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Industrialization in Russia
The Numer of factories nearly doubled in Russia between 1863-1900. Russia was still behind the industrial nations of Western Europe. To increase industry in Russia the government sought foreign investors and raised taxes. The British and French investors helped work on the Trans-Siberian Railway that connected European Russia in the west with Russian ports on the Pacific Ocean in the East. -
Czar Nicholas Rule
Alexander III was a very harsh ruler. He oppressed other other national groups within Russia and made Russia the official language and did not allow the use of minority languages. Alexander targeted Jews and because of that violence broke out in many parts of Russia. -
Development of Revolutionary Groups
Several revolutionary movements began to grow and compete for power. People who followed the views of Karl Marx established a following in Russia. Eventually the proletariat workers ruled the country. Eventually Marxists split into two groups. The Mensheviks and the Bolsheviks because of different revolutionary tactics. Between 1904 and 1917 Russia faced events that showed the czar's weakness and led to revolution. -
Bloody Sunday
About 200,000 workers and their families went to the czar's palace carrying a petition that asked for better working conditions, more personal freedom, and an elected legistlature. Nicholas II's soldiers were ordered to fire on the ground and over 1,000 people were wounded and a few hundered were killed. Bloody Sunday provoked strikes and violence in the country. -
World War I
Nicholas II made the decision to bring Russia into World War I even though they could not handle the economic costs. Before a year had past more than 4 million russian soldiers had been killed, wounded, or taken prisoner. Revealed weakness of Czarist rule and military leadership. -
The Czar Steps Down
The March Revolution forced Nicholas Czar II to abdicate his throne and a year later him and his family were executed by revolutionaries. Although the March Revolution succeeded in bringing down the Czar it failed to set up a strong government to replace his regime. -
The March Revolution
Women textile workers led a citywide strike. Within the next few days, riots flared up because of shortages of bread and fuel. Nearly 200,000 workers participated in the strike. At first soldiers obeyed orders to shoot the rioters but then decided to side with them. The local protest exploded into a general uprising known as the March Revolution. -
The Bolshevik Revolution
Without warning armed factory workers stormed the Winter Palace in Petrograd. They called themselves the Bolshevik Red Guards and they took over government offices and arrested the leaders of the provisional government. The Bolshevik government signed a truce with Germany to stop all fighting and began peace talks. The White Army were opposed to the Belsheviks and supported the return of Czar. From 1918-1920 civil war raged in Russia. -
Lenin In Power
Lenin resorted to a small-scale version of capitalism called the New Economic policy or NEP. The NEP allowed peasants to sell their surplus crops instead of turning them over to the government and let some small factories, businesses, and farms operate under private ownarship. Foreign investment was also encouraged. The country slowly recovered that to partly new policies and to the peace that followed the civil war. -
Stalin Becomes a Dictator
Lenin suffered a stroke in 1922 and a man named Joseph Stalin took over for him. Between 1922-1927 Stalin began his climb to the head of the government. By 1928 Stalin was in complete command of the Communist Party. Stalin became an absolute power as a dictator.
