socialist
Republic” 1918
• 1921: Bolsheviks defeated opponents
Whites
•
•
•
•
•
Middle, upper class
Wanted old ways (pre 1917)
Favoured nobility control
Wanted parlaiment through Duma or military dictator
Supported anti-Bolshevik military forces: White Army =
disorganized
• Bolsheviks =
– organized, disciplined army under Trotsky:
– Red Army (1000s conscripts – workers, peasants, tsarist
soldiers)
– Support of peasants / workers through promises of land, future
– To hold power, used terror: new areas, secret police arrested,
killed “opposition”
So, My Foes . . .
• The Whites
• Non-Russian Nationalities
• Allied Troops
1921, after WW1, 1917 Revolution,
Civil War:
I need a
holiday.
• Russia in ruins
• Wasted cities, land, factories
• Bolsheviks now had to rebuild
Whatever Happened to Those
Darned Romanovs?
Um, yeah.
Those
guys.
• August 1917: sent to Siberia (captive)
• May 1918: Ekaterinburg, Ural Mountains (captive)
• Telegraph (July) from local Bolsheviks to Sverlov (head, secret
police), Lenin: requested immediate execution of family b/c of fear
of Whites gaining city
• July 16, 1:30 am: Romanovs, doctor, servants (11 total) taken to
cellar, executed by secret police
• Daughters: bullets bounced off b/c of hidden diamonds in corsets
• Those surviving bayonetted
• Bodies into truck, stripped at mine, thrown down
• Mine too shallow, so July 18, recovered, dumped in pit in marshy
area
• July 25: Whites took Ekaterinburg, searched for bodies: found
clothes & jewelry at mine, thought mine final resting place