Russian Revolution Review
The Romanovs:
1. Peter the Great (Remember him from the Absolute Monarch unit?)
 Started ruling at the age of 10
 “Grand Embassy” (Peter’s trip to Europe)
 Westernized Russia
 Wanted a warm water port for Russia
2. Catherine the Great
 German princess
 Married into the Romanov family
 Pro-Enlightenment
 “Golden Age” of Russia
3. Nicholas II – The Last Tsar (Csar)
 Ruled from 1894-1918
 Married a German Princess, Alexandra
 Had 4 daughters and then finally a male heir, Alexei Romanov
(had hemophilia)
 His reign saw Russia go from being one of the foremost great
powers of the world to economic and military collapse.
 ABDICATED (gave up the throne) following the February Revolution
in 1917
 Executed with his entire family in 1918 by the Communists
 Instituted POGROMS (large-scale , targeted & repeated riots
against Jewish people. Resulted in thousands of deaths of dead
Jewish citizens.
Events Leading to the Russian Revolution:
1. Defeat in the Russo-Japanese War
 1904-1905
 Fought between Russia and Japan over Manchuria and Korea.
 The war concluded with a treaty that was mediated by US
President Theodore Roosevelt.
2. Bloody Sunday
 A mass protest of workers and their families went to the Tsar’s
Winter Palace in St. Petersburg asking for better working
conditions, more personal freedom, and an elected national
legislature.
 Tsar Nicholas was not at the palace.
 Guards fired on the unarmed people killing and injuring hundreds
 Started a wave of strikes and violence across the country.
 Nicholas approved the creation of the DUMA, Russia’s first
parliament.
3. Losses in WWI
 Soldiers running out of weapons
 People in Russia running out of food and starving (total war)
Formation of the Provisional Government:
 March – November 1917 (lasted only 8 months!)
 Ruled once the Tsar (Czar) abdicated
 Does not pull out of the war, provide food, redistribute land, or
solve average Russians’ problems
 People form SOVIETS (local councils
consisting of workers, peasants, and soldiers. In many places,
these Soviets had more power than the Provisional Gov’t.
 Run by ALEXANDER KERENSKY
The November Revolution:
• October 1917
• aka: The Bolshevik Revolution
• The Russian people were desperate and calling for PEACE, LAND,
AND BREAD!
• Bolshevik Red guards made up of armed factory workers storm the
Winter Palace in Petrograd
• Bolsheviks take over government offices & arrested the Provisional
Government
 Soviets work with Bolsheviks
Results of the November Revolution:
• V.I. LENIN and the Bolsheviks set up a COMMUNIST government
• Russia signs the Treat of Brest-Litovsk with Germany to pull out of
WWl (March 1918)
• The Royal family executed while in exile (July 1918)
• Bolsheviks rename themselves Communists
• Russia becomes the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics or
Soviet Union)
The Russian Civil War:
• The RED side
a. THE BOLSHEVIKS
b. Communists who overthrew the Provisional Government
c. GOAL: To install a Communist Government
 The WHITE side
a. Everyone else: Prov. Gov’t, USA, England, France, Greece,
Italy, Japan, China, Serbia, Romania, Canada, Australia…
The Outcome of the Russian Civil War:
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10th Largest War ever Fought
5-9 Million Dead!
Creation of the USSR
Joseph Stalin takes over after Lenin. He is a ruthless dictator!
Lenin’s New Economic Policy:
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NEP (Cancelled plans for Communism)
State-Controlled Economy
1. Peasants could buy and sell goods
2. Major Industries controlled by the State