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Russo- Japanese War
Russia fought against Japan for control of Manchuria and Korea.The Czar expected quick victories but they were defeated on land and sea. Russia was humiliated. The government was seen to be weak and incompetent. Conditions for the people worsened and the cost of living increased. The Czar began to lost the favour of the people. -
Bloody Sunday
A group of 200,000 workers , unhappy with their living and working conditions, marched to the Czar's Winter Palace in St. Petersburg to make their demands. Imperial forces opened fire on the demonstrators, killing and wounding hundreds. Strikes and riots broke out throughout the country in response to the massacre. -
Bloody Sunday continued
The Czar responded to the subsequest protests with his October manifesto which promised freedom of speech. However the government changed little and continued to be oppresive. -
February/March Revolution
The February/March revolution all began during the womens day parade. The parade was joined by 200,000 workers which led to massive worker strikes. The workers were demanding bettter working conditions. The Tsar ordered the Cossacks, the crack troops of the Tsar to shoot the protestors. The Cossacks ended up shooting there commander instead of killing the protestors and joined them. Due to this, the Tsar abdicates. This leads to the provinsional government led by Kerensky. -
Provisional Government
On March 14 the Tsar abdicated and was put under house arrest in a cottage near Moscow. Two days later on the 16th the Soviet and the Duma got together declaring the Provisional Government. The Government was made up of mostly moderates along with there Prime Minister Kerensky, aswell as some radicals from the Soviet. The Provisional Government leaders misread the moods of the people. They stayed in the war, they failed to recognize the catastrophic condition of Russia, aswell -
Provisional Government Continued
as the seasonal famine in Russia had become continuous. The mostly democratic leaders saw themselves as illegitimate because they had not been elected. It was a constant power struggle, which evetually was taken over by Lenins government. -
April Thesis continued
He subsequently gained recognition from the Soviets and the Bolsheviks. -
April Thesis
Lenin had been in excile for his revolutionary stance. The Germans smuggle him back into Russia keenly realizing that he would create more trouble for their Russian enemy. Upon his arrival he promoted his April thesis which called for a. the proletariat and peasants to bring about the communist revolution.B. Immediate peace. C. Seizure of the gentry land D. All power to the Soviets E. Seizure of factories. His powerful slogan became"Peace, Bread and Land'. -
July Putsch
The Bolscheviks attempt to take over the Provisional Government. It was poorly organized so it failed. Lenin had to flee to Finland. Significance was the lesson learned in the importance of excellent planning being crucial to an overthrow. -
Kornilov Affair
A loose alliance of two groups was now running Russia.: Socialists- led by Kerensky and the Consititutional Democrats - led by General Kornilov. The government was threatened in Petrograd so Kerensky and Kornilov sent troops to protect the government. Unfortunately Kornilov betrayed Kerensky as he wished to form a military government by taking over the provisional government. Subsequently, Kerensky called upon the Bolsheviks( who were presently imprisoned) to help stop Kornilov. -
Kornilov Affair Continued
This showed the strength of the Bolsheviks and the weakness of the Proisional affair. -
The Bolshevik Revolution
This revolution was a very well planned event. They gained control of Petrograd on the 13th and then Moscow on the 23rd. They took control of strategic places like banks, post offices etc. On Nov 7th ,with the help of the Soviets and Trotsky,they arrested the provisional government and seized power. It was not very violent and only lasted 3 days as the provisional government had armed junkers(cadets) to protect the government. -
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
Lenin ,against almost everyone's advice, signed a peace treaty with Germany because he believed that his young government would be unable to solve the huge problems facing Russia as well as fight a foreign war at the same time. He was willing to give up large parcels of land in order to achieve peace. -
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Russian Civil War
During the Civil War the Bolsheviks became known as the Red Army while all the other opposing forces became known as the White Army. The White Army drew their strenght from the Kossacks, the Csarist army officers, the Bourgeoisie and the outlawed political groups. The White army never gained much ground around Petrograd, Moscow and Kiev but had more power in the countryside. The Allies intervened in 1918 in the support of the Whites by supplying mostly arms. -
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Russian Civil War continued
The significance of this intervention is that it set the Red Army against the Allies for years to come. In the summer of 1918, it appeared as though the Whites may take over but Trotsky's military genius prevented this. The Red Army won the war due to serveral factors: 1.Weak Allied Intervention 2.Red's controled the heart of Russia. 3.Red's had a unified command 4Trotsky was an excellent leader, military genius and disciplinarian.5. Czar and family had been killed by the Red's -
War Communism
Under pressure from the civil war and the desperate need to get food for the Red Army, all food and weapons went to them. Food was severly rationed to peasants. Famine ensued. They took control of the factories and made the workers work longer hours with less sustitence. Trade unions were banned. Private trade was also suppressed. As the peasants resisted, repression became more common. The tension was fierce as the Soviet Regime was fighting both with their own people and Germany. -
The League of Nations
The League of Nations came into being after the end of World War One. The League of Nation's task was to ensure that war never broke out again. After the turmoil caused by the Versailles Treaty hoped that the League might bring stability to the world.The great weakness of the League was the lack of any country with great military might. The USA, the most powerful nation did not sign it and Germany and Russia were not permitted in the league due to their previous aggresive acts. -
New Economic Policy
New Economic Policy was launched. Lenin wanted to regain support of the people following the War communism and wanted to help get Russia back on its feet. Smaller industries were returned to private ownership and peasants were permitted once again to sell surplus goods for profit. Problems arose as some peasants (Koolaks) became rich and business men made profit in towns. Some viewed this as a betrayal of Communism. -
Treaty of Rapallo 1922
The Russian and German governments renounced all territorial claims against each other as both were in financial difficulty following the Civil War and Treay of Versailles. They agreed that USSR would manufacture illegal war material for Germany(forbiddent by the Treaty of Versailles) and that USSR would recieve steel manufacturing technology from Germany. -
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Five Year Plans
Stalin introduced the Five Year Plans. This brought all industry under state control and all industrial development was planned by the state. The state would decide what would be produced, how much would be produced and where it should be produced. Stalin had no regard for how many lives would be lost. In the end Russia's output quadrupled its industrial output and became competive on a global scale and created jobs. -
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Five year plans continued #2
These plans were made with the purpose of helping Russian catch up to other industrial nations. There were 13 such plans with the goal of helping make Soviet industry a much larger contributor to the economy. In order to achieve this they needed to erase all traces of capitalism caused by Lenin's NEP, transform Russia into an industrialized socialist state asap without regard to cost of life, get rid of the Kulacks and take their land and give to the peasants, increase agricultural production. -
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Five Year Plans continued #3
State took control of all agricultural production. This caused a shortage of consumer goods. The second five year plan continued to emphasise heavy industries but there was also a commitment to communication systems such as railways and new industries such as the chemical industry. -
Kellogg- Briand Pact
The Kellogg-Briand Pact was an agreement to outlaw war This Pact was sometimes called the Pact of Paris for the city in which it was signed. The pact was one of many international efforts to prevent another World War, but it had little effect in stopping the rising militarism of the 1930s or preventing World War II.It was not a formal treaty but a declaration of policy between 15 nations including Germany, USA and the USSR. It denounced war as a method of solving disputes. -
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The Purges
Stalin removed anyone who was a threat or who went against any of his ideas. He was concerned about overthrow so millions were arrested, executed or sent to labour camps.He used the NKVD (his secret police) to execute his plan of terror. 90% of the Red army was killed. 1 Million communist party members and 20 million people are believed to have died during the purges. Stalin encouraged a "cult of personalities", everyone must love Stalin as if he was a hero. -
The Nazi- Soviet Pact
Representatives from Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union met and signed the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact, which guaranteed that the two countries would not attack each other. By signing this pact, Germany had protected itself from having to fight a two-front war in the soon-to-begin World War II; the Soviet Union was awarded land, including parts of Poland and the Baltic States. The pact was broken when Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union less than two years later.
