-
Autocratic Rule Oppresses the Russian People
Alexander III/ Nicholas II had a harsh autocratic rule over Russia. This turned Russia into a heavily policed country and established a uniform Russian culture everyone had to follow. This created more turmoil among the Russian people, another reason to dislike the Russian government. -
Russian Industrialization
Factories doubled in Russia and they became big producers of heavy steel. Russia raised taxes and used foreign investors to create industrial boom. The rapid industrialization also brought great discontent of workers with the bad conditions and low wages. -
Revolutionary Movement Grows
With more working strikes arising, the growth of revolutionary followers also did. Karl Marx established a revolution to create a dictatorship for the proletariat, and Marxists split into the Mensheviks and Bolsheviks. The Bolshevik party then was able to bring up a man named Vladimir Lenin. -
Russo-Japanese War
Russia broke a land agreement between themselves and Japan. Japan retaliated and beat Russia in multiple battles. Repeated Russian losses sparked unrest at home. -
Bloody Sunday
More than 200,000 workers stormed the czar's home with a petition for better working conditions, more personal freedom, and an elected legislature. The czar's generals ordered his troops to fire into the crowd, wounding more than 1,000 people. This provoked waves of violence all around Russia causing the czar to make the Duma, Russia's first parliament. -
World War I Involvement
Czar Nicholas II made the decision to put Russia into World War I. More than four million Russians died in the first year against Germany, revealing Russia's lack of leadership. Food and supplies dwindled on the home front, prices were inflated, people wanted the war to end. -
March Revolution
Local protests erupted into a full on uprising against shortages, causing the czar to step down. Revolutionaries then executed the royal family and the Duma set up a temporary government. Germany then brought Vladimir Lenin back to Russia in hopes to stir things up. -
Bolshevik Revolution
Lenin and his Bolsheviks toppled Russian government and took over. Lenin ordered all land to be distributed among peasants, all factories given to the workers, and made a peace treaty with Germany. Russia gave up a large amount of land to Germany, angering many Russians. -
Russian Civil War
The Bolsheviks now faced Russian revolutionaries known as the White Army in a civil war. The White Army was a group of people against something in the Bolshevik government, and western nations like America helped them. The Bolsheviks defeated the White Army, but with the loss of 14 million Russian lives, Russia was left in chaos. -
Lenin Restores Order
Russia was in shambles, so Lenin turned to a version of capitalism he called the New Economic Policy, in which the government operated most things to help Russia recover. Lenin then ordered into self governing provinces under a central government, renaming the country the USSR and making the Bolsheviks the Communist Party. Lenin then suffered a stroke taking him out of power, leading to the rise of Joseph Stalin.
