Russian Revolution

Causes of the Revolution

food shortages and prices, losses of russian army in WW1, serfdom and class inequality, tsar nicholas 11 leaving for warfront leaving the tsarina in charge

Tsar Nicholas

instituted monarchy, had complete power, put russia into WW1, refused to modernize Russia, left his wife in charge when leaving for the warfront, abdicated in 1917 and exiled and later executed

Tsarina

given power when tsar went to lead troops, gave power to Rasputin, believed he could save her son with blood disease, exiled and executed with tsar and kids

Rasputin

given power by Tsarina, the tsar and people did not like what he was doing so the tsars generals executed him

Lenin

hated imperial russia due to his brothers execution when he plotted to kill the tsar, along with support from germany he returned from exile in switzerland in april 1917, that sumemr he fled to Finland due to treats of arrest, returned and took power after trotsky and the bolsheviks overthrew the provisional government in october, end WW1 for russia

Trotsky

organized bolsheviks seized of power from the provisional government and the red army in the civil war, one of lenins supporters, exiled and then executed due to his rivalry with stalin

March Revolutions (causes and effects)

Spontaneously, soldiers joined protests, a provisional government formed, Tsar Nicholas II abdicates throne

Causes: Began as a womens protest for food shortages and then others joined becoming a large event. New government still keeps Russia in WWI

Effects: new gov in place, abdication of tsar nicholas 11, Duma established a provisional government, continued WW1, Lenin and bolsheviks gain power

November Revolutions (causes and effects)

Causes: In April Lenin returned from Switzerland, While in hiding, Lenin called for a Bolshevik insurrection, Bolsheviks were able to seize power, aided by Leon Trotsky

Effects: Lenin was named the head of the new Communist government. Lenin updated Karl Marx’s ideas to address Russia's conditions

Problems with the provisional government (Duma)

1. kept Russia in WW1 (worsened economy, lost peoples trust, and people wanted out)

2. dual government with Petrograd soviet (couldn’t make independent decisions

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

Lenin’s deal with Germany to end Russia’s role in WWI, trading land and money for peace so he could focus on gaining Communist power.

Civil War

Red Army (Bolsheviks) vs. White Army (anti-Communists). Reds, led by Trotsky, won by controlling key areas and using War Communism and the Cheka to maintain power.

White Army

anti-communist old army group

Red Army

Bolsheviks led by Trotsky

Bolsheviks

Radical socialist group led by Vladimir Lenin that seized power in the 1917 Russian Revolution and created a Communist government.

War Communism

bolshevik policy during the Civil War—government took control of industries, seized grain, rationed food, and used force to supply the Red Army.

Role of the Cheka

used in the red terror, imprisoned and executed tens of thousand without trial known as “class enemies”, secret police was a new tool used by government