Russian revolution Flashcards
Why did Russia entered in a revolution?
Between 1904 and 1917, Russia faced a series of crises. These events showed the czar’s weakness and paved the way for revolution.
The Russo-Japanese War causes
In the late 1800s, Russia and Japan competed for control of Korea and Manchuria. The two nations signed a series of agreements over the territories but Russia broke them.
What happened next in Russo-Japanese war?
Japan retaliated by attacking the Russians at Port
Arthur, Manchuria, in February 1904. News of repeated Russian losses sparked unrest at home and led to a revolt in the midst of the war.
Russia was defeated in the Russo-Japanese War.
Bloody Sunday: The Revolution of 1905
On January 22, 1905, about 200,000 workers and their families approached the czar’s Winter Palace in St. Petersburg. They carried a petition asking for better working conditions, more personal freedom, and an elected national legislature.
Nicholas II’s generals ordered soldiers to fire on the crowd. More than 1,000 were wounded and several hundred were killed. Russians quickly named the event “Bloody Sunday.”
Consequences of Bloody Sunday
Bloody Sunday provoked a wave of strikes and violence that spread across the country.
Duma creation and dissolution.
World war I
In 1914, Nicholas II made the fateful decision to drag Russia into World War I. Russia was unprepared to Handle the military and economic costs. Its weak generals and poorly equipped troops were no match for the German army.
Consequences World war I in Russia.
Before a year had passed, more than 4 million Russian soldiers had been killed, wounded, or taken prisoner.
In 1915, Nicholas moved his headquarters to the war front. From there, he hoped to rally his discouraged troops to victory. His wife, Czarina Alexandra, ran the government while he was away.
Meanwhile, on the war front Russian soldiers mutinied, deserted, or ignored orders. On the home front, food and fuel supplies were dwindling. Prices were wildly inflated. People from all classes were clamoring for change and an end to the war. Neither Nicholas nor Alexandra proved capable of tackling these enormous problems.
In summary, high casualties, economic ruin, widespread hunger.
The March Revolution
In March 1917, women textile workers in Petrograd led a citywide strike. In the next five days, riots flared up over shortages of bread and fuel. Nearly 200,000 workers swarmed the streets shouting, “Down with the autocracy!” and “Down with the war!” At first the
soldiers obeyed orders to shoot the rioters but later sided with them.
March revolution consequences
The March Revolution forced Czar Nicholas II to abdicate his throne. A year later revolutionaries executed Nicholas and his family. The three-century czarist rule of the Romanovs finally collapsed. The March Revolution succeeded in bringing down the czar. Yet it failed to set up a strong government to replace his Regime.
Leaders of the Duma established a provisional government, or temporary government
Soviet
Socialist revolutionaries, competing for power, formed soviets. Soviets were local councils consisting of workers, peasants, and soldiers. In many cities, the soviets had more influence than the provisional government.
How did the provisional goverment of Russia fall down?
In November 1917, without warning, armed factory workers stormed the Winter Palace in Petrograd. Calling themselves the Bolshevik Red Guards, they took over government offices and arrested the leaders of the provisional government.
Bolshevik revolution.
What actions did bolsheviks take in power?
Within days after the Bolshevik takeover, Lenin ordered that all farmland be distributed among the peasants. Lenin and the Bolsheviks gave control of factories to the workers.
The Bolshevik government also signed a truce with Germany to stop all fighting and began peace talks.
In March 1918, Russia and Germany signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Russia surrendered a large part of its territory to Germany and its allies. The humiliating terms of this treaty triggered widespread anger among many Russians. They objected to the Bolsheviks and their policies and to the murder of the royal family.
Civil War in Russia causes
The Bolsheviks now faced a new challenge. Their opponents formed the White Army. The White Army was made up of very different groups. There were those groups who supported the return to rule by the czar, others who wanted democratic government,
and even socialists who opposed Lenin’s style of socialism. Only the desire to defeat the Bolsheviks united the White Army. The groups barely cooperated with each other. At one point there were three White Armies fighting against the Bolsheviks’ Red Army.
Civil War in Russia consequences
Around 14 million Russians died in the three-year struggle and in the famine that followed. The destruction and loss of life from fighting, hunger, and a worldwide flu epidemic left Russia in chaos. In the end, the Red Army crushed all opposition. The victory showed that the Bolsheviks were able both to seize power and to maintain it.
How did Lenin restore order in Russia?
In March 1921, Lenin temporarily put aside his plan for a state-controlled economy. Instead, he resorted to a small-scale version of capitalism called the New Economic Policy (NEP). The reforms under the NEP allowed peasants to sell their surplus crops instead of turning them over to the government.
The government kept control of major industries, banks, and means of communication, but it let some small factories, businesses, and farms operate under private ownership. The government also encouraged foreign investment.
Lenin organized Russia into several selfgoverning republics under the central government. In 1922, the country was named the Union of Soviet Socialist republics (USSR), in honor of the councils that helped launch the Bolshevik Revolution.
The Bolsheviks renamed their party the Communist Party.Lenin had established a dictatorship of the Communist Party, not “a dictatorship of the proletariat,” as Marx had promoted.
