Download The Russian Revolution

The Russian Revolution
Russia, 1914
• Russia’s government =
autocracy
– Autocracy: Rule by a
self-appointed ruler
– Tsar Nicholas II
• Never interested in
politics
• Terrible leader
• Bloody Sunday (1905):
His soldiers killed 92
Russians
• Dissent
Russia, 1914
• Serbia asked Russia to help fight AustriaHungary
• Nicholas II did not want war, but refused to
abandon Serbia
• Russian army = “The Russian Steamroller”
– Successful against Austria-Hungary and
Ottoman Empire, but continuously failed
against Germany
Russian Steamroller
• Didn’t meet
expectations
– Untrained
– Poorly equipped
• First confrontation with
Germany:
– German casualties:
20,000
– Russian casualties:
120,000
The result of a stalemate
War of Attrition
• War of Attrition: A war
that gradually wears
down each opponent
until there is one
victor
• With Nicholas II
helping with the war,
Russia began to fall
to pieces
– Economic collapse
Russia, 1917
• Chaos
– Food prices soared
– Supplies were depleted
– Riots began
• February Revolution of 1917
– Nicholas II was forced to “abdicate”/give up the
throne
• Nicholas II tried to give the throne to his brother, but
he refused
– A temporary government formed
Russia, 1917
• The Romanov (Nicholas II) family was
placed under house arrest
• The Bolsheviks overthrew the temporary
government
– Bolsheviks: A political party led by Vladimir
Lenin
The Romanov Family
The Romanov Family
• July 17, 1918
– A counterrevolution by supporters of Nicholas
II began
– The Romanov family was awoken at 2:30 in
the morning and led into the basement of a
Bolshevik stronghold
– Nicholas, his wife, his children, and three
servants were shot and killed
The Legend of Anastasia
Over the years, several women have claimed to be Anastasia, but in 2007, DNA
results proved she died in 1918 with her family.
Russia, 1918
• Civil War within Russia
– Russia withdrew from World War I
• In 1922, the Bolsheviks maintained control
and formed the Soviet Union
– The earliest form of Communism was born
Communism: A social
organization where
everyone is equal and
shares everything;
nobody receives more
than another
World War I
• Without Russia, Germany only had to fight
a one front war: the Western Front