Russian Revolution (1917-1921), a presentation

Russian Revolution explained

1. The Russian Revolution:
1917-1921

2. History progresses in 4 stages:
Stage 1: feudalism
Stage 2: industrial capitalism–rise of bourgeoisie
Stage 3: socialism–communal ownership of means of production
Stage 4: communism–stateless, classless society
"The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of
class struggles.“ –Karl Marx, Communist Manifesto, 1848
Why was Russia an unlikely place for a
communist revolution?

3. Russian Empire in the 1800s
•Demographics:
–60 nationalities
–100 different languages
–Slavs, Europeans, Middle Easterners, & Asiatic peoples
•A feudal agricultural economy (serfdom until 1861)
•Autocracy
–Government in which one person rules with unlimited authority

4. Russia in the Early 1900s
•Late 19
th
century–state-sponsored industrialization
•Russo-Japanese War–national humiliation
•Revolution of 1905–lack of real reform
•Results: Alienation of the lower classes
–Debts, taxes, & rent kept peasants & urban workers bound
to poverty
•Opposition:
--Mensheviks When Russia has sizable working class =
socialist revolution
–Bolsheviks Revolutionary leaders could bring socialist
revolution

5. Russia & World
War I (1914-1917)
•Military was ill-equipped &
inefficient
•Losses:
–1.7 million soldiers dead
–5 million soldiers wounded
–2 million civilians dead
•Food supply within Russia scarce
soldiers & civilians starving

6. Spring 1917
•Strikes and food riots break
out in St. Petersburg
–Soldiers & peasants protest &
revolt
–Czar fails to put down revolts,
St. Petersburg soviet (workers
council) takes over city
•March 15, 1917
–Czar Nicholas II abdicated (step
down from rule)
–Romanov dynasty over

7. The Provisional Government
•Alexander Kerensky = prime minister
•Continued fighting in WWI =
very unpopular with the masses!
•Failed to deal with social reform,
land reform
–Life in Russia did not improve!

8. Response to Provisional Government
•Rival Power:
•Monarchists = return to czarist rule
•Mensheviks = moderate Socialists
•Bolsheviks (later “Communists” = Radical
Socialists
•Bolsheviks called for peace, land reforms,
& better working conditions, but lacked
organization…

9. Lenin Biography
•Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov =
V.I. Lenin
•Intelligent, radical, &
passionate
•Middle-class background
(studied law)
•Brother executed by czar in
1885 dedicated his life to
radical revolution
(Bolshevik)
•Exiled for beliefs

10. Return of Lenin
•1917 Lenin returns
to Russia (escorted by
the Germans)
•Goals:
–Organize Bolsheviks
–Seize power from
provisional government
•“Peace, Land, and
Bread”

11. Bolsheviks Seize Power
•Effects of World War I worsen
•November 6, 1917
–Bolsheviks overthrow
provisional government
–“Bloodless” coup d’etat in St.
Petersburg
•Kerensky = resign; Lenin =
assumes control
•Bolsheviks assume absolute power
by forcefully disbanding rival
parties (e.g. Social Revolutionary
Party)
•Ruled country through local
‘soviets’

13. A Socialist State
•Bolsheviks become the
Communists
•End private ownership of
property
•Distribute land among the
peasants
•Workers control factories &
mines
•Officials:
–Leon Trotsky = Foreign
Affairs
–Joseph Stalin= National
Minorities

16. Russia Leaves World War I
•March 1918 Lenin seeks peace with
Germany
•Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
–Loses Poland, Ukraine, Caucasus, etc.
–Loses ¼ of land, ¾ of iron & coal, 40% of
population

18. Russian Civil War (1918-1921)
•1918 Political opponents
contest Communists
•Taking Sides:
–Reds = Communists
–Whites = Moderates
(assistance from U.S., France,
Britain, Japan)
•Fighting destroys Russia for 3
years
–Starvation & economic
depression

20. Outcome of Civil War
•Lenin & Communists maintain power &
defeat the Whites in 1921
•1922 Communists rename Russia the
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
(U.S.S.R. or Soviet Union)
•Long-lasting distrust of Western nations
•Communists remain in power until end of
the Cold War (1989)