History (Russia)

• Russia's Difficulties

  • Extreme poverty - low food production, frequent famines
  • Weak industry - workers worked for long hours in dangerous factories, behind the rest of Europe
  • Difficult geography - 1/3 of land permanently frozen, frontiers with 12 countries peasants made up 4/5 of the population
• Tsar Nicholas

  Crowned in 1896 but was a weak leader and poorly prepared for kingship, imprisoned his critics
• Bloody Sunday - Father Gapon led a peaceful protest in front of the Winter Palace for working conditions but guards opened fire on them, 200 killed


  1905
• Bloody Sunday 1905

  Fuelled even more discontent including mutiny from soldiers on Potemkin
• October Manifesto

  1. Duma introduced

  2. Political parties allowed

  3. Stolypin as PM
• Russia in WW1:

  Battle of Tannenburg - 30,000 killed 92,000 made prisoner

  Battle of Masurian Lakes - 100,000 killed/wounded

  Aug 1914, Russia advances 160km into Germany

  Dec 1916, prices risen 5-10fold as there was no one to cultivate land

  1917 in St Petersburg, food and fuel shortages + -30 degree weather 


  Political impacts of the war:

  Tsarina dismissed ministers and replaced them with Rasputin's friends

  Tsarina unpopular and not trusted, thought to be a spy
• Abdication of Tsar:

  14 Feb 1917 - 100,000 strikers in Petrograd

  25 Feb - people begin to protest against Tsar

  27 Feb - troops mutiny and join protests

  28 Feb - provisional committee set up

  2 March - army generals advise abdication
• Provisional Government:

  PG was new government

  Prince Lvov PM but Kerensky became PM in July 


  Problems with the PG:

  Didn't represent the people, mutiny in army, food struggles

  Dual authority with PS, June offensive failed, july days
• PG Decisions:

  Execution of deserters, protests permitted, gender equality, 8-hour work day, freedom of religion, abolishment of okhrana, freedom of speech


  June offensive - led to 60k deaths
• Lenin:

  Made an April Thesis which was attractive to many Russian civilians, it stated that Russia should withdraw from war, aim for a worker's revolution, land owned by state as well as banks
• The Rise of the Bolsheviks:

  23rd Oct - Lenin persuades Bolsheviks to take power, Kamenev and Zinoviev disagree, publish paper, Kerensky is alerted

  24th Oct - Rev begins, red guards occupy railways and surround WP + Aurora cruiser points guns at it

  Kerensky flees, PG locked in WP

  6 Nov - guns open fire

  7 Nov - Bolsheviks take power and PG collapses
• Reasons for October Revolution:

  Lenin convinced time was right, acted as a leader, knew they had to control PS , April Thesis

  Kornilov revolt armed the Bolsheviks and were defenders of Russia and PG was already disliked and soldiers didn't side with them

  Propaganda like Peace, Land, Bread with posters and pamphlets
• Bolshevik Decrees:

  Decree on Land - 540mil acres to peasants

  Decree on Peace - make peace with opponents in war

  Decree on Titles - abolished, women equal to men

  Decree on Press - all non-Bolshevik papers banned

  Decree to set up political police - Cheka
• Brest-Litovsk:

  Made in March 1918 to make peace with Germany

  Russia lost 34% industrial land, 89% coalfields

  It was unpopular - Bukharin "shameful peace"

  Only 15 Bolsheviks supported it
• Reasons for Civil War 1918-21:

  Economic & Social hardship - food shortages, starvation, workers protested against living conditions, march 1918 rations 50g per day

  Constituent Assembly - After dissolution in January, members were angered and civilians saw it as unfair

  Brest-Litovsk - Angered Nationalists, would worsen shortages

  Decrees - Angered upper class, no land, no titles
• Civil War Timeline:

  Summer 1918 - Denkin(W) army of 150k attempt to besiege Tsaritsyn but fail, it would have allowed south and east white armies to link up

  July 1918 - Romanovs killed in Ekaterinburg as whites were advancing

  July 1919 - Red army forces Kolchaks army to retreat

  Denkin launched another attack but is squashed by Trotsky

  Reds able to defend Petrograd against General Yuderich due to railway

  Whites lose support of Japan due to brutality against Siberians\
• Reasons for Bolshevik's winning of Civil War:

  Red Strengths - Trotsky introduced conscription of 18-40, he kept moral high and had great oracle talent. They were strategic, able to use railways for transportation, offered a better society.

  White weaknesses - unpassionate, drunk, sold weapons, couldn't agree, distrustful, not loyal, desertion
• Groups in Civil War:

  Greens - national minorities that wanted independence

  Whites - nobles, nationalists, SR, industrialists, Tsarists

  Foreign Powers - old allies from WW, Britain, France, USA, Japan, feared communism and its spread
• War Communism:

  Implemented from 1918-1921 to keep Red Army supplied

  in May, it was announced that all grain surpluses must be given to the state and in June, factories were made state property

  Output had fallen massively from 1913:

  Grain- 80mil tonnes to 38

  People resorted to cannibalism, drought in 1920
• Red Terror:

  800 enemies of the state were executed in Petrograd alone

  Lasted until 1922

  Opponents executed, imprisoned or send to labour/concentration camps

  Cheka had 30k operatives by 1921
• NEP:

  Grain requestioning abolished

  Peasants who inc. food production paid less tax

  Rationing abolished

  Small businesses could be privately owned

  Rapid industry growth 1920-1923, rose by 200%

  Seen as a move away from communism

  250k private investors went to Moscow