The revolutions of 1917 Flashcards
1
Q
Which groups of people were supportive of the tsarist regime (authoritarian rule) by 1917?
A
- The army
- The Okhrana (secret police)
- Conservatives
- The Church
2
Q
Which groups of people were discontented with the tsarist regime (authoritarian rule) by 1917, and why?
A
- Peasants (wanted more land)
- Workers (wanted better conditions)
- Liberals (wanted more political freedom)
- Nationalities (wanted independence from the empire)
- Radicals (wanted overthrow of the regime, revolution)
3
Q
Explain what the reasons for discontent among the peasants were?
A
They lived in poverty with rising population making poverty worse + famines a frequent threat
- They believed the answer to their poverty was more land - they wanted the land of the landowner class
- 1905 - Peasant unrest spread through rural Russia - they burnt down landowner houses and took landowner land. Brutal repression used by army to end unrest.
- WW1 - Over 15 million peasant men called up to fight. Horses that peasants relied on were taken away by army, and the army also requisitioned (took) peasant crops.
4
Q
Explain what the reasons for discontent among the town workers were?
A
Russia’s industrialisation was concentrated in cities, huge factories employing thousands of workers
- Living + working conditions in cities were terrible: overcrowded homes, unsafe working conditions with long hours and harsh factory rules
- When workers went on strike, factory owners would sack them or call police/ army to break up strike by force.
- 1905 - Industrial workers joined up with middle-class liberals in general strike that had nearly overthrown the tsar.
- WW1 - economic problems meant many factories closed. Food prices also rose, making life very hard in the cities.
5
Q
Who was Karl Marx?
A
- German writer
- Died in 1883
- He predicted the workers would lead a revolution to create a communist society where everyone was equal.
6
Q
What did the Radicals want changed in the tsarist regime?
A
- Wanted to overthrow tsarist regime + ruling classes.
7
Q
What did the Liberals want changed in the tsarist regime?
A
- Wanted more political freedom to prevent revolution.
8
Q
What did the Conservatives want changed in the tsarist regime?
A
- Wanted to defend interests of the gentry.
9
Q
What did the Ultra nationalists want changed in the tsarist regime?
A
- Wanted to protect the Russian Empire.
10
Q
What did the Socialist Revolutionaries (SRs) want changed in the tsarist regime?
A
- Wanted a new society based on the peasant commune.
11
Q
What did the Social Democrats (SDs) want changed in the tsarist regime?
A
- Were followers of Karl Marx.
- Divided into 2 groups:
Bolsheviks - - Believed they could lead workers in revolution
- And help create communism on their behalf
Mensheviks - - Thought communism in Russia was a long way off as it was not yet industrialised.
12
Q
What military defeats were there during WW1?
A
- Russia had world’s largest army in 1914, but it was poorly led + badly equipped
- German generals were able to move their well-trained men around on an efficient railway network, then strike at Russians where they were most vulnerable.
- By 1917, large areas of the western Russian empire had been lost to Germany.
13
Q
What were the economic effects of WW1?
A
Extremely expensive war for all major European powers. Russia faced additional economic pressures.
- Germany blocked Russia’s trade routes, factories were starved of raw materials + economic activity dropped. taxes had to rise to help pay for cost of war.
- To raise more money, the government arranged loans from its allies, increasing Russia’s national debt.
- The government printed more money to pay for the war. Inflation pushed up prices twice as fast as wages.
14
Q
What were the political effects of WW1?
A
- The Duma (Russian parliament) had supported the war at first but, as the crisis deepened, Duma deputies criticised the failures of the tsar’s ministers.
- 1915 - Duma requested that the tsar replace his ministers with new ones supported by the Duma.
- Tsar refused to share any power with Duma. In response, the Duma became a centre of opposition to the Tsar’s government.
15
Q
What was the Tsar like as commander-in-chief in WW1?
A
- August 1915 - tsar decided to take command of Russian armed forces as commander-in-chief.
- His ministers warned him that this was a huge risk. Russian people would blame tsar directly for any further defeats.
- Tsar left Petrograd in September 1915 to move to army headquarters. He left his German wife, Tsarina Alexandra, as his regent - head of state in his absence.
- His actions lost him the respect of the military elite and the nobility - he had no military training and was away at war rather than in the capital.
16
Q
What were the social effects of WW1?
A
- Conscription of 15 million peasant men + their horses to fight meant food production dropped. The army also requisitioned peasant crops and horses as well as prioritising the railway for the army. These factors meant there was less food for city populations as well as the countryside, leading to hunger and suffering.
- Around 6 million refugees fled German occupation in the west. The government struggled to find them housing + food. National tensions increased.
- Economic problems meant many factory closures and job losses. Unemployment + food shortages meant growing social unrest.
17
Q
What were the key dates of strikes and demonstrations in the February revolution (1917)?
A
Food shortages in Petrograd and Moscow increased social tensions; strikes in bakeries added to the food shortage crisis.
Timeline:
14th Feb: Demonstration in support of Duma
18th Feb: Strike at Putilov Steelworks
Late Feb: Weather became unusually warm, encouraging people to join street protests
23rd Feb: On International Women’s Day, women joined striking workers anti-gov demonstrations; crowds grew larger when gov announced bread rationing might have to begin
23rd - 25th Feb: 250000 people demonstrated in Petrograd - crowds became too big for police to control
18
Q
What were the key dates of mutiny in the army in the February revolution?
A
Timeline:
26th Feb: Soldiers ordered to fire on demonstrators; 40 killed
26th Feb evening: Some soldiers were unhappy about what their officers were asking them to do. This mutiny was suppressed.
27th Feb: Some regiments refused to obey orders to shoot
28th Feb: A military report to the tsar declared that Petrograd was out of control
19
Q
What are the differences in the calendar used in 1918?
A
Julian Calendar used until Feb 1918
Gregorian Calendar used after that
20
Q
Why was the Tsar’s absence a trigger for the February revolution?
A
22nd Feb - Tsar left Petrograd for army headquarters 780km away, totally unaware if rapidly growing crisis
25th Feb - He sent an order to police + army in Petrograd to end the unrest immediately
21
Q
Why was the tsarina’s rule a trigger for the revolt?
A
- As regent, she was unpopular with people + Duma.
- She relied on mystical healer Rasputin, on how to govern, rather than Duma
- This infuriated Duma who felt tsarina shouldn’t be allowed to govern
22
Q
What were the triggers for revolt in February revolution?
A
- Food shortages in Petrograd
- Announcement of bread rationing
- The International Women’s Day March
- The tsar being away from Petrograd
- Demonstrations in support of the Duma
- Contempt for the Tsarina
- Mutiny in the army
- Unusually mild winter weather
23
Q
What were the steps to the result of the February Revolution?
A
- Duma asked Nicholas to create new cabinet involving Duma deputies - Tsar’s last chance to save his throne by sharing some of his power
- He refused + ordered Duma to dissolve. Most government ministers left Petrograd - there was no real functioning government
- Half the Duma (the liberals) refused to follow Nicholas’ orders and carried on meeting - new Duma bloc called Duma Committee, and then went on to set up PG
- Army Commanders suspected they could no longer rely on their troops to follow their orders - Suppressing revolution by force was too risky as of fear of Mary mutiny throughout empire.
24
Q
What were the 2 options for the Army Command to end the February revolution?
A
1- Use soldiers from outside revolutionary Petrograd to crush the revolution
2- Work with Duma to find a political (non-violent) solution
1 didn’t seem possible as of army mutiny: other troops might mutiny too
2 was put into action. Army leaders + Duma leaders met tsar at Pskov. They suggested that he must voluntarily abdicate in order to save Russia
Leaders of revolutionary parties were mostly living in exile at the time of the February revolution. Lenin (Bolshevik), was in Switzerland. In Petrograd, many revolutionaries scrambled to try to take control of this unplanned revolution.
25
What happened on the day of the abdication of the tsar and soon after?
- Tsar handed over his written abdication statement in a railway carriage in city of Pskov on his ashy back to Petrograd, 2nd March 1917
- He hoped Grand Duke Michael, his brother, would take over as tsar, but he refused and 300 years of Romanov rule in a Russia was over
- Russia became a republic
26
What was going on with the establishment of the Provisional Government and the Petrograd Soviet?
- At the same time as some Duma deputies were forming the Duma Committee, revolutionary groups were setting up the Petrograd Soviet
- Across Petrograd, workers, soldiers + sailors elected representatives to the Soviet
- When tsar abdicated, 12 members of Duma Committee formed the PG
- The PG was set up with approval of the Petrograd Soviet
- Petrograd Soviet’s executive + the Provisional government held meetings in the same place
27
What was the Provisional government like and what were their first acts?
- made up of politicians from a mix of parties, but most were either liberals or radical SRs
First acts:
- releasing political + religious prisoners
- promising full democratic freedom
- ending the death penalty
- taking over land belonging to Tsar
- transferring power to zemstvos
- also determined to continue with WW1
28
What were the Petrograd Soviets’ 8 principles?
- agreed to support PG if 8 principles were followed.
1- Amnesty for all political prisoners
2- Freedom of speech + assembly, right to strike
3- No privileges of class, religion or nationality
4- Elections for a Constituent Assembly
5- Elected people’s militia to replace to replace all police units
6- Local government to be elected
7- Military units that took part in the revolution to stay together, keep weapons and not be sent to the front
8- Off-duty soldiers to have same rights as citizens
29
Who was Alexander Kerensky and what mistakes did he make as a leader?
- member of both PG and Petrograd Soviet and liaised between them
-he became leader of PG in July 1917
Mistakes:
- continued to support war, which angered ordinary soldiers
- acted against old-ruling classes, which lost him support from conservatives
- he failed to control the Bolsheviks
30
Define Soviet and Zemstvos
Soviet - a committee of elected members (workers, soldiers and peasants)
Zemstvos - local councils
31
What were the weaknesses and failures of the PG?
- Lack of decisive leadership
- Continuing to fight war - June offensive was failure, making PG’s commitment to fighting war even more problematic
- Failure to improve economy - no quick way to solve shortages
- More democracy + free speech meant more criticism of gov
- Failure to provide more land for peasants
- Lack of legitimacy - not elected by people (unlike the Soviets)
- Failure to hold general election
- ‘Dual Power’ meant PG was in a very weak position + there were areas it had no control over, e.g. the railways + postal service
- Lack of control over military - Order Number 1 meant Petrograd Soviet had final say on military matters, not the PG. Continuing to fight war rather than defending Russia’s border was very unpopular.
32
What was the June Offensive?
- Kerensky was War minister when PG decided to attack German + Austrian forces in June 1917
- Known as June Offensive and was a disaster, with 200,000 Russian casualties + further losses of Russian territory
- After June Offensive, Kerensky took over leadership of PG from Prince Lvov
33
What were the events in the Kornilov Revolt?
1- July 1917, Kerensky made Kornilov head of army in order to improve army discipline.
2- Kornilov + Kerensky agreed that more soldiers were needed in Petrograd.
3- However, Kornilov decided that Russia needed military rule. Kerensky saw this as a threat to PG.
4- sent troops to Petrograd on 24 August with orders to shut down the Petrograd Soviet.
5- Kerensky allowed Bolsheviks to arm their supporters to defend Petrograd from Kornilov’s troops. These armed supporters were named the Red Guards.
6- At the same time, railway workers blocked Kornilov’s route to Petrograd and Bolsheviks met the troops and convinced them not to attack. The ‘revolt’ was over.
34
What was the significance of the Kornilov Revolt?
- increased popularity + influence of Bolsheviks and weakened the PG further
- Kerensky’s plan to act as the saviour of Petrograd backfired. The people saw the Bolshevik Red Guards - not Kerensky - as having defended Petrograd and the revolution
- Bolsheviks had been predicting an attempt at counter-revolution, and the Kornilov Revolt seemed to prove them right.
- Any trust soldier had for their officers was lost altogether. The establishment of the Red Guards to defend Petrograd gave the Bolsheviks a military advantage.
- On 31 August, the Bolsheviks won the most seats in the Petrograd Soviet election.
35
What was the ‘April Theses’?
April 1917 - Lenin set out a manifesto of how the working class should take control of Russia in a second revolution. His demands included:
1- End war: a capitalist and imperialist conflict that threatened the revolution.
2- Transfer all power to soviets: at every level of government, local to national. The PG should not be supported.
3- Take land from rich landlords and give it to peasants through agricultural soviets.
36
Explain the growth in support for the Bolsheviks
Small party in April 1917. Support for them grew as:
- Lenin’s April Theses meant Bolsheviks had a clear and powerful message for workers, peasants, and soldiers
- Bolshevik newspapers in most Russian cities constantly criticised failures of PG
- the Germans secretly sent money to Bolsheviks to fund their campaigning
37
What were the July Days about?
- Riots + demonstrations against PG (3 July and 7 July 1917) turned into an uprising: the July Days
- uprising came about as of food shortages + failure of June offensive. Bolsheviks did not start it
- Lenin believed the time would be right to overthrow PG. Bolsheviks joined demonstrations
- Petrograd Soviet did not support the July Days as its Menshevik members did not trust the Bolsheviks
- The Soviet agreed to help the PG. Troops were moved into Petrograd and put down the uprising
- Many Bolsheviks were arrested as they were blamed for starting revolt. Lenin escaped, fleeing back to Finland in disguise.
38
What were the Powerful messages that Lenin promoted and why did he use them?
‘All power to the soviets!?’
- he said that the power to govern Russia should all go to soviets - workers’ Soviets to run factories, agricultural soviets to run rural districts, regional soviets and city soviets, with congresses of soviets making decisions at national level.
‘Peace, land and bread’
- this slogan promised that if the Bolsheviks had control of Russia, they would end Russia’s involvement in the war, give land to peasants and end food shortages in cites
39
What was the reaction to Lenin’s return?
- Germans arranged for Bolshevik leader, Lenin, to travel back through wartime Europe in a sealed train from his exile in Switzerland. They hoped that he would help knock Russia out of war and give them one fewer enemy to fight
- Lenin’s April These were a shock to the Bolshevik Party
- He had to work hard to persuade colleagues that Russia was ready for a second revolution
- But his forceful personality and command of Marxist theory won the day
40
What were the 4 main events in the Bolshevik Revolution of October 1917?
1- Lenin’s decision to seize power
2- The Military Revolutionary Committee
3- Kerensky tries to stop the Bolsheviks
4- The Bolsheviks seize control
41
Explain Lenin’s decision to seize power during the Bolshevik Revolution
- Kornilov Revolt in August 1917 increased Bolshevik support in Petrograd and humiliated the PG
- By October 1917, the Bolsheviks had 340 000 members, 60 000 in Petrograd including 40 000 armed Red Guards.
- Despite failure of July Days, Lenin felt sure the time was right to overthrow the PG
- On 10 October, Lenin secretly returned to Petrograd. In a long and stormy meeting with senior Bolsheviks, Lenin managed to convince his colleagues to support a new attempt to seize power.
42
Explain the events of the Military Revolutionary Committee during the Bolshevik Revolution
- Rumours spread that Bolsheviks were planning an armed takeover
- Kerensky tried to send Bolshevik-influenced army units out of Petrograd
- Trotsky, as leader of Petrograd Soviet, convinced the Soviet to set up a MRC to bring together all the Soviet-supporting soldiers in Petrograd
- By 21 October, most of Petrograd’s regiments had promised loyalty to the MRC
43
Explain how Kerensky tried to stop the Bolsheviks during the Bolshevik Revolution
24th October - he ordered a crack-down on the Bolsheviks:
- closing Bolshevik newspapers
- blocking river crossings between city centre and working class districts
- calling for arrest of MRC
Trotsky, as head of the Petrograd Soviet, used the MRC to take control of:
- road and canal bridges
- army headquarters
- telegraph offices
Kerensky travelled around Petrograd in a car, looking for any soldiers who would defend the PG from Bolsheviks.
44
Explain how the Bolsheviks seized control during the Bolshevik revolution
- on night of 24-25 October, Red Guards seized more key areas of city
- there was almost no opposition. On night of 25-26 October, Bolshevik soldiers climbed through windows of Winter Palace and arrested remaining members of the PG
- many socialists left Soviet in protest at Bolshevik’s actions. On 26th October, Lenin formed a Bolshevik government called the Council of People’s Commissars.
- Very few people in Petrograd were even aware that the Bolsheviks had seized power
45
Why was the October Revolution successful?
- Lenin was single-minded with a clear plan of attack
- Lenin made sure the Bolsheviks were in charge and not any other revolutionary group
- Kerensky didn’t take the Bolshevik threat seriously after the July Days
- Kerensky didn’t disband the Red Guards after the Kornilov affair
- Trotsky was an amazing planner who formed the Red Guards into an effective fighting force
- The PG had become very unpopular and no one stood up to defend it
