Revolutions in Russia
Ch. 14.1
How did the Policies of the Czars help to
ignite the full-scale revolution?
• Autocratic policies –
DictoatorialCzars
(Alexander I, Nicolas I &
Alexander II) resist
change
• Harsh measures – Cracked
down on anyone who
resisted the Czarist govn’t
• Against (esp. nonRussians e.g. Jews)
• Resistance to change
inflamed the masses
How did policies relating to
industrialization& economic growth help to
ignite the full-scale revolution?
• Grueling working
conditions
• Miserably low wages
• Child labor
• Workers’ low standard of
living
• Lack of political power
• Enormous gap between
rich & poor
• = civil unrest & strife
How did policies relating to industrialization& economic growth
help to ignite the full-scale revolution?
Rapid Industrialization
• Number of factories doubles
between 1863 and 1900; Russia still
lags behind the rest of Western
Europe:
- *ALWAYS HAS BEEN A MAJOR
PROBLEM FOR RUSSIA
• In late 1800s, new plan boosts steel
production; major railway begins
- Foreign investors & raised taxes
- Trans-Siberian Railway (1891 –
1916)
How did the policies relating to the
Russo-Japanese War help to ignite the
full-scale revolution?
• Russia’s losses
sparked unrest at
home
• Revealed the Czar’s
weakness as a ruler
• Led to revolt in the
middle of the war
How did the policies relating to “Bloody
Sunday” help to ignite the full-scale
revolution?
• Provoked a wave of
strikes & violence across
the country
• Forced Czar Nicholas II to
promise more freedom
• Create the Duma, Russia’s
first parliament.
How did the policies relating to WWI
help to ignite the full-scale revolution?
• Revealed weaknesses
of czarist rule &
military leadership
• Destroyed morale of
Russian soldiers who
cause a mutiny,
deserted and ignored
orders
• Price were sky-high
(Put in Notes)
World War I: The Final Blow
• Heavy losses in World War I
reveal government’s
weakness & people were
starving back at home
• Nicholas goes to war front;
Czarina Alexandra runs
government
• Czarina falls under the
influence of Rasputin—
mysterious “holy man”
• Nobles fear Rasputin’s
influence, murder him
• Army losing effectiveness;
people at home hungry and
unhappy
Rasputin
World War I: The
Final Blow
• Czarina falls under the
influence of Rasputin—
mysterious “holy man”
• Promises to help the
Czarina’s youngest
child who was a
hemophiliac
• Nobles fear Rasputin’s
influence, murder him
How did the policies of The March
Revolution (1917) help to ignite the fullscale revolution?
• Forced Czar Nicholas
II to abdicate his
throne – A year later
the royal family were
executed
• Allowed Duma to set
up a provisional
government
The Bolsheviks gain and hold political control
November 1917 Revolution
• Toppled provisional
government
• Gave power to the
Bolsheviks
The Bolsheviks gain and hold political control
Civil war between the Red (Bolshevik)
and White (Menshevik) armies
• Caused millions of deaths
from fighting & famine
• Showed that Bolsheviks
were able
1) seize power
2) maintain power
15 million Russians died
* They Crushed opposition to
Bolshevik rule – they
won!
The Bolsheviks gain and hold political control
Organization of Russia into republics
• Centralized (in Moscow)
power and unified country
called the “Soviet Union –
USSR; the Union of
Soviet states”
• The Bolsheviks rename
themselves The
Communist Party
Left to right: Trotsky, Lenin,
and Kamenev
Karl Marx
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Marx’s ideas formed the basis of the
revolutionary government
Economist
Disturbed by conditions caused by Industrial
Rev
Author of Das Capital and The Communist
Manifesto
Marx believed that society is divided into two
groups-the haves, and the have- nots.
The have-nots perform backbreaking labor
but receive low wages while enduring poor
working conditions.
Marx believed that the Industrial Revolution
had made the factory owners the haves and
he called them bourgeoisie.
The have-nots were the factory workers
whom he called proletariat.
He believed that the factory owner
bourgeoisie exploited the proletariat workers
V. I. Lenin
• Led the Bolshevik revolution
• “Peace, Land & Bread” Lenin’s
slogan
• Restored peace and order
• 1st Communist leader of the
Soviet Union
• Leader of the Bolshevik party
who were Marxists or
Communists
Leon Trotsky
• Helped negotiate
Treaty of BrestLitovsk
• Commanded the Red
Army during civil war