the 1917 revolutions Flashcards
what was the impact of the WW1 - defeats
defeats - terrible defeats at the start of the war resulted in loss of morale. troops were let down by poor strategic decision making. development of attrition warfare indicated that the tsar was not able to bring the conflict to a satisfactory end
what was the impact of the WW1 - losses
russians lost twice as many troops
casualties as a whole was 8 million
what was the economic impact of ww1
whole of the economy geared up to winning the war. which had a negative impact on the standard of living as industry and agriculture could not cope with both demands
food shortages - due to rising population and food requistioning
transport problems
inflation - total cost of war was 3 billion roubles. cost was met by borrowing and printing more money. by 1917 prices had risen 400 percent
who influnced the leadership of nicholas II
Alexandra - german grandaughter of queen victoria which caused suspicions with russian people. when nicholas was away fighting the war, alexandra was left to goverence, causing discontent within the government causing a progressive bloc to form
rasputin - helped alexandras son alexei. he was murdered by arisocrats
the fourth duma - final duma put pressure on the tsar to abdicate and went on to form the backbone of the provisional government
what were the events of 1917
jan - 150,000 workers took to the street of st peterburg
feb - strike occurred at putilov steel works
feb - marchers celebrating national womens day and workers protested about poor working and living conditions
feb- general strike took place with workers being fired on by troops
petrograd soviet formed alongside the provisional government
march - soviet order no 1 was passed which gave soviets control over russian military
march - tsar abdicates
challenge faced by the provisional government
in practice the move towards greater democracy was short lived, the governance in russia was soon dominated by lenin
- the provisional government was self appointed not democratically elected
- authority was shared with the provisional government who opposed what the provisional government proposed
- the provisional government allowed the proliferation of protest groups - bolsheviks
- economic issues were hard to deal with
- the peasant land issue dragged on - due to nature of land distribution only a properly elected assembly could deal with it
- continuoious disagreement between government and the soviets about involvement in the war
what were the demands of the petrograd soviets
demanding even more involvement in the new coalition government. supporters adopted ‘all power to the soviets’
this shift appeared to be a significant threat to the government
how important was the return of political exiles to russia in 1917
stalin and kamenev - kamenev believed in accommodationism - working with the provisional government
stalin and kamenev thought involvement in the war should be ended by government entering peace talks
lenin - no cooperation with the provisional government
wanted soldiers and workers to uprise against the government which would end the war
what was the april thesis
lenins ideas on how the bolshevik party should proceed
- condemned the provisional government and demand t to be overthrown
- abandon cooperation to other political groups
- call for a seize of power by the soviets
- two slogans ‘peace, bread and land’ and ‘all power to the soviets’
what was the july days
a period in the Russian Revolution during which workers and soldiers of Petrograd staged armed demonstrations against the Provisional Government
troops loyal to lvov cleared the streets of petrograd, kerensky emerged from this with credit and was appointed prime minister
as a result the bolsheviks became a target for repression and their newpaper pravada was banned
what was the land question
lenin and bolsheviks realised they could exploit the land issue
by promoting a land to the peasants campaign the bolsheviks gained support from rural workers and seemed to promise a solution to the land question
what was the kornilov revolt
kronilov was a military commander marched troops to petrograd to forcefully shut down the soviets. kerensky thought he would then take over the government.
he agreed to the bolsheviks being given arms to defend petrograd
kornilov abandoned his plan and was arresed
bolsheviks were seen as heros
it was evident that the provisional government was susceptible to being challenged by military and others who might want to seize power
what was the course of the october revolution
by september bolsheviks were in control of the petrograd soviets
oct - lenin returned from exile
oct - kerensky closed pravada and a round up of bolsheviks was attempted
oct - petrograd soviet military revolutionary committee began to seize power under trotsky
oct - members of the provisional government were arrested
the all russian congress of soviets was informed the bolsheviks had taken power
by november they had total control
what were the reasons for bolshevik success
defeat of general kornilov meant bolshevik were heros
- distanced themselves from provisional government unpopular policies
-the provisional governement allowed for the revitalisation and expansions of political groups which favoured the bolsheviks who’s leaders returned from exile
- bolsheviks used slogans ‘peace bread and land’ and ‘all power to the soviets’
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