Russian Revolution

By brookegeyer

  • Czars Continue Autocratic Rule

    Czars Continue Autocratic Rule
    -Strict censorship on published materials and heavy security
    -Oppressed other national groups and made Russian the official language
    Alexander III turned Russia into a police state to continue the tradition of Russian autocracy.

  • Bloody Sunday

    Bloody Sunday
    -approached winter palace to petition for rights,generals ordered to fire on crowd
    -created Duma but later dissolved it to have complete power
    Provided a wave of strikes and violence that spread across the country.

  • World War I

    World War I
    -wife let Rasputin make key decisions but he was later murdered by nobles
    -soldiers mutinied,deserted, or ignored orders
    Russia's involvement in World War I revealed weakness of czarist rule and military leadership.

  • The March Revolution

    The March Revolution
    -riots over shortages of bread and fuel
    -wanted to stop autocracy and war
    Soldiers obeyed orders to shoot rioters but later sided with them.

  • The Czars Step Down

    The Czars Step Down
    -revolutionaries executed Nicholas and his family, rule of the Romanovs finally collapsed
    -leaders of the Duma established a provisional government with Alexander Kerensky in charge
    The March Revolution succeeded in bringing down the czar but failed to set up a strong government to replace his regime.

  • The Bolshevik Revolution

    The Bolshevik Revolution
    -Lenin and Bolsheviks gained control of the soviets
    -Red guards took over government offices and Kerensky and arrested leaders of provisional government
    Kerensky and his colleagues disappeared almost as quickly as the czarist regime they had replaced.

  • Civil War rages in Russia

    Civil War rages in Russia
    -opponents formed the White Army (wanted the return of czar, a democratic government, and opposed socialism)
    -three white armies fighting against the Bolsheviks' Red Army
    Several western nations, including the US, sent military aid and forces to Russia to help the White Army.

  • Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

    Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
    -saw nationalism as a threat to unity and party loyalty
    -Lenin organized Russia into several self-governing republics under central government
    Lenin established a dictatorship of the communist party, not a dictatorship of the proletariat.

  • Stalin Becomes a Dictator

    Stalin Becomes a Dictator
    -Trotsky and Stalin in competition for heading up the Communist Party
    -Stalin was in total command of the party
    Trotsky forced into exile in 1929, was no longer a threat and Stalin stood poised to wield absolute power as a dictator.