Russia and the USSR

• Problems under the Tsar

  • Difficulties controlling subject nationalities
  • Discontent with the government - many people didn't like autocracy
  • Tsar Nicholas 2nd was a weak leader
  • Economic problems - 85% lived in the countryside and used subsistence farming
  • Russia was not industrialised
• Russification


  Making non-Russians speak Russia, wear traditional Russian clothing and follow Russian customs
• Subsistence farming


  Farming just enough food to survive, and having none to sell on
• What condition did Alexis (the Tsar's son) have

  Haemophilia - a blood condition meaning it couldn't clot
• What is the name of the Tsar's wife

  Tsarina Alexandra
• Bloody Sunday

  • Sunday 22nd of January, 1905
  • Father Gapon led a peaceful protest of 200,000 people to the Winter Palace
  • Protesting for better working conditions
  • The Tsar was not there
  • The soldiers panicked and opened fire - killing hundreds and wounding thousands
• The 1905 Revolution

  • Caused by discontent over Russia losing the war with Japan
  • Many mutinies and strikes (particularly in the Navy)
  • Caused the Tsar to publish the October Manifesto
  • Promised free speech
  • Promised an end to censorship
  • Promised a national parliment (called the duma)
• Stolypin's necktie

  • The Tsar appointed Peter Stolypin as Prime Minister
  • He introduced some reforms:
  • Agriculture reforms to aid subsistence farmers
  • Education reforms
  • Those who opposed the Tsar were hanged
  • Over 3,000 people were hung
  • The gallows were called Stolypin's necktie
• The failure of the Duma

  • The Duma was meant to be a parliment
  • Nicholas ensured the Duma had little power
  • He set it up in 1905 and dissolved it in 1906
  • He created and dissolved 4 dumas before 1914
  • This increased opposition against his autocracy
• Rasputin

  • Gregory Raputin was a holy man that claimed he could help control Alexei's haemophilia - he could
  • He got more power in the country
  • Many people did not like him
  • There were rumours he had slept with Alexandra
• The impact it the First World War

  • Before going into the war, they were expected to win, they were called the 'Russian Steamroller'
  • By the end of 1916, they had over 1 million casulaties
  • Inflation increased
  • Less food produced - many farmers were forced to join the army
  • Workers shortage
• Reasons for defeat in WW1

  • The Tsar took over the military - he did not have any military experience, causing poor decisions
  • Other military leaders were chosen for their class, not knowledge
  • They used outdated tactics - such as messages that could be easily intercepted and read, orders also often got lost
  • Poor rail roads - food was left to rot on trains as the railway no longer continues
  • Not enough supplies
• The Febuary Revolt - Triggers

  • 1917
  • Prices were rising and people were going hungry
  • Due to a cold winter and war
  • Support for the Tsar diminished
  • People no longer trusted the Tsar and felt they had nothing left to loose
• The February Revolt - Events

  1. 14th - Rodzianko, the president of the Duma, informs the Tsar he could no longer rely on his closest supporters

  2. 18th - A massive strike in Putilove engineering works

  3. 23rd - Woman's day protesters join with those already striking, chanting simple slogans

  4. 25th - 300,000 strikers, all public transport is stopped and no more newspapers published

  5. 26th - Nicholas instructs the army to restore order, but he is ignored

  6. 27th - Looting begins. A 'Provisional Committee' is set up, led by Kerensky, demanding Nicholas abdicate

  7. 1st - Soviet order Number One set up which transfers all power to elected representatives

  8. 2nd - Nicholas abdicates

  9. 3rd - The Provisional Government takes over running Russia
• The July Days

  • 3rd to the 6th of July 1917
  • Riots and disorder in Petrograd
  • Kerensky is appointed Prime Minister (8th of July)
  • Lenin fled the country
• Strike Slogan - Bread

  Bread for the Workers
• First leader of the Provisional Government

  Prince Lvov
• Provisional government reforms

  • Freedom of religion
  • Free Speech
  • Recognition of trade unions
  • Introduction of an 8 hour work day
  • Promise of an elected parliment
  • Abolishment of secret police
  • Amnesty of political prisoners
• Provisional government problems

  • The reforms were not what was wanted or needed
  • People wanted an end to food shortages
  • Subject nationalities wanted to use this as an oppertunity of independance
  • Soldiers and Workers were setting up their own councils - called soviets
  • Looting was increased
  • Defeats in war - soldiers were deserting
• Kornilov Revolt - Causes

  • Kornilov thought that, for Russia to beat Germany, there had to be stability in Russia - he thought he could bring that stability
  • He led a march on Petrograd to save the Provisional Government
  • He issued a manifesto which:
  • Attacked the Bolsheviks
  • Asked for the war to continue
  • Called for a meeting of the Constituent Assembly
• Kornilov Revolt - Events

  • September 1917
  • Kerensky condemned Kornilov and placed Petrograd under martial law
  • Kornilov and his forces were approaching so Kerensky gave arms to many Bolshevik Red Guards who then persuaded many Kornilov troops to desert
  • Many Bolsheviks, who had been arrested as a consequence of the July days, were then freed
  • The revolt failed and Kornilov was arrested
• Kornilov Revolt - Consequences

  • Kornilov arrested
  • The army lost lots of it's moral - desertions reached an even higher level
  • Kerensky's government was made to look weak
  • The Provisional Government's enemies (the Bolsheviks) were now free and armed and were planning Lenin's return
• After the Kornilov revolt, what was the Provisional Government called by the Bolsheviks?

  Ripe for the plucking
• The Social Democratic Party

  • They followed the teachings of Karl Marx and believed that the proletariat would one day stage a revolution and remove the tsar, before setting up a communist state.
  • The party split in 1903 into the Mensheviks (minority) and Bolsheviks (majority).
  • The Mensheviks believed that the party should have a mass membership and were prepared for slow change, whilst the Bolsheviks believed a small party elite should lead the revolution.
  • Lenin was leader of the Bolsheviks
  • Trotsky and Martov led the Mensheviks
• The Social Revolutionaries

  •  They believed in a revolution of the peasants and aimed to get rid of the tsar.
  • They wanted to distribute land between the peasants and have them farm it in small peasant communities.
  • They are led by Kerensky
• The Octobrists

  • They believed the Tsar could carry out his reforms
  • Led by Guchkov
• The June Offensive

  • June 1917
  • Massive attack in the war efforts in June
  • To inspire patriotism and gain control
  • Failed and caused more than 60,000 deaths
  • More desertions
  • Lower moral
• Lenin's return to Russia

  • After the Febuary Revolution, Lenin was desperate to return to Russia
  • Germany funded Lenin's return to Russia as they thought he would pull Russia from WW1 and overthrow the Provisional Government
  • They put him on a sealed train
  • He arrived in Finland Station in Petrograd
• What were people accusing Lenin of when he arrived back to Petrograd?

  Being a German Spy
• What was the April Thesis

  • His plans for a workers' revolution
  • He stated
  • The War had to end
  • Power had to go to the working classes
  • All land should be given to the peasants
  • The police, army and bureaucracy should be abolished
  • The capitalist system should be overthrown
  • The Bolsheviks should take control of the local Societs
• How did Bolshevik membership grow

  • 24,000 in Feb
  • 100,000 in April
  • 40 newspaper spreading Lenin's views across Russia and 10,000 armed workers in Petrograd alone by June
  • 340,000 in October and 60,000 members in Petrograd alone
• July Day - Consequences

  • Lenin Fled
  • Many Bolsheviks were arrested
  • Pravda, the Bolshevik newspaper, was shut down
• What was the Sovnarkom

  The Sovnarkom was the Council of People's Commissars. It was established after the October Revolution and focused on creating the USSR. It issued the Bolsheviks decrees.
• Trotsky's role in the Bolshevik takeover

  • In October 1917, he became the dominant leader in a three man military revolutionary commitee
  • He controlled 20,000 Red guards, 60,000 sailors adn 150,000 soldiers in Petrograd
  • He planned the seizure of key buildings
  • He relied on small, disciplined units of soldiers and workers who would be more effective
• Lenin's role in the Bolshevik takeover

  • He persuaded the Bolsheviks to oppose war, thus increasing support
  • He gave simple slogans:
  • Peace, Land, Bread
  • Power to the Soviets
  • He created the Red Guard
  • He was very energetic and a good public speaker
• The weaknesses of the Provisional Government in the Bolshevik takeover

  • It was not supported as it was unelected, didn't introduce the wanted reforms and continued the War
  • It shared power and couldn't overturn Soviet Order Number One
  • They received little help when the Bolsheviks seized power
• The October Revolution - Events

  • What happened is mostly unknown
  • It is unknown how grand the takeover was for the regular people in Petrograd
  • However, it is known the Bolsheviks did just walk in and the Provisional Government just abdicated
• The October Revolution - Consequences

  • Lenin set up the Sovnarkom
  • Soviets all throughout Russia took control
  • By the end of the year, nearly all of Russia was in the hands of the Soviets
  • However, the Soviets were not run by the Bolsheviks
  • They were run by peasants who supported the Socialist Revolutionaries
• The November Decrees

  • A series of decrees published by Lenin in November 1917 to consolidate power
  • Decree on land - 540 million acres of land seized and given to peasants for them to divide
  • Decree on peace - immediately get Russia out of all conflicts
  • Decree of titles - all titles and class distinctions to be abolished, woman and men to be equal
  • Decree on press - all non-Bolshevik newspapers were banned
• The December Decrees

  • Further decrees published by the Bolsheviks
  • Decree on workers control - all factories to be placed under workers control
  • Decree on political police - the Cheka to set up (secret police)
  • Decree on political parties - Russia's main liberal party, the Cadets, were banned
  • Decree on banking - all banks were placed under Sovnarkom's control