R A D I C A L C H A N G E S C O M E S W E E P I N G T H R O U G H R U S S I A I N T H E E A R L Y 1 9 0 0 SC H A P T E R 1 4 , S E C T I O N 5

REVOLUTION AND CIVIL WAR IN RUSSIA

QUICK-WRITE 1/31

• What conditions existed in Russia between 1815-1905 that led to Revolution?

MARCH REVOLUTION ENDS TSARISM

• Russian empire stretched from Eastern Europe to the Pacific Ocean

• Russia was slow to industrialize

• Landowning priests, nobles, and an autocratic tsar controlled the government and economy

• Large peasant population endured poverty

PROBLEMS IN RUSSIA (1905)

• After revolution of 1905 Russia endured many problems:• Elected Duma set up after war had no real power• Moderates pressed for a constitution• Nicholas II used secret police to block attempts to limit

his authority

• Marxists tried to rally a revolution amongst the proletariat- working class

WWI IMPACT

• Outbreak of war sparked feelings of nationalism amongst Russians

• World War I quickly took its toll on them- resources depleted very quickly, by 1915, almost two million Russian soldiers died

• Nicholas II went to take charge on the front lines.

• While he was away tsarina Alexandra relied on advice from Gregory Rasputin.

• Fearing the influence of Rasputin, nobles killed him on December 29, 1916.

TSAR STEPS DOWN

• In 1917, after disaster on the battlefield and disaster at home, Nicholas II steps down

• Duma set up a provisional government, preparing a new constitution for Russia

• Revolutionary soviets set up soviets, who worked within the government. Eventually, the Bolsheviks took charge of this group

LENIN AND THE BOLSHEVIKS

• Vladimir Lenin studied Karl Marx as a young man, and tried tirelessly to spread Marxist ideas to Russians

• Lenin stressed that revolution was necessary to bring about change- elite group named “Bolsheviks” which means majority

• Germany helped bring Lenin home from exile because they thought it would weaken Russia

NOVEMBER REVOLUTION

• The provisional government was led by Alexander Kerensky

• By 1917, soldiers were tired of fighting, and some mutinied. Peasants seized lands from fearful landlords.

• In November 1917, the Bolsheviks, along with mutinied soldiers attacked the provisional government, and easily take them over

• Bolsheviks also take over Moscow, which they make their headquarters

BOLSHEVIK CHANGES

• Bolsheviks:• Ended private ownership of

land and distributed land to peasants

• Workers were given control of factories and mines

• A new red flag with an entwined hammer and sickle symbolized union between workers and peasants

• Bolsheviks soon take over people’s lives throughout Russia

RUSSIA PLUNGES INTO CIVIL WAR

• Lenin quickly made peace with Germany and fled from World War I.

• For three years, civil war raged between the “Reds” (communists) and the “whites” (Mensheviks- people on the side of tsarist Russia)

• Communists used brutality and terror against whites, and also to control their own people• Organized the Cheka- secret police force sent out to kill

people who were planning to take action against the revolution

“WAR COMMUNISM”

• The Communists took over banks, mines, factories, and railroads

• Peasants were ordered to deliver their crops to feed the army and hungry people in the cities

• Peasants were drafted into the military

• Leon Trotsky led the “reds” to ultimately defeat the counter-revolutionary “whites” and take control of Russia

COMMUNIST SOVIET UNION

• In 1922, Lenin united much of the old Russian empire into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) Soviet Union

• New Russian Constitution:• Set up an elected legislature (Supreme Soviet)• Gave all citizens over 18 the right to vote• All political power, resources, and means of production

would belong to workers and peasants

• Still used secret police to enforce its will.

STALIN TAKES OVER

• Lenin died at age 54 in 1924.

• His death set up a power struggle between Soviet leaders, specifically Trotsky and Josef Stalin

• Trotsky supported a worldwide revolution for communists, while Stalin wanted to concentrate on building socialism at home

• Stalin eventually takes over Communist Russia, and uses many ruthless tactics to win dictatorial power.