Rus rev

1. Russian
Revolution

2. Causesof theRevolution
1) end Czarist absolutism & repression (pol)
2) Middle Class & workers wanted a voice in
the government (pol)
3) peasants wanted the Nobles’ fertile land
(econ)
4) city workers wanted better economic
conditions (econ)
5) end of discrimination and Russification
(social)

3. Wartime Incompetence
1) soldiers received inadequate food, clothing,
equipment, etc
2) officers lacked ability
3) Army met with defeat after defeat
4) High casualties
5) Factories were unable to meet civilian or
military needs
6) cities faced food shortages
7) Prices soared

4. •After a peaceful protest turns into a bloody attack, the Tsar agrees
to share his power with an elected congress
•Lenin later called Bloody Sunday a “dress rehearsal for the
revolution”
The March Revolution
•When 200,000 workers in Petrograd go on strike it sparks a
country-wide revolution

5. New Provisional Government
• Czar Nicholas II abdicates
the throne in March 1917
• provisional government is
headed by Kerensky
• he guaranteed civil
liberties, freed political
prisoners
• Tried to establish a
democratic regime

6. Weaknesses of the Provisional
Government
1) insisted upon continuing the war
2) proved unable to provide the cities with food
3) refused to approve land seizures by the
peasants
4) November 1917, the Bolsheviks toppled the
provisional government
5) Bolsheviks were lead by Lenin(Head of
Party) and Trotsky (organizer)

7. Lenin
1917-1924
• Promised “Peace, Bread,
and Land”
• took Russia out of the war-
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk)
• organized the workers to
take over the factories and
then nationalized industry
• directed the peasants to
seize the nobles’ estates
and then nationalize all
land

8. Russia under Lenin
1) 1922-the Bolsheviks (Communists) merged
Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia
into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
(USSR) or the Soviet Union
2) U.S. does not diplomatically recognize the
Soviet Union until 1933
3) Lenin dies in 1924 as a result of several
strokes
4) leads to a struggle of power between Trotsky
& Stalin

9. Communist Economic System
Communism: when the government exercised total
control over the production of the nation’s
resources
War Communism (1917-1921):
• government nationalized mines, factories,
railroads, land, prohibits most private ownership-
leads to economic chaos
New Economic Policy (1921-1928):
• allowed private ownership of retail stores & small
factories, sale of surplus crops, foreign investment

10. USSR under
Stalin
1924-1953
• Stalin wins the power struggle
• Trotsky is sent into exile in 1929,
eventually assassinated in Mexico
City in 1940
• Stalin becomes dictator
• destroyed internal opposition by
brutality & terror including secret
arrests, fake trials, forced labor-
camps, mass executions
• revived militarism, sought territorial
expansion, & extolled Russian
nationalism
• transformed Russia from agricultural
nation to industrial state

11. Five Year Plans 1928-1990
• Industry concentrated on heavy industry
(iron & steel) in order to produce weapons
to strengthen the military
• lowered priority given to light industry
• agriculture-forced farmers into collectives
which polled land, livestock, and equipment
in order to work the total area together
• Kulaks(prosperous farmer) resisted & were
eliminated, several million killed

12. Accomplishments of Communism
1) transformed Russia from an
agricultural society into an
industrialized society
2) largely avoided problems such as
unemployment, inflation, and
depressions
3) became the world’s second largest
industrial power

13. Weaknesses of Communism
1) centralized planning resulted in
bureaucracy, waste and error
2) costs of production were high
3) Goods were often of poor quality
4) Consumer goods were scarce
5) housing shortage existed
6) Labor productivity was low