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March 1917 Revolution
During WW1, the Tsar was put on the military front, and left his wife, the Tsarina in charge. This decision proved to be a bad one due to the fact that she would rely on Rasputin for some help. As well, while on the front, the Tsar proved to be a very poor leader and military commander. This eventually caused for the people in Russia to dislike to government more than they already did. On the 22nd, 20,000 steelworkers went on strike and by the 25th; over half of Petrograd was on strike against t -
Provisional Government
After the Tsar abdicated, the provisional government was instated, but only as a temporary government. It was created with the Duma, and 2,500 deputies from the Petrograd Soviet. The leader of the provisional government was Alexander Kerensky. The people part of this government felt illegitimate because they were not elected in; the people in the U.S.S.R also believed that the government was not eligible. One of the major decisions they made was to stay in the war, because they believed that the -
April Thesis
On April 7th, Lenin published his April Thesis in the Pravda. Lenin was the leader of the Bolsheviks, a communist party that was slowly rising. In the April Thesis, Lenin mentions “Peace, Bread, Land” which is his main slogan. This states that he wants peace within the land, for there to be no more famine, and that the peasants receive of all their rightful land. Because of his slogan, the peasants now supported Lenin, and they were the majority in Russia at the time. -
Kornilov Affair
Kerensky believed that General Kornilov was about to have a coup over the provisional government, when in reality, it was just a misunderstanding. To stop Kornilov, Kerensky had to rely on the Bolshevik workers to fight off the army. The significance is that now the Bolsheviks had the weapons they needed to overthrow the government. -
October Revolution
The October revolution was different than the March revolution due to the fact that it was planned. It started because Lenin was returned to Russia by the Germans. The Germans helped Lenin because they wanted Russia to pull out of the war. Lenin as now in control of 20,000 armed Bolsheviks that were ready to take over. On October 13th, they took over Petrograd, and then Moscow on the 23rd. They now had the support of the army and the soviets, making it easy to overthrow the provisional governmen -
New Government
With Lenin in power, he decided to change the government into more communist beliefs. All titles and ranks were demolished, and everyone had to call each other comrades. Lenin sent Trotsky which was his right hand man to Germany to make peace. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was then later signed to end Russian involvement in WW1. Lenin’s policy of “Peace at any Price” was then put into action as they had finally achieved peace. This event is significant because it is the start of the communist regi -
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
On March 3rd 1918, Lenin signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany. He decided to do this because he feared the war might bring an end to his communist rule. Russia lost a huge amount of land in the west, which was 1/6 of the population. He also lost, ¾ of their iron and coal supplies, and over ¼ of the best farmland in Russia. Lenin gave up Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Ukraine, Georgia and Lithuania. -
War Communism
Lenin imposed war communism to supply the Red Army with weapons and food. The state would take control of factories and appoint managers to run them. Food was rationed to only those who worked, trade unions were banned and work was strenuous. The Cheka stole the food from the peasants, therefore the peasants preferred to grow less. This idea eventually led to drought and famine which caused 4 million people to die. -
Civil War
The civil war consisted of the Red Army, which was the communists led by Lenin; and the White Army which was aristocrats, royalists, churchmen and army officers, which was led by Kolchak and Generals Deniken and Wrangel. The Allies, including Japan, supported the Whites because of the fear of communism spreading. The Whites had more power in numbers, but due to the lack of command and the number of divided groups, the Reds were able to win the civil war. Also the Reds were in control of the ind -
New Economic Policy
Due to the failure of war communism, Lenin imposed the New Economic Policy, which sacrificed some communist ideas for capitalism. Smaller industries were returned to private ownership, and peasants could sell their surplus on an open market. Most of communist party agreed, except a few did not. Overall, the policy was a success; it created a new upper class peasant called a Kulak. However, some people saw this as a betrayal of communism. -
Treaty of Rapallo
A treaty signed on April 16th, 1922 in Rapallo Italy. The treaty was between Germany and the U.S.S.R. The two governments have agreed to "co-operate in a spirit of mutual goodwill in meeting the economic needs of both countries.” Russia received compensation in the return of some of their territory lost from the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. This was the official beginning of the Soviet-German relationship which resulted in many other agreements. Lenin was in control at the time of this treaty, ther -
Five Year Plans
Stalin created the first five year plan in 1928. He inducted the plan for the purpose of heavy industry. This idea caused the upper class peasants or “Kulaks” to be eliminated from the U.S.S.R. Also the collectivization of agricultural land was put into place because of the first five year plan. People who did not fully support this plan were sent to gulags. Gulags were forced labour camps built by Stalin. The first plan had only lasted four years before being replaced by the second five year pl -
Kellogg-Briand Pact
The Kellogg-Briand Pact was signed August 27th, 1928 in Paris, France. The pact was signed by Stalin and many other nations had signed this pact which denounced war. This is significant to the Soviet Union because they were now starting to participate in western affairs -
League of Nations
The U.S.S.R. officially joined the League of Nations July of 1934. They were not a part of the original group because of their communist views. This is significant because it showed their desire to participate in western affairs. -
The Purges
Due to Stalin’s paranoia of being overthrown, he ordered the NKVD to kill or arrest old Bolshevik heroes from the revolution. Also some of Stalin’s army officers were killed or arrested. This created problems during WWII because of the lack of army officials to control the massive Red army. Stalin’s strong fear of others taking his power was the driving force behind the Purges. -
Rapprochement
The Soviet Union signed NAP’s (non-aggression pacts) with Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Finland, Czechoslovakia, and Romania. In 1935 they signed treaties of mutual assistance with France and Czechoslovakia. These treaties and NAP’s are proof of the Soviet Union wanting to encourage collective security. -
Nazi-Soviet Pact
On August 23rd, 1939 this was signed by Stalin and Hitler. U.S.S.R was not ready for a war and Hitler wanted to avoid a 2 front war. This was an agreement of strict neutrality but the Nazi’s and Soviets still hated each other. Eventually Germany did invade the U.S.S.R.
