Chapter Fourteen Revolution and Nationalism 1900-1939

1
Chapter FourteenRevolution and Nationalism
1900-1939

• Section One
• Revolutions in Russia

2
Czars Resist Change

• In 1881, Alexander III succeeded his father,
  Alexander II, and halted all reforms in Russia.
• He believed in autocratic rule, a form of
  government in which he had total power.
• All Russian people had to obey his authority,
  worship in the Russian Orthodox Church, and speak
  only Russian.

3
Czars Continue Autocratic Rule

• Czar Alexander III imposed strict censorship of
  all written materials.
• He ordered his secret police to spy on students
  at secondary schools and universities.
• He ordered political prisoners sent to Siberia, a
  remote region of eastern Russia.
• He ordered that Russian be the official language
  and made the speaking of other languages illegal.
• He ordered violence against Jews, destroying
  Jewish homes, stores, and synagogues.
• When Nicholas II became czar in 1894, he
  continued with these policies.

4
Russia Industrializes

• Between 1863 and 1900 the number of Russian
  factories doubled.
• Russia still lagged behind western Europe.
• In the 1890s Czar Nicholas II sought foreign
  investments and ordered taxes raised to finance
  industrialization.
• By 1900 Russia became the fourth largest producer
  of steel.
• By 1916 the Trans-Siberian Railroad had been
  built, connecting western Russia with its ports
  on the Pacific Ocean.

5
The Revolutionary Movement Grows (Part One)

• Rapid industrialization created many problems for
  the working class.
• Poor working conditions, miserably low wages, and
  child labor.
• Unions were outlawed by the czar, but workers
  went on strike anyway in hopes of improving their
  lives.
• A revolutionary group that followed the views of
  Karl Marx established a following in Russia.
• The Marxist revolutionaries believed that the
  workers would overthrow the czar and establish a
  dictatorship of the proletariat.
• This meant the proletariat or workers would rule
  the country.

6
The Revolutionary Movement Grows (Part Two)

• In 1903, the Marxists split into two groups.
• The more moderate Mensheviks and the more radical
  Bolsheviks.
• The Bolsheviks were willing to sacrifice
  everything for change.
• The leader of the Bolsheviks was Vladimir Lenin.
• He was a great public speaker and organizer.
• He was also ruthless!
• He fled Russia in the early 1900s to avoid
  arrest and waited until he could safely return.

7
Crises at Home and Abroad

• The revolutionaries would not have long to wait
  to realize their visions of proletariat rule.
• Between 1904 and 1917, Russia faces a series of
  crisis.
• These events weakened the czar and paved the way
  for revolution.

8
The Russo-Japanese War

• In the late 1800s, Russia and Japan competed for
  control of Korea and Manchuria (an area of
  north-eastern China).
• The two nations signed a series of agreements
  over the territories, but Russia broke them.
• Japan attacked Russian soldiers in these
  territories.
• The fighting resulted in repeated Russian losses
  and created unrest back at home.

9
Bloody Sunday The Revolution of 1905

• On January 22, 1905, 200,000 workers and their
  families carried a petition to the czar at his
  Winter Palace in St. Petersburg.
• They wanted better working conditions, more
  personal freedom, and an elected legislature.
• The czars generals ordered their troops to fire
  on the crowd.
• Hundreds were killed and over 1,000 injured.
• The event was named Bloody Sunday.
• This provoked a wave of strikes throughout
  Russia.
• In October of 1905 Czar Nicholas II created the
  Duma, Russias first parliament.
• It met in May of 1906, but was dissolved by the
  Czar after only ten weeks, because he didnt want
  to share power.

10
World War I The Final Blow

• In 1914 Czar Nicholas II ordered Russia into
  World War I.
• Russia was unprepared to handle the military and
  economic costs.
• Russian armies were easily defeated by German
  weapons.
• In the first year alone, Russia had lost over 4
  million men.
• In 1915, Czar Nicholas II moved his headquarters
  closer to the front in hopes of rallying his
  troops.
• He left his wife in charge of the government.
• She fell under the spell of a man named Rasputin.
• He claimed to have magical powers and helped heal
  her sick son.
• He opposed reform and eventually was murdered in
  1916.
• Russian soldiers deserted and ignored orders.
• The people of Russia demanded change.

11
The March Revolution

• In March 1917, women workers in Petrograd led a
  strike.
• Riots began to flare up over the next five days.
• 200,000 workers swarmed in the streets shouting,
  Down with the autocracy! and Down with the
  war!
• Soldiers soon joined the rioters.

12
The Czar Steps Down

• The local protests soon spread and turned into
  the March Revolution.
• Czar Nicholas II abdicated his thrown.
• A year later, he and his family were executed by
  the revolutionaries.
• A provincial, or temporary government was set up
  by the Duma.
• It was led by Alexander Kerensky.
• He continued to support Russias involvement in
  the war and soon lost the support of civilians
  and soldiers.
• Conditions in Russia worsened.
• Socialist revolutionaries formed soviets or local
  councils that competed for governments power.

13
Lenin Returns to Russia

• The Germans believed that Lenin would stir
  trouble in Russia.
• In April of 1917, they arranged to have him
  return to Russia in a sealed railway boxcar.

14
The Bolshevik Revolution

• Lenin and the Bolsheviks soon gained control of
  the soviets in all major Russian cities.
• The people rallied behind Lenin and his rallying
  cry of, Peace, Land, and Bread!

15
The Provisional Government Topples

• In November 1917, without warning, armed factory
  workers stormed the Winter Palace and other
  government buildings.
• These workers called themselves the Bolshevik Red
  Guard and soon removed Kerensky and his
  government from power.

16
Bolsheviks in Power

• Upon gaining power, Lenin ordered the
  redistribution of all farmland to the peasants.
• He gave control of all factories to the workers.
• In March 1918, he signed a peace treaty with
  Germany, giving away much Russian land.
• Many Russians were angry at the humiliation this
  treaty brought and with the execution of the
  royal family.

17
Civil War Rages in Russia

• The Russian people were divided. Some supported
  the White Army, others the Red Army.
• The White Army had people who supported the czar,
  democracy, and even socialists.
• The Red Army were the Bolsheviks led by Leon
  Trotsky, who was loyal to Lenin.
• From 1918 to 1920 civil war raged in Russia.
• 14 million people died.
• Western Europe and the U.S. supported the White
  Army, but in the end the Bolsheviks won.

18
Lenin Restores Order

• The civil war had destroyed the Russian economy.
• Trade was at a standstill, industrial production
  dropped, and many skilled workers fled to other
  countries.
• Lenin began to revive the economy and restructure
  the government.

19
New Economic Policy

• In March of 1921, Lenin began the NEP or New
  Economic Policy.
• Major industries, banks, and means of
  communication were under government control.
• Lenin did, however allow peasants to sell surplus
  crops and allowed some small factories,
  businesses, and farms to operate under private
  ownership.
• By 1928, Russias economy was better than it had
  been prior to World War I.

20
Political Reforms

• Lenin organized Russia into several
  self-governing republics.
• In 1922, the country was renamed the Union of
  Soviet Socialist Republics or USSR.
• The Bolsheviks renamed their party the Communist
  Party.
• In 1924 the Communists created a constitution
  based on socialist and democratic principles.
• In reality, the Communist Party held all the
  power.
• Lenin had created a dictatorship of the Communist
  Party.

21
Stalin Becomes Dictator

• Lenin suffered a stroke in 1922.
• He survived, but a struggle began over who would
  replace him after his death.
• Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin were in the top
  leadership positions.
• Stalin was cold, hard, and impersonal.
• He quickly concentrated power by appointing his
  followers in top government posts.
• In 1924 Lenin died.
• By 1928, Stalin was in total command of the
  Communist Party.
• In 1929 he forced Trotsky into exile.
• Stalin now had absolute power as dictator of the
  USSR.