The Russian Revolutions

1
The Russian Revolutions

• Unrest, Revolt, Brutality
• 1905 - 1921

2
Why Revolution?

• Roots go back many centuries as Russia
  failed to modernize, industrialize, or
  westernize.
• After the death of Peter the Great, his
  dream of westernization was lost.

3
Revolution, continued

• Russia remained largely feudal in character,
  even though serfdom had been
  abolished.
• Many freed serfs were hired hands of
  the aristocrats and were paid very poorly.

4
Plight of the Poor

• 49 year loans were offered to freed serfs,
  but most couldnt afford the loan payments,
  seeds, or tools needed to farm.
• Collective farms (Mirs) became the norm,
  as groups of peasant families joined
  together to take out a loan and buy a
  farm.
• These new peasant landowners were named the
  kulaks.

5
Census Statistics

• Between 1860 and 1914, the Russian population
  doubled to 103 million.
• Census of 1898 1/2 middle class (a few
  factory owners), 1 1/2 nobility, 98 peasants.
• 2 of the population controlled 96 of the wealth.

6
Political Parties

• Social Democratic Party Formed by Plekanov
  to promote Marxism. (SPD)
• Cadets Liberals who wanted a constitution.
• Social Revolutionary Party Peasants whose
  motto was Peasants for Terrorism.

7
Wittes Reform Plan 1892

• Protective tariffs on foreign industrial
  goods.
• Development of heavy industry esp. The
  Transsiberian Railway.
• Planned Economy

8
Wittes Plan

• High Taxes
• Gold Standard
• Closer diplomatic ties with
  France

9
Results of Wittes Plan

• Massive social discontent
• Peasants were upset due to high taxes
• Wealthy Russians were mad because French
  investors were draining profits from Russia
• Rioting led to Wittes dismissal in 1905
• Protestors were exiled.

10
WHAT IS TO BE DONE?

• Lenin wrote this book in 1902 to outline his
  blueprint for revolution. It called for
• Rejection of accommodation with the czar
• Rejection of a mass party
• creation of a network of professional
  revolutionaries to lead a secret rev.
• rejection of trade unionism.

11
Lenins Book

• Lenins book was soon read by most members of
  the SPD and it split the party into two factions
• Bolsheviks (led by Lenin)
• Mensheviks (led by Plekanov)

12
The Revolution of 1905

• Factors leading to this revolution included
• Russo-Japanese war
• Bloody Sunday
• Food Shortages
• Lack of Democratic Traditions

13
Bloody Sunday

• On Jan. 22, 1905, a Russian Orthodox priest
  named Fr. Gapon organized about 200,000 peaceful
  protesters to take a petition to the czar,
  calling for relief from extreme poverty.
• The czars guards fired on the protestors,
  killing several hundred.
• This showed the people that there would be no
  democratic solutions.

14
BLOODY SUNDAY
15
Russo-Japanese War

• Began when Japan invaded what is now Korea (then
  part of Russia)
• Russia lost badly to what they thought was an
  inferior power.
• The war made food shortages on the homefront
  worse than usual
• Japan captured Port Arthur permanently.

16
Results of the 1905 Revolution

• The October Manifesto temporarily halted
  revolution.
• 1st constitution
• established the Duma
• Did little for most Russians

17
More Results

• The Soviets emerged and eventually became the
  organs around which Lenin organized the 2nd
  Revolution of 1917.
• Soviets were Marxist workers councils.

18
Electoral Failure

• April 1906 1st Duma elected but dissolved by
  the czar (too liberal a body)
• February 1907 and June 1907 More parliamentary
  elections--Dumas dissolved, again.

19
The Duma Meets

• November 1907 A more conservative Duma was
  elected and allowed to meet.

20
More Problems

• Czar Nicholas conservative advisor was hated by
  liberals because he was a reactionary.
• In 1911, Stolypin was assassinated by
  conservatives who thought him too
  liberal.
• The czar is caught between the two factions and
  pleases neither.

21
The Czars Personal Problems

• Nicholas married Alexandra, a German princess who
  was hated by the Russian People.
• Alexia, Nicholas only son had hemophelia
• Alexandra fell for the services of Rasputin, a
  priest who claimed he could cure Alexia.

22
Problems, Continued

• Rasputin soon gained control of the czar and
  czarina and had many capable government officials
  fired. They were replaced by his friends, many
  of whom could not even read or write.
• Rasputin was finally executed by the Duma in 1917.

23
World War I

• WWI was a major factor in the destruction of the
  czarist regime.
• While the czar led the troops to battle, his wife
  and Rasputin ran the country.

24
The War

• The war went badly for Russia.
• Russia was not industrialized and could not
  compete with the new weapons.
• The troops were finally limited to one bullet per
  day.

25
The Effects of the War

• On the home front, people were starving, because
  the troops were receiving all available food.
• People hated the war and wanted peace at any cost.

26
The 1st Revolution of 1917

• By early 1917, starving peasants were burning and
  looting the countryside, where the elites lived
  in ignorance of the dangerous conditions.

27
Revolution, Cont.

• By February, 1917, Russia had lost over 2.5
  million soldiers in the war, and the war was
  hopelessly lost.
• The Duma took action and forced the czar to
  abdicate for himself and his son March 15, 1917.

28
The Provisional Govt

• A provisional government was formed by Alexander
  Kerensky, a Cadet leader in the Duma.
• He did little to solve Russias problems, waiting
  for a permanent government to be elected and make
  lasting decisions.
• Kerensky took a bribe and stayed in the war,
  losing popular support.

29
Kerensky in Trouble

• July 1917 The Kornilov Affair.
• Kerenskys government is threatened by an
  attempted coup by Kornilov.
• Kerensky could only control less than 1/2 of his
  army and agreed to arm anyone who would fight to
  save the provisional government.
• The Bolsheviks were first in line to receive
  weapons.

30
Lenins Rise

• Although Kornilovs coup was put down, it was
  only a matter of time until Lenin made his move.
• Lenin made a deal with Germany and received
  secret passage back to Russia.

31
The October Revolution

• November, 6, 1917 Lenin, Stalin, and Trotsky
  organize a revolution using the network of
  Soviets first created in 1905.
• Within one day, Kerensky was arrested and the
  coup was completed

32
The Revolution

• Lenin and the Bolsheviks swiftly took over banks,
  telephone/telegraph lines, and railways.
• The czar was transferred to Lenins custody where
  he and his family were later killed.

33
ISKRA (The Spark)
34
Lenins Policies

• Lenin immediately renamed Russia the USSR.
• Lenin nationalized all banks, industries, and
  large farms.

35
Lenin, Continued

• Lenin abolished all churches.
• The poor people were happy because they had food
  to eat. They didnt
  care what Lenin did
  as long as they were
  economically better
  off.

36
Peace

• Lenin held true to his motto Peace, Land and
  Bread by suing for peace in the Treaty of
  Brest-Litovsk.
• The USSR lost most of the Ukraine, but it was
  later recovered in 1919.

37
Civil War

• The Reds fought a civil war against the Whites
  from 1917 to 1921.
• Whites received limited help from the western
  powers
• The Reds won the civil war.

38
Reds versus Whites
39
Foreign Intervention
40
Lenin

• The Common people of Russia loved Lenin. Only
  those with more to lose were unhappy. Below is a
  picture of people mourning Lenins death.