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Russo-Japanese War
Russia fought against Japan for the control of Korea and Manchuria.The Tsar expected a quick victory, but was defeated on land and by sea. The Tsar and his government were seen as weak and he was losing popularity and the favour of the people. The conditions for the people of Russia worsened. -
Bloody Sunday
A group of 200,000 unhappy workers marched to the Czar's Winter Palace in St. Petersburg to demand better working and living conditions. Imperial forces started firing on the workers, killing and wounding hundreds. In response to this massacre, violence, riots and strike broke out throughout Russia. The Czar responded to these protests with the October Manifesto, which was a promise of free speech. But the government changed little. -
February/March Revolution
On Women's Day, 200,000 workers striked, demanding better working conditions.The Tsar ordered his troops, the Cossacks, to shoot all of the protestors, and instead they were shooting the commander and joined the protestors. Because of this, the Tsar abdicated which leads to a provisional government, led by Kerensky. -
Provisional Government
On March 14, the Tsar abdicated and was kept under arrest near Moscow. On March 16, the Soviet and Duma got together and decalred the Provisional Government. It was made up of mostly moderates, as well as some radicals from the Soviet. Kerensky was the Prime Minister.They failed to recognize the catastrophic conditions their country was in, and kept Russia in WWI. The famine in Russia had only been getting worse. It was a constant power struggle, and many of the leaders of the -
Provisional Government Continued
Provisional government saw themselves as illegitimate because they were not elected into power. Eventually this government was taken over by Lenin's government. -
April Thesis
Becuase of his attempt at a revolution, Lenin had been in exile and in hiding. The Germans helped smuggle Lenin back into Russia, hoping this would help cause more troubles and a revolution in Russia. When he arrived Lenin was promoting his April Thesis which called for the proletariat and peasants to bring about the communist revolution, immediate peace, seizure of land, all power to the soviets and seizure of factories. His slogan became 'Peace, Bread and Land'. -
July Putsch
This was the Bolshevik's attempt to take over the Provisional Government. It was poorly organized which lead to a failed attempt, causing Lenin to flee to Finland. This showed the Bolshevik's and Lenin that in order to have a successful overhthrow of the government, planning and being organized is crucial. -
Kornilov Affair Continued
Provisional government and he growing strength of the Bolshevik's. -
Kornilov Affair
An alliance of two groups was now running in Russia. The Socialist, led ny Kerensky, and the Constitutional Democrats, led by General Kornilov. In Petrograd, the government was threatened so Kerensky and Kornilov sent troops to help protect it. Kornilov betrayed Kerensky and wanted to take over the provisional government and put a military government in it's place. Kerensky then had to call upon the Bolshevik's (who were in prison) to come and help protect them. This showed the weakness of the -
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
Lenin signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk giving Germany large amount of land in order to attain peace with them. Lenin thought that his government would be unable to solve the big problems in Russia and fight a foreign war at the same time. -
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Russian Civil War
During the Civil War the Bolshevik's became known as the Red Army while the opposing forces were becoming known as the White Army. The White Army got their strength from the Kossacks, the Bourgeoisie, the outlawed political groups and the Tsar. The Red Army killed the Tsar to help weaken the White Army. The White army never gained much ground in Petrograd, Kiev, and Moscow. The Allies intervened in 1918 and supported the Whites by supplying them with arms. This intervention was significant -
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Russian Civil War continued
because it said 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 smarts prevented this. The Red Army won the war due to several due to several factors. Weak Allied Intervention, Red's controlled the heart of Russia, Red's had a unified command, Trotsky was an excellent leader, and they had killed the Tsar, weakening the Whites. -
War Communism
Russia was in a catastrophic condition. Desperate to feed the Red Army, all the food and weapons went to them. Food for the peasants was harshly rationed. The famine becaume even worse. Workers in the factories were forced to work longer hours in horrible working conditions. Trade unions were banned. Private trade was also banned. As the peasants resisted, repression became more common.The Soviet regime was becoming more tense as they were fighting with their own people as well as Germany. -
The League of Nations
The League of Nations came into effect after WWI. They were to ensure that wars would never break out again. After the controversy surrounding the Treaty of Versailes, people hoped that the League of Nations would bring stability. It was weak because great powers, such as the USA, were missing from it. Russia and Germany were not allowed to be a part of it as they were too aggressive. It took far too long to come to agreement on different matters and countries were allowed to veto certain ideas. -
New Economic Policy
Lenin waned to regain the support of his people after the failure of War Communism and he wanted to try and get Russia back on it's feet. Samller industries were returned back to private ownership, and peasants could sell surplus goods, such as grain, for profit. Some problems arose as some peasants became rich (Kulacks) and business men made profit in towns. Some saw this as a betrayal of Communism as it had capitalist characteristics. -
Treaty of Rapallo
The German and Russian governments renounced all of their territorial claims against eachother as both countries were having financial difficulty after the Civil War and Treaty of Verailles. Germany and Russia made an agreement that Russia would make illegal war material for Germany (as they were not allowed to manufacture it themselves) and would receive steel manufacturing technology in exchange. -
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Five-Year Plans #2
These plans were to help Russia catch up to other industrial nations. There were 13 plans in total with a goal to make Russia a larger contributor the economy. To do this they needed to erase all traces of capitalism created by Lenin, transform Russia into an industrialized state as soon as possible without the regard to the cost of life, get rid of the Kulacks and give their land to peasants, and increase agricultural production. The state took control of all agricultural production. -
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Five-Year Plan #3
This caused a shortage of consumer goods. The second five year plan continued to emphasize heavy industries but there was also a commitment to communication systems such as railways and new industries. -
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Five-Year Plans
Stalin introduced the five year plans. He wanted to industrialize Russia as fast as possible. These plans 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 the lives that had been lost on his account. In the end, Russia quadrupled it's industrial output, bacame competitive on a global scale and created jobs. -
Kelogg-Briand Pact
This was an agreement that would outlaw war. It was signed in Paris. This one of the many international efforts to prevent another World War from happening, but was not effective in stopping the rise of militarism in the 1930's or preventing the start of World War II. It was a declaration of policy between 15 countries, Germany, Russia and the USA included. It said that war was not a way to solve international problems. -
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The Purges
Stalin wanted to remove anyone who was a threat to him or who went against his ideals and beliefs. He was concerned that someone would try and overthrow him and his government, so millions were arrested, exiled to labour camps or killed. One million Communist party members and 20 million are believed to have died in these pruges. Stalin encouraged a 'cult of personnalities'. Everyone believed him to be a hero. -
The Nazi-Soviet Pact
This guaranteed that Germany and Russia would not attack one another. By signing this, Germany was protecting itself from having a war on two fronts in the soon to begin WWII. The Soviet Union was given land, including parts of the Baltic States and Poland. The pact was broken when Germany attacked Russia a few years later.
