Lesson(2)

Revolutions in Russia

Important information about Russia revolution

1. It was like a firecracker

2. The explosion came in 1917
3. In 19th century czars caused widespread social unrest
for decades
4. Army officers revolted in 1825
5. Secret revolutionary groups plotted to overthrow
the government
6. In 1881 revolutionaries angry over the slow pace of
political assassinated
7. Russia was heading toward a full scale revolution
Important information about czar Nicholas :-

1) Nicholas was tutored in political economy, government,

constitutional law, jurisprudence, and public finance.
2) He learned to speak Russian, French, German, and English, and he
studied Greek and Latin.
3) Nicholas showed great aptitude for the science of warfare,
especially military engineering, and became an expert drillmaster.
4) His education ended in the middle of 1813.
5) In 1814 Nicholas joined the army, for which he retained a strong
affection throughout his life.
6) Nicholas took no part in the administration of public affairs
during the reign of his brother Alexander I.
7) He was put in charge of a brigade of the guards and was
inspector general of army engineers.

 Describe czars resist change in Russia ?

- Alexander iii cut off all reforms in Russia in 1881 like his
grandfather Nicholas I
- Alexander iii clung to the principles of autocracy
- Form of government where one ruler had total power
- The period time from 1613 till 1913
- These time called the Romanovs
Important information about czars autocratic rule

1. Alexander iii used harsh measures to wipe out revolutionaries

2. Strict censorship codes on published materials & written
documents , this included private letters
3. Secret police monitored schools
4. He made Russian the officials language of the empire & forbade the
use of minority languages
5. Nicholas ii became czar in 1894
6. Continued tradition of Russian autocracy
7. Czar Nicholas ii ruled Russia during world war I

Important information about Russia industrializes

1. Rapid industrialization changed the face of the Russian

economy
2. Number of factories more than doubled between 1863 and
1900
3. Still Russia lagged behind the industrial nations of western
Europe
4. Russia had become the world’s fourth ranking producer of
steel
5. United states , Germany & great Britain produced more
steel
6. Trans- Siberian railway was constructed was connected
European Russia in the west with Russian ports on the
pacific ocean in the east
 Talk about Karl Marx ?
- he German philosopher, radical economist, and
revolutionary leader Karl Marx founded modern "scientific"
socialism. His basic ideas—known as Marxism—Karl Marx
spent most of his life in exile.

Important information about revolutionary movements grow

1) Rapid industrialization stirred discontent

2) Factories brought new problems ( child labor , low wages ,
tough working conditions )
3) A group that followed the views of Karl Marx established in
Russia ( the proletariat “the workers” would rule the
country )

Important information about Marxists split

1. More moderate Mensheviks wanted a broad base of popular

support for revolution , the middle class and rich to work
together progressively
2. The more radical Bolsheviks supported a small number of
committed revolutionaries willing to sacrifice for change ,
they wanted to be led by elite group
3. Leader of Bolsheviks was Vladimir Lenin
Important information about lenin restores order

1. In march 1921 Lenin temporarily put outside his plan for

state- controlled economy
2. He restored to a small-scale version of capitalism called the
new economic policy (NEP)
3. The reforms under the NEP allowed peasants to sell their
surplus crops instead of turning them over to government
4. The government kept control of major industries , banks &
the means of communication
5. The government also encouraged foreign investment
6. Lenin suffered a stroke in 1922
Compare the evolution of communist thought between Marx
and Lenin
Marx
History was the story of class
struggle
The struggle Marx saw was
between capitalists and the
proletariat or the workers
The proletariat’s numbers
would become so great and
their condition so poor that
spontaneous revolution would
occur
The revolution would end with
a dictatorship of proletariat
Lenin
History was the story of class
struggle
The struggle Lenin saw was
capitalists against the
proletariat and the peasants
The proletariat and the
peasants were not capable of
leading a revolution and
needed the guidance of
professional revolutionaries
After the revolution , the
state needed to be run by a
single party with disciplined ,
centrally directed
administrators in order to
ensure its goals
Important information about revolution 1905

1. It’s called a bloody Sunday

2. Demonstration that resulted in over 1000 people killed at
czars winter palace in St. Petersburg
3. Provoked massive demonstrations
4. Nicholas reluctantly promised more freedom
5. Czar created the duma but it dissolved after 10 weeks

Important information about world war I

1. In 1914 Nicholas ii made the decision to drag Russia into

wwi
2. Russia unprepared to handle the war
3. Before a year passed more than 4 million Russian had been
killed , wounded or taken a prisoner
4. In 1915 Nicholas moved his headquarters to the war front
5. His wife czarina Alexandra ran the government while he was
away fell under influence of a holy man Rasputin

Important information about Rasputin

1. He was a Russian mystic holy man

2. Be friended the family of czar Nicholas ii
3. Last monarch of Russia
4. He helped the czar son Alexis suffered from hemophilia
5. He seemed to ease the boy’s symptoms
6. He became a key political decision
7. In 1916 a group of nobles murdered Rasputin
8. They feared his increasing role in government affairs

Important information about march revolution

1. Beginning in march 1917

2. The food and fuel and battlefield disasters
3. Duma set up a provisional government
4. Local governments set up soviets

Important information about lenin and Bolshevik revolution

1. They gained control of the Petrograd soviet as well as

the soviets in other major Russian cities
2. Lenin ordered that all farmland be distributed among
peasants
3. Lenin and Bolsheviks gave control of factories to the
workers
4. The Bolshevik government also signed a truce with
Germany to stop all fighting and began peace talks
Important information about November revolution

1. Lenin and leon Trotsky promised “ peace – land and bread

“ for people
2. In November 1917 Bolsheviks overthrew the Russian
government
3. Eventually came to be called communism