The Russian
Revolution
The story of Russia to USSR
Readings: Spodek, pp. 658-661
Nicholas I (1825-1855)
 Hated Industrial
Revolution and French
Revolution
 Wanted to make world
safe for autocracy
 Fought against progress
in Russia and Europe
Alexander II (1855-1881)
 Son of Nicholas I.
 He came to the throne
during the Crimean
War
 Emancipated the serfs
in 1861
Alexander III (1881-1894)
 Increased the
repressive powers of
the police
 Limited the power of
the local assemblies
 Pograms against
anyone who was not
Russian
Nicholas II (1894-1917)
Russo-Japanese War (19041905)
 Imperialistic Conflict over Korea and
Manchuria
 Russia trying to ward off rebellion
Bloody Sunday-January 22,
1905
 Began in St Petersburg
 Disaster of Russo-Japanese War
revealed corruption and
incompetence of czar
 Created Duma, limited economic
reform
World War I/ Rasputin
 Had control over the
Tsar Nicholas II and
the Tsarina
 Was murdered in
December 1916
 World War I was a
disaster.
The Revolutions of 1917
 February Revolution (March 8, 1917)
 Czar Nicholas Abdicates
How Do Bolsheviks Get Power?
Lenin arrives in Petrograd (St.
Petersburg)—April 16. 1917
Lenin calls for armed insurrection
—Oct. 16, 1917 (Russian Calendar)
October Revolution begins, October 24,
1917 (Russian Calendar), November 6,
1917 (Western European Calendar)
Lenin, Trotsky and Stalin
Treaty of Brest Litovsk—
March 3, 1918
 Lost 32% of
the land
 Lost Estonia,
Latvia,
Lithuania
 Much of the
Ukraine
 Much of
Belarussia
Civil War and Lenin’s Rule
From 19181921
Reds
Whites
 Creation of USSR
 Nationalization of
all land and banks
 New Economic
Plan
 Lenin dies of a
stroke
Power Struggle after Lenin’s Death
and Stalin’s Rule
 Forced
collectivization
 “The Great Famine”
 “The Great Terror”
 Purges
 Gulag
Contemporary Problems
 Cold War with US from
1945-1991
 Mikhail Gorbachev’s
Glasnost allowed
Democracy to Emerge
 Perestroika—socialism
not possible in capitalist
world
 Resigns December 25,
1991
 End of Soviet Union and
the end of the Cold War
Boris Yeltsin
 Problems:
– Economy was a
–
–
–
–
mess
Workers not paid
National Debt
IMF and World
Bank Money to
Cronies
Politics a Mess
Today in Russia and the Former
Soviet Union
 A weak Boris Yeltsin names Vladimir Putin,
former KGB agent, Premier then President
 Communists Still Have Some Power: Many want
stability of Old System back
Today’s Russia (continued)
 Ethnic groups want
autonomy or
Independence
 Putin has destroyed
Chechnya
 Reports of rapes and
pillage
 Nationalists want
powerful Soviet Union
 Questions still needing
answers
Winners and Losers
 Winners
 Losers
– Communist Party
– Poorest peasants
– Some Workers
– Traditional Russian upper
– Massive Literacy Project—
classes
– Many of those in
traditional Russian middle
classes
– Those killed or imprisoned
because of oppressive
regime
– Jews, Muslims, other
ethnic minorities
all those who learn to read
and write
– Vastly improved health
care—all those who lived
longer and healthier
– Women