THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION

COMMUNISM
• A system in which different classes are abolished and the state
controls all aspects of life.
• A theory or system of social organization in which all property is
owned by the community and each person contributes and receives
according to their ability and needs.
• Communism is a political and economic ideology that positions
itself in opposition to liberal democracy and capitalism, advocating
instead a classless system in which the means of production are
owned communally and private property is non-existent or severely
curtailed.
CAPITALISM
• A system in which those who own wealth (financiers,
industrialists) have political and economic power.
• An economic and political system in which a country's trade
and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather
than by the state.
 KARL MARX
• German philosopher.
• His theory, called Marxism, based on belief that all
human history based on struggle between those who
had wealth and power, and those who were poor and
powerless.
• Believed all people should be free and equal in a
communist society.
• Father of communism.
REVOLUTION

• A revolution is a rebellion or uprising in order to

bring about change or create a transformation.
• It is usually violent in nature.
RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT BEFORE
REVOLUTION
• Monarchy: The Tsar (Czar)
• Until 1905, the Tsar's powers were unlimited over a
population of 175 million.
• Russia had no constitution.
• No political party system to check the Tsar's power.
• A strong secret police which terrorized the people
(the Okhrana).
ROYAL BACKGROUND
TSAR NICHOLAS I
TSAR NICHOLAS I

• Created the first secret police in Russia.

• Known for geographical expansion, repression of dissent,
economic stagnation, poor administrative policies, a corrupt
bureaucracy and frequent wars.
TSAR ALEXANDER II

• He implemented important reforms, notably the abolition of

serfdom.
• In 1867, he sold Alaska and the Aleutian Islands to the United
States.
• Killed by the Revolutionary Group: The People’s Will.
TSAR ALEXANDER III

• Alexander III's reign was during an industrial revolution in

Russia.
• His reign was harsh, against revolutionaries and other liberal
movements.
TSAR NICHOLAS II (1894):
LAST TSAR OF RUSSIA

• Nicholas II was a harsh and weak ruler.

• The Russian economy was bankrupt because of the Russo-
Japanese War - dispute with Japan over Manchuria (1904/5).
• Shook national confidence in their progress and the rule of
the Tsar.
• Wasted precious resources and money.
• Russia’s entry into WWI became very unpopular.
 RASPUTIN

• After failing to become a monk, Grigori Yefimovich

Rasputin became a wanderer and eventually entered
the court of Czar Nicholas II because of his alleged
healing abilities. Known for his prophetic powers, he
became a favourite of the Nicholas's wife, Alexandra
Feodorovna, but his political influence was minor.
Rasputin became swept up in the events of the
Russian Revolution and met a brutal death.
RASPUTIN
RUSSIA BEFORE THE REVOLUTION
• Most Russians were peasants.
• Farming methods were backwards; production levels
were low.
• Constant food shortages.
• Frequent peasant uprisings which were brutally crushed.
• Industrially far behind the rest of Europe.
• Majority of the population illiterate.
CONTINUED…

• Many opposition movements; leaders executed,

imprisoned or sent into exile.
• Mensheviks (the minority) – slow and steady change.
• Bolsheviks (the majority) – radical change.
BLOODY SUNDAY
• Soldiers fired on 200 000 workers who had marched to
the palace in St Petersburg to present a petition to the
Tsar led by father Gapon.
• They wanted basic human rights and improved working
conditions.
• Massacre – sparked strikes, riots, mutinies and general
unrest.
• Fuelled protests against the government.
 CONTINUED…
• Tsar established Duma to stop protests.
• Duma – parliament; all adult men could vote and the Duma
could pass new laws.
• Promise of reform kept the tsar in power.
 RUSSIA AND WORLD WAR I
• Russia declares war on Austria-Hungary.
• Tsar Nicholas II hoped war would unite Russia and
stop talk of revolution.
• Patriotism increased rapidly.
• War becomes unpopular.
• Rationing leads to starvation.
• At the start of the war Russia had 6 million soldiers.
 CONTINUED…
• However, Russia was not ready for war.
• Russia lacked:
• factories/supplies
• a transportation system
• modern equipment
• competent military leaders
• Food and other goods grew scarce
CONTINUED…
• Peasants grew desperate.
• Nicholas II leaves St. Petersburg to war front.
• He leaves Tsarina Alexandra in charge (unpopular).
• Alexandra took advice from Grigory Rasputin
(corrupt/immoral).
FEBRUARY REVOLUTION (1917)
• 1917- protests spread through St. Petersburg (Renamed
Petrograd) because of unemployment, rising prices and food
shortages.
• Soldiers support the demonstrators.
• Royal palace is taken over and Tsar is forced to abdicate.
• Provisional government (appointed by Duma) takes control,
lead by Alexander Kerensky.
• Provisional government lacks authority and experience.
CONTINUED…
• Does not tackle most pressing issues such as
redistribution of land.
• Provisional government unpopular after decision to stay
in WWI.
• Political exiles return: Lenin from Switzerland and Stalin
from Siberia.
• Lenin’s slogans: “Peace, Bread, Land” and “All Power to
the Soviets” win wide support for the Bolsheviks.
 CONTINUED…
• Bolsheviks (Marxist group) want basic change.
• Vladimir Lenin leader.
• Gained support through propaganda.
• Created Red Guard: 20 000 revolutionaries.
• Provisional government unsuccessful in suppressing
the Bolsheviks.
 CONTINUED…
• Wanted to change life in Russia; gained support of
peasants.
• Peasants impatient with :
• Provisional government;
• started to take matters into their own hands.
POLITICAL, ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL
CAUSES OF THE FEBRUARY REVOLUTION.
• Political –
• Defeats in WWl
• Ineffective Tsarist government
• Inability to crush protests
• Economic –
• Effects of WWl
• Food shortages
• Rising food prices
 CONTINUED…
• Social –
• Discontent caused by WWl
• Long-term inequality in Russian society
• Rising unrest in towns
OCTOBER (BOLSHEVIK) 1917
REVOLUTION
• Continued growth in support of the Bolsheviks.
• Lenin and Trotsky make plans to seize power.
• Bolshevik coup (sudden, violent seizure of power) successful.
• Red guards seize key points in Petrograd and storm Winter
Palace.
• Provisional government surrenders.
• Lenin announces establishment of the Soviet of People’s
Commissar – new government to implement communism in
Russia.
• In general, the October (Bolshevik) revolution faced little
resistance.
 POLITICAL, ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL
CAUSES OF THE OCTOBER REVOLUTION.
• Political –
• Continued involvement in war.
• Opposition to Provisional Government.
• Return of revolutionary leaders from exile.
• Successful Bolshevik propaganda.
• Growing power of soviets.
• Formation of Red Guards.
CONTINUED…
• Economic –
• Failure to introduce land reforms.
• Continuing economic problems.
• Social –
• Continuing inequality and unrest.
• Desertions from the army.
 1918 - WWI
• In March 1918, the Bolsheviks accept the peace of
Brest‑Litovsk, ending WWI with Germany.
 MARXISM - LENINISM
• Once in power, Bolsheviks change their name to the
Communist Party.
• Lenin believed political revolution needed first.
• He also believed that the Party needed to keep
control of the state after the revolution in order to
bring about and protect communism.
• Russia = totalitarian, one party state.
NEW GOVERNMENT SEIZES CONTROL OF
THE STATE
• Provisional government had planned elections for
Constituent Assembly.
• Elections went ahead.
• Bolsheviks only win less than a quarter of the seats;
position not secure.
• Constituent Assembly criticises Bolshevik policies.
• Lenin sends troops to close it down permanently.
 CONTINUED…
• Red guards use force to stop demonstrations in favour
of parliament.
• Over 100 people killed or injured.
• Clear that new government would use force to stay in
power.
THE PARTY AS VANGUARD OF THE
PROLETARIAT
• Believed a single group of full-time revolutionaries should
lead the mass of the people to revolution.
• Now in power, he believed that the Party should continue as
the “dictatorship of the proletariat” – small group rule on
behalf of the people.
• Opposition parties banned, no freedom of debate, even
within the Communist Party.
• Secret police (the Cheka) destroyed opposition
CONTINUED…
• Reforms:
• Signed peace treaty with Germany – Russia lost a great
deal of land and resources to the West.
• Land reforms – confiscated large areas from the estates of the
tsar, church and nobles; redistributed among the peasants.
• Working conditions – 8 hour day/ 40 hour week; insurance for
workers.
• Education – free education for all; adult literacy campaign;
saw education as crucial.
RULE OF LENIN 1920-1924
• Economic Reforms included the New
Economic Plan/Policy (NEP)
- moderate mix of capitalism and socialism.

• Political Reforms
-Bolshevik party became Communist Party.
-Russia becomes the United Soviet Socialist Republic.
THE CIVIL WAR AND WAR COMMUNISM
• Position of the communists not secure as they had
destroyed democratically elected parliament,
imposed a dictatorship and wanted a radically new
social and economic system.
• Bitter Civil War from 1918 – 1921.
• Government introduced new policy: War
Communism, to help win the war.
 THE CIVIL WAR
• Opponents were the “White Russians”.
• Made up of different groups who opposed Communist
Party dictatorship.
• Called “Whites” to differentiate themselves from the
“Reds”; also reference to first Tsar known as “White
King” as they supported the old tsarist system.
• Aid from Britain, France, USA and Japan.
• Weakened by rivalry and disagreement.
CONTINUED…
• Red Guards converted to Red Army.
• Brutal acts of terror on both sides during the Civil War
– thousands died.
• 1921: Red Army wins Civil War because they were
united, disciplined and had effective propaganda.
• Lenin ensured that the Red Army was well fed and
equipped: Policy of War Communism.
• No more organised resistance.
THE POLICY OF WAR COMMUNISM
• Government took control of economy and used
nationalisation and central planning.
• Grain and other food supplies requisitioned from
peasants to supply the Army and people in the
cities where food was rationed.
• People were conscripted to work in factories or fight
in the Army.
• Strikes were banned and workers were strictly
controlled.
CONTINUED…
• Private trade was banned, private wealth property of
the government and no inheritance of property.
• War Communism had a terrible effect on the
economy: low production, food shortages, famine,
peasant rebellions.
• All rebellions were brutally crushed by Lenin.
CONTINUED…
• Lenin realised that War Communism would have to
be changed if the Communist government was to
stay in power as people were starving and had no
where to live.
THE NEP: NEW ECONOMIC POLICY
• Introduced in 1921.
• First known as ‘Tax in kind’. No more requisitioning
of goods.
• Radical shift; more flexible system which allowed
free enterprise (economic activity not controlled by
the government).
• Temporary compromise with Capitalism to solve the
economic crisis.
THE RESULTS…
• NEP helped to restore economy.
• Government able to consolidate their control.
• Some communists unhappy about compromise with
capitalism.
• Poorer people resented the success of the kulaks
and nepmen.
CHANGES IN RUSSIA
• Many changes in Russia while NEP was being
implemented.
-Capital moved from Petrograd to Moscow.
-1923 – country officially named Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics (USSR or Soviet Union).
-Russia organised into several self-governing republics
under the central government.
-Provision made for elections – meaningless.
-USSR a dictatorship as autocratic as before.
WOMEN AND THE REVOLUTION
• Played an active role.
• New government wanted to change the position of women in
society.
• Women’s Department (WD): focused on women’s rights in
employment, education and society.
• Créche and Kindergarten established so women could work.
• However, paid less and preference was given to men.
• After Lenin’s death, WD closed down.
THE DEATH OF LENIN
• Lenin Dies in 1924.
• Power Vacuum.
• Petrograd renamed Leningrad in his honour.
• Power Struggle: Leon Trotsky vs Joseph Stalin.
• Stalin takes control.
• Now must decide how he will maintain power
• Decides to create a totalitarian state
DEFINITIONS

• War Communism: was the name given to the economic

system that existed in Russia from 1918 to 1921. was the
nationalisation of land. Banks and shipping were also
nationalised and foreign trade was declared a state
monopoly.

• Requisitioning: the act of officially asking for or taking

something, a formal or official request for something needed
DEFINITIONS

• Civil War: a violent conflict between a state and one or

more organized non-state actors in the state’s territory.
insurgents seek territorial secession or autonomy and
conflicts in which insurgents aim for control of the central
government. a war between citizens of the same country
STALIN
CHARACTERISTICS OF A TOTALITARIAN
STATE
• Dictatorship- Absolute Authority.
• Dynamic Leader- Vision for the nation.
• State Control Over All Sectors of Society:
• Business, Family Life, Labour, youth groups, housing, religion,
education, the arts.
• State Control Over the Individual:
• Obedience
• Denies basic liberties
• Organized Violence:
• Uses force to crush opposition
 STALIN’S TOTALITARIAN STATE
• State Control of the Economy
-5 year plan; collective farms
• Police Terror
-Great Purge, crush opposition
• Religious Persecution
-Control of the individual
• Propaganda (socialist realism)
-Molding people’s minds
• Education
-Controlled by the government