Part 2 - The 1917 Revolutions

what were the millitary failures of ww2?

• impact of early defeats - august 1914 russians took heavy losses at the battle of tannerburg and were driven back. by autumn 1915 they had been forced out of poland, lithuania and latvia. between may and december 1915 1m russians were killed. Battle of massurian lakes september 1914, bad loss 1m taken as prisoners of war

• poor leadership - exceptions were brusilov, many of the top officers were appointed due to their loyalty of the tsar and had no experience in fighting, no clear command structure and no war plan developed, lack of equipment

• organisation of supplies - lack of supplies and men relied on picking rifles of corpses, no horses or first aid supple, railway was underdeveloped

• morale - hard hit by the incompetence of their officers, wounded soliders get left and there was increasing desertion

what was the situation of ww2 at home?

• failure of the transport system - railways were barely able to cope normally in peace time and now they were overloaded, bottlenecks at moscow, signaling sytem failed and trains were left due to engine systems

• grain shortages - loss of land in poland and the west knocked out two main lines from north to south and russia not able to move much grain. petrograd suffers and peasants have no incentives to sell any grain, agriculture implements was only 15% of prewar production as peasants go in the army.

• inflation - russia abandons the gold standard and wages double in 1914-16, fuel and food costs quadrouple

• overcrowding - influx of refugees from german occupied areas led to overcrowding in towns and a deterioration of living standards

• petrograd - suffered by 1916 it was recieving a third of the food and fuel it needed , strikes increasing and becoming more political

how did the role of tsarina and rasputin impact ww2?

• role in nicholas abscence - left in control of gov and tsarina had many coming in and out

• attitude to zemgor/ war industry committes - regarded them as revolutionary and undermining autocracy

• role in ministerial leapfrog - tsarina employs whoever flattered her or who rasputin advised

• relationship - rasputin could calm down alexis haemophillia and tsarina believed he was sent by god to save her son, this damaged standards of the royals due to his debacuhery, ministers disapproved of him. supposed illicit affair

how did the role of tsar impact ww2?

• decreasing confidence in tsar - due to millitary defeats

• role of zemgors and war industry committes- tsar sees them as a threat and they started to form their own hospitals and trains for the wounded, the bodies combine to form zemgor which supplied uniform boots and tents, business men from war industry committes to form millitary production

• progressive bloc - progressive elements in the duma wished to be fully involved in the war effort and wanted to prevent the country to avoid revolution, the bloc calls for a minitry of national confidence in which elected members would replace incompitent ministers

• tsars role in army - went to millitary HQ in mogilev 600km away from petrograd, became responsible and to blame for defeats.increasing opposition and all classes in dissaray, talk of impending revolution

how many workers were on strike on january 1917?

150,000

when were there demonstrations in petrograd?

february 13th

when does rodzianko warn the tsar?

14th february 1917 warns him about the seriousness of the unrest

when is there a strike at putilov steel works? what does the tsarina ignore?

18th feb 1917, tsarina ignores the okranas warnings

when does bread rationing in petrograd begin?

february 19th

when does internaltional womens day lead to a protest?

23rd feb

why was the 25th february a turning point?

general strike in petrograd and some soldies begin to join in - telegrams sent to nicolas urging him to make consessions

what happened on the 26th february?

tsar refuses to make concessions and then orders the duma to disband, 12 duma members defy order and insist on new governemt, protests continue and troops join in

what happened in the 27th february?

tsar is seen as unfit to rule and kerensky called for nicholas to stand down, 12 members of duma form a provisional committee and are backed by army leaders, rodzianko advises abdication

what happens on feb 28th?

nocholas tried to return to petrograd and his train gets intercepted by mutinous troops, he is diverted to pskov

what happened in march 1917?

march 1st - soldiers demand to be admitted to the petrograd soviet, soviet takes control of russian millitary

2nd - tsar abdicates and tried to pass on to alexi or duke michael but they both decline

3rd - provissional committee members form provisional gov to govern russia

what are the details of the provisional government?

• formed 2nd march 1917

• set up by members of the duma who formed the provisional committee after nicholas orders disband

• dominated by kadets. milukov was foreign minister, guchkov was war minister, prince lvov was minister, kerensky was justice minister

• landowners, army officers, factory owners, middle class all supported them

• taurine palace in petrograd

• wanted to govern russia until elections to a fully democratic constitutional assmebly

the petrograd soviet details?

• 27th february 1917

• a council of workers elected from each factory keen to push for better wages and conditions

• mensheviks dominated and socialist intellectuals such as moderate srs, kerensky also in

• urban workers, soldiers and sailors and peasants supported

• tauride palance in petrograd

• protect interest of the working class and soldiers, moniter the provisional gov

what were the inherent weakness of the provisional government?

• it was not an elected body, it was self appointed and therefore lacked legitimate authority, they couldnt expect loyalty from people and would be judged on how well it delt with problems

• authority was restricted by soviet order number 1 on march 1st 1917, actions of the provisional gov only carried out if they dont contradict the soviets, all weapons must be under the control of the soldiers comittees

• lacked control over essential infrastructure and millitary, soldiers only obey gov if the soviet agreed, soviet control railways, factories, power supplies and the garison

what were the provisional governments role in the october revolution?

• inherent weaknesses

• failure to deal with key issues -

• war= soliders wanted an end to war but PG fail to grant this and lose support and after the usmmer offensive chaos is on the streets leading to the july days

• land= delayed and peasants were tired, began to take land and livestock for themselves, burn houses down and 237 cases of land seizures in july 1917

• socioeconomic situation= they do nothing to help the unemployment and 588 factories close, loss of 100,000 jobs, unable. todo anything about food shortages and send in punishment brigades which turn more against them

• national minorities = split issue which divided the pg, 2nd july 3 kadet ministers resign ukraine seen as too useful

what role did kerensky play in the october revolution?

• summer (june 16th) offensive - due to the failure of the offnsive order kerensky made the offensive fell apart and many deserted, leading to the july days, angry soldiers and kronstdat sailors march to demand the soviet take control

• kornilov affair = august 1917, kerensky appoints jornilov and he plots a millitary coup to size control of the government, kerenskys reputation was ruined and he denounced kornilov. kerensky lost support

• actions against bolsheviks= october 9th kerensky tried to close bolshevik newspapers and raise bridges which gave them an excuse to seize power

what were the bolsheviks strengths for the october revolution?

• role of lenin = april thesis ‘bread peace and land’, master at logical and rational speaking, even in hiding, 12th september he wrote to central committe of blosheviks and urges them to take action, 10th october lenin meets committee to convince them to go forwards with the revolution, he was an opportunist and is quick to portray kerenskys attack on the newspapers as a counter revolution

• role of trotsky= trotsky managed and organised the red guard he also gives inspiratinal speeches, menshevik background gave him the influence and broader appeal, he was in soviet which gave him influence, he persuaded lenin to delay the revolution, 25th september he leads the millitary revolutionary committee and controls arms and ammunitions

• growing popular support - they encourage bread peace and land which is what the majority wanted, they are seen as saviours in the kornilov affair as they sent the red guard to stop kornilov, 9th september they gain majority in soviet and 25th trotsky becomes president

how did the weakness of the other parties lead to bolsheviks taking over in october?

• all socialist parties are weakened by association with kerensky

• they leave no other alternative to the bolsheviks

• srs walk out on the 26th which leaves the bolsheviks leaving them to take power and control