1. revolutions of 1917

which year did the tsar take controll of the russian army

1915

what were some of examples of organised opposition groups

• socialist revolutionarys

• social democrats

• liberals

what did the socialist revolutionaries want

a new society based on the peasant commune

what did the socialist democrats want

• Bolsheviks - belived that they could lead the workers in revolution (wanted fast violent revolution)

• menshevicks - they thought communism in russia was a long way off as it was not get industrialised (wanted a slow rev)

whjat did the liberals want

more political freedoms to prevent revolution

what were the immediate reasons for the feb revolution

• food shortages in peterograd

• star being away for peterograd

• international womens day march

• inflation

what impact did WW1 have on discontent in russia

• military - had worlds largest army BUT it was poorly led and badly equipt - germany had managed to defeat them on many occasions

• economic - 300% inflation. russia owed many loans to allies

• political - the duma (russia’s parlament) requested that tsar replaced his ministered with new ones supported by duma. he refused. this increased political opposition

• star as commander in chief - when he left petrograd he left the tsarina and Rasputin in charge. they made many bad decisions and Rasputin had bad influence on tsarina

when did the february revolution begin

14th

14th feb 1917

demonstrations occur in support of the duma

18th feb 1917

strike at the putilov steelworks in peterograd

23rd feb 1917

international womens day - women joined striking workers on streets

25th feb 1917

300,000 demonstrators on streets

26th feb 1917

tsar instructs army to restore order in peterograd - some shots fired on demonstrators - 40 killed

27th feb

star orders duma to disolve

28th feb 1917

a military report to the tsar declaired that peterograd was out of controll

1st march 1917

peterograd soviet issued soviet order number one - all aiuthority is transfered to elected representatives of soldiers

2nd march 1917

tsar returnes to peterograd and he abdicates but doesnt select an individual as the new tsar

3r march 1917

provisional government becomes responcible for running the country

whhat were the 3 top problems faced by the provisonal government

• it was not properly elected - people may not listen as it was temporary

• russia had faced many war defeats - soldiers were deserting and disobeying orders

• russia was in a high amount of debt and owed many loans to allies

what were the reforms of the provisional government

• freedom of religion

• freedom of speech

• abolishment of the secret police

• amnesty for political prisoners

• promise of an elected parliament

• introduction of 8hr days for industrial workers

• recognition of trade unions

what was the peterograd soviet

they were a powerfull council who owrked along side the PG if they kept ot their reforms

why was alexander kerensky

memebr of both PG and PS. he became leader of PG in 1917 but made some crucial mistakes

what were the mistakes that kerensky made in 1917

• continued to support the war

• acted against old ruling classes

• failed to control the bolshevic’s

what wasit called when PG and PS were leading russia

dual control

what were the main weaknesses and faliures of the PG

• lack of decisive leadership

• continuing to fight in the war

• faliure to improve the economy

• more democracy and free speech = more criticism to gov

• lack of legitimacy

• falure to hold general election

• dual control - very weak position

what was the june offensive

this was when the PG decided to attack the german and Australian forces in june 1917. it was a disaster with over 200,000 russian casualties, 60,000 deaths. this is when keresksy took over as leader of PG in july 1917 from prince Lvov.

what were the july days

a series of armed protests in peterograd aimed at the PG.

when was the kornilov revolt

august 1917

what role did kornilov have

head of the army - appointed by Kerensky in july 1917 to improve discipline

events of the kornilov revolt

• korn and keren agreed more soldiers needed in peterograd

• but korn decided russia needed military rule

• kerenksy saw this as threat to PG

• korn sent troops to Petrograd on 24th august with orders to shut down PS

• kerensky armed and released the bolskevicks to defend korns troops - he called the bolsheviks the red gaurd

• the revolt ended

what was the significance of kornilov revolt

• increase popularity and influence of bolsheviks

• weaked PG further

• the establishment of red guard gave bols more power

• on august 31st bolsheviks won most seats in the PS election

who was lenin and where had he been

• the bolshevik leader

• he was exiled to switseland

what was the april thesies and what did they include

a set of ideas of a revolution:

• end the way with germany

• transfer power to working class

• distribute land to peasants

• abolishion of police and army

• overthrow capitalist system

• all power to soviets

what impact did this have on the bolshevik party

it grew rapidly

what was the october revolution

when Lenin decided it was time to bols to seize power

7th october 1917

lenin returned to peterograd in secret

10th october

lenin persuaded bols to agree to support a revolution

23rd october

kerensky attempted to prevent the revolution by closing down bolshevick newspaper

24th october

during the night bolshevick captured key buildings and set up barriers on roads surrounding winter pallace

25th october 1917

bolshevik troops stormed winter palace. PG surrendered

26th october

lwenin established a new gov called council of peoples commissars made up of leadimg bolshevicks

what were the key triggers of the october revolution

• surge in bol party membership

• elections for the consituency assembily

• lenins return