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Industrialization Begins
The rapid industrialization changed the face of the Russian economy. Soon enough, by around 1900 Russia had become the world's fourth-ranking producer of steal. Whey also had began to work on the world's longest continious rail line called the Trans-Siberian Railway. The industrialization had brought much discontent to the people of Russia, because of the horrible working conditions, low wages and child labor. Due to the discontent strikes would break out, which created revolutionary movements. -
Czar Nicholas Rule
Nicholas II became the czar in 1894, only to continue the tradition of Russian autocracy. And, unfortunetly it blinded him to the changing conditions of his times. Under his ruling, was when the fuse to the explosion of the Russian Revolution had begun. -
Developement of Revolutionary Groups
Disconted of the rapid industrialization, the Russian people had started to create certain revolutionary groups. For example, the Marxist revolutionaries were a group that followed the views of Karl Marx, and they believed that the industrial class of workers would overthrow the czar. In 1903, the Marxist split into two groups called the Bolsheviks, who were more radical and the Mensheviks who were more moderate. -
Bloody Sunday
Around 200,000 workers and their families approached the czars Winter Palace, holding a petition asking for better working conditions, more personal freedom and an elected national legislature. Nicolas II's generals ordered soldiers to fire on the crowd, wounding over 1,000 and killing hundreds. Bloody Sunday provoked more stirkes and violence that spread across the country. Nicholas created Russia's first parliament called the Duma, and dissolved it because he was hesitant to share his power. -
World War I
Nicholas II dragged Russia into World War I, while they were very unprepared to handle the military and economic costs. Their generals and poorly equipped troops were no match for the German army. 4 million Russian soldiers had been killed , wounded, or taken prisoner before a year had passed. In Russia, the wife of Nicholas, ran government and gave Rasputin, a man who had cured her son, much power which was a very poor decision. Neither Nicholas nor his wife were able to handle these problems. -
The Czar Steps Down
Due to the uprising of the March Revolution, Nicholas II was forced to abdicate his thrown. A year later, he and his family were executed. The three- century czarist rule had finally collapsed. The March Revolution had succeeded in bringing down the czar, but failed to setting up a strong government. Which led the leaders of the Duma to establish a temporary government called provisional goverment. The Soviets were also created who had much more influence on the cities then the provisional gov. -
The March Revolution
Woman textile workers in Petrograd led a citywide strike. In the next five days, riots flared up over shortages of bread and fuel. Nearly 200,000 workers swarmed the streets shouting "Down with the auocracy!"At first the soldiers obeyed orders to shoot the rioters, but then sided with them. Due to the uprising of the March Revolution, it forced Czar Nicholas to abdicate his thrown. -
The Bolshevik Revolution
Lenin and the Bolsheviks soon gained control of the Petrograd soviet, as well as the soviets in other major Russian cities. By the fall of 1917, people in the cities were rallying to the call, "All power to the soviets." Lenin's slogan-"Peace, Land, and Bread"- gained widespread appeal. Lenin decided to take action. -
Lenin in Power
With Lenin in charge, he had ordered that all farmland be distributed among the peasants. Lenin and the Bolsheviks gave control of factories to the workers. The Bolshevik government also signed a truce with Germany to stop all the fighting and began peace talks. Most Russians found it humiliating, which led to a Civil War in Russia. After, Lenin restores order since the Russian economy was destroyed. -
Stalin Became a Dictator
Lenin suffered from a stroke, but did not die instantly, although he was not in good condition to keep ruling. It was between Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin. Stalin began his ruthless climb to the head of the government between 1922 and 1927. Although before Lenin died he wrote "Comrade Stalin... has concentrated enormous power in his hands, and I am not sure that he always knows how to use that power with sufficient caution." he still became a dictator.
