Ch 11 Sec 5
Russian Revolution
1917-1921
The symbol…
Hammer
Poor
industrial
workers
Sickle
Poor field
workers,
farmers.
Star: Communist
Party
Sickle:
Peasants
Hammer:
Workers
Source A: Map of the Russian Empire in 1900
What does Source A tell
you about the Russian
Empire in 1900?
Russia: Fall of Tsarist monarchy to Stalin’s Soviet Union
Source B: Peasants in Tsarist Russia
What can you infer about peasants in Tsarist Russia? (5)
Russia: Fall of Tsarist monarchy to Stalin’s Soviet Union
Source C: Workers in Tsarist Russia
What can you infer about working conditions in Tsarist Russia? (5)
Russia: Fall of Tsarist monarchy to Stalin’s Soviet Union
Source C: Coronation of Tsar Nicholas II
What does this source tell you about the Tsar? (5)
Russia: Fall of Tsarist monarchy to Stalin’s Soviet Union
Nicholas II – The last Russian Czar
The last Russian tsar, who ruled from
1894 until 1917. Nicholas II, who
assumed the throne with trepidation
upon his father Alexander III’s death,
was a clumsy and ineffective leader
whose avoidance of direct involvement
in government caused resentment among
the Russian people and resulted in
violence in 1905. Nicholas II abdicated
on March 2, 1917, as a result of the
February Revolution. In July 1918, the
Bolsheviks executed Nicholas along with
his wife, Alexandra, and their children.
Overthrow of Tsar Nicholas II

Conditions leading to the downfall of
Nicholas II
– Military defeats: Russo-Japanese War in 1904
and mounting losses in World War I
– Incompetence and Unpopular rule of Nicholas
II: food and fuel shortages, terror tactics of
secret police.
– Social injustice: poor workers seeking access
to land and equality
March Revolution

In March of 1917, women and factory
workers in St. Petersburg (Petrograd)
sought food and better working
conditions.
– Tsar ordered his troops to stop the uprising.
– When the troops refused to open fire and
eventually joined the crowd, the Tsar
essentially lost all control.
– He abdicated his throne (gave up power)
Source D: A painting of Bloody Sunday from 1910
What can you infer about Russian views towards the Tsar? (5)
Russia: Fall of Tsarist monarchy to Stalin’s Soviet Union
Duma sets up provisional
government
 Duma-
Russian parliament
 Provisional (temporary) government
led by Alexander Kerensky failed to
control the country.
–Continued to fight World War I
–Failed to give the people reforms
that they were seeking
Land and supplies
Source F: Effects of World War I
“as early as the beginning of the second year, desertions of soldiers at the
front became commonplace. The average number of deserters reached
25%. I happen to know of three cases where the train was stopped because
there were no passengers on it. All except the officer in command had fled.”
Chairman of the Military Commission of the Duma
Why did the speaker make the comments in Source F? (5)
Russia: Fall of Tsarist monarchy to Stalin’s Soviet Union
Vladimir Lenin
(a.k.a. Vladimir Ilich Ulyanov)
The founder of the Bolshevik Party,
organizer of the October Revolution,
and the first leader of the Soviet
Union. Lenin spent most of the early
twentieth century living in exile in
Europe (primarily Britain and
Switzerland). He was a devout follower
of Marxism and believed that once a
Communist revolution took place in
Russia, Communism would spread
rapidly around the world. Though not
involved in the February Revolution, he
returned to Russia in April 1917 and
orchestrated the October Revolution
that turned Russia into a Communist
state.
October (November) Revolution
a.k.a. Bolshevik Revolution

Vladmir Lenin’s party comes to
power.
– Bolsheviks- means the majority“red”
 name that they gave to
themselves to portray
strength in spite of the fact
that they were a very small
minority
 Bolsheviks were considered
radical socialists who wanted
to force communism on the
country
Germany takes advantage of
Russian unrest
Germany knows USA coming
to Western front; wants to
get rid of Russians on
Eastern front
 Helps exiled Lenin to return

– Lenin promised “Peace, Land,
Bread”
– …and “All power to the
Soviets.”
– Soviets - council of workers and
soldiers used to gain more
support for the Bolsheviks
– Cheka - secret police created to
halt all opposition.
– Commisars - political agents
who made sure the army
stayed politically aligned with
the Bolsheviks
Opposition to the Bolsheviks
“Whites”
Forces loyal to the Tsar fought to stop the
Bolsheviks.
 Mensheviks were moderate socialists who
wanted gradual change. They opposed
the extremist views of the Bolsheviks.

Execution of the Romanov’s
White Army poster depicting
Trotsky as a Jewish Devil
November Revolution 1917
November Revolution 1917
 Civil
War breaks out – Reds vs.
Whites
 Bolsheviks prevail through sheer
brutality – even when out numbered.
 Vladimir Lenin leads the revolution
based upon his own interpretations of
the writings of Karl Marx
 Lenin signs Treaty of Brest-Litvosk
with Germany to get out of war
Creation of a new state
1922- Bolsheviks “reds” win the civil war.
 Unite most of the former Russian empire
together to create the Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics (USSR/CCCP) or Soviet Union
 New Economic Policy (NEP)– government controls banks, foreign trade and
large industries.
– Small companies allowed to operate for profit.
– Farmers were allowed to sell surplus crops.
– Lenin thought of this plan as a “temporary”
capitalist fix to a bad economy

November Revolution 1917
Lenin’s Death
Died in January 1924.
 Believed Leon Trotsky
should replace him as
leader. Trotsky had
successfully lead Red
Army against the White
Army. Had a vision of the
Soviet Union in line with
Lenin. He wanted to focus
on agriculture.

Leon Trotsky (a.k.a. Leon Bronstein)
A Bolshevik leader and one of the most
prominent figures of the October
Revolution. Trotsky, who was in exile
abroad during the February Revolution,
returned to Russia in May 1917, closely
aligned himself with Lenin, and joined
the Bolshevik Party during the summer.
Trotsky headed the Revolutionary
Military Committee, which provided
the military muscle for the October
Revolution. After the revolution, he was
appointed commissar of foreign affairs
and led Russia’s negotiations with
Germany and Austria for the armistice
and subsequent peace treaty that made
possible Russia’s exit from World War I.
Lenin’s Death

Lenin believed that Stalin could not handle
the power that came with leadership.
Stalin believed in the industrialization of
the nation.
Joseph Stalin
(a.k.a. Joseph Dzhugashvili)
A Bolshevik leader who became prominent
only after Lenin’s return to Petrograd in
April 1917. Although Stalin was very much
a secondary figure during the October
Revolution, he did gain Lenin’s attention as
a useful ally, and following the October
coup, Lenin gave him a position in the
government as commissar of nationalities.
As Stalin was a member of an ethnic
minority—he was from the central Asian
region of Georgia, not Russia proper—
Lenin felt he would be an effective
ambassador of sorts to the many ethnic
minorities within the former Russian
Empire. After the revolution, Stalin became
increasingly powerful and eventually
succeeded Lenin as leader of the Soviet
Union upon Lenin’s death in 1924.
The Rise of Stalin
Communist party was divided
between Leon Trotsky, an “ideas
man” and Joseph Stalin, a “behind
the scenes” politician.
 In 1929- Trotsky fled the USSR
and continued to speak out
against Stalin.
 In 1940 Trotsky was killed by
Stalin’s men in Mexico City
End