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Marxists Revolutionaries Split
Marxists revolutionaries disagree over revolutionary tactics. The More radiacal Bolsheviks are ready to risk everything, The charismatic Vladimir Lenin becomse the leader. -
Period: to
Russian Revolution
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A Wartime Crisis
News of repeated Russian losses sparked unrest. This led to revolts during the war. -
Just Your Ordinary Sunday
200,000 workers and their families approached the Czar’s winter palace in St. Petersburg. They had a petition asking for better working conditions, personal freedom, and an elected national legislature. Soldiers were ordered to fire on the rioters, 1,000 were wounded and 700 were killed, this was nicknamed as “Bloody Sunday”. -
A Trial Run of Duma
Moderate leaders who wanted Russia to become a constitutional monarchy, similar to Britain. But the Czar was hesitant about his power, so he dissolved the Duma (Russian Parliment) after 10 weeks. -
Decisons, Decisions
Nicholas II made a terrible decision to enter WWI, this was a bad idea because Russia was not ready economically or militarily. In one year 4 million Russians were killed or wounded. This revealed the weakness in the czarist rule. -
Streets Flooded with People
Woman textile workers in Petrograd led a strike. In the next 5 days riots flared over shortages of bread and fuel. Almost 200,000 workers were in the streets rioting about the isses. Soldiers originally followed orders to shoot the rioters but later they decided to side with them. -
Bolshevik Red Guards are Born
Armed factory workers stormed the winter palace in Petrograd and called themselves the Bolshevik Red Guards. They took over government offices and arrested the leaders of the provisional government. -
A Time of "Peace"
Russia and Germany signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. In the treaty Russia surrendered a large part of its territory to Germany and its allies. Many Russians were angered by the terms of this treaty. The people of Russia also rejected the Bolsheviks and their policies. -
Lenin Saves the Day
The war and revolution had destroyed the Russian economy and trade was at a standstill. Much of the industrial production dropped and many of the skilled workers had fled to other countries. To fix these problems Lenin turned to reviving the economy and restructuring the government. -
NEP Emerges
Lenin decided to put aside his plan for a state controlled economy. So he resorted to small scale version of capitalism called the New Economic Policy (NEP). NEP allowed peasants to sell surplus crops instead of turning them over to the government. But the government still kept control over major industries, banks, and means of communication. -
The USSR is Born
The country was renamed to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR) in honor of the councils that helped launch the Bolshevik Revolution. The Bolsheviks renamed the party to the communist party after the writings of Karl Marx. They used the word communism to describe the classless society that would exist after workers had seized power.
