Download The World After WWI and The Russian Revolution of 1917

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The cost of World War I in terms of human losses was colossal. More than nine million soldiers
were killed, millions were permanently injured, and an unknown number of civilians died
from malnutrition, disease, and combat. In 1918 and 1919, an influenza epidemic wiped out
millions more from a population that was weakened by four years of war.
When the Treaty of Versailles was drawn up in the spring of 1919, a clause was inserted that made it
clear that the cost of the war was the responsibility of Germany alone. The "War Guilt" clause, was
signed by the Germans under protest and would lead to hatred towards the allies for their unfair
treatment.
The Germans believed that the conditions imposed on them were exceptionally harsh. The German
armed forces were to be disbanded, and Germany was allowed to retain only a small 100,000 man
security force. Germany was denied the right to have aircraft, submarines, and most forms of heavy
artillery. All German colonies were taken and distributed to the victorious powers. Territory taken
by Germany in the past was returned to Germany's neighbors. To compensate for damages caused
by the war, Germany was eventually required to pay 132 billion gold marks, in installments, up to
the year 1988. The German economy collapsed and many Germans turned to extreme politics to
find a way out of their depression.
In the United States a time of great prosperity called The Roaring Twenties began. The War had
made America a world power. Many U.S. citizens began to invest in the stock market boom and
became wealthy. The 1920’s were also a time of great social change as women began to achieve equal
rights during the Suffrage movement. The U.S. government also made the sale of alcohol illegal in
1920. This Prohibition would lead to the rise of organized crime in America. The “good times”
after World War I would only be temporary however, as inflation an unemployment began to rise a
new era of suffering would begin.
The final year of war had ushered in a period of huge transformation worldwide. In 1917 the Russian
war effort collapsed and the emperor, Nicholas II, was forced to abdicate. The revolutionary regime
tried to continue the fight, but economic conditions and military capability deteriorated sharply. In
October 1917, Vladimir Lenin's Bolshevik Party, the most radical wing of the Russian revolutionary
movement seized power and declared a Communist regime. This began a long, bloody civil war.
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The Flu Pandemic: The influenza pandemic of 1918 to 1919 infected an estimated 500
million people worldwide and killed an estimated 20 million to 50 million victims. More than
25 percent of the U.S. population became sick, and some 675,000 Americans died during the
pandemic. The 1918 flu was first observed in Europe before swiftly spreading around the
world. Surprisingly, many flu victims were young, otherwise healthy adults.
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At the time, there were no effective drugs or vaccines to treat this killer flu strain or prevent
its spread. In the U.S., citizens were ordered to wear masks, and schools, theaters and other
public places were shuttered. Researchers later discovered what made the 1918 pandemic so
deadly: In many victims, the influenza virus had invaded their lungs and caused pneumonia.
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The first wave of the 1918 pandemic occurred in the spring and was mild. The sick, who
experienced typical flu symptoms like chills, fever and fatigue, usually recovered after several
days, and the number of reported deaths was low. However, a second, highly contagious wave
of influenza appeared with a vengeance in the fall of that same year. Victims died within
hours or days of their symptoms appearing, their skin turning blue and their lungs filling with
fluid that caused them to suffocate.
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The flu took a heavy toll, wiping out entire families and leaving countless widows and
orphans in its wake. Funeral parlors were overwhelmed and bodies piled up. Some people
even had to dig graves for their own family members. The flu also effected the economy. In
the U.S., businesses were forced to shut down because so many employees were sick. Basic
services such as mail delivery and garbage collection were stopped due to flu-stricken
workers. In some places there weren’t enough farm workers to harvest crops. By the summer
of 1919, the flu pandemic came to an end, as those that were infected either died or developed
immunity.
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Europe after The Great War: The end of the war transformed the geography of Europe and
the Middle East. After the fall of the Russian Empire, the German, Austrian, and Ottoman
Turkish empires also disappeared. They were replaced by new, smaller nations. The former
colonies of Germany and Turkey were handed over to Britain and France.
The former imperial territories in Europe held by Russia, Austria, and Germany all became
independent national states. This was part of the demands expressed by U.S. president
Woodrow Wilson that the people of Europe should be allowed national "selfdetermination."
From 1919 to 1921, the nations of Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Albania,
Czechoslovakia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Turkey were formed and created the new
shape of Europe. In every case, the national settlements were messy. Small national factions
were isolated in the territory of other states causing ethnic and nationalistic conflicts.
The end of the war produced a mood of optimism about the future. Parliamentary democracy
was introduced everywhere in the areas dominated by the prewar monarchies (except for
Russia which was now the communist Soviet Union), and in 1920 almost every European state
was a democracy. At Versailles, the foundations were laid for the League of Nations, which
was committed to isolating international aggression and providing a framework for the
peaceful resolution of conflicts. Unfortunately the league was weak and the U.S had voted not
to join it. All the promises of peace and equality would not be met
The U.S. President Woodrow Wilson had been the main architect of the new order, but the
peace settlement was rejected by Congress because of a growing backlash against the
European Allies, who were seen as self-interested imperial states exploiting American aid for
their own ambitions. The United States abandoned the League and the peace settlement. It
refused to ratify the treaty of Versailles which caused the British and French to isolate
themselves from the United States.
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Germany and Italy: After the peace treaty had been signed many of its promises began to be
broken. The peace settlement sparked anger in many countries that felt they had been victims of the
French and British victors. Germany of course was upset that their nation had been blamed for the
war and had to pay for its cost. Even the allies of Britain and France were not entirely happy. Italy
got very little out of the territorial readjustments, and Italian nationalists condemned what they
called “the mutilated peace.”
Many World War I soldiers returned home angry at the failure of their nations in the war and
resentful of the workers and wealthy who had stayed behind. They began to follow a new kind of
nationalism that was hostile to the old order and fanatically anti-Communist. They were attracted
to new forms of authoritarian rule. The first evidence of this new ideology was seen in Italy, where a
young, militant veteran, Benito Mussolini, established the Italian Fascist movement in 1919.
Fascism was named after a Roman symbol the fasces, that had been a symbol of authority in
ancient Rome. "Fascists" were any political group that combined a radical nationalist and social
policy and called for dictatorial rule. In 1921 another WWI veteran, Adolf Hitler, took over
leadership of a small political party in Munich, Germany, the National Socialists or “Nazis”. This
reactionary group promised a national German revival and radical social change.
If fascism had just remained a small fringe movement, the history of the post-Great War years
would have been very different. But Mussolini's new party, through a combination of effective
propaganda and street violence, soon became a contender for power. In October 1922, after
threatening a march on Rome, Mussolini was offered the premiership. Within four years, he had
taken over the parliament, destroyed the Italian liberals, and established a one-party state with
himself as Il Duce (The Leader).
Fascism was imitated in Spain and Germany. It promised to solve each country's economic and
political problems but also promised a bright utopian future. In reality fascism took away people’s
individual rights and gave the military absolute power. Militarism was an important feature of
Fascist appeal, and thousands of young Europeans flocked into the movements and their
paramilitary organizations.
In 1923, at the height of Germany’s economic crisis, Adolf Hitler attempted to take over
Germany much like Mussolini had done in Italy. In addition to planning a march on Berlin,
Hitler staged a military coup in Munich called the Beer Hall Putsch. (all the government
officials were meeting in a beer hall) His Attempt failed and Hitler was imprisoned.
 In prison he wrote a book called “Mein Kampf” (My Struggle) which laid down the
foundations of what the Nazi party believed in. The book blamed the Jewish people for
Germany losing the war and called communism the greatest enemy of fascism. Hitler also
called for a massive military build up to punish the allies for the treaty of Versailles and for
Germans to keep their “pure Aryan race” alive. Many desperate Germans who were out of
work and had lost faith in their democratic government began to listen and follow Hitler’s
ideas.
 Britain and France: The threat posed by fascism was slowly building but was not strong
enough to take control in the 1920’s. The world order was still dominated by Britain and
France, and both nations did not see Mussolini or Hitler as threats. The Allies were tired of
war and did not want to start another one so soon after the last one. Many European countries
were having economic and social problems so they concentrated on domestic issues and paid
little attention to Germany and Italy. Britain had just gone through a bloody rebellion in
Ireland and had to keep security forces in northern Ireland to fight a rebel group named the
Irish Republican Army or IRA.(a catholic group of freedom fighters who wanted all
protestant British forces out of Ireland) The British also had an empire to run and keep in
order.
 France was going through horrible economic problems and rebuilding their destroyed
country. Both France and Britain were also concerned about the communist revolution in
Russia and had sent forces there to try and stop the communists from taking power. These
distractions allowed fascism to take control in Italy and Germany.
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Benito Mussolini
The United States: In the 1920’s very few people in the United States were paying attention
to Europe anymore . The economic boom after the war was creating a strong middle class and
a wealthier upper class. Most U.S. citizens were more concerned with making money, buying
new household items, going to parties and watching sports than the politics of some far away
country.
 After the Great War, many U.S. citizens found that that their economy had become strong
due to the selling of weapons to the allies and massive industrialization. The introduction of
credit purchases, mass production and stock trading allowed middle class and lower
class citizens access to items they could never buy before. People in the U.S. began to invest in
companies and make enough money to buy an automobile or a house. Mass produced cars
from companies like Ford allowed the average person to buy a car. Even those with little
money could now buy on credit and pay off the debt bit by bit, with interest of course.
 This economic boom became known as The Roaring Twenties. It was a wild time where
people became less conservative about money, religion and society in general. Women called
“Flappers” wore more revealing clothing and danced wildly at parties while listening to the
popular Jazz music of the time. Women also had played a large role during the War as
workers in factories and had earned the right to vote and equal pay during the Suffrage
Movement. The 1920’s also saw an amendment to the constitution that made drinking
alcohol illegal.
 The 18th Amendment to the constitution became known as prohibition. The movement to
ban alcohol had been started by women and Christian religious groups that felt alcohol was
the root of all evil. It was a very unpopular amendment from the start and it caused many
problems. First of all, it was very hard to enforce because many Americans drank and if they
couldn’t do it in public they would make their own or purchase illegal alcohol and do it in
private. Secondly, it created a great illegal need that Irish, Italian and Jewish Gangsters were
more than willing to fill. The price for quality alcohol began to soar and Organized Crime,
such as the Italian Mafia, became very wealthy from it.
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Organized crime bosses like Arnold Rothstein, Meyer Lansky, Al Capone and Charlie
“Lucky” Luciano began to control the sale of illegal alcohol in the United States. The
business created massive violence as rival crime gangs tried to control certain territories and
make more money. The image of gangsters carrying “Tommy Guns” and having gun fights in
the streets of Chicago and New York City became all too common in the newspapers of the
1920’s.
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The U.S. created the Federal Bureau of Investigation or FBI led by J. Edgar Hoover just to
control the violence caused by the alcohol related violence. Many U.S. citizens went to illegal
underground bars called “speak-easies” where they could drink without being caught. Many
local police forces and politicians were corrupt and could be paid to look the other way. The
FBI however, would raid these bars and try to arrest anyone linked to the sale of the alcohol.
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Overall prohibition was a failure. Most U.S. citizens continued to drink regardless of the law
and the police did not enforce it. The violence caused by gang shootouts only began to rise
and men like Capone and Luciano only grew stronger and wealthier. (Al Capone was worth
300 million dollars in 1928) Eventually the U.S. government saw that the 18th amendment had
been a mistake and prohibition was repealed in 1933 with the 21st amendment.
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The Lost Generation: The generation that experienced the horror of The Great War became
known as the “Lost Generation”. After the war, many Americans and Europeans felt lost and
aimless. The Name “Lost Generation” comes from a group of American writers that were
disillusioned with the war and prohibition. Many of them flocked to Paris during the 1920s to
escape their traditional lives at home. These expatriates managed to capture the strange
mixture of disappointment for tradition and distrust of authority with seeking a new care
free life in their writing.
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Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Erich Remarque all wrote literature that captured
what it was like to live during and after World War I. The war had lasted years, and by the time it
had ended, millions of men had been affected by the horrors of battle, losing a sense of the values
their parents had instilled in them. War had forced this generation to grow up quickly, and for those
who'd spent years in the trenches, war was all that they really knew. After the soldiers returned
home, governments started ignoring their heroes, which caused the veterans to become quickly
disillusioned with government.
This generation became skeptical of all authority, especially now that their parents were pushing for
Prohibition. After the war, the Lost Generation started exploring its own set of values, ones that
clearly went against what their elders had taught them. Through this rebellion, the Lost Generation
came up with its own social rules that gave rise to the Roaring '20s, with its gangsters, speak-easies
and wild behavior. Many moved place to place as nomads in search of a new life.
Ernest Hemingway, helped popularize the term "Lost Generation" in his novel "The Sun Also
Rises," was one of the leaders of this group. Hemingway's main characters like Frederic Henry in
“A Farewell to Arms”, tended to be honest men who lost hope and faith in modern society.
F. Scott Fitzgerald's work also shows this feeling of futility. His 1920 novel "This Side of Paradise"
captures a mood of a generation that has fought wars and no longer believes in God or man.
Fitzgerald's most famous book, "The Great Gatsby," captured the wild spirit of the Jazz Age and
explored the twisted moralities of the wealthy and showed that money isn’t always what makes
people happy in life.
Erich Remarque was a German writer who wrote “All Quiet on the Western Front” in 1928. The
book describes the experiences of young German soldiers during World War I. Remarque wrote
about the extreme physical and mental stress German troops suffered during the war, and the
detachment from civilian life felt by many of these soldiers upon returning home from the front. It
was seen as a traitorous book by the Nazi’s in Germany but most veterans of the war agreed that it
was a realistic and accurate depiction of what trench warfare was really like.
Arnold “The Fixer” Rothstein
Al “Scarface” Capone
Charlie “Lucky” Luciano
Meyer Lansky
Social Change and Revolution in Russia 1825-1905
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Although the events of the Russian Revolution of 1917 happened quickly and violently, the
causes leading to it took nearly a century to take shape. Before the revolution, the Russian
monarchy had become weaker and increasingly aware of its own vulnerability so its leaders
became more reactionary (extremely conservative). By trying to hold on to absolute power in
a time of liberal democratic changes, the Czars of Russia only accelerated the coming of
revolution.
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The Decembrist Revolt: (1825) The first major revolt against the Russian monarchy took
place during the reign of Czar Alexander I in December, 1825. Ever since the Napoleonic
wars, many Russians, especially soldiers who had served in other countries, were inspired by
growing democratic movements in Europe. Some even wanted a liberal Russian constitution
with guarantees of basic rights that was based on the United States and France’s
constitutions. Alexander I actually considered the idea of a constitution but never made up
his mind about creating one for Russia.
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When Alexander I died he had no children to pass his crown to. This created a time of
indecision as to who was in charge of Russia. The Czar's younger brother Nicholas I became
Czar because the older brother Constantine had been involved in a scandal when he married
a commoner. The army took advantage of this moment of weakness and 3,000 troops
marched into St. Petersburg, demanding that Constantine take the throne and called for a
constitution. The uprising was quickly suppressed with violence, and the surviving
protestors, who called themselves Decembrists, were arrested and exiled to Siberia. They
came to be seen as heroes among Russian revolutionaries.
In 1861, Czar Alexander II ( Nicholas I’s eldest son) abolished serfdom (slave labor owned
by landlords), freeing Russia’s serfs from their service to landowners. Even though this was a
positive and liberal move, it also created a number of new problems, including a severe
economic crisis and significant hatred against the monarchy from landowners. The event also
created a more open discussion of other political reforms, once more raising public awareness
of the fact that Russia lacked a constitution.
 Throughout the 1860s and 1870s, many organizations formed to promote the introduction of a
constitution, a parliamentary government, and socialism to Russia. Although most of these
groups were peaceful, some began to use of violence in order to force change. A series of
assassination attempts on Alexander II began and in 1881, one of these attacks succeeded.
Members of a group called The People’s Will killed Alexander II by throwing a bomb
underneath his carriage. The new Czar, Alexander’s son Alexander III, cracked down severely
on all forms of public resistance and became an extreme reactionary. Although the
assassination failed to trigger a revolution as the rebels had hoped, the attack did serve as a
source of inspiration to underground revolutionaries throughout the country, who
increasingly saw the monarchy as weak and corrupt.
 Revolution of 1905: Nicholas II became Czar in 1894. He had few leadership skills and didn’t
really want to rule a country. Nicholas II was quiet and lacked the personality of a leader, his
rule was weak and the people sensed it. When it came to public resistance, he avoided direct
involvement and ordered his security forces to get rid of any problem as they saw fit. This
policy would lead to violence in the streets and a disconnected hatred from his citizens. After
Russia’s loss in the Russo-Japanese war and economic problems that led to strikes, many
Russians wanted a change. 100,000 peaceful protestors led by a priest named Father Gapon,
marched on the winter palace to demand reforms. Nicholas II didn’t even know about the
unrest and his forces decided to fire on the unarmed protestors. It became known as “Bloody
Sunday” as many people were killed. Months of strikes, violence and protests followed until
the army gained control again. Nicholas II was seen as an uncaring, cruel and weak ruler.
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Czar Nicholas I (1826 – 1855)
The Decembrist Revolt
Czar Alexander II (1855-1881)
Czar Alexander III (1882-1894)
Assassination of Alexander II by “The People’s Will”
Czar Nicholas II (1894-1917)
Revolution of 1905
“Bloody Sunday”
The Russian Revolution of 1917
Nicholas II’s reputation would be destroyed as Russia went through a series of disasters,
scandals, and political failures. After Russia suffered a humiliating military defeat against
Japan , Nicholas II gave in to heavy political pressure and granted Russia its first
constitution. A parliament, called the Duma, was also granted.
 The Duma became a serious problem for Nicholas II. Radical political parties emerged into
the open after years of existing underground. The Czar dealt with the problem by repeatedly
dissolving the Duma, forcing new elections. To make matters worse, an outbreak of
assassinations and terrorism prompted to Nicholas II to give his prime minister, Petr
Stolypin, the power to eliminate the threat of terror once and for all. Stolypin established a
system of quick military trials for suspected terrorists, followed by public hangings.
Thousands were executed over the next several years. In 1911, however, Stolypin himself was
fatally shot by an assassin.
 Nicholas’s own family became the subject of a different sort of crisis. His wife, Alexandra,
had begun consulting with a mystic peasant named Grigory Rasputin in a desperate attempt
to help her hemophilic (blood disease) son, Alexis. The self-proclaimed monk Rasputin
claimed he could see the future and gained political influence over the Czar through his wife,
while at the same time engaging in scandalous behavior throughout the Russian capital.
Rumors quickly spread that Rasputin had magical powers and that he had the entire royal
family under some sort of spell. Russian nobles were tired of the scandal and invited Rasputin
to a dinner party. Rasputin was given poisoned food but did not die. The nobles shot Rasputin
numerous times before he was killed and his body was thrown into a freezing river. A letter
that Rasputin had written in 1914 was found after his death. It said “If I die before 1917 and if
Russia goes to war against Germany, it will be the end of the monarchy, of the Romanovs and
of Russian institutions.“ Rasputin had intended to give the Czar the letter but he feared losing
the favor of the royal family. His predictions turned out to be eerily accurate.
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Grigori Rasputin
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Nicholas II pulled Russia into World War I in the summer of 1914 due to his alliances with
Serbia and France. The war was a disaster for Russia: it caused inflation, plunged the country
into a food shortage, and ultimately cost the lives of nearly 5 million Russian soldiers and
civilians, as well as a series of humiliating military defeats. The German army began to crush
ill-prepared Russian troops and move deeper into Russian territory.
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The February Revolution: On February 23, 1917, a large gathering of working-class women
started a protest calling for “bread and peace.” While the demonstration began peacefully, the
next morning it turned violent as the women were joined by hundreds of thousands of male
workers who went on strike and flooded the streets, openly calling for an end to the war and
even to the monarchy. The outnumbered police were unable to control the crowds.
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When Nicholas II heard about the riots he sent a telegram to his military commander
ordering him to bring an end to the violence. In their efforts to carry out the Czar’s order, the
troops fired upon the crowds on February 26. The regiment fell into chaos, as many soldiers
felt pity for the people and hated the Czar. 80,000 troops mutinied and joined with the
crowds against the police.
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The Duma wanted to force Nicholas II to abdicate and create a democratic government while
a new group called the Petrograd Soviet wanted to start a communist revolution. The soviet
was lead by the Mencheviks, workers and soldiers who supported socialism. Czar Nicholas II
was forced from power in March and Russia was ruled by a provisional government led by
Alexander Kerensky. This government was unstable because it had to make deals with the
Petrograd Soviet in order to function. Russia was split into two factions: Democratic
Republicans and Socialists. The situation became far more complicated when the Russian
army began to collapse on the frontline and the Germans sent a radical politician into Russia
to cause further chaos.
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The end of the fighting on the Eastern Front was accelerated in 1917 when the Germans sent a
Marxist radical named Vladimir Lenin back to Russia after he had been exiled. Lenin
immediately began to call for a Communist revolution and promised the people “Land,
bread and peace”. The people of Russia were so desperate for change that they began to
follow Lenin and believe in his ideas.
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Vladimir Lenin was the leader of the Bolsheviks, a radical communist political party, that
wanted to over-throw the Russian monarchy and create a new communist government where
there would be one social class and everyone shared the wealth. Lenin gave wild speeches
calling for the overthrow of the provisional government. From the moment of his return
through October 1917, Lenin worked for a single goal: to place Russia under Bolshevik control
as quickly as possible. The Socialists in the Petrograd Soviet, began to see Lenin as a threat
and an anarchist who was too radical to be taken seriously.
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Lenin demanded that Russia exit the war immediately, even if it meant heavy penalties from
Germany and a loss of territory. By doing this he received growing support throughout the
Russian armed forces. Lenin used aggressive propaganda to convince Russian troops that the
war was pointless and they should join his Bolshevik revolution, it worked.
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Lenin and the Bolsheviks attempted to take power in the summer of 1917. Lenin had
convinced sailors from Krondstadt and soldiers in Petrograd to attempt a coup. However,
Alexander Kerensky moved quickly and used frontline troops to crush the rebellion. Lenin
had to run to Finland in order to escape capture. It looked like the communist revolution
would be destroyed for good.
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As the war became worse for Russia, Kerensky began to lose support. The Bolsheviks and
Lenin had been building up their forces in secret waiting for the right moment to strike. They
got their chance in late October of 1917.
The October Revolution or “Red October”: Lenin returned to Russia and made sure to
gain the support of the Petrograd Soviet and the Mensheviks. With his growing support,
Lenin launched an attack on Kerensky’s government in October. The provisional government
was overwhelmed and Kerensky was forced to run and was exiled from Russia. The Bolsheviks
and Lenin now took control of Russia. The Bolsheviks ordered the immediate execution of
Czar Nicholas II and his entire family. This act destroyed the last traces of monarchy in
Russia.
 Lenin called for a meeting of the Soviet Congress and made a few important decisions. He
called for a Decree on Peace, which declared his wish for World War I to end but did not go
so far as to declare a cease-fire. Lenin then passed the Decree on Land, which officially
socialized all land in the country for redistribution to peasant communes. Finally, a new
provisional government was formed called the Soviet of the People’s Commissars (SPC).
Lenin was its chairman, and all of its members were Bolsheviks. Lenin made sure to give the
top positions to his two most trusted aids, Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin.
 At first, Life in Russia after the October revolution changed very little. There was no
widespread panic among the upper classes and few people expected the new government to
last for long or understood what it would mean if it did. In the countryside, anarchy ruled for
a time, and peasants seized land as they pleased, with little interference from anyone. The
new Bolshevik-led government was trying to end the war and hold on to power.
 In 1918 Russia signed the Treaty of Brest-Listovsk with Germany. This ended the war for
Russia but they lost massive territory to Germany and had to pay war damages as well.
However, Lenin and the Bolsheviks gained many supporters from the army for ending the
costly and pointless fighting. Lenin formed The Red Army and with the military behind
them, the new Soviet government began to get rid of all the factions that opposed them.
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Leon Trotsky
Vladimir Lenin
Joseph Stalin
Lenin had promised the Russian people peace, land and bread but he found it difficult to
come through on these promises. Many groups within Russia did not agree with communism
and began to rebel against the Bolsheviks. Lenin was forced to become more violent and
created a secret police, known as the Cheka (for Extraordinary Commission to Combat
Counterrevolution and Sabotage). This group enforced Bolshevik rule through torture and
murder and tens of thousands of people would be killed or silenced.
 The Russian Civil War: Certain groups began to oppose the Soviet government during the
summer of 1918. As the Bolsheviks (Reds) were consolidating power, Lenin’s opponents were
also organizing from multiple directions. Groups opposing the Bolsheviks ranged from
monarchists to democrats to militant Cossacks to moderate socialists. These very different
groups gradually came together to fight as the Whites. A smaller group, known as the
Greens, was made up of anarchists and opposed both the Whites and the Reds.
 At the end of the summer, on August 30, there was an assassination attempt on Lenin. He
survived, but a brutal crackdown on all forms of opposition started shortly after the attack.
The Bolsheviks called it the Red Terror, and many rebels and anyone who spoke out against
Lenin and the Bolsheviks were imprisoned or executed. The Red army began to win against
the white armies by 1920. But not all of the revolutionaries agreed with Lenin’s ideas.
 The Kronstadt Rebellion: (1921) The Kronstadt sailors had been the leaders of the
revolutionary events of 1905 and 1917. In 1917, Trotsky called them the "pride and glory of the
Russian Revolution." The sailors had been early supporters of soviet power but became
distrustful of Lenin’s motives. They demanded equal wages and better treatment for workers
that was promised by communism but never received it. So in 1921 they rebelled and formed
their own socialist government. Lenin could not let this happen so he sent the Red Army to
Kronstadt. After 10 days of constant attacks the revolt was crushed by the Red Army. The
sailors fought fiercely and 10,000 soviet troops died taking their base. 800 sailors died and
5,000 of them were sent to prison. Lenin regretted the event but it showed many people that
communism in Russia was not the “perfect world” that had been promised.
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The Kronstadt Sailors
The Red Army launching an attack
against the Kronstadt Sailors in 1921.
Cossacks opposed the Communist Bolsheviks and many of them were
killed during the Russian Civil War. Even after the war was over, many
Cossacks were imprisoned or executed for being enemies of the state.

What was the influenza pandemic of 1918? What do you think caused it?
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Describe “The Roaring Twenties”. Why did the United States go through “good times”
after World War I while Europe suffered through harsh times?
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What was “The Lost Generation”? What did they write about?
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What was prohibition? How did it affect the United States?
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Compare and Contrast Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. What was Fascism?
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Why did multiple revolutions break out in Russia from 1825 to 1917? What did the rebels
want from the Czars? Who was Rasputin?
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How did Vladimir Lenin take power in Russia in 1917? What is Communism?