Revolution Midterm #2

February Revolution

Who: Russian workers, women protesters, soldiers, Tsar Nicholas II

What: A mass uprising that overthrew the Russian monarchy

When: 1917

Where: Petrograd, the capital of the Russian Empire (st.petersburg)

Why?: Food shortages, world war I losses, inflation, the anger toward the tsarist government led to strikes and demonstrations. Soldiers eventually joined the protesters, forcing Nicholas II to abdicate. This ended centuries of Romanov Rule and created an opportunity for a new government

Provisional Government

Who: Russian lieral politicians, including Alexander kerensky, who later became a leading minister

What: A Temporary goverment established after Tsar Nicholas II abdicated

When: 1917

Where: Petrograd, Russia

Why: It was formed to govern Russia after the monarchy collapsed and promised political freedom and future elections. However, it continued Russia participation in World War I and failed to resolve land and food shortages. These failures weakened its support and helped the Bolsheviks seize power in October in 1917

Petrograd Soviet

Who: Workers representatives, soldiers, and socialist activist, including Mensheviks and socialist revolutionaries; Bolsheviks later gained influence

What: A council, or soviet, representing workers and soldiers

When: Established in February 1917

Where: Petrograd, Russia

Why?: The soviet gave ordinary workers and soldiers a political voice outside the formal government. Its influence over soldiers and workers challenged the provisional governments authority. It became central to the system of dual power and later played a major role in the Bolshevik revolution.

Vladimir Lenin

Who: Leader of the Bolshevik Party and a Marxist revolutionary

What: The principal Bolshevik leader who advocated transferring power to the soviets and establishing a socialist government

When: He returned to Russia in April 1917; The Bolsheviks sized power in October 1917; he led the soviet government until his death in 1924

Where: Russia, Petrograd and Moscow

Why?: Lenin helped transform the bolsheviks into a party capable of taking power. His April Theses called for an end to support for the Provisional goverment, peace, land redistribution, and “All Power to the Soviets” his leadership created shaped the creation of the soviet state

Dual Power

Who: The provisional government and the Petrograd Soviet

What: A situation in which two competing institutions claimed authority over Russia

When: Mainly March - July 1917
Where: Petrograd and the Wider Russian Empire

Why?: The Provisional Government possessed formal government authority while the soviet had influence over workers and soldiers. Because neither institution had uncontested control, the government struggled to enforce decisions. The resulting instability contributed to the weakening of the provisional government and the Bolshevik seizure of power.

Social Revolution

Who: workers, peasants, soldiers, socialist parties, and revolutionary activists, including the Bolsheviks

What: A fundamental transformation of social and economic relationships, including challenges to private property, class hierarchy, and traditional authority

When: Especially 1917-1921, during the revolutions and civil war
Where: Across Russia and the territories that became part of the soviet union

Why?: Many workers demanded greater control over workplaces, while peasants wanted land and the end of landlord power. The revolution therefore went beyond replacing the tsar with a new government. It sought to transform who owned land and industry, who held political power, and how society was organized

July Days

Who: Petrograd workers, soldiers, sailors, the Bolsheviks, and the provisional government

What: Armed demonstrations against the provisional government that threatened to become an uprising

When: July 3-7, 1917
Where: Petrograd, Russia

Why?: Workers and soldiers were frustrated with the continuing war, economic hardship, and the governments, failure to meet revolutionary demands. The demonstrations were unsuccessful, and the government suppressed Bolshevik activity. Lenin temporarily fled to Finland, and other Bolshevik leaders were arrested or forced underground. The events showed that the Bolsheviks were not yet ready to take power

Russian Civil War

Who: The Reds (Bolsheviks and their supporters) fought the Whites (anti- Bolshevik forces) alongside other groups, including nationalists, peasant movements, and foreign Interventionists.

What: A conflict over who would control Russia after the Bolsheviks seized power.

When: Approximately 1917-1922, with the main fighting occurring between 1917-1920.
Where: Across the former Russian Empire; Including Russia, Ukraine, Siberia, and other regions

Why?: Many groups opposed Bolsheviks rule, while the Bolsheviks sought to defend their revolution and maintain control. The Reds ultimately won because of their centralized leadership, control of key industrial and population centers, and the disunity of their opponents. The war helped establish Bolshevik power but caused widespread destruction, famine, and repression.

Dekulakization

Who: Joseph Stalins government, communist party officials the secret police, and peasants classified as kulaks ( prosperous peasants), and often the clergy

What: A campaign to eliminate the kulaks as a social class through confiscation of property, deportation, imprisonment, and executions.

When: Primary 1929-1933, during forced collectivization
Where: Throughout the soviet union, especially rural agricultural regions of Russia and Ukraine

Why?: Stalin wanted to collectivize agriculture and eliminate independent peasants who resisted state control. The government seized land, livestock and grain and forced peasants into collective farms. Millions suffered from dispossession, deportation, and violence. The campaign helped the state control agriculture but contributed to agricultural disruption and famine.

First Five-Year Plan

Who: Joseph Stalin, The communist party, soviet planners, industrial workers, and peasants

What: an economic plan designed to rapidly industrial the soviet union and expand state - controlled industry

When: 1928-1932
Where: Throughout the soviet union, especially major industrial centers and new industrial regions

Why?: Stalin wanted to transform the USSR into a power industrial and military state that could compete with capitalist countries. The government prioritized coal, steel, electricity, machinery, and heavy industry. Industrial production expanded, but the plan also involved forced labor, harsh working conditions, consumer shortages, and the coercive transformation of agriculture.

Church Bells

Who: Soviet communist authorities, state officials, anti-religious activists and orthodox Christian communities

What: the removal, confiscation, or melting down of church bells as part of soviet anti- religious campaigns and, in some cases, industrial metal collection

When: especially during the late 1920s and 1930s, although attacks on religious institutions occurred throughout throughout the soviet period

Where: across the soviet union, including Russia and the Ukraine.

Why?: The communist government promoted atheism and sought to weaken the influence of the Russian orthodox church and other religious institutions. Church bells were important symbols of religious life and community identity. Their removal demonstrated the states effort to replace traditional practices with soviet socialist values. Some bells were also taken for their metal during industrialization.

Ukrainianization

Who: Soviet Ukrainian leaders, Ukrainian language educators and cultural figures, and Communist Party authorities.

What: A policy encouraging the use of the Ukrainian language and the development of Ukrainian culture in education, government, and public life

When: Mainly the 1920s and early 1930s, particularly during the 1923-1933

Where: The Ukrainian Soviet socialist Republic (Ukrainian SSR)

Why?: The soviet government initially promoted local languages and cultures to gain support among non-Russian populations and strengthen soviet rule. Ukrainianization expanded Ukrainian language schooling, publishing, and cultural institutions. However, under stalin, the policy was increasingly reversed in the 1930s, and many ukranian intellectuals and cultural leaders were persecuted. This shift demonstrated local cultures and enforcing centralized soviet control.

Indigenization

Who: The soviet Communist Party, local national communist leaders, educators, and ethnic minority communities.

What: A broader soviet policy of promoting local languages and recruiting members of indigenous and non-Russian ethnic groups into government and communist party positions.

When: Introduced in the early 1920s, especially from 1923; increasingly restricted during the 1930s

Where: Throughout the soviet union, including Ukraine, central Asia, the Caucasus, and other non- Russian republics.

Why: The Bolsheviks wanted to gain support of non-Russian peoples and overcome the association of soviet power with Russian imperial domination. The policy promoted local-language education and representation in administration. However, Stalin later prioritized centralization and Russian- language influence, and many national cultural leaders were arrested or executed. Ukrainianization was an example of this.

Show trials

Who: Joseph Stalin’s government, soviet prosecutors, Communist party officials, and accused political figures

What: public trials in which defendants were pressured or coerced into confessing to alleged crimes as treason, sabotage or conspiracy

When: particularly during the 1936-1938, although politically motivated trials occurred earlier and later

Where: Moscow, Soviet Union

Why: Stalin used show trials to discredit perceived political opponents justify repression and convince the public that alleged enemies threatened the socialist state. Famous examples include the Moscow trials of leading former Bolsheviks. the trials were often based on fabricated or coerced confessions and helped legitimize the broader purges of soviet society.

The Purges

Who: Joseph Stalin, the communist party leadership, the soviet secret police, military officers, government officials, intellectuals, and ordinary soviet citizens

What: Campaigns of political repression involving arrests, executions, imprisonment in labor camps, and deportations

When: The most intense purge Known as the great purge or Great terror, occurred in 1936-1938

Where: Throughout the Soviet Union, Including Russia, Ukraine, and other soviet republics

Why?: Stalin sought to eliminate perceived political rivals, suspected enemies, and people considered threats to his authority. Party members, military leaders, ethnic minorities, and ordinary citizens were targeted. The purges strengthened Stalin’s personal control through fear, but they destroyed lives, weakened the military and government, and created an atmosphere of suspicion throughout soviet society.