Russian Revolution and Rise of Communism

Causes of the Russian Revolution

The Russian Bear vs. The Rising Sun of Japan

  1. Russia lost a war with Japan in 1905

  2. Peasants had no land of their own-making life hard

  3. Tsar Nicholas II, the Russian Tsar, was not a strong leader

  4. Military Defeats and High Casualties in WWI

    1. Many soldiers died in WWI– 5.5 million wounded, killed, or prisoners.

The Rise of Communism

  • March 1917 - Uprising in the cities
    • Tsar Nicholas Abdicates
  • Provisional government continues fighting in WWI
  • Riots broke out in St. Petersburg and army refused to stop them.
  • Bolsheviks seize power of the government under the leadership of Lenin

Bolsheviks

Bolsheviks seize power of the government under the leadership of Lenin - Promise Peace, Land, and Bread

  • Bolsheviks make peace with Germany
  • Lenin becomes the leader of Russia
  • Established Soviet Russia

USSR Established

  • Civil war: Bolsheviks vs. White russians (anti-communists)
  • 1922 Bolsheviks win
  • Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)

Vladimir Lenin

New Economic Policy (NEP):

  • Workers control factories
  • Banks controlled by the state
  • Land distributed to farmers

Joseph Stalin

In 1924, Lenin died after having several strokes.

  • After Lenin died, Stalin seized power.
    • Eliminated all rivals

More in-depth info:

Causes

Russian defeat in Russo-Japanese War (1905) led to rising unrest

  • Class struggles: landless peasants w/poor working conditions, low wages and hazard of industrialization. Large gap between rich and poor
  • Work leadership of Czar Nicholas II - clung to autocracy (absolute power) despite changing times and widespread suffering of his people
  • Military defeats, high casualties, economic ruin, and widespread hunger in WWI

The Revolution

  • New Reforms for a worker - run government
  • Bloody Sunday: The massacre of unarmed protestors outside the palace in 1905
  • March Revolution 1917: Soldiers brought in for crowd control joined labor activists calling “Down with the Autocracy!”
  • Government taken over by the Bolshevik Party, led by Vladimir Lenin (Communist Party)

The Revolution Continued

  • Under Bolsheviks: Farmland distributed among farmers, and factories are given to workers
  • Banks are nationalized and a national council is assembled to run economy
  • Russia pulls out of WWI, signing the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, conceding much land to Germany
  • Czarist rule ends, Nicholas II, his wife and five children are executed
  • Civil war between Bolshevik (red) and anti-Bolshevik (white) forces from 1918-1920
  • 15 million die in conflict and famine

Consequences

  • Economy in shambles: Industrial production drops, trade ceases, skilled workers flee
  • Lenin introduces New Economic Policy to combat decline and raise food production
  • Lenin asserts control with cruel methods (prison camps)
  • Lenin died, Joseph Stalin takes control of Communist Party
  • Stalin transforms Russia to a totalitarian state