Causes of the Russian
Revolution
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CZARS
UNREST
EVENTS
Causes of the
Russian
Revolution
RUSSIAN
REVOLUTION
COMMUNISIM
Setting the stage
• The Russian Revolution was like a firecracker with a
very long fuse. The explosion came in 1917, yet the
fuse had been burning for nearly a century. The cruel,
oppressive rule of most 18th century czars caused
widespread social unrest for decades. Army officers
revolted in 1825. Secret revolutionary groups plotted
to overthrow the government. In 1881, revolutionaries
angry over the slow pace of political change
assassinated the reform-minded czar, Alexander II.
Russia was heading toward a full-scale revolution.
A history of bad
leadership
• After the assassination of his father, Alexander III
came to power in 1881 and kept an autocracy – a form
of government in which he had absolute control
• Censorship
• Secret police monitored high schools and universities;
teachers had to send detailed reports on students
• Oppressed all non-Russians
• Forbade an language other than Russian
• Forbade any religion other than Russian Orthodoxy
• All violators were labeled dangerous or sent to Siberia
Czar Alexander III
Czar Nicholas II
• Alexander III’s son, came to power in 1894
• Continued the tradition of autocratic rule in Russia
• Poor leader, was more or less blind sided when the
revolution happened
Czar Nicholas II
Under the title
“Czars” write this:
• Czar Nicolas II – last King of
Russia
• Unfit and unpopular leader
• Ignored needs of Russian
workers and peasants
Russia Industrializes
• Russia quickly became an industrialized nation
• The number of factories doubled between 1863 and
1900
• Russia became the world’s fourth-ranking producer of
steel
• But Russia still lagged behind most European nations
Industrialization
Fuels Revolution
• With rapid industrialization came many problems
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Grueling working conditions
Low wages
Child labor
Government outlawed trade unions
Workers began to organize strikes
• Unhappy Russians started to organize (these people
supported Marxist ideas) and two parties emerged
• Bolsheviks (radical)
• Mensheviks (moderate)
Under the title
“Social unrest” write:
• Lack of work
• Lack of food
• Lack of advancement – fell
behind the rest of the world and
crippled economy
Crises at home and
abroad
• Russo-Japanese War
• War between Russia and Japan over territories in Korea
and Manchuria (region in China)
• Russia fully expected to win the war, but was repeatedly
hammered by the Japanese
• Ended with the Treaty of Portsmouth
• Russia gave up Manchuria and Korea
• Weakened the Russian Empire
• Bloody Sunday
• January 22, 1905
• 200,000 workers and their families approached the czar’s
Winter Palace asking for better working conditions and
the czar’s generals ordered soldiers to fire into the crowd
wounding 1000s and killing 100s
• WWI
• Czar Nicholas II made the decision to get involved with
WWI
• Russia was not prepared for war in any way, shape or
form and the Germans inflicted heavy casualties
• Russo-Japanese War and WWI revealed the weaknesses
of the czar’s rile and military leadership
Under the title “key
events” write this:
• Russo-Japanese War – lost
money, territory and power
• Bloody Sunday – sparked waves
of violence against the
government
• WWI – heavy losses