Chapter 12 Section 3: Revolution in Russia
I.
Russia and WWI

Czar Nicholas II promised reform after the revolution of 1905
but little change happened

Economic conditions grew worse
A. Years before the war

Marxist group known as the Bolsheviks wanted to
change life in Russia through a revolution

Vladimr Lenin wanted to throw the czar to make a
socialist country

By 1914 economic conditions in Russia were so bad that
WWI provided a break for Nicholas

Nicholas hoped that that the military crisis would unit
the country
B. Russia WWI

Start of war Russia had a huge army (6 million soldiers)

Fighting helped patriotism

Russia’s factories were not able to meet the armies needs,
transportation was weak, and over all they were not ready
for war

Millions of Russian soldiers were wounded or killed during
the wars early battles
C. Conditions grow worse

1915 Nicholas II took demand of Russian forces

This was a bad move because he didn’t know anything
about running a military
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
Central powers were able to stop a major Russian offense

Confidence was destroyed

Russian peasants grew desperate because of the lack of
food and goods

Czarina Alexandra (czars wife) was in control but she was
very unpopular

She relied on a healer and self proclaimed healer but was
corrupt and was not good which made everything worse
II.
The Russian Revolution
A. Revolution Begins

March 8, 1917 unhappy citizens marched the
streets of Petrograd (the capital of Russia) to
protest the lack of food and fuel

Soldiers were ordered to shoot rioters but they did
not they ended up joining them and took over the
monarchy

The March Revolution forced Nicholas to step
down is known as the February Revolution in
Russia
B. Provisional Government

After the fall of the czar Duma created a temporary
government

Government was led by Aleksandr Kerensky

Planned to continue fighting in WWI even though
unhappy with the new leadership
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
The temporary government was called the Bolsheviks a
Marxist Revolution

They planned to abolish (get rid of) private property
and enforce social equality

Bolshevism became known as Marxism-Leninism after
Vladimir Lennin
C. The Bolshevik Revolution

In mid 1917 Kerensky’s government ordered a final
fight against the Central Powers along the Eastern Front

It failed

Officers were being killed by their own men in Russia

The army collapsed

November 1917 armed Bolshevik factory workers
known as the Red Guard attacked the temporary
government (known as October Revolution)

Lenin became the nations leader and created a radical
Communist Movement

Bolsheviks gave land to the peasants and seized
Russia’s factories
III.
After the Revolution
A. Civil War

Lenin sent Leon Trotsky, a top Bolshevik official to
negotiate peace with the Central Powers and get Russia
out of WW1

The peace treaty insulted the Russians and those that
opposed created the White Army

The White Army opposed Lenin’s Communist system
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
The Whites received help from France and the United
States
B. New Economic Policy

Civil war pushed Russia’s collapsing economy to the
end

Lenin responded to the crisis in 1921 which involved
capitalist activity

Peasants could sell there food for profit

Food production then increased
C. The Soviet Union

1922 the Russian economy began to improve

United with several neighboring lands before 1917

The new country was called the Union of Soviet
Socialist Republic also known as the Soviet Union

Russia’s communist leadership took over the entire
country

Lenin died in 1924
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