Russian Revolution Review

The Romanovs:

  1. Peter the Great (Remember him from the Absolute Monarch unit?)
  • Started ruling at the age of 10
  • “Grand Embassy” (Peter’s trip to Europe)
  • Westernized Russia
  • Wanted a warm water port for Russia
  1. Catherine the Great
  • German princess
  • Married into the Romanov family
  • Pro-Enlightenment
  • “Golden Age” of Russia
  1. Nicholas II – The Last Tsar (Csar)
  • Ruled from 1894-1918
  • Married a German Princess, Alexandra
  • Had 4 daughters and then finally a male heir, Alexei Romanov (had hemophilia)
  • His reign saw Russia go from being one of the foremostgreat powers of the world to economic and military collapse.
  • ABDICATED (gave up the throne) following the February Revolution in 1917
  • Executed with his entire family in 1918 by the Communists
  • Instituted POGROMS (large-scale , targeted & repeated riots against Jewish people. Resulted in thousands of deaths of dead Jewish citizens.

Events Leading to the Russian Revolution:

  1. Defeat in the Russo-Japanese War
  • 1904-1905
  • Fought between Russia and Japan over Manchuria and Korea.
  • The war concluded with a treaty that was mediated by US President Theodore Roosevelt.
  1. Bloody Sunday
  • A mass protest of workers and their families went to the Tsar’s Winter Palace in St. Petersburg asking for better working conditions, more personal freedom, and an elected national legislature.
  • Tsar Nicholas was not at the palace.
  • Guards fired on the unarmed people killing and injuring hundreds
  • Started a wave of strikes and violence across the country.
  • Nicholas approved the creation of the DUMA, Russia’s first parliament.
  1. Losses in WWI
  • Soldiers running out of weapons
  • People in Russia running out of food and starving (total war)

Formation of the Provisional Government:

  • March – November 1917 (lasted only 8 months!)
  • Ruled once the Tsar (Czar) abdicated
  • Does not pull out of the war, provide food, redistribute land, or solve average Russians’ problems
  • People form SOVIETS (local councils

consisting of workers, peasants, and soldiers. In many places,

these Soviets had more power than the Provisional Gov’t.

  • Run by ALEXANDER KERENSKY

The November Revolution:

•October 1917

•aka: The Bolshevik Revolution

•The Russian people were desperate and calling for PEACE, LAND,

AND BREAD!

•Bolshevik Red guards made up of armed factory workers storm the

Winter Palace in Petrograd

•Bolsheviks take over government offices & arrested the Provisional

Government

  • Soviets work with Bolsheviks

Results of the November Revolution:

•V.I. LENIN and the Bolsheviks set up a COMMUNIST government

•Russia signs the Treat of Brest-Litovsk with Germany to pull out of

WWl (March 1918)

•The Royal family executed while in exile (July 1918)

•Bolsheviks rename themselves Communists

•Russia becomes the USSR(Union of Soviet Socialist Republics or

Soviet Union)

The Russian Civil War:

•The RED side

  1. THE BOLSHEVIKS
  2. Communists who overthrew the Provisional Government
  3. GOAL: To install a Communist Government
  • The WHITE side

a. Everyone else: Prov. Gov’t, USA, England, France, Greece, Italy, Japan, China, Serbia, Romania, Canada, Australia…

The Outcome of the Russian Civil War:

  • 10th Largest War ever Fought
  • 5-9 Million Dead!
  • Creation of the USSR
  • Joseph Stalintakes over after Lenin. He is a ruthless dictator!

Lenin’s New Economic Policy:

  • NEP (Cancelled plans for Communism)
  • State-Controlled Economy
  • 1.Peasants could buy and sell goods
  • 2.Major Industries controlled by the State