Russian revolutions (feb + oct 1917) (HANDOUT)

before the revolution, lead up

• war is going badly for russia

• There are bad rebellions in a few cities

• The government doesn’t have enough weaponry, Germany is plowing them down

• There are many labor strikes and food shortages

• internal problems + external forces……

tsar nicholas II abdicates

• tsar nicholas II abdicates to his brother, the grand duke michael on feb 11, 1917

• nicholas did not have very much military knowledge, and he would just get in the way

• he admits that he is not adequate to run the govt

michael abdicates to DUMA

• michael realizes what a huge mistake this is, considering the mess russia is in, and it will be a lot of work

• so, he abdicates to a DUMA, a powerless legislative group

end of russian empire

• this is the end of the russian empire, as there is no longer a specific emperor or tsar

russia is now a republic

• russia is now a republic, as it has a ruling legislature group, which is now tasked with writing a constitution + other work to be considered a republic

duma keeps russia in the war

• the russian people want OUT of the war

• but if russia is now a republic, it will need friends/allies going forward

• so, russia stays in the war, where it will have allies (BAD IDEA)

russian riots against the war

• now that the DUMA has made this (bad) decision, the people are very much against it, so they riot against the war AND the duma

germans try to collapse russia

• the germans are using a lot of fighting force to hold of the russians, and although they are winning, they still need to hold off the russians

• so, in an attempt to collapse russia, they send in lenin and trotsky (previously banished from russia) to cause more trouble and (hopefully) collapse them

socialism vs communism

socialism (liberal)

• believed that the elected govt should use peoples tax money to help the people

• requires that tax money should be collected, especially from the wealthy

communism (radical)

• believed that socialism would never work because the elites would never give up money + power

• destroy current capitalist economy

• get rid of private ownership of property and create a society run by the people

lenin + trotsky sent from switzerland

• lenin had been arrested multiple times in russia and they get sent to switzerland to live in exile

• with a newer government trying to keep russia afloat, the germans know the russians are on their last legs

• so, germany offers to take trotsky and lenin back into russia to destroy the duma

lenin + trotsky cause trouble

• when they arrive in st petersburg, they cause lots of trouble

october 1917 (lenin + trotsky attack)

• lenin and stratsky gather a group of communists (they still have substantial support), and on their 2nd/3rd try, they successfully attack the winter palace, looking to arrest the duma.

• they get there, and the duma have fled

• lenin and trotsky are now the government

• 8 month period of a republic (doesnt last)

they take russia out of the war!!!

• the first thing they do is declare themselves temporary rulers of russia, and then they surrender unconditionally to germany, taking russia out of the war!

• after this, the germans end up taking some of their land, and the russians dont care

• reasoning behind this: since the russians thought that capitalism and socialism would fail soon, and everyone would become communist

  • since land belongs to everyone (everything belongs to everyone) they didn’t care about the land because they didnt think they were “losing” it

bolsheviks have to fight civil war

• since everyone except for st petersburg did not agree with the communist ideas, they fight a civil war to establish their control over the soviet union (name change!)

• since trotsky is militarily creative, they win this civil war (1918-1920)

results of the civil war

• communism if forced on a lot of russians, but some russians are okay w communism

• they rename the country the USSR or soviet union

capitalist countries attack

• captialist countries freak out and launch attacks on russia

• the US, france, japan, and a few other smaller countries

• they do this because they dont want it to happen in their countries

bolsheviks defeat capitalist countries trying to attack them

• the bolsheviks win the civil war

• from now on, they RESENT the capitalist countries for trying to destroy them, and these are the roots of the cold war and rivalry between the US and russia