Russian

Revolution
 In the 1700s, Czar
Peter the Great
expanded &
modernized Russia

But in the
1800s, Russia
failed to keep
Peter introduced into pace with the
Russia Western style rapid
navy, fashions, & city- changes
planning taking place
in Western
Europe
• The Enlightenment led to new
democratic reforms Czar er
xa n d
throughout Europe Al e I
II
• In Russia, the Romanov czars
continued to rule as absolute
monarchs
• Czars like Alexander III used
secret police to monitor
citizens, censored the media,
& sent political prisoners to
labor camps in Siberia
• Czars organized pogroms
(violent attacks) against
ethnic minorities like Jews &
Poles in Russia
• The Industrial Revolution made
European militaries &
economies the strongest in the
world
• Russian industry lagged
behind Europe, had few
railroads, & most citizens were
poor farmers
• Russia committed to
industrialization but it led to
poor wages, long hours, &
discontent among the Russia
people
• Russia used its industry built a
respectable navy but had
problems mass-producing
Russia’s humiliating
Losing the loss to
Russo-Japanese Japan
War exposed
set of weaknesses
a series of riots among in
commonersthewho In 1894,
were
nation’s Czarwith
unhappy
military Nicolas
& II came
Nicholas’
government to power
government
but failed to address major problems
from 1904 to 1917
When
Russian
liberals
called for
democratic
reforms,
Nicholas II
ordered his
secret police
to persecute
In 1904, Russia & Japan went to war over Manchuria
those calling&
Korea for reform
 In 1905,
Russian
commoners
met outside
the czar’s
Winter Palace
to demand
better
working
conditions,
right to form
unions, & a
democratic
The czar’s
In 1905, Nicholasunpopularity
II agreed to new & failure of thethat
constitution
constitution
government
created a Duma to(parliament)
The respond
protest to&problems
became increased
limitedasmonarchy;
known But
Nicholas
“Bloody Sunday” calls
when ignored
for
the czar’s the Duma
socialism
guards fired into the crowd ;
Riots broke out across Russia
Class Activity:
Capitalism & Socialism

1. Eachstudent gets three

Starburst.
2. Playrock paper scissors
with other students until
you are out of “money”
3. Beready to answer
discussion questions
 Increased calls for socialism

 Socialists demanded that the government

control all means of production to create an
equal society
 Karl Marx developed a radical form of
socialism in called communism in which the
working class led a revolution, seized
property, & shared all wealth without a gov’t
 Radical workers, peasants, & soldiers began
to form councils called soviets that held Image of one of
meetings & assumed control over local gov’ts Russia’s first soviet
councils
 In 1903, a radical socialist named Vladimir
Lenin formed the Bolsheviks, a group that
supported a revolutionary overthrow of
the Russian government
 But, Lenin fled Russia to avoid arrest by
the czar’s secret police & waited for an
opportunity to return & lead his revolution
 Russia’s involvement in World War I
proved to be the fatal blow to Czar
Nicholas’ support in Russia
 The Russian military was no
match for the German army
 Russia had difficulty
producing weapons for
soldiers on the front, food
shortages were common for
troops & civilians, the lack of
trains slowed supplies & Russian soldiers running from
communication German army, 1918
 Russia drafted 15 million
soldiers & nearly 7 million
were killed or wounded; 1.5
• Czar Nicholas refused to pull
Russia out of the war & went to
the Eastern Front to personally
take command of the army
• Nicholas left his wife,
Alexandra, in charge of the
day-to-day operations of the
Russian government
• To help cure her hemophiliac
son Alexi, she relied on a
mystic named Rasputin
• Many people feared that
Rasputin was controlling the
royal family & murdered him
 By early 1917, citizens were rioting across Russia
demanding an end the monarchy & to World War I
 In March, Czar Nicholas II
abdicated the throne & the
Duma created a provisional
(temporary) government
Vladimir Lenin returned to
Russia & led the Bolsheviks in
the Russian Revolution in
November 1917
Lenin’s message of
“peace, land, & bread” helped
him gain popularity among the
Russian people
Bolshevik Red Guards seized
The Bolsheviks arrested & control of the provisional
executed the Romanovs which government & declared
ended 300 years of rule by czars themselves the new gov’t
in Russia leaders of Russia
 Ge
• After the success of the rm
an
Bolshevik Revolution, y
ga
i ns
Lenin announced major
reforms for Russia s
a in
– G
• Lenin ordered all i a
tr ar y
s
farmland to be distributed A u un
g
H
among the peasants
• Lenin gave control of the
factories to the workers
• Lenin signed a truce with
Germany & gave up huge
Ottoman Empire
territories in order to get Gains
Russia out of the war
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
Check-in:

Who was Vladimir Lenin?

What was his message to gain
popularity?
How did Lenin get Russia out of
war?
The Russian Revolution led to a civil war between the Bolshevik Red Army & the White Army
(people who wanted a new czar, democracy, or land back)

Britain, France, & USA supported the White Army to get Russia back into
WWI
• After 3 years of
fighting, the Red Army
won & Lenin became
the unquestioned
leader of Russia
• In 1922, Lenin
renamed Russia the
Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics
(USSR)
• Lenin created the
Communist Party
which ruled the Soviet
Union as a dictatorship
In 1917, Vladimir Lenin led the Bolsheviks in an overthrow of the
Russian government
Lenin transformed Russia into the Soviet Union, the world’s first
socialist gov’t & created the Communist Party to rule the nation
• In 1922, Lenin suffered a
stroke & died in 1924;
Lenin’s death led to a
struggle for power in the
USSR

• By 1927, Joseph Stalin out

maneuvered his rivals &
gained control of the Soviet
Union

• Stalin quickly created a

totalitarian state in which he
had total control of the gov’t
& peoples’ lives
 Communist Party

 Stalin was a totalitarian dictator who

transformed the USSR into a police
state
 Stalin led the Great Purge to eliminate
potential rivals in the Communist
Party(He executed 8-13 million)
 Stalin used propaganda & censorship
to control information & began
education programs to teach
communist ideals & loyalty to Russia
 Five Year Plans

 Stalincreated a series of Five Year

Plans to overhaul the Soviet
economy
 Stalin seized control of the
economy & set high production
quotas on steel, coal, oil,
electricity
 Stalin’sFive Year Plans
dramatically improved Soviet
industry & helped modernize the
Stalin seized 25 million
acres of private farms &
combined them into
large government-
controlled collective
farms
90% of all peasants
lived & worked on
collective farms

Agricultural production
improved in the USSR,
but farming was
inefficient & peasants
resented having their
land taken from them

Collectivization
 Individual Rights

 Stalin declared men & women equal in

the USSR; Women’s rights increased as
women could vote & join the Communist
Party
 Women were expected to work in
factories and on collective farms like men
 Stalin attacked all religion & created a
nation of atheists (no emphasis on
religion); Stalin ordered destruction of
Orthodox churches & Jewish synagogues
Exit
Ticket:
1. How did
kulaks resist?
2. What was
Stalin’s plan?
3. What was the
result?