THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION

1
THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION
Enduring Understandings 1. International
conflict often leads to domestic changes. 3. In
times of crisis, people often turn to strong
leaders in search of stability. 5. Conflicts of
the 20th Century were rooted in political and
ideological differences around the world.

• Key Questions
• Describe the long-term and short-term causes of
  the Russian Revolution. Focus particularly on
  ideology, social, economic, military and
  political conditions.
• Are all revolutions the same? Compare the
  Russian Revolution to the French Revolution.

2
Day 1 Crisis leads to Revolution

• Watch The Origins and Ideas of Communism and
  Socialism answer the questions (page 1) to
  understand the ideologies of socialism and
  communism.
• Read (page 2) and answer the questions to
  understand the problems that Russians faced.
• Complete (page 1 part A) to understand the
  factors that led to the Russian Revolution while
  we go through the slide show.

3
Marxists

• Communism explained video as you watch, answer
  the questions on the sheet.

4
Unrest Begins in Russia due to the Czar

• Russia was a large empire and largely
  unindustrialized. (Not modern)
• Peasants lived in poverty, with a small elite in
  charge who mistreated them.
• The Czar was very autocratic (dictatorial)
• Used harsh police tactics to put down opponents
• Czar Nicholas had tried to improve conditions
  only following a revolution in 1905, but had no
  real effect.
• Nicholas was a weak and ineffective leader.

5
Industrialization helps Unrest to Continue in
Russia

• As industrialization occurred, urban workers
  began to feel mistreated and angry because
• Low wages
• Bad working conditions
• Child labor
• Outlawed labor unions
• No political power
• Huge gap between rich and poor
• Many radical groups attempted revolutions,
  including Marxists,
• who tried to ignite revolution among the
  proletariat (growing class of factory workers and
  miners, etc).

Like this guy, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin
6
Unrest Continues in Russia Russia loses to
Japan

• The Czar makes a bad choice to mess with Japan.
• Japan beats up on the Russians
• Russia loses life, land and money
• People are unhappy and begin to protest.

7
Unrest Continues in Russia Czar makes things
worse on Bloody Sunday

• In 1905, workers marched in St Petersburg to
  demand better working conditions and a say in
  government.
• The Czar had them shot by soldiers hundreds
  were killed this was Bloody Sunday
• But a Duma a legislature was created to give
  people a voice the Czar had it dissolved 10
  weeks later.

8
Impact of WWI

• The beginning of WWI fueled national pride and
  temporarily stopped calls for revolution.
• By 1915, many troops were poorly supplied and
  starving, and casualties reached 2,000,000.
• In an effort to increase morale, Nicholas went to
  the front to lead his troops, leaving Czarina
  Alexandra in charge.
• She relied on the advice of Rasputin, a
  self-proclaimed holy man.
• After realizing this, Russian nobles murdered
  Rasputin in 1916.

9
Somebody was Crazy
10
The March Revolution forces The Czar to Step Down

• As WWI got worse for the Russians, many soldier
  mutinied or deserted
• People demanded change
• A huge protest and strike occurred in March 1917
  in St Petersburg
• The protests spread across the country.
• The Duma (legislature) set up a provisional
  (temporary) government to deal with the war,
  strikes and starvation
• Revolutionaries began creating soviets (local
  councils of a democratic nature) outside of the
  provisional government to deal with these
  problems on a local level.
• The Czar was forced to step down in favor of the
  provisional government.

11
The Last Czar and why
12
Lenin and the Bolsheviks

• Lenin, born to a middle class family, was
  familiar with the works of Karl Marx.
• He spread Marxist ideas to factory workers, which
  got him exiled from Western Russia.
• Lenin adapted Marxs ideas because Russia did not
  have a large urban proletariat. He wanted an
  elite group to lead the revolution instead.
• He established the Bolsheviks, meaning majority,
  as a group supporting socialism.

13
The Provisional Governments Mistakes

• Led by Alexander Karensky, the provisional
  government continued to concentrate on the war
  effort in World War I and neglected to deal with
  land reform.
• These became fatal mistakes.
• Lenin, along with Leon Trotsky, gained support of
  many who were angry with the provisional
  government.

14
The Bolshevik Takeover

• In November of 1917, the Red Guards, who were
  armed factory workers, attacked the Russian
  government.
• Seized control within days, and continued to
  takeover other cities.
• Land redistributed to peasants and control of
  mines and factories given to workers.
• Bolsheviks renamed Communists.

15
The Russian Revolution Begins
16
Civil War

• Reds (Communists) vs. Whites (counterrevolutionari
  es)
• The Allies intervened by helping the Whites
  because they needed Russias assistance in WWI.
• Reds win after 3 years

17
The New Government

• Russia became the USSR (Soviet Union)
• The Communist Party reigned supreme
• Lenins New Economic Policy
• Allowed some capitalist ventures
• Retreated from war communism
• State controlled large industries and banks
• Peasants controlled small plots of land and their
  own crops
• Lenin saw this as a temporary retreat from
  Communism

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19
Stalin Takes Over

• When Lenin dies, there are two possible
  successors, Trotsky and Stalin.
• Stalin strips Trotsky of party membership and
  returns the USSR to pure Communism.

20
QUICKWRITE

• How did War Communism differ from the New
  Economic Policy?
• Give at least three specific differences.