AQA History Russia

up until death of Lenin ( Jan 1924)

Russia under Nicholas II (1894–1917)

Autocratic rule by divine right; ~125 million people, mostly illiterate peasants. Rapid industrialisation under Witte but vast inequality. The okhrana suppressed dissent; Nicholas dismissed liberal reform as "senseless dreams."

Opposition groups

SRs: peasant-focused, used terror. SDs split 1903 into Bolsheviks (Lenin — vanguard party) and Mensheviks (Martov — broad membership). Kadets sought a constitutional monarchy. The small urban proletariat was the most politically volatile class.

Russo-Japanese War & Bloody Sunday (1904–05)

Russia's humiliating defeat by Japan exposed military incompetence. On 22 Jan 1905, troops fired on 200,000 peaceful petitioners, killing ~200. "Bloody Sunday" shattered the Tsar's image as "Little Father" and sparked the 1905 Revolution.

1905 Revolution & October Manifesto

A general strike in October forced Nicholas to issue the October Manifesto, promising civil liberties and a legislative Duma. This split the opposition; the regime survived as the army stayed loyal. The St Petersburg Soviet was crushed in December.

The Dumas (1906–1914)

Nicholas dissolved the first two Dumas within months. The 1906 Fundamental Laws reasserted autocracy. The Third and Fourth Dumas operated under a rigged franchise favouring the propertied class — they had no real power over the Tsar.

Stolypin's Reforms (1906–1911)

Stolypin allowed peasants to leave the commune (mir) and own private land; ~10% had done so by 1914. Repression was harsh — over 2,500 executions ("Stolypin's necktie"). Assassinated 1911; reforms were too slow to prevent revolution.

Rasputin and the monarchy

Rasputin gained influence over Alexandra by appearing to treat Alexei's haemophilia. While Nicholas commanded at the front (from 1915), Alexandra relied on Rasputin for ministerial appointments — 4 PMs in 16 months. His murder in Dec 1916 couldn't repair the dynasty's shattered credibility.

Russia enters WWI (August 1914)

Initial patriotism faded after catastrophic losses — ~1.8 million dead by end of 1914, including two armies destroyed at Tannenberg. Chronic supply failures, food shortages and inflation eroded morale at home and at the front throughout 1914–17.

Nicholas takes personal command (Sept 1915)

After the Great Retreat, Nicholas dismissed his uncle as Supreme Commander and took personal charge — a political disaster, as he became personally associated with every military failure. Even conservative nobles began considering a palace coup by late 1916.

February Revolution (23 Feb – 2 Mar 1917)

Bread shortages and Women's Day protests in Petrograd escalated when the garrison mutinied rather than fire on crowds. Nicholas abdicated on 2 March, ending 304 years of Romanov rule. Power passed to a Provisional Government and the Petrograd Soviet simultaneously.

Dual Power (March–October 1917)

The Provisional Government held formal authority; the Petrograd Soviet held real power via Soviet Order No.1 (soldiers obey the Soviet in political matters). The PG's fatal decisions: continue the war and delay land reform until a Constituent Assembly met.

Lenin's April Theses (4 April 1917)

Returning via a German sealed train, Lenin shocked even Bolsheviks: no support for the PG, immediate end to the war, all power to the Soviets, land to the peasants. Slogan: "Peace, Land, Bread." This made the Bolsheviks the only party of radical opposition.

Kerensky Offensive & military collapse (June 1917)

The June Offensive saw initial gains then catastrophic collapse — 400,000 casualties and mass desertion. The war remained the PG's greatest liability, steadily radicalising soldiers and workers towards the Bolsheviks throughout summer 1917.

July Days (3–6 July 1917)

Spontaneous armed protests demanding Soviet power erupted in Petrograd. The PG suppressed them and alleged Lenin was a German spy; he fled to Finland and Trotsky was arrested. Bolshevik support temporarily collapsed, but Kerensky failed to consolidate his advantage.

Kornilov Affair (August 1917)

General Kornilov marched troops on Petrograd; Kerensky appealed to the Soviets for help, arming ~40,000 Bolsheviks to organise defence. The coup fizzled when railway workers blocked the trains. The episode destroyed Kerensky's credibility and massively boosted the Bolsheviks.

Bolshevik seizure of power (25–26 Oct 1917)

Trotsky's Military Revolutionary Committee seized key Petrograd sites overnight; the Winter Palace fell with minimal resistance. Lenin declared Soviet power to the Second Congress of Soviets. The Mensheviks and Right SRs walked out — Trotsky dismissed them: "Go to the dustbin of history!"

Decrees on Peace and Land (26 Oct 1917)

Decree on Peace called for immediate armistice with no annexations. Decree on Land abolished private ownership and transferred ~150 million acres to peasant committees, legalising seizures already underway. Both addressed key popular demands and consolidated Bolshevik support.

Constituent Assembly dissolved (5–6 Jan 1918)

In Russia's only free election (Nov 1917), SRs won ~40%, Bolsheviks only ~24%. After one session the Red Guards dissolved it. Lenin argued the revolution's interests superseded formal democracy — demonstrating the Bolsheviks would not accept democratic verdicts against them.

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (3 March 1918)

Russia surrendered Finland, Poland, Ukraine and the Baltic states — ~1 million km², 55 million people, 30% of European Russia's agricultural land. Lenin insisted on signing to buy survival time, calculating a German revolution would annul it (it did, November 1918).

Formation of the Cheka (December 1917)

The secret police under Felix Dzerzhinsky operated outside legal constraints — arbitrary arrest, torture, summary execution. By 1921 it employed ~250,000 agents. The Cheka enforced grain requisitioning, crushed opposition, and became the template for all future Soviet security organs.

Red Terror (September 1918 onwards)

Triggered officially by the assassination attempt on Lenin (30 Aug 1918). The Cheka executed an estimated 10,000–15,000 in the first months. Hostage-taking and mass shootings of "class enemies" became official policy, blurring into wider Civil War repression.

Civil War (1918–1921): sides & outcome

Reds vs. Whites (Denikin, Kolchak, Yudenich — geographically fragmented, no unified command) vs. Greens (peasant armies). Limited Allied intervention failed. Whites lost partly by alienating peasants with no land policy and association with landlord restoration.

Why the Reds won the Civil War

Trotsky built a disciplined Red Army of ~5 million using ex-Tsarist officers under political commissars. Reds held the central industrial heartland and railways. Crucially, peasants feared White restoration of landlords more than Bolshevik grain requisitioning.

War Communism (1918–1921)

Forced grain requisitioning, nationalisation of all industry, ban on private trade and militarised labour. Industrial output fell to ~13% of 1913 levels by 1920; the 1921–22 famine killed ~5 million. Primarily a survival measure, though some Bolsheviks justified it ideologically.

Tambov Revolt (1920–1921)

The largest anti-Bolshevik peasant uprising, led by Alexander Antonov — up to 50,000 armed fighters at its peak. Suppressed by the Red Army using poison gas and hostage-taking. A key factor driving Lenin to abandon War Communism and introduce the NEP.

Kronstadt Uprising (1–18 March 1921)

Former revolutionary sailors demanded free soviets, freedom of speech and an end to grain requisitioning. Red Army stormed the fortress across the ice; ~2,500 killed. Lenin said it "lit up reality like a lightning flash" — it directly accelerated the introduction of the NEP.

New Economic Policy — NEP (March 1921)

Replaced grain requisitioning with a tax in kind, legalised small-scale private trade (Nepmen), while the state retained heavy industry and banking. Agricultural output recovered to 1913 levels by 1926. Lenin called it a "strategic retreat" — bitterly debated by the Left Bolsheviks.

Ban on factions (March 1921)

At the 10th Party Congress, alongside NEP, Lenin banned organised factions within the Communist Party. Internal critics like the Workers' Opposition were silenced on pain of expulsion. Presented as temporary, this became permanent — a key step towards one-party dictatorship.

USSR formally established (30 Dec 1922)

Comprised Russia, Ukraine, Belorussia and the Transcaucasian Federation. Nominally a voluntary federation; in practice dominated by Moscow and the Party. Lenin favoured a looser model; Stalin pushed for centralisation — a dispute foreshadowing his nationality policy.

Lenin's declining health & Testament (1922–24)

Three strokes left Lenin increasingly incapacitated from May 1922. His Testament assessed likely successors: Trotsky praised but "too self-confident"; Stalin criticised for "rudeness" and recommended for removal as General Secretary. The postscript was suppressed by the leadership after his death.