The Russian Revolution

From Nicholas II to Vladimir Lenin

The Rule of Nicholas II

Five Events of the Russian Revolution

1. Revolution of 1905
2. Russian involvement in World War I
3. February/March Revolution of 1917
4. October/November Revolution of 1917
5. Russian Civil War of 1921
 The Okhrana

Agents of Okhrana - Yevno Azef, Dmitry Bogrov, Father Gapon, Roman Malinovsky
 An unwanted position?
• Sternly believed in:
– absolute autocracy, suspicious of change
– religious orthodoxy and
– anti-semitism

• Instruments for his autocratic rule were:

– Secret Police - "Okhrana" and millions of informers
– Pogroms and other repressive policies
– All trade unions and political parties were forbidden
– No elected parliament - all appointments and dismissals were made by the Tsar
– No constitution
– Censorship
– Aristocracy with priviliges given by the Tsar
– Orthodox Church with priviliges given by the Tsar
– The Officers were recruited from the Aristocracy - who depended on the priviliges given by the
Tsar
– Largest standing army in the world
• Peasant problems:

- 33% illiteracy
- 40 life expectancy <40
- low prices on bread (= low income)
- outdated equipment and farming methods
- frequent harvest failures (1891, 1892, 1898,
1901...)
- the population increase
- redemption payments
- internal passports
- The Land Commandants (always an aristocrat)
decided about local laws, taxation, etc... and he
punished those who did not accept his decissions
- very little investments
 Economic reforms
Sergei Witte The Great Spurt
1892-1903 Pyotr Stolypin
1906/1911

• Increase the size of peasant land

holdings
• Create a wealthy landowner class
• Protective tarriffs
• Lending money to peasants
• Higher taxes
• Welfare for peasants
• Foreign investments
• Religious tolerance
• Foreign loans
• Introduction of compulsory
• Results: speeded the growth primary education
of Russian mining, industry,
• Improve working conditions for
railroads, credit, commerce,
children and women
AND the ARMY. (and agro??)
The Revolution of 1905
What caused it?
1. The Russo-Japanese War
2. Unhappiness with society and politics
3. Bloody Sunday

1. The Russo-Japanese War (1904 to 1905)

Both had been competing for territory in Asia

Russia promised to withdraw troops from Manchuria in 1903, but balked

First defeat of a modern European power by a non-European power

The Revolution of 1905
2. Unhappiness with Society and Politics
Three social classes existed: peasants, nobles, and the Romanovs
Workers desired labor unions due to poor working conditions with unfair
treatment of workers

3. Bloody Sunday
Peaceful demonstrations organized to protest problems in Russia
In 1905 strikes broke out across Russia. Georgy Gapon, a priest, led a peaceful
protest in St. Petersburg hoping to reach Nicholas II at the Winter Palace.
Nicholas II knew Gapon was holding this protest
Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia
Bloody Sunday
More than one hundred killed
Hundreds wounded

Georgy Gapon
1905 Protests
“Bloody Sunday” (9 Jan. 1905)
Potemkin Mutiny, 1905
The Revolution of 1905
• 1905, many Russians ready to rebel against czar
• January 22, Orthodox priest, Father Gapon, brought petition to czar at Winter
Palace, listing number of demands
• Troops fired at group; hundreds died; day known as Bloody Sunday

Revolution Begins
• Bloody Sunday inspired many sectors of society to rise up against czar; rebellions
broke out, czar’s strict rules disobeyed
• Workers went on strike, students protested in streets
• Czar promised reform, but did not follow through
• Massive strike in October; 2 million workers protested in streets
 The October Manifesto
In response to the rebellions and strikes, Nicholas II issued the October Manifesto,
an official promise for reform and a more democratic government.

Provisions Duma End Revolution

• Manifesto promised • Voters would elect • Nicholas II hoped
constitution representatives to the Manifesto would end
Duma, assembly to revolution
• Individual liberties to
approve all laws
all, including freedom • Did not achieve balance
of speech, assembly • Czar continue to rule, between own power,
but not pass laws democracy
• Many gained right to
without approval of
vote • People still wanted
Duma
reform
The Revolution of 1905
Aftermath of Bloody Sunday?
Nicholas II passed the October Manifesto in response to riots and mutiny:
The October Manifesto promised a constitution and an elected legislature (Duma)

Was the revolution in 1905 successful?

WWI breaks out
Russian Involvement in World War I

If Nicholas II is on the war front… who is running the country?

Tsarina Alexandra Rasputin

Nicholas II opening the Duma
Pyotr Stolypin (1862-1911)
Czar Nicholas II
Russian Artillery
Russian Artillery Shelling Galacia
Russian War Dead (German Photo)
Russian Gas Victims
Russian Imperial Officers
February Bread Riot (Painting)
February (March) 1917
Petrograd, February Revolt of the Pavlovsky
Guards Regiment
Nicholas II at Tsarskoye Tseloe
Petrograd Demonstration
The Provisional Government
 The Provisional Government
• Main Parties:
–Kadets (Liberals)
–Octobrists (progressive aristocrats)
–Progressivists (industrialists and
capitalists)
Soviet of Workers and Soldiers Deputies
March Revolution of 1917
By the winter of 1916-17:
“conditions in Russia were desperate. Food and fuel were in short supply... Most
of the best soldiers had long since died and the ranks of the army were filled with
unwilling men gathered up by the draft.”

Nicholas II would soon respond:

“It is possible that for 22 years I have tried to act for the best, and that for 22 years
I have been wrong?”

Bread riots forced Nicholas II to abdicate in 1917.

The Provisional Government would take control.

Alexander Kerensky
October Revolution of 1917
Russia needed to end its involvement in World War I and provide land reforms…

Vladimir Lenin Leon Trotsky

On October 24th, 1917:

The Bolsheviks overthrew the Provisional Government
October Revolution of 1917
“The people need peace, the people need bread… We must fight for the social
revolution, fight to the end, till the complete victory of the proletariat. Long live the
world social revolution!” – Vladimir Lenin

Peace:
Signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

Land:
Land reforms for all peasants

Bread:
Collectivization of resources for public good
Kerensky as Prime Minister
Kerensky at the Front
V. I. Lenin
Vladimir Lenin:

Promises “Peace,
Land and Bread,”

Leader of
Bolshevik
(Communist)
Revolution
The Last Romanovs
to rule Russia:
Czar Nicholas II and son
Alexei (heir to throne).

Nicholas II was
coronated in 1894, and
overthrown in 1917.
The Faberge Egg Project
 1898 - Lilies-of-the-
Valley
This egg contains rose
diamonds and pearls.
There are three oval
miniatures of Nicholas II in
military uniform, and the
Grand Duchesses Olga and
Tatiana, his first two children.
Cossack soldiers, traditional guardians of the czars of Russia
Inside the Winter Palace
Women’s Volunteer Detachment
Bolsheviks Storming the Winter Palace
“Red Guards”
“Red Terror,” Summer 1918
 Russian Revolutions, 1917
• March: Nicholas II abdicates, a new
provisional government is set up. Leader is
Prince Lvov, who is replaced by Alexander
Kerensky.
• Provisional government makes the mistake of
continuing World War I.
• Germans smuggle Lenin back into Russia.
 Russian Revolutions, 1917
• November: Bolsheviks (Communists) led by Lenin
overthrow the Provisional Government.
• Support of soldiers and sailors to aid the Red
Guards is received. Trotsky leads preparations
• Red Guards fire on the Winter palace and all the
members of the provisional government except for
Kerensky (who fled to US Embassy) were arrested.
• The new Council of People’s Commissars
(Sovnarcom) is set up and led by Lenin.
• This was a coup d’etat and not a genuine revolution.
 Reasons for the Coup’s success
1. Conspiracy theories
a. Westerners: Successful German plot to take Russia out
of the war
b. International Jewish conspiracy: Trotsky, Zinoviev along
with other prominent Bolsheviks were Jews.

2. Bolshevik discipline
a. Everything was discussed in the Central Committee;
much democracy despite Lenin’s extremist wishes.
b. Between February’s Revolution & October, new
members joined the party making it into the mass party,
favored by the Mensheviks.
…continued reasons
3. Various factors:
a. Provisional Government never accepted by the people
b. Provisional Government’s unpopular policies:
postponing the land question; staying in the War.
c. Moderates left the Provisional G., isolating Kerensky
d. Lenin compromised with the masses by supporting the
peasants’ land seizures.
e. Lenin picked the moment of most hostility to Kerensky
f. Leon Trotsky carried out the coup successfully
 Peace, Land, Bread and
National Self-Determination!
The Russian Civil War
1918 to 1920
Red Army v. White Army
Estimated 15 million Russians dead.

The Romanovs