Provisional Government

1
The Russian Revolution October 1917
2
World War I(1914-1918)

• Russia was unprepared for war
• was still recovering from the Russo-Japanese War
  (1904-05)
• many troops sent to front unarmed (up to 1 out of
  3)

3
Russia suffered many defeats.
4
Three-quarters of Russias troops become
casualties.
5
At one point Nicholas II personally took command
of the army and ran the war.
6
Grigory Rasputin

• religious mystic
• gained the trust of the tsarina
• -allegedly had the ability to heal the
  tsarevitch of his hemophellia
• was seen as a harmful influence

7
Provisional Government

• headed by Alexander Kerensky
• asked tsar to abdicate
• made the fatal mistake of staying in World War I

8
The Intelligentsia evolved into two wings
Socialists
Bolsheviks
Mensheviks
9
Mensheviks

• means less
• the minority party among the revolutionary
  socialists
• believed in the gradual achievement of socialism
  by parliamentary means

10
Bolsheviks

• means majority or larger
• believed in the violent overthrow of capitalism
  and the monarchy in Russia
• became known as Communists (Reds)

11
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin(1870-1924)

• real last name was Ulyanov
• son of a provincial inspector of schools
• grandson of a serf

12
Russia is a prison of nations.

• - Vladimir Ilyich Lenin

13
Lenin(continued)

• became a revolutionary after his older brother
  Alexander was executed by hanging in 1887 for
  plotting to assassinate Tsar Alexander III

14
Lenin as Exile

• spent many years in exile - both internally (in
  Siberia) and externally (in Western Europe)
• agitated for revolution while abroad

15
Lenin as Revolutionary

• was transported by Germans to Russia in a sealed
  train in 1917
• -delivered the April Manifesto
• 1. Land
• 2. Peace
• 3. All power to the Soviets

16
Lenin addressing a crowd in 1917.
17
The BolsheviksSeize Control

• led the October (November) 1917 Revolution
  Russia was still using the Julian calendar at
  the time
• ended Russias involvement in World War I by
  negotiating the peace Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
  with Germany

18
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

• ends Russias involvement in World War I
• negotiated between Bolshevik Russia and Germans

19
Russia exchanged 1/4 of its land, 1/3 of its
population, and 1/2 of its industry for peace.
20
Nicholas and his family were sent to internal
exile by the Bolsheviks.
21
Death of a Dynasty

• the Romanov royal family was executed by the
  Bolsheviks in 1918
• -their remains were dumped down an abandoned
  mine shaft, which was then sealed-up and forgotten

22
Why?
23
Civil War(1918-1921)

• between the Whites (Royalists and
  anti-communists) and Reds (Communists)
• -at one point 6/7ths of Russia is occupied by
  the Whites with the aid of foreign powers

24
Reds win because Leon Trotsky organizes an
efficient Red Army

• Western nations try to back Whites, but lack
  the resolve in the wake of World War I.

Leon Trotsky