The Russian Revolution of 1917 overthrew the monarchy of Czar Nicholas II as the people grew angry with the economic hardship caused by World War I. They adopted the communist ideas of Karl Marx, which called for a classless society. The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, seized power and established the Soviet Union. However, after Lenin's death, Joseph Stalin rose to power and established a totalitarian dictatorship, eliminating his opponents and killing millions of citizens through repression and famine. He modeled the government on communist principles but distorted them for his own authoritarian rule.
2. Czar Nicholas II
Last Czar of Russia
Exhausted nation’s economy by
involving Russia in WWI
This left the Russian people
poor and starving, but the
Czar and his family lived
comfortably.
The people were angry with
this, so they decided to
REVOLT!
3. Karl Marx
(1818 – 1883)
•He died long before
Revolution began, but his
political ideas of communism
lived on.
•Considered father of
communism
•People of Russia who
revolted adopted his ideas
4. Karl Marx
Karl Marx - 1848 published the
Communist Manifesto with
Fredrich Engels
This document advertised
Marx’s belief that pure
communism would be the
inevitable outcome of human
history
“From each according to his
abilities, to each according to
his need.”
5. Communism
•Form of government
that has a classless
society
•Everyone is equal; no
rich and no poor
•The Bolsheviks, or
revolutionaries, adopted
this idea.
6. Bolsheviks
•The Bolsheviks - an organization formed by the
revolting people, or revolutionaries, of Russia.
•Bolsheviks were led by Vladimir Lenin.
7. Vladimir Lenin
•A revolutionary who led the
Bolsheviks (working class) to
freedom.
•They eventually were able
to overthrow the Czar.
8. Czar is Overthrown…
•With the rise of the Bolsheviks, the Czar was forced to give
up throne
•In 1918, the Czar and his entire family, wife and 5 children,
were assassinated by an execution squad set up by the
revolutionaries
•The entire family was killed because they feared one of them
could rise to power again.
9. Lenin’s Death
•Lenin died in 1924,
leaving the Bolsheviks
leaderless.
•This caused a power
struggle between two other
revolutionaries, Leon
Trotsky and Joseph Stalin.
10. Leon Trotsky
•A revolutionary who was
popular with the people
•Wanted to make life better
for all by industrializing
Russia
11. Josef Stalin
•Lied to people to gain
support
•People believed his lies
and promises, so he beat
Trotsky in the power
struggle
•Stalin had Trotsky exiled
from Russia. He feared
Trotsky would try to
regain power, so he
eventually had him killed.
12. Stalin, cont’d…
•Stalin grew more and more
powerful over the years.
•He began eliminating
anyone who opposed him.
•He set up a secret police to
carry out his deadly orders.
13. NKVD (KGB)
•Stalin’s secret police
•Killed, tortured, starved,
intimidated anyone Stalin
ordered
•Completely loyal to Stalin
15. Examples of Totalitarian
governments and their
leaders
Nazi Germany - Adolf Hitler
Soviet Union - Joseph Stalin
Italy - (Facist) Benito Mussolini
Spain - Gen. Francisco Franco
16. Propaganda
-Propaganda: is a form of communication
that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a
community toward some cause or position.
-Stalin used this to keep his image in the
public eye positive
-He had a whole bureau dedicated to
coming up with new propaganda on a
regular basis creating pictures, statues,
continuous praise and applause for him.
17. Stalin’s Rule
•Stalin became so greedy, he lost
the original vision of the
revolutionaries
•Millions of innocent people were
killed under his rule
•Ironically, he made Russia worse
off than it had been before the Czar
•Stalin became known as one of the
most ruthless dictators in history,
comparable to Hitler
