World War I and the Russian Revolution (1914–1924)

Topic 10 Lesson 4 Revolution in Russia

World War I and the Russian Revolution (1914–1924)
Lesson 4 Revolution in Russia

Learning Objectives

• Explain the causes of the February (March) Revolution.

• Describe the goals of Lenin and the Bolsheviks in the
October Revolution.
• Summarize the outcome of the civil war in Russia.
• Analyze how Lenin built a Communist state in the Soviet
Union.
World War I and the Russian Revolution (1914–1924)
Lesson 4 Revolution in Russia

Key Terms

• proletariat
• soviets,
• V. I. Lenin
• Cheka,
• commissars
 Causes of the February Revolution

Roots of Discontent
• Russia is slow to industrialize, small upper class controls the govt.
and economy. Peasants are very poor, very small middle class
• Tsar Nicholas II allows the creation of a Duma, a legislative body,
in 1905 but doesn’t allow for his power to be eroded
• Many plots for revolution, Marxists are trying to get proletariat to
join, they are factory and railroad workers, miners
World War I Intensifies Discontent
• Russian pride comes out at the start of war but with troops not
having enough supplies things and Nicholas II coming to the
front, things get worse. He also leaves his wife Alexandra in
charge back home
• She takes the advice of a self proclaimed holy man named
Rasputin. This will weaken the confidence of the people that a
group of nobles kill him December 29, 1916 to save the crown
 Causes of the February Revolution

Tsar Nicholas II Steps Down

• By March 1917 the monarchy is on the brink of collapse
• There is battlefield losses, fuel and food shortages, and workers
going on strike
• Demonstrators are chanting for bread in the streets and the
government cannot get the military to fire on them.
• The tsar will abdicate the throne and the Duma will set up a
temporary government
• Russia will continue to fight Germany
Causes of the February Revolution

This photo shows the Russian royal family—Tsar Nicholas II, his wife Tsarina Alexandra, and their
children—in 1914. Four years later, they would all be murdered as a result of revolution and civil war.
 Lenin Leads the Bolsheviks
The Making of a Revolutionary
• Lenin is born to a middle class family. When he is 17 his brother is
tried and hanged for plotting to kill the tsar.
• He will study Karl Marx and spread his ideas during
demonstrations and with factory workers. He works with
Nadezhda Krupskaya and other socialists
• Lenin and Krupskaya will be arrested and sent to Siberia where
they will marry. Then they will be exiled to Switzerland
Lenin Adapts Marxism
• Marx calls for the proletariat to rise up in revolution, but Russia
doesn’t have a large one so Lenin will call for an small elite group
to rise up in its place. He will name it Bolsheviks meaning
majority.
• Western European Socialists will think socialism will come via
reform like higher wages, social warfare reform
 Lenin Leads the Bolsheviks

Lenin Adapts Marxism

• Mensheviks, another group of Russian socialists agree with that
plan. The Bolsheviks reject it.
• Germany sees Russia on the brink of revolution and decides to
help it along. In March 1917 Germany sends Lenin via train back
to Russia and he gets there in April and is greeted by socialist.
Lenin Leads the Bolsheviks

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin took his revolutionary ideas directly to the people, addressing crowds in the streets.
 The October Revolution Brings the Bolsheviks to Power

Causes of the October Revolution

• The provisional government will continue the war and not deal
with land reform.
• Russians are tired of war, troops are deserting, peasants want
land and workers want an end to shortages
• Kerensky Offensive against Germany will lead to munity
The Bolsheviks Seize Power
• Nov 1917 armed factory workers with mutinous sailors will help
Lenin overthrow the provisional government in St. Petersburg.
• Moscow will take a week of fighting to overthrow and become
the capital of the Bolsheviks
• Lands will be given to peasants, the factories given to work, the
flag will be a hammer and sickle to signify peasants and workers
• Bolsheviks will change their names to communists
The October Revolution Brings the Bolsheviks to Power

Crowds gather in Dvortsovyi Square, Saint Petersburg, to support the Bolshevik cause on May 1, 1917.
 Civil War Erupts in Russia
The Opposing Forces
• Civil War rages for 3 years between the Reds and the Whites
• Reds are communists and Whites are tsarist officers, Mensheviks,
democrats, and others who wished to defeat the Bolsheviks
• The Allies will support the Whites, but it will only feed mistrust in
the West later on.
• Counter revolutionaries will try and kill Lenin, the Communists
will kill Czar Nicholas II and his family
Terror and War Communism
• Communists are going to use a secret police force to control their
people and terrorize the Whites. They will also have forced labor
camps called Gulags.
• They will also take over banks, take all the food for the army and
cities, take laborers to work in factories or serve in army.
• Trotsky will turn the Red Army into an effective army by use of
threats and using czarist officers with someone watching them
 Civil War Erupts in Russia

A crusading white knight slays the red dragon in this Russian civil war propaganda poster. Its title is “For a United
Russia.” Draw Conclusions Which side in the Russian civil war made this poster? Why?
 The Communist Soviet Union Emerges
New Government, Old Problems
• The USSR had most of the territory from before. They have a
socialist and democratic constitution. All political power resources
and means of production would belong the workers and peasants
• The real power however was kept by the Communist party. The
used secret police like the czar and Russia dominated others
Lenin Abandons War Communism
• 1921 Lenin adopts New Economic Policy. It allows for some small
business to be capitalist, but not banks or large industries
• By 1928 food production is restored to prewar levels and the
standard of living has gone up as well.
Stalin Comes to Power
• Lenin dies in 1924, he is 54. Trotsky and Stalin are the top
candidates to take over. Trotsky is more polished than Stalin.
Stalin can work a backroom well. Stalin strips Trotsky of party
membership and has him killed in Mexico
The Communist Soviet Union Emerges

Analyze Maps Russia was by far the largest of the various republics that made up the Soviet Union.
How do you think nationalism affected the Soviet Union?
The Communist Soviet Union Emerges

The hammer and sickle, the emblem of the Soviet Union, represented the union between the urban
industrial workers (the hammer) and the rural peasants (the sickle).
Quiz: Causes of the February Revolution

Which of the following factors was a cause of Russia’s March Revolution ?

A. Russia’s economy remained solely focused on agriculture.

B. Nicholas was a strong ruler who used force to impose his authority.
C. Russia experienced food and fuel shortages and huge casualties in World War I.
D. The outbreak of war in 1914 fueled national pride and united Russians.
Quiz: Lenin Leads the Bolsheviks

How did Lenin plan to apply Marxism to Russia?

A. by putting Mensheviks in charge of government policy

B. by spontaneously overthrowing capitalism
C. by creating an elite Socialist ruling party to lead a revolution
D. by instituting widespread suffrage reform
Quiz: The October Revolution Brings the Bolsheviks to
Power
How did the Russian provisional government contribute to the outbreak of the October
Revolution?

A. by restoring power to the tsar

B. by redistributing land to peasants
C. by keeping Russia in World War I
D. by giving Lenin a position of leadership
Quiz: Civil War Erupts in Russia

How was Lenin’s “war communism” similar to tsarism?

A. Both relied on secret police, terror, and autocratic rule.

B. Both were based on the popular appeal of a strong, charismatic leader.
C. Both furthered the rights of individuals over the interests of the state.
D. Both were based on the inherited power of the landed aristocracy.
Quiz: The Communist Soviet Union Emerges

Why were political reforms ineffective under Lenin’s government?

A. Voting rights were limited.

B. The party held all of the real power.
C. Only property owners had the right to vote.
D. The Supreme Soviet was not an elected representative body.