Revolution & Civil War in Russia

1. Revolution & Civil War in Russia 

2. Essential Questions • What does USSR stand for? • How does Tsarism in Russia Come to an End? • How did the Communist Party—not the people have all the power in the Soviet Union?

5. Landowning nobles, priests & the autocratic Tsar controlled the government & economy

6. The majority of Russian citizens were peasants • The were very poor

7. As Russia started to industrialize a small urban middle & working class began to emerge

8. The Revolution of 1905 • Rapid growth of (discontented) working class • Vast majority of workers concentrated in St. Petersburg and Moscow • Impoverished peasants • No individual land ownership • Rural Famine

9. The Unrest Deepens • Nicholas II became tsar in 1884 • Believed he was the absolute ruler anointed by God • After the Revolution of 1905 Nicholas failed to solve Russia’s problems

10. Conservatism Continues:1905-1917 • The elected Duma has no real power • Nicholas II is a weak leader • He paid no attention to the Duma; Used secret police to impose his will • Revolutionaries plotted to overthrow the tsarist regime • Numerous Marxists began to appear • Tried to start a revolution among the proletariat or working class.

11. World War I: “The Last Straw” • War revealed the ineptitude and arrogance of the country’s aristocratic elite • Corrupt military leadership had contempt for ordinary Russian people • Average peasants had very little invested in the War

12. World War I • ill-trained, ineffective officers, poorly equipped (Russ. was not ready for ind. war) – the result was mass desertions and 2 million casualties by 1915 • Result: Chaos and Disintegration of the Russian Army • Battle of Tannenberg (August, 1914) – massive defeat at hands of the Germans

13. Nicholas II went to the front lines to boost morale--has opposite effect (September, 1915) • The Tsar was more incompetent than is generals • Left the Tsarina Alexandra in charge of domestic affairs

14. Alexandra: The Power Behind the Throne • Even more blindly committed to autocracy than her husband • Relies on advice of Gregory Rasputin • Illiterate peasant • Believes he is a holy man • Rasputin helps the Tsarina’s son with his hemophilia

15. Alexis: Alexandra’s Son with Hemophilia

16. The Collapse of the Imperial Government • Alexandra and Rasputin throw the government into chaos • Alexandra and other high government officials accused of treason

17. The Collapse of the Imperial Government • Rasputin assassinated on December 29, 1916

18. The Revolution Heats Up • Complete mismanagement of the wartime economy • Industrial production plummeted, inflation and starvation were rampant, and the cities were overflowing w/ refugees • March 1917, Cities became a hotbed for pol. activism, ignited by serious food shortages • Workers were going on strike (St. Petersburg-then called Petrograd) • The government is helpless

19. The Two Revolutions of 1917 • The March Revolution (March 12) • The November Revolution (November 6)

20. The March Revolution • Origins: Food riots/strikes • Duma declared itself a Provisional Government on March 12 • Tsar ordered soldiers to intervene; instead they joined the rebellion…the Tsar abdicated on March 17 Alexander Kerensky headed the Provisional Government, along w/ Prince Lvov • Very Popular Revolution • Kerensky favored gradual socialist reform/ saw the war effort as #1 priority

21. The Petrograd Soviet-Councils of Workers & Soldiers • leftists in St. Petersburg formed the Petrograd Soviet, which they claimed to be the legit. gov’t • Ger. was aware of the Russ. situation and began to concentrate on the W. Front • Ger. even played a role in returning Lenin to Russia, so he could help the rev. • Having been granted “safe passage”, Lenin returned in April 1917

22. The Provisional Government 1. A 12 member government led by Kerensky 2. Planned to rule until elections could be held Dual Government The Petrograd Soviet A council of 2,500 deputies. Determined to share power with the Provisional Government

23. Soviet Political Ideology • More radical and revolutionary than the Provisional Government • Most influenced by Marxist socialism • Two Factions -- “Mensheviks”—conservative-democrats -- “Bolsheviks”

24. Founder of Bolshevism: Vladimir Lenin • Born Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov in 1870 • At age 17 his brother was hanged for plotting to kill the tsar • Adopted the name Lenin when he became a revolutionary • Committed to Class Struggle and Revolution

25. As a young he man read Karl Marx & participated in student demonstrations • 1895 was arrested & sent to Siberia w/ future wife Nadezhda Krupskaya • After release exiled to Switzerland • Moved to London in 1902 and befriended Leon Trotsky

26. Marx collaborated w/ FRIEDRICH ENGELS – Both were German but lived and wrote in England, esp. in the industrial city of Birmingham • 1848 – Communist Manifesto is published for the Communist League • Marx chose the term “communist” since it sounded radical: it implied the abolition of private property & the reorg. of society based on a workers’ revolution

27. Marx thought history was cyclical and that the time for comm. had arrived – he advocated achieving comm. in a violent rev. where the workers (PROLETARIAT) would overthrow the capitalist/owners (BOURGEOISIE)

29. Lenin’s View of Marx Vladimir Lenin • Adopted Marxist ideas to fit Russian needs • Planned revolution by professional revolutionaries • Revolution of all oppressed classes of society Karl Marx • Spontaneous revolution of the working class • “Let the ruling classes tremble at the prospect of a communist revolution. Proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have the world to win. Proletarians of all lands, unite!”

30. Lenin’s View of Marx • Russia does not have a large urban proletariat • Revolution can occur in non-industrial societies • “Dictatorship of the proletariat” • Small percentage of radical socialists, but “Bolshevik” means “majority” after close election w/ Mensheviks for rule of Russian Social Democratic Labour Party

31. Western Europe thought socialism could be achieved through gradual & moderate reforms • Higher wages, increased suffrage, social welfare • The MENSHEVIKS in Russia favored this approach • Bolsheviks reject this---Believe that only revolution could bring about change

32. Leon Trotsky • Intellectual, head of the Red Army • Favored the doctrine of World Revolution • felt that Russia could not survive as the sole communist state • Russia must therefore seek to export the revolution. • WW1 was a capitalist war and proletarian brothers lost their chance to unite • Trotsky’s fate: Lenin’s death in 1924 led to a power struggle w/ Stalin • (exile, Mexico City death in 1940)

33. Lenin Steps into This Vacuum • Lenin arrives in Petrograd 1917 • “Peace, Land, Bread” • “All Power to the Soviets” • He preached that the war was a capitalist/imperialist war that offered no rewards for the peasants/workers; he also felt the war was over w/ the Tzar’s abdication • Bolshevik party membership exploded; their power was consolidated

34. The November Revolution • The Provisional Government fails to end the war and resolve internal problems • Bolsheviks take over the Provisional Government • Moscow becomes their headquarters

35. November Revolution • Bolsheviks end private ownership • Workers given control of factories • Renamed Communists in 1918

36. The November Revolution

37. November Revolution • Lenin’s 1st task was to get Russia out of the war so he could concentrate on internal reform… • The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk negotiated with the Germans, giving them much Russian territory, population, and resources (March 1918)

38. Russian Civil War • Civil War followed, 1917-1920 “Reds” versus “Whites” • Complete breakdown of Russian economy and society

39. Civil War 1918-1921 • Reds=Communists • Whites=Counterrevolutionaries (Tsarist imperial officers, Mensheviks, democrats) • Allies hoped the Whites would overthrow the Bolsheviks. • Romanovs killed

40. Civil War • Political Police organized: CHEKA • Trotsky created a well-organized and disciplined army increasing the size of the Red Army by conscripting thousands of workers and peasants as well as former Tsarist soldiers • Bolsheviks increased their support among workers and peasants by promising land and a brighter future • Used terror against opponents • Bolsheviks had mammoth task of rebuilding country Feliks Dzerzhinsky

41. Interpreting the Russian Revolution • The official Marxist interpretation  The importance of a permanent international revolution • A Social Revolution…

43. Building the Communist Soviet Union • Russia is in chaos • Millions of people have died since the beginning of WWI • Famine/Disease • Lenin faces the huge challenge of rebuilding a shattered state and economy

44. New Government, Same Problems • 1922-Much of the Russian empire becomes the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR) • Create a constitution with both democratic and socialist principles • Elected legislature (Supreme Soviet) • All citizens over 18 given the right to vote • All political power, means of production & resources would belong to workers and peasants • Multinational state where member republics shared equal rights

45. Soviet Union Map

46. Eventually, the Communist Party, not the people had all the power • Used army & Cheka to enforce their will • Russia dominated all the republics

47. Lenin’s Economic Policy • Under party control, factory and mine output had fallen • Peasants stopped producing grain, knowing the government would seize it • 1922- New Economic Policy (NEP) • Allows some capitalist ventures • Gov’t kept control of banks, foreign trade, and large industries • Small businesses were allowed to reopen for private profit

48. NEP Cont… • Gov’t stopped seizing peasant grain • Peasants held onto small plots of land & freely sold their surplus crops • Lenin’s “compromise” with capitalism helped the economy recover • Armed resistance to the new gov’t ends • The standard of living improves • But Lenin sees NEP as temporary retreat from Communism

49. Stalin Takes Over • Lenin Dies in 1924 @ age 54