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Chapter 25.2
The Beginning of the Twentieth-Century
Crisis:
Bolshevik Revolution and the End of the
War
Russian Revolution of 1917
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
To what extend and in what ways did the failure of
reform and abortive revolution lead to the
Revolution of 1917?
Analyze Lenin’s Marxism and his role as leader in
establishing Communism in Russia.
Describe the causes of the Russian Revolution of
1917 and how the Bolsheviks prevailed in the civil
war and gained control of Russia.
War and Revolution: Russia
War brought misery to all involved at home and
on the front lines
As the death toll mounted, angry citizens openly
challenged the status quo
In Russia the discontent led to a full-scale
revolution
War and Revolution: Russia
The Russian Revolution
Discontent with Tsarist rule had been felt long before World
War I
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Pugachev
Poland
Alexander II’s assassination after many reforms
1905 Revolution (Winter Palace, October Manifesto)
Nicholas II was an autocratic ruler
• Russia not prepared for war
• Duma which was created in 1906 was suspended so political
bickering would not compromise the war effort.
• By 1914, Rasputin “The mad monk” began to influence Tsarina
Alexandra after he claimed to have cured the czar’s only son of
hemophilia
• Highest death toll of any participants
• Nicholas went to the front to lead (didn’t get any better)
• Wife Alexandra ruled while he was away. Her advice was believed
to be poisoned by Rasputin. He was murdered by young nobleman.
• Wheels were falling off
War and Revolution: Russia
The Russian Revolution
The March Revolution
• Top government officials grew disenfranchised with the war
and government
• Problems in Petrograd
 Food riots broke out
 Working class others led the way
 March of the women, March 8, 1917
 Tens of thousands marched through Petrograd protesting the
war and the near starvation of the Peasants
 The army and the newly convened Duma refused to put
down the protest
 National calls for a general strike
 Soldiers join the marchers
 Workers and soldiers in Petrograd organized radical legislative
bodies called Soviets
Rebellion spread throughout the rest of the country and to the
troops at the front who deserted by the tens of thousands
War and Revolution: Russia
The Russian Revolution
The March Revolution
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On March 14, the Duma formed a provisional government
Tsar abdicated on March 15, 1917
On March 17, Russia was proclaimed a republic
Provisional Government takes control
 Initially run by a man named Prince Georgii Lvov who was heavily influence by
Alexander Kerensky (1881-1970)
 Tried to carry on the war
 Lenin and other Bolshevik leaders came back from exile to Petrograd in April
 More Soviets sprang up
 Bolsheviks the most important
Lenin and Bolsheviks administered their April Theses (or Demands) \
 Russia withdraw from the war
 The Petrograd Soviet run the Government
 Land be redistributed to the peasants, and factories be controlled by the
Soviets (workers committees)
• After a failed coup in July, Lenin and his fellow Bolshevik leaders fled to
Finland. Prince Lvov turned over the Provisional government to Kerensky.
Russian Revolution
The Bolshevik Revolution aka October Revolution
(November 1917 by the Western Calendar)
Kerensky’s government failed to win the support of the people
because of continued shortages and because it stayed in the war
against the Central Powers
Lenin returned to Petrograd (with aid of the Germans, with his
rallying cry “Peace, Land, Bread.”
Leninist Doctrine:
• According to orthodox Marxism, a social revolution is possible only
in highly developed capitalist nations, shuch as those in the West
during this period.
• Since Russia was virtually a feudal society and primarily agrarian,
some moderate Bolsheviks argued for a coalition with the middle
class, until Russia had developed sufficiently.
• Lenin argued since Western Europe was ripe for revolution, a Marxist
seizure of Russia would help Russia bypass the capitalist stage.
• Lenin received support of Leon Trotsky, and Joseph Stalin and most
of the Bolshevik leadership
Russian Revolution
The Bolshevik Revolution aka October Revolution (November 1917 by the
Western Calendar)
October 6-7, the Bolsheviks stormed the Winter Palace, headquarters of Kerensky’s
government, and siezed other key centers in Petrograd.
Collapse of Provisional Government, November 6-7, 1917
• Kerensky’s government fled; and the Congress of Soviets, representing the local Soviets
formed all over Russia, established a Council of People’s Commissars with Lenin as head,
Trotsky as foreign minister, and Stalin as nationalities minister
Within months, the government abolished the freely elected legislative assembly
and established a secret police organization, the Cheka, later known as the
OGPU, NKVD, MVD and the KGB.
1918
The Dictatorship of the Proletariat was proclaimed in tune with Leninist
Doctrine: (Didn’t trust the moderate socialists)
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Bolsheviks renamed their party Communist
Important industries were nationalized
Russian Orthodox Church lands were seized
Russia pulled out of WW
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, March 3, 1918
• Surrendered Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, and the Ukraine to Germany
Russian Revolution
Civil War
Fought for the control of the remainder of the Russian Empire
Opposing sides
• Bolshevik (Red) army

Led by Trotsky
• Anti-Bolshevik (White) army
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Tsarists
Middle class, many peasants, and socialist moderate factions
Very diverse
Difference led to their downfall / lack of unity
Allied invasion- US and other western nations who feared the spread of
communism
Differences among the white army led to the their defeat by the Trotsky led Red
Army. By 1920, Trotsky conquered Siberia and central Asia.
Communists and “War communism”
• Allowed them to further nationalize industry, control agricultural production, and
centralize the government.
• The Cheka eliminated opponents with the Red Terror

Thousands were executed, including the entire royal family
FINAL RESULTS
• Communists control Russia
• The Communist International (Comintern), to organize Communism worldwide, was
founded with Moscow as its launching point
• LET RED SCARES EVERYWHERE BEGIN!!!! AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!! 1919
The Last Year of the War
Last German offensive, March 21-July 18, 1918
With Russia out of the war, Germans launched a massive offensive on
the western Front.
At first it appeared to be successful, but with the arrival of fresh troops
from America
Allied counterattack, Second Battle of the Marne, July 18,
1918
As more American troops entered the battlefields German leaders realize
the severity of the situation
Additionally, a pandemic burst on the scene known as the
“Spanish Flu” in 1918. It depleted the armies and attacked the
rest of the world killing maybe 100,000,000 people (last major
pandemic)
General Ludendorff informs German Leaders that the war is
lost
William II abdicates, November 9, 1918
Republic established in the city of Weimer - “The Weimer Republic”
Armistice, November 11, 1918 is signed by the new
government
1918 Flu Pandemic:
Depletes All Armies
50,000,000 –
100,000,000 died
11 a.m., November 11, 1918
The Armistice is Signed!
World War I Casualties
10,000,000
9,000,000
8,000,000
7,000,000
6,000,000
5,000,000
4,000,000
3,000,000
2,000,000
1,000,000
0
Russia
Germany
Austria-Hungary
France
Great Britain
Italy
Turkey
US
Impact of the War
Europe was totally devastated
9 million soldiers died, 22 million wounded
Social Fabric of European society was torn apart
Germany-radical socialists vying for political
supremacy lost when leaders of the moderates
instructed the army to kill the radicals leaders.
Senselessness of war led any Europeans to search
for a lasting peace
PARIS PEACE TREATY
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
Describe the Paris Peace Conference and the
Treaty of Versailles. To what degree and in what
ways were they and were they not successful?
Discuss and account for the differing attitudes and
goals of the Big Four at Versailles, and show how
the differences led to failure
The Peace Settlement
Palace of Versailles, January 1919, 27 Allied nations
Big Four= David Lloyd George (Br), Georges Clemenceau (Fr), Victor
Orlando (Italy), Woodrow Wilson (US)
They made all the decisions and the Central Powers were excluded
Woodrow Wilson, Fourteen Points
GOAL WAS A LASTING PEACE
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Freedom of seas
Elimination of secret treaties and alliances
Self determination- satisfy nationalism in eastern Europe
League of Nations
Didn’t want to punish Germany; felt it would lead to future problems
Allies wanted to punish Germany
Lloyd George determined to make Germany pay and protect its overseas empire
Georges Clemenceau of France concerned with his nation’s security (future
aggression)
January 25, 1919, the principle of the League of Nations adopted (big
compromise)
Ironically, even though it was Wilson’s creation, the US never joined the league. It
was largely ineffectual, for this and other reasons, in dealing with the aggressive
dictatorships of the 1930’s
The Treaty of Versailles
Five separate treaties (Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, and the
Ottoman Empire)
The most important was the Treaty of Versailles, June 18, 1919 which
severely punished Germany
Article 231, War Guilt Clause-Germany forced to accept guilt for starting
the war
Reparations- $33 Billion Germany had to pay to Britain and France
Germany was only allowed to have a 100,000 man army
Loss of Alsace and Lorraine to France, Schleswig to Denmark, West
Prussia to Poland, control of rich mineral-rich Saar to France)
Sections of Prussia to the new Polish state
German charges of a “dictated peace”
Treaty of Versailles ended the war with Germany but never settled the
explosive issues that had led to the First World War. Many provisions
provided grist for Nazi propaganda mills in the 1920s and 1930s.
The Other Peace Treaties
German and Russian Empires lost territory in eastern
Europe
New nation-states: Finland, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania,
Poland, Czechoslovakia, Austria, and Hungary
Romania acquired additional lands from Russia, Hungary,
and Bulgaria
Yugoslavia
Compromises will lead to future problems
Minorities in every eastern European state
Ottoman Empire dismembered
Promises of independence of Arab states in the Middle East
Mandates
• France – Lebanon and Syria
• Britain – Iraq and Palestine
United States Senate rejects the Versailles Peace Treaty
RESULTS OF WAR
10 million dead and countless civilians; $300 billion war
costs and in property destroyed
An end to the Russian, German, Austrian, and Ottoman
Empires
The creation of a patchwork of ethnically arbitrary, weak,
and poor states in Eastern Europe, such as Yugoslavia and
Czechoslovakia
The establishment of Communism in Russia
The enmity of the German people, who were blamed for
the war and saddled with enormous reparations
20 years after the signing of the Treaty of Versailles World
War II broke out
©2003 Wadsworth, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Thomson Learning™ is a trademark used herein under license.
Europe in 1919
©2003 Wadsworth, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Thomson Learning ™ is a trademark used herein under license.
The
Middle
East in
1919
Part 2 Evaluation
Question 1
After the assassination of Russia’s tsar Alexander II
in 1881, his successor, Alexander III, adopted a
policy of
A. Constitutional reform
B. Industrialization
C. “Orthodoxy, Russification, and Autocracy”
D. Westernization
E. Modern scientific rationalism
Question 2
Which is the best characterization of Lenin’s program at the
Russian Marxist Party Conference in Brussels and
London, 1903?
A. Democratic socialism open to all new members
B. Professional revolutionaries with a small, elite leadership
C. Rank and file participation in policy formulation
D. Party division along the lines of autonomous national
groups
E. Party cooperation with liberal and socialist parties
Question 3
The Russian people's support for Russian
participation in World War I changed drastically
A. When Rasputin took virtual control of the
government
B. After the Battles of Masurian Lakes and
Tannenberg
C. Because the Duma was reconvened by 1916
D. When the Germans and Austrians went on the
offensive in 1915
E. After the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917
Question 4
The slogan “Peace, Land and Bread” is most
closely associated with
A. The Duma liberals
B. Alexander Kerensky’s moderates
C. Prince Lvov’s coalition government
D. Lenin’s Bolsheviks
E. Tsar Nicholas’s cabinet
Question 5
Why was Lenin depicted in the painting above (“Lenin on the first
day of Soviet Power” with this group people?
A. It is good propaganda to depict Lenin with common men
B. These are the men Lenin took the palace with
C. It is a revolution and they are military men
D. It illustrated how powerful he looks in black
E. It makes him look more important to be the only one wearing
a tie
Question 6
With in a year after the October Revolution, the Bolsheviks
had accomplished all of these EXCEPT
A. The abolition of the provisional government
B. The establishment of the Council of Commissars to rule
Russia
C. The election of the National Constituent Assembly to
frame a new government
D. The nationalization of large industries
E. The confiscation of Russian Orthodox Church lands
Question 7
The organizer of the Red army who lost the
struggle for leadership of the Soviet Union
to Stalin after Lenin’s death was
A. Alexander Kerensky
B. Alexander Nevesky
C. Leon Trotsky
D. General Kornilov
E. Nikita Krushchev
Question 8
During the Russian Civil War, 1918-1921, all
of the following opposed Bolshevik rule
EXCEPT
A. Tsarists
B. The middle class
C. Peasants
D. Urban workers
E. The Allied Powers of World War I
Question 9
The original purpose of Comintern (Communist
International), a congress of socialist parties in
1919, was to
A. Combat Fascism and Nazism
B. Foster democratic socialism worldwide
C. Establish Moscow’s leadership in fomenting
Marxist revolution around the world
D. Imporve relations with the capitalist West
E. Encourage socialists to join in coalition
governments with other parties in the West
Question 10
Lenin’s “April Theses”
A. Outlined a specifically Russian movement toward
Socialism without first going through a bourgeois
revolution
B. Contained his proposals to continue Russian
participation in World War I
C. Listed the conditions under which the Bolsheviks would
accept a new republican form of government
D. Argued that revolution was an impractical means of
establishing a new government for Russia
E. Appealed to Russian patriotism, ignoring social and
economic class appeals
Question 11
The 1918 Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was a peace
treaty between Russia and
A. Finland
B. Poland
C. Germany
D. The United States
E. The Ottoman Empire
Question 12
The 2nd Battle of the Marne was
A. The end of Germany’s final, futile effort to win
the war
B. The decisive victory Germans had long sought
C. A disaster for the French
D. Decided by the entry of Australia to the War
E. Ended in a stalemate, and thus the war continued
Question 13
For Woodrow Wilson, the most important thing after
the war was to
A. Punish Germany by requiring economic
sanctions
B. Assure acceptance of his 14 Points
C. Deepen America’s isolationism from European
affairs
D. Bring about the disintegration of the Soviet
Union
E. Dismember the defeated German Empire back to
its pre-1866 borders
Question 14
The Treaty of Versailles
A. Absolved the Central Powers of full guilt in
causing the war
B. Created Wilson’s United Nations
C. Created by system by which the old Turkish
Empire could be safely dismantled.
D. Dismembered the Ottoman Empire
E. Forced Germany to acknowledge “war guilt”
and to pay reparations for its alleged wartime
aggression
Question 15
The chief motivation of Georges
Clemenceau’s terms of armistice was to
A. Punish Germany and gain security for
France
B. Help Germany become a democracy
C. Maintain a demilitarized Europe
D. Limit Britain’s influence on the continent
E. Establish the League of Nations
Question 16
After the War, the United States Senate voted
A. To forgive the war loans to England and France
B. To renounce the Versailles Treaty that Wilson
negotiated
C. To join and actively participate in the League of
Nations
D. To occupy northern Mexico in retaliation for the
Zimmerman Note
E. Form a military alliance with England, France
and Russia
Web Links
Archduke Francis Ferdinand
Trench Warfare
American Expeditionary Force
Bolshevik Revolution
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin
Treaty of Versailles