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The Assassination of Alexander II
Revolutionaries in Russia were sitting on a lot of pent up anger about the oppressive czar, Alexander II. He had a very reform driven standpoint on the country and the revolutionaries had enough. They assassinated him which connects to the revolution because people who supported the revolution made their first act upon starting a revolution and began a mindset that people could rise up against the government. -
Nicholas II Becomes Czar
After the assassination of the previous czar, Nicholas II comes to power. He continues the same kind of ruling that Alexander II followed, autocracy. This furthered the anger of revolutionaries because a new ruler had been introduced but he didn't do anything differently than Alexander II, which then leads to the people wanting to change the government even more because they aren't acknowledging their anger. -
The Marxist Party Splits Into The Bolsheviks and The Mensheviks
This party was in place to convince people that the working class, the proletariat, could overthrow the government. They also believed that once they overthrew the government, they would rule the country. This gave people hope that they could take over the government and live happily without the oppression of the government and this hope drove them for a change. -
The Russo-Japanese War
The Russians broke a series of agreements that they had with Japan concerning the control of Korea and Manchuria. Japan got its revenge by attacking the Russians at Port Arthur in Manchuria. This connects to the revolution because it made people uneasy in Russia and caused and led to a revolt in the midst of the war. -
Bloody Sunday
In January of 1905, around 200,000 workers and their families went to the Palace with a petition that asked for better working conditions, more personal freedom, and elected national legislature. Nicholas II's generals made their soldiers fire on the group of people and over 1,000 were wounded and hundreds were killed. This connects to the revolution because following this event waves of strikes and violence spread throughout the entirety of Russia in protest to the czar. -
The Duma
Nicholas II reluctantly agreed to giving the Russian people more freedom and with that a Russian parliament was put into place. However, after about ten weeks Nicholas II dissolved the Duma because he was so power hungry. This connects to the revolution because the people were angry that the Duma was gone and they really began to see how selfish and corrupt the czar was and that he would do anything to keep his power, they saw that they needed a change. -
Russia Entering World War 1
Nicholas II made the costly decision of putting Russia World War 1. They were not prepared to suffer the economic and military costs. This raised anger towards the czar because people were giving their lives and the country gained no benefits and ended up losing money and men. -
Female Textile Workers Citywide Strike
In March of 1917 textiles workers led a citywide strike which led to an uprising in riots about the shortage of bread and fuel. Nearly 200,000 workers stormed the Russian streets shouting things like, "Down with the autocracy!" This shows the hate the people had for the oppressive czar and the Russian Revolution was inevitable. -
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
Russia signed a treaty with Germany which gave away a lot of their territory. This objected the Bolsheviks and what they intended to do within their party. This raised widespread anger in Russia and created an even stronger urge to revolt. -
Bolsheviks See Nationalism As A Threat
The Bolsheviks saw nationalism as a threat to unity and party loyalty. This was an issue because they wanted to stay united and they wanted to be seen as a powerful radical party. They put in place the Communist Party to show unity in Russia to show everyone that they wanted an individual body to be revolutionary together.
