Russian Revolution
Mr. Marsh
Columbus North High School
Weakness of Russia
• Russia was large, but slow to Industrialize
• 1890s Russia went through a crash
program of industrialization
• Czars ruled as absolute monarchs, no
voice of the people
– Czars censored news, suppressed minority
groups and had secret police
Romanov Family Crest
Nicholas II
WWI
• Czar Nicholas II entered WWI but Russia
was not ready
– They were using out of date weapons and the
industry could not handle the demand
– Over 4 million were killed in 1914 alone
– By 1917 the economy was in shambles, huge
shortages caused major riots
End of the Romanov Dynasty
• March of 1917, riots turned to revolution
and the Romanov family abdicated the
throne
• New provisional government was weak &
decided to stay in WWI
• Conditions in Russia worsened & more
radical groups vied for power
Bolshevik Revolution
• Germans secretly supported the
Communist revolutionaries (Bolsheviks)
who wanted to est. a nation run by
workers
• Lead by Vladimir Lenin
– By November 1917, Bolsheviks Red Guard
attacked the Provisional Government &
seized power
Lenin
Why did the Bolshevik Revolution
Succeed?
•
1. Provisional Government problems
– The Bolsheviks succeeded because the Provisional Government was weak and
unpopular (remember that Government That’s Provisional Will Be Killed).
When it was attacked, nobody was prepared to defend it.
•
2. Slogans
– The Bolsheviks had good slogans such as ‘Peace, Bread, Land’ and ‘All Power
to the Soviets’. Other parties claimed they could never deliver their promises,
but their arguments were too complicated for people to understand. This meant
that they got the public’s support.
•
3. Pravda
– The party ran its own propaganda machine, including the newspaper Pravda
(‘Truth’), which got their ideas across.
•
4. German money
– The Germans financed the Bolsheviks because they knew that Lenin wanted to
take Russia out of the war. This gave them the money to mount their publicity
campaigns
Why did the Bolshevik Revolution
Succeed?
• 5. Lenin
– A brilliant leader – a professional revolutionary with an iron will, ruthless,
brilliant speaker, a good planner with ONE aim – to overthrow the
government. The Bolsheviks were well-led.
• 6. Army
– A private Bolshevik army (the Red Guards), dedicated to the revolution,
was set up and trained under Leon Trotsky . It gave the Bolsheviks
the military power to win.
• 7. Organization
– The Bolsheviks were brilliantly organized. A central committee
(controlled by Lenin and other leading Bolsheviks) sent orders to the
soviets, who gave orders to the factories. Membership grew to 2
million in 3 months. Unlike the Provisional Government, the Bolsheviks
demanded total obedience from their members, so they were welldisciplined (members did what the leaders wanted).
Death of the Romanov's
• Many who supported the
Romanov's where known
as the Whites
• Civil War broke out in
Russia between the
Whites and the Reds
• Romanov's were killed
and their bodies were
destroyed
Russian Civil War (1918-1920)
• Bolsheviks signed a treaty w/ Germany taking
Russia out of WWI
• Opponents that supported the Romanov family
started to revolt to the new Communist
Government
• Over 15 million were killed during the Civil War
• Bolsheviks win & Lenin Created the USSR
(Union of Soviet Socialist Republics)