The Russian Revolution, 1919: the Rise of the Bolsheviks

Table of Contents

Page No.

1. Letter from Director

2. Letter from Chair

3. Introduction

4. House of Romanov

5. Revolution of 1905

6. Stolypin Reforms

7. Duma

8. Issues plaguing Russia

9. Ideology of Bolsheviks

10.Russian Revolution of 1917

11.Conclusion and current scenario

12.Character Bios

13.Timeline of Russian History

Letter from Director

Dear Comrades,

Greetings! My name is Dhruv Tyagi, and it is my distinct honor to serve as your Director for The Russian Revolution: the Rise of the Bolsheviks. I am currently a freshman majoring in Physics and minoring in Political Science. I was born in Bangalore, India, but I had always dreamed of coming to the US for my undergraduate education. When I am not sleep deprived from Model UN, you can find me on a soccer field, in the gym, rapping, or watching my favorite genre of movies: horror!

This year we will be simulating the Bolsheviks cabinet in 1919. I am extremely excited for this committee as we will be taking a trip back in time to one of history’s most monumental periods that would change the world forever. I await to see your skills of creativity, rhetoric, diplomacy, and subversion on display. As Bolsheviks, you wield enormous power and influence in deciding the fate of Russia and her people. I hope you will not disappoint the millions of Russians dreaming of a greater future for their country.

My role as your director is to ensure that MUNI is the best Model UN conference you have ever attended; your role as delegates is to soak in as much as possible from this conference. While awards are important, I want you to recognize that MUN holds so much more value than just a certificate or trophy in a cabinet. MUN is not merely a competition but an avenue for fostering new friendships, gaining invaluable knowledge, and most importantly enjoying yourself. I sincerely hope all of you will aim to at least take these things away from MUNI if not anything else.

This background guide is by no means exhaustive; this should serve as the foundation for your further research. A great delegate is one who positively influences committee and helps move committee forward. A strong delegate is sure not only in voicing their opinion but also listening respectfully to others. Being involved both in-room through your speeches and out-room through your crisis notes is essential if you wish to be an impactful delegate.

I understand that this may be your first time in a crisis committee, so please do not hesitate to reach out to my email [email protected] for any queries or if you just want to ​ ​ introduce yourself! Crisis committees often get a bad rap for being challenging, but they are the most exciting and challenging committees that MUN has to offer. I wish you all the best, and слава маме россии! ​

Sincerely, Dhruv Tyagi

Director of the Bolsheviks

Letter from the Chair

Dear Comrades,

Hello! My name is Carter Smith, and I have the honor of being the Head Chair of the Russian Revolution crisis at MUNI XXV. Although I’m a freshman, this will be my sixth year participating in Model United Nations in some capacity. I have chaired several conferences in my home state of Tennessee, and I look forward to the exhilarating weekend of debate ahead of us. I am currently majoring in electrical engineering; however, I will be transferring to Econometrics next semester to fully embrace Model UN and (hopefully) law school in the future. When I’m not preparing for Model UN, I find time to pursue my love for consuming copious amounts of coffee, watching Chelsea lose in the Premier League, programming, and listening to Kid Cudi and Kanye. Narrowing down my list of favorite shows is difficult, but Seinfeld, Mindhunter, and Black Mirror would definitely be my top three. I eagerly await the fierce debate and treachery which will most certainly befall the Bolshevik cabinet while in session.

All committees at MUNI challenge you to think critically and to thoroughly understand your country/character’s position, but I hope that the wide reaching effects of this crisis encourages every delegate to go above and beyond in their research and debate. As high-ranking members of the Bolshevik party, you must solve the most challenging and complex issues facing Russia all while a power vacuum emerges. Issues such as internal dissent, economic stagnation, and the Great War loom on the horizon for any government which will form from the ashes of Tsarist Russia. The crisis at hand presents every delegate the opportunity to shape Russia how they deem fit through the tools at their disposal. Comrades, if you have any questions or concerns, please contact me using the information I have provided below.

Вперёд, к победе, коммунизма!

Sincerely,

Carter Smith Head Chair of Bolsheviks

Introduction

There is perhaps no phenomenon in global history as monumental and significant as the Russian Revolution: it would lay the foundation for the emergence of communism as a competing ideology to capitalism which hitherto had remained unchallenged. The rise of communism would lead to the creation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), and it would play a crucial role in shaping the modern world through the Cold War against the United States of America. However, the journey to the zenith of global power would not be a straightforward one which would begin with the Bolshevik takeover and the end of the Tsarist rule in 1918.

Our committee will be simulating the cabinet of the prominent Bolsheviks in the year 1919 after the execution of Tsar Nicholas II and his family. The Bolsheviks have been in a contentious position of power for nearly a year, but our ambition is to solidify our hold on Russia and cement Communism’s place as the only ideology appropriate for Russia and her people. Notwithstanding the gains the Bolsheviks have made recently, this will not be a simple task: there are several obstacles to Bolshevik rule in the form of the Provisional Government, the Mensheviks, the Socialist Revolutionary Party, the anarchists, and more who do not wish to see the Bolsheviks at the helm of the upheaval that Russian society is undergoing.

Furthermore, the Bolsheviks must seek to solve the problems that plague the common people of Russia. Having utilized the slogan of “Peace, Land and Bread” in order to win the support of the populous, the Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, must devise plans to solve these issues.1 Simply put, Russia has a herculean task ahead of her if she is to overcome the hold of the bourgeoisie, but if there were to be solutions to the current conundrum, the only ones who are capable of bringing them to light are the Bolsheviks. Using our resources, powers, and support, we must seek to achieve our aspirations through cooperation and pragmatism.

Удачи Bolsheviks, the fate of Russia is in your hands. House of Romanov

In order to fully comprehend the Russian Revolution and its consequences, it is important to first understand the underlying history of Russia and the events that led up to the revolution. Russia had always been an ethnically diverse country – a fact that added to its uniqueness but also complicated matters for any ruler. The most prominent monarchs belonged to the Romanov

1 https://www.johndclare.net/Russ5.htm ​

family, and they ruled over Russia as Tsars for over 300 years.2 Romanov rule began in 1613 with the election of Mikhail Romanov by the National Assembly.3 Under the Romanov’s tsardom, Russia would undergo its largest territorial expansion transforming a landlocked state into one of Europe’s largest empires.4

During the reign of Peter the Great (1696-1725), Russia and its culture would welcome several new changes, and Peter would overrule the country’s medieval aristocracy in an attempt to revitalize Russia’s standing globally. Peter the Great was responsible for the creation of a navy, the establishment of a reorganized Russian army in accordance with the standards adopted by Western countries, secularized schools, and the administration of greater control over the reactionary Orthodox Church. Peter was greatly influenced by European culture and set up the city of St. Petersburg, which he made his new capital, deemed the country’s “window into Europe.” He was a visionary and an excellent diplomat, and he appointed a Russian Senate who’s work it was to regulate all branches of administration and formulate Russian foreign policy. However, Peter the Great enacted reforms that were accompanied by high taxes resulting in several revolts among citizens; however, these were quickly suppressed by Peter who developed a reputation of being cruel and tyrannical.

Catherine II, also known as Catherine the Great, was another exemplary monarch who served as Russia’s longest female ruler. She faced more than a dozen uprisings during her reign, but she was able to put them down without losing her hold on the throne. Ironically, she arose to the throne as a result of a coup that caused her husband Peter III to abdicate. She was a dedicated patron of the arts, and her reign also enjoyed Russian adoption of Western European culture and philosophies. 5However, like her predecessors, Catherine II allowed the unjust practice of serfdom to carry on, and she did very little to alleviate the lot of her people. The abolishment of serfdom finally came in 1861 during the reign of Alexander II through the Emancipation Reform.6 This reform freed the peasants of their bondage to one piece of land, and it enabled them to move around freely while purchasing land if they wished to. Tsar Alexander II created the zemstvo in 1864: a body of self-government assigned the duty to provide social and economic services which became a prominent liberal influence in imperial Russia.7 In 1867, Alexander II sold Alaska to the United States of America as he wished to prevent it from coming under British control if there were another war after the Russian failure against the British in the Crimean War.8

2 https://www.theromanovfamily.com/the-romanov-dynasty-a-history/ ​ 3 https://www.rbth.com/history/326160-romanov-house-history ​ 4 https://www.history.com/topics/russia/romanov-family ​ 5 https://www.history.com/topics/russia/romanov-family ​ 6 https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alexander-III-emperor-of-Russia ​ 7 https://www.britannica.com/topic/zemstvo ​ 8 https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/30/world/europe/alaska-russia-sale-150.html ​

Tsar Alexander II’s rule would come to an abrupt end with his assassination in 1881 by the People’s Will: a revolutionary organization that wished to overthrow the autocratic Tsarist government.9 Alexander II would be succeeded by his son Alexander III who was far more conservative than the relatively liberal Alexander II. Alexander III’s reign would be a tumultuous one with emphasis on the concepts of autocracy, nationality and Orthodoxy. On his ascension to the throne, he would repeal the ukaz (decree) signed by his father that would result in the creation of consultative commissions that would assist the monarch. He sought to unravel all the liberal reforms Alexander II passed during his reign, and it was clear that he intended to enjoy all the powers of a full autocracy. Furthermore, Alexander III introduced universal military service, attempted to strengthen Russia’s borders, and he strengthened the role of landowners in the zemstvo. However, during this time, the country also experienced an improvement economically, and the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway began as well.10

Alexander III proved to be particularly adept in the arena of foreign policy; he was a proponent of peace, and his efforts led to an unprecedented thirteen years of peace and stability. Tsar Alexander III sought to act as a mediator in several European conflicts as to facilitate peaceful resolutions. Russia’s conflicts with Turkey and Afghanistan were peaceful, and he is known as the “tsar peacemaker” because of these achievements.11 The Romanov reign over Russia, however, would not survive very long past its tercentenary in 1913. The last Romanov ruler was Tsar Nicholas II whose reign began in 1894 and ended in 1917. Tsar Nicholas II’s reign oversaw the collapse of the Russian Empire and its fall from a position of global power to economic and military catastrophe. There were several setbacks that the Tsarist government faced with Nicholas II: the Khodynka tragedy, the Russo-Japanese War of 1905, the Revolution of 1905, and finally the Russian Revolution of 1917 that would lead to the Bolshevik takeover of control and the execution of Tsar Nicholas II and his family.

Nicholas II was poor in his handling of Bloody Sunday when peaceful and unarmed protestors carrying a petition to the Tsar’s Winter Palace were fired upon by the Imperial Guard. Bloody Sunday precipitated the events that led to the Revolution of 1905 and caused a great deal of unrest in Russia.12 After the Revolution of 1905, Nicholas II was forced to make concessions that resulted in the creation of the Duma. Nicholas II was an ineffective leader, and his mediocre leadership, military knowledge, and key decisions during World War I were one of the reasons for the colossal losses that the Russian Army suffered. All of these factors and the prevalent dissatisfaction with Tsarist rule caused his subjects to persuade him to give up power as they did not believe the Russian people would accept autocratic rule any longer. This culminated into Tsar Nicholas II’s abdication in 1917 and the formation of the weak Provisional Government.

9 https://www.britannica.com/topic/Narodnaya-Volya-Russian-revolutionary-organization ​ 10 http://www.saint-petersburg.com/royal-family/alexander-iii/ ​ 11 https://biography.yourdictionary.com/alexander-iii ​ 12 https://www.biography.com/royalty/nicholas-ii ​

What ensued was a period of further chaos with the Bolsheviks engaging in a civil war with counter revolutionaries who did not wish to see Bolsheviks control the government. Tsar Nicholas II would meet a gruesome end with the execution of him and his family by the Bolsheviks in July 1918 in Yekaterinburg, Russia. 13In just a matter of months, the illustrious Romanov Empire came to an unfortunate end paving the way for Vladimir Lenin and the Bolsheviks. Revolution of 1905

th The early 20 ​ century was a difficult period for Russia to navigate: the majority of the ​ Russian populous was disillusioned with the Tsar, and the peasants were still adjusting to their new reality after their emancipation. Although the Emancipation Reform had freed the peasants from serfdom, they still had to pay the government “redemption payments” in order to “redeem” their own land from their landlords. Furthermore, the landlords’ power over the peasants was still very prevalent and loosely defined. The Russian government had promoted rapid modernization economically through industrialization while attempting to preserve the existing social order and political control. However, this led to the emergence of a new class of people – urban workers – who would go on to form councils or soviets in order to practice direct democracy, organize, and voice their demands to the government. The Tsar did not recognize their needs, and Nicholas II was even guilty of persecution of Russia’s minorities through his policy of “Russification.” There was an ever-widening gap between the upper classes and the working classes of Russian society.

Russia had also embarked on a disastrous war with Japan that had led to the near destruction of the Russian Baltic Fleet, exposed the corruption and incompetence of the Tsarist government, and further weakened the Russian economy which had fallen into a severe recession.14 These factors created a volatile atmosphere in Russia that would not remain stable for very long. Industrial workers began to assemble and created “workers sections” or soviets which would serve as strike committees.15 Consequently, in January 1905, Father Georgy Gapon, a Russian Orthodox priest who was at the helm of a state police sponsored workers union organized a march consisting of steel workers in St. Petersburg (Russia’s capital at the time) to present the Tsar with a petition: the petition sought an improvement in the workers’ conditions and political reforms.16 The crowds chanted “God Save the Tsar” in the hopes that their pleas would not fall upon deaf ears.17 Unfortunately, the Tsar was not at the Winter Palace during the

13 https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/romanov-family-executed ​ 14 https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-battle-of-tsushima-strait ​ 15 https://alphahistory.com/russianrevolution/bloody-sunday-1905/ ​ 16 https://alphahistory.com/russianrevolution/bloody-sunday-petition-1905/ ​ 17 R.R. Palmer and Joel Colton and Lloyd Kramer, History of the Modern World, 10th ed. (Boston: McGraw Hill), 729.

protests, and the result was the massacre of hundreds of workers by the soldiers who panicked and did not know how else to suppress the marchers. This massacre came to be known infamously as “Bloody Sunday” and diminished the people’s faith in Tsar Nicholas II.18

The news of “Bloody Sunday” reverberated across the nation as well as the international community. Nicholas II was dubbed “Bloody Nicholas,” and Father Gapon who had managed to escape the shooting claimed that “There is no God any longer. There is no Tsar!” 19 The events of Bloody Sunday only added to the chaos and sparked numerous strikes in St. Petersburg. These strikes spread to other major cities in the Russian Empire such as Moscow, Odessa, Warsaw, and the Baltic States20. Bloody Sunday played a crucial role in triggering the Revolution of 1905. The turmoil that ensued reached its peak in October 1905 when obstructions by striking students, railway and factory workers, pharmacists, and employees in banks and government offices immobilized the country. Furthermore, in December, Moscow faced armed insurrections by workers and socialist intelligentsia that amassed the support of the general public.21

The revolution of 1905 also exposed the discontent of the armed forces with the military hierarchy after the humiliating defeat to Japan. This is evident in the Potemkin uprising. The Potemkin was a battleship that was a part of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. The Russian army had already suffered several lows in the Russo-Japanese War and morale was at an all-time low. Sailors aboard the Potemkin conspired to mutiny and seize control of the entire Black Sea Fleet. After this, the conspirators aspired to integrate the assistance of the peasants in a nation-wide revolt that would result in Nicholas II’s removal from the throne. 22 They did not succeed in their attempt and eventually abandoned their mutiny. In the sphere of agriculture, Russia was faring no better. In the countryside, the peasants seized land, and they even formed a country-wide Peasant Union.23

Unsurprisingly, in order to extinguish the fire of rebellion that had ravaged the country, Tsar Nicholas II was forced to make concessions in the form of the October Manifesto: he promised the creation of a legislative body known as the Duma that would consist of members elected by limited franchise and without whose authorization no laws could be enacted in Russia. 24 However, Nicholas II wished to retain autocratic rule at all costs and the Duma did not possess much power. However, the October Manifesto only produced ephemeral success as the Russian populous soon realized the inefficiencies of the promises detailed in the document and

18 Fitzpatrick, Shelia (1994). The Russian Revolution. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 32–33. ​ 19 https://www.historytoday.com/archive/%E2%80%98bloody-sunday%E2%80%99-st-petersburg ​ 20 https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/revolution_of_1905_russian_empire ​ 21 https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/revolution_of_1905_russian_empire ​ 22 https://www.history.com/news/mutiny-on-the-battleship-potemkin-110-years-ago ​ 23https://www.csmonitor.com/Business/2011/1105/Ten-economic-protests-that-changed-history/Russian-revolution- 1905 24 https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/duma?version=1.0 ​

recognized them as nothing but a cover for the Tsar’s autocratic intentions. As a consequence, the strikes soon resumed all over the country, and this time they were met with a firmer response than before. The Tsar authorized punitive expeditions of soldiers through the entirety of the empire to carry out summary punishments that included the execution of anti-government revolutionaries. 25The October Manifesto also successfully divided the groups that had collectively been the lifeblood of the revolution.

Those that were satisfied with the Tsar’s concessions formed the Octobrists which consisted of conservative-liberal members. 26 Those whose demands were left unaddressed either wanted a more effective and powerful Duma or wished for the striking to continue in order to overthrow the Tsarist regime. While the Revolution of 1905 had allowed certain gains, it was ultimately a failure in sparking radical change and bringing about democracy. A key reason for the failure of the revolution in 1905 was the sheer disorganization of the revolutionaries and the differences in their aims.27 While the striking workers who were a part of Father Gapon’s march reflected reasonable and major concerns, they did not represent the peasants who constituted a sizable portion of the Russian population. The peasants desired lower taxes and increased autonomy politically. Although the sporadic peasant uprisings did disrupt the local elites and their estates, the government took until 1907 to suppress them, and they were never a serious threat to the Tsar’s authority.28

Another reason for the failure of the revolution of 1905 is that the Tsar was still supported by significant and powerful groups. The end of the Russo-Japanese War with the Treaty of Portsmouth allowed the Tsar to appease the demands of the revolutionaries and facilitated Nicholas II to utilize a greater number of soldiers so as to suppress the strikes and insurrections all over the country.29 Furthermore, certain groups such as the Russian Monarchist Party and the Union of Russian People were left aghast by the people’s disregard of the Tsar’s “divine right to rule.”30 They decided to protect the autocratic rule and engaged in dispelling the revolutionaries. The Black Hundreds formed during this period and created paramilitary groups that conducted raids (without official government authorization) against the revolutionaries and pogroms against the Jews.31 As a result, the Revolution of 1905 was unsuccessful in its aims, but it did provide the revolutionaries with valuable lessons that they would employ in 1917 – a year that would bring about the downfall of the Tsar.

25 http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/ANARCHIST_ARCHIVES/kropotkin/terror/chapter3.html ​ 26 https://www.britannica.com/topic/Octobrist ​ 27 https://a-window-to-the-east.tumblr.com/post/39764885187/why-was-the-1905-revolution-unsuccessful ​ 28 https://a-window-to-the-east.tumblr.com/post/39764885187/why-was-the-1905-revolution-unsuccessful ​ ​ 29 https://www.britannica.com/event/Russo-Japanese-War ​ 30 https://a-window-to-the-east.tumblr.com/post/39764885187/why-was-the-1905-revolution-unsuccessful ​ ​ 31 https://www.britannica.com/topic/Black-Hundreds ​

The Stolypin Reforms

Although Russian serfs had been emancipated through the Emancipation Reform of 1861, many were still tightly bound by the obshchina style of agriculture.32 This was characterized by strip farming, periodic redistribution of land, and communal labor, creating an ineffective and restrictive agricultural environment for the newly freed serfs.33 In fact, serfs were forbidden from selling or mortgaging their own land and were required to pay redemption dues toward their respective village.34 The desperate economic situation facing many peasants resulted in widespread unrest and radicalisation in rural Russia; the prospect of starvation remained ever present for much of the population. Rural overpopulation coupled with inadequate agricultural output served as significant factors in the Russian Revolution of 1905 which swept across much of the countryside.35 Following the revolution, Prime Minister Pyotr Stolypin recognized the necessity of conducting agricultural and land reforms to reduce the future likelihood of rural unrest.36

Stolypin was of the firm belief that a peasant class incentivized by profit and individual land rights could serve as a valuable conservative political group while also increasing overall output.37 In order to achieve this, all individuals within the obshchina system were granted the right to private land ownership through the Ukaz of November 9, 1906.38 This allowed for the consolidation of land as opposed to separated fields worked by communal labor. Additional reforms were passed by the Imperial Duma, including agricultural training, large-scale farming, and lines of credit for farmers.39 State enforcement of the land reforms led to an overall increase in the agricultural productivity of Russian farms; however, this was primarily driven by the consolidation of land and not the introduction of land titles for peasants.40 While net productivity increased as a result of the reforms, high costs associated with leaving communes resulted in a short-term reduction in productivity.41

32 https://academic.shu.edu/russianhistory/index.php/Alexander_II,_Emancipation_Manifesto,_1861 33 https://pages.uoregon.edu/kimball/oxo.60s.htm 34 https://economics.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/Workshops-Seminars/Economic-History/nafziger-041201.pdf 35 Pipes, Richard (1996). A Concise History of the Russian Revolution. New York: Vintage. p. 8. ​ ​ ​ 36 https://www.britannica.com/event/Stolypin-land-reform 37 https://www.hoover.org/sites/default/files/uploads/documents/9780817947224_114.pdf 38 Ibid. 39 Paul Castañeda Dower, Andrei Markevich, The Stolypin reform and agricultural productivity in late imperial ​ Russia, European Review of Economic History, Volume 23, Issue 3, August 2019, Pages 241–267. ​ ​ 40 Paul Castaneda Dower & Andrei Markevich, 2013. "Land Tenure and Productivity in Agriculture: The Case of the ​ Stolypin Reform in Late Imperial Russia," Working Papers w0202, New Economic School (NES). ​ ​ 41 Ibid. ​

In regards to the economic effects of the Stolypin reforms, it is clear that Russian peasant farmers overwhelmingly benefitted from land consolidation. That being said, the monetary and time costs to acquire a land title often served as a barrier or caused a momentary reduction in productivity. Furthermore, the reforms’ drastic disruption to peasant life may have inadvertently set the stage for revolution to once again sweep through the nation in 1917.

Duma

In an attempt to quell the riots of the Russian people and prevent a messier uprising from happening, Tsar Nicholas II and his government quickly formed a semi-representative body called the Duma to appease the angered citizens. In August of 1905, Sergei Witte, the prime minister at the time, drafted the manifesto that created this body in order to try to prevent the Russian Revolution of 1905 from growing even bigger. This was done to try to divide the opposition so that there couldn’t be enough voices to fuel the uprising, and also because the tsar made a promise to the people that he would create a representative legislative assembly and grant civil liberties for all42. While the Tsar signed off on the creation of the Duma, he was not very fond of the idea of having a body in government where the people had a voice. He wanted to have as much power as he could, and sharing it was not in his best interests. So, he divided the Duma into two chambers: one appointed by the people, and one appointed by the Tsar43. The noble chamber had the ability to veto anything and everything, even if the legislation reached full accord in the other chamber. The Tsar had also issued the Fundamental Laws in May 1905, a few months before the creation of the Duma that restricted the power of the legislative body44. Some of the laws included said things like the prime minister would not be elected by the people and had no responsibility to the Duma, and that if the Tsar believed the Duma should dissolve, he can do so at any time regardless of public opinion. The first Duma assembly convened in May 1906. There, the chamber of the common people discussed many radical ideas, such as releasing political prisoners and introducing land reform. They also discussed giving rights to trade unions45. To the Tsar, it felt like there were too many requests from the people and it was an attempt to undermine his rule with their long list of grievances, including universal suffrage for all and radical land reforms. The Russian government only passed two acts that the Duma had proposed, which were a new greenhouse and a new laundry. Two months after the first assembly, the Tsar decided to dissolve the Duma due to the amount of complaints and grievances in July 1906.

42 Bailey, Sydney D. "'Police Socialism' in Tsarist Russia." The Review of Politics 19.4 (1957): 462–71. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 43 Briman, Shimon. "The Jewish Question and Elections to the First and Second Duma, 1905-1907."Proceedings of the World ​ ​ ​ ​ Congress of Jewish Studies 1997 (1997): 185–88. ​ 44 Keep, J. L. H. "Russian Social-Democracy and the First State Duma." The Slavonic and East European Review 34.82 (1955): ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 180–99. 45 Walsh, Warren B. "The Composition of the Dumas." The Russian Review 8.2 (1949): 111–16. Print. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

This outraged many people who were involved in the first assembly, especially the Constitutional Democratic Party (the Kadets), who made up most of the members in the first Duma. In an attempt to show their disapproval, some members made their way to Vyborg, Finland to draft the Vyborg Manifesto that highlighted issues they had with the Russian government and ways to resist their power46. Many members of the Kadet party and other leftist groups had signed the manifesto and brought it to the attention of the Russian government. There was not much support for the document from the people nor the nobles, which allowed for the Tsar to shut the resistance down and punish the Kadet members. Over a hundred Kadets were put on trial and no one from the Party would be allowed to participate in the second Duma. In February of 1907, the second Duma emerged and had a more moderate and slightly conservative body than the first one. Due to a change in the power of the Chief Minister, a large portion of the population was excluded from voting for representatives by Pyotr Stolypin47. This was done so to cut down the influence of leftist parties, like the Kadets and the Social Democrats. While it had decreased the amount of left-wing members in the legislature, there were many anti-government factions that arose and held down seats in the Duma, including the Bolsheviks led by Vladimir Lenin. At the time of the second Duma, Stolypin made many drastic reforms that upset the general public and many members of the Duma, which led to massive debates. These arguments between Duma members and the government only intensified, and it did not take long for the Tsar to dissolve the Duma again in June 1907. The Tsar, though not a favorite of the idea of the Duma, did his best to make sure that the Duma could exist. This was in order to secure trading partners who preferred a representative and limited government as opposed to an autocratic one. Stolypin did not want another failed Duma and did not want one that would argue against the government again, however. Therefore, he amended the electoral law so that it would exclude minorities and people living in Poland, the Caucuses, Central Asia, and Siberia48. It also gave more of a voice to the nobility and those who owned large amounts of land, which decreased the amount of representation peasants and the common people had. This allowed Stolypin to gain a more right-wing Duma when it reconvened for a third time in November of 1907, one that would be more receptive and forgiving of the Russian administration. Left-wing and rebel parties like the Bolsheviks, the Social Democrats, Communists, and others were outnumbered by loyal right-wing party members and the rich. Because of the lack of representation of the anti-government factions, they were now determined to assassinate Stolypin49. After the assassination of Stolypin in September 1911, it took a bit of time for the Russian government to re-establish themselves and the fourth Duma. Elections were held in 1912, with a sentiment of disapproval of the Russian administration, but not as extreme or

46 Ibid. ​ 47 Walsh, Warren B. "Political Parties in the Russian Dumas." The Journal of Modern History 22.2 (1950): 144–50. Print. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 48 Gustave Alef, "Reflections on the Boyar Duma in the Reign of Ivan III", The Slavonic and East European Review, 45, 104 ​ ​ ​ (1967): 76–123. 49 Stearns, Peter (2007). World Civilizations the Global Experience. New York: Pearson Education. p. 620. ISBN 0132206994. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

radical as previous assemblies. A little while later, World War I had broken out and Nicholas II had declared himself the commander of the Russian army50. The way he ruled and dealt with other nations diplomatically did not appeal to many citizens and members of the Duma. Due to the civil unrest, the Tsar had called for the dissolution of the fourth Duma, but was met with another request. The commoners had sent an army to Nicholas II asking him to abdicate the throne instead. In agreeance, the Duma now took control over the country through the Provisional Government.

Issues Plaguing Russia

World War I’s Impact Upon Russia

World War I had devastating consequences for the food supplies and the economy of Russia. Economists could not anticipate the crushing effect of the war on Russia’s economy. Before entering World War 1, Russia had the world’s largest military which consisted of 115 infantry and 38 cavalry divisions. As a result of assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand Russia joined the Allies declaring war on Germany. At the beginning phases of the war Russia had staggering casualties which the attempted invasion of Prussia cost them 250,0000 soldiers. The war terms were horrifyingly unfair. Russia lacked riflery for 1/3 of the army so most of the defenseless soldiers got slaughtered in the battle-field and comrades had to wait for their comrades to die in order to fight. The medical resources were also greatly scarce as the Russian military lacked the medical team and few wounded soldiers were treated. By 1916, 2 million Russian soldiers were killed in combat and 300,000 of them were captured as prisoners. Nearly one-third of the army were peasants so there were too few peasants working in the farms.

Because of Russia’s vast casualties in World War 1 their economy and food resources greatly depleted as the food prices were four times higher by November 1916 compared to before the war. The war had an unprecedented effect on the food supplies. The issue was that Russian empire failed to take precautions regarding their food production before going into war. By not taking any precautions the Russian empire failed miserably in conserving their food sources. This led to another major issue which is the fact that the soldiers went from being a productive group within society to being a group of serious consumers. As the army supply grew bigger the food supply of cities and towns declined in great numbers. To put things in perspective, here is an official statement: “in 1909–1913 around 12.4 per cent of all grain and ​ fodder crops reached the market, by 1915 this had fallen to 7.4. per cent.”51 The food supply of the army constantly grew while the society got neglected.

50 Simkin, John. “The Duma.” Spartacus Educational, Spartacus Educational, spartacus-educational.com/RUSduma.htm. ​ ​ 51 https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/food_and_nutrition_russian_empire ​

Another reason why the food prices increased so sharply is retailer’s incompetency. What this implies is the retailers were unable to take action because they were speculating for the food prices to be lower but failed in their predictions and after the food prices went up. They were still clueless about what to do. This caused a demand for higher wages in the community. While the crowd was living in immense poverty the Tsar and his family were living in extreme comfort. This situation made the crowd enraged. As a result of Tsar Nicholas II’s incompetence and major failure over World War I the support for him strongly declined. Due to the immense struggle of the people of Russia, a revolution against the Romanov Dynasty was inevitable. 52

The February Revolution

The following set of events can be considered as the events that led to the February Revolution. A point to be clarified here is that the Russians were following the Gregorian Calendar at the th time, this is why the events actually occur in March.53 On March 4 ​ workers from the largest ​ city factory in Petrograd demanded 50% rise in pay due to vast scarcity of food. However the th management refused and the workers responded with strikes. On March 8 ,​ over 30,000 workers ​ were not allowed in the factory and were not paid. The workers that were striking in Petrograd encouraged these workers who were being denied their work so they grew in numbers and they demonstrated their strikes throughout the city. Tsar Nicholas II chose to ignore this situation and left to check out on soldiers at the war front. He falsely thought that the demonstrations were a work of hooligans and were soon to end. th However on March 9 ​ the protests escalated and while the Duma advised for the tsar ​ Nicholas II to release emergency food supplies he chose to ignore it once again and ordered for th the riots to be nullified. On March 10 ​ the police attempted to stop the rioting and some people ​ were killed and injured. This led to more raging outbreaks among the people and they opened the prison doors. There was a nationwide call for the Tsar to step down so much that the soldiers and policemen who were fighting against the protesters joined the protests. The head of Duma informed the tsar that the law and order collapsed because of the overwhelming amount of protests. Frustrated by the news, the tsar deemed the Duma useless and proceeded to order them th not to meet again. On March 11 ​ the Russian Parliament rebelled against tsar’s decisions and the ​ members of Duma met in the ongoing chaos surrounding Russia. Hence the February Revolution in 1917 took place. They decided to form a Provisional Government as a form of temporary government in the absence of tsar’s rule.

52 https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/food_and_nutrition_russian_empire ​ 53 https://schoolhistory.co.uk/notes/march-revolution/ ​

th As a result of the February Revolution, on March 15 ​ 1917 the tsar was forced to forego ​ his absolute rule and the Provisional Committee of State Duma formed a provisional government which was led by Prince George Lvov. His initial attempt was to keep Russia at war but it was faced with serious rightful opposition by the formation of the Soldiers Committee. Due to low morale more soldiers were leaving the battleground. Most of the soldiers that deserted used their weapons to take away land forcibly. This led to the killings of several landowners and burning down of manors. The Provisional Government was not able to intervene, thus the provisional government was too weak and vulnerable to the challenges posed by the two sides.

Rasputin’s Influence on Russia

Grigori Rasputin was a Siberian born preacher who was said to have some mystical healing powers. He was able to win the royal family’s trust over him allegedly healing their only son, Alexei who was suffering from hemophilia. He successfully won the trust of the royal family despite his awful smell, lack of manners, and ragged appearance. Nicholas II was not very fond of Rasputin but he had no intentions of changing a religious figure. Nicholas II also believed that forming relationships with peasants like Rasputin made him closer to the general people. While he was not busy consoling the royal family he was rumored to be having notorious affairs with aristocratic women and even the Tsarina himself. When Alexander II left for war, the tsarina Alexandra was put in charge in the absence of the tsar. Rasputin had the strings through tsarina Alexandra and he was constantly advising her on ministerial positions and matters of policy. The appointment of Alexander Protopopov as interior minister in September 1916 was largely Rasputin’s doing. Leaving the government in the hands of a German-born woman and a Siberian peasant ​ of questionable conduct generated a wave of pointed and often smutty propaganda that further undermined tsarism. In December 1916 Rasputin was poisoned, shot, clubbed and drowned by Prince Felix Yusupov, Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich and Vladimir Purishkevich, who had earlier condemned him in the Duma. Grigori Rasputin was truly a controversial character in the eyes of the Russian people and has had considerable influence upon the fall of the Russian empire.

Ideology of the Bolsheviks

The ideology of most of the socialist groups prevalent in Russia during the time was largely influenced by Karl Marx’s “Communist Manifesto,” but each group had starkly different interpretations of it. In fact, the Bolsheviks themselves were split over whose interpretation to follow: Lenin’s or Trotsky’s. But before delving into the explanation of the differences in the

two ideologies, it is important to recognize how these ideologies developed and the reasons for the same. In the nineteenth century, the Russian radical intelligentsia consisted of members from the impoverished and déclassé nobility as well as those belonging to the lower middle classes. ​ While the Age of Enlightenment was taking place in Western Europe, several ideas and philosophies had made their way to the Russian border and influenced the mindset of the intelligentsia. The principal idea was the Idea of Progress, which detailed that society can move towards a more improved state if we focus on the human condition, and there is always room for improvement in a state54. This mentality fueled many social movements across the nation and created more revolutionary political parties than ever seen before. After this movement had been introduced around the 19th century, the number of professionals in Russia had increased exponentially. The intelligentsia transitioned from being ruled by educated nobles in 1860 to educated classless commoners by 1900. The increase in enrollment of schools across the nation skyrocketed, and there were more commoners attending school than nobles, going from 21.1% commoner enrollment to 50.9%55. Even when Nicholas I put a cap on the permitted amount of students in university to 3,000 annually, there managed to be 25,000 university students by 189456. As this movement was transferred from tsar to tsar, each leader had their own input on it and how to try to prevent the proletariat from gaining more knowledge and potentially becoming revolutionaries. Nicholas II was even quoted to say how repulsive he found the word progress to be and that he wished it could be removed from the dictionary57. The intelligentsia sparked the creation of many revolutionary groups, such as the Nardoniks and the Socialists58. While they all had the same end goal in mind, which was overthrowing the tsar, the method in which the government ran afterwards differed drastically from party to party. Like stated before, most parties used Marxism as a base to form their ideologies, then used their own personal Russian ideology and culture to shape the rest of their platform. The intelligentsia population distributed itself to each of the newly formed parties, but could not find their place within the Bolsheviks. The intelligentsia was not considered a true social class to the Bolsheviks, who take their definition of a social class from Marxism. They believed they were a classless group of people that did not have a proper structure and the way that they were trying to attain their goals of overthrowing the bourgeoisie was not a logical approach to the problem. Lenin was known as a

54 Pinker, Steven. “How the Enlightenment Gave Us Peace, Prosperity, and Progress.” Cato Institute, CATO ​ ​ ​ Institute, 10 Apr. 2018, www.cato.org/policy-report/marchapril-2018/how-enlightenment-gave-us-peace-prosperity-progress. 55 Pipes, Richard., Russia Under the Old Regime, p. 262. ​ ​ ​ 56 Ibid. p. 264. ​ ​ 57 Ascher, Abraham. The Revolution of 1905: Russia in Disarray, p. 15. ​ ​ ​ 58 Сергей Булгаков. Героизм и подвижничество. Вехи (сборник статей о русской интеллигенции), 1909 ​ ​ ​

strong critic against the intelligentsia and believed that their class character needed to develop before he could consider it a legitimate group of people that constituted a class59. The Bolsheviks became a faction created by Lenin after splitting from the Menshevik faction in 1903 after Lenin had published his pamphlet, What Is to Be Done?60 In the pamphlet, ​ Lenin stated that “a revolution can only be achieved by the strong leadership of the masses by one person, or by a very select few, who would dedicate their entire lives to the cause, although after the proposed revolution had successfully overthrown the government, this strong leadership would relinquish power to allow socialism to fully develop.61” Lenin also put emphasis on the importance of the workers, saying if the Bolsheviks did not have their vote, then the revolution would never be able to take place and the party would disband. While Lenin made himself appeal to the common man a lot more than his counterparts, he still had a firm number of critics from the intelligentsia who did not appreciate the fact that he defined a distinction between those in politics and the common man62. However, most people in the party were more open towards a completely classless society. Another group that Lenin did not agree with publically were the Economists, who believed that Russia should reform economically instead of politically63.

Russian Revolution of 1917

During February 1917, industrial workers, farmers, and disloyal soldiers took to the streets of Petrograd to protest food rationing and economic insecurity which had been greatly exasperated by the First World War.64 The protestors were not organized by a particular political affiliation or organization; however, the protests quickly reached critical mass, culminating in the defection of soldiers from the Petrograd garrison on 27 February, 1917.65 With increasing pressure from workers and government officials, Tsar Nicholas II abdicated the throne on 30 February, 1917.66 The Provisional Government established in the wake of the Tsar’s abdication was forced to share dual power with the newly formed Petrograd Soviet, a council aimed at representing the proletariat.67 It was readily apparent to much of the international community that the Provisional Government was incapable or unwilling to reform the issues of the state which had brought about the Tsar’s abdication. Despite the Russian population’s insistence on ending

59 Lenin, V. I. (1915). Letter from Lenin to Gorky. https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/archives/g2aleks.html ​ ​ 60 Pipes, Richard (1995), A concise History of the Russian Revolution, New York, ISBN 978-0-679-42277-8 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ 61 Ibid. p. 106 62 Stalin, J. V. (2016). History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Short Course). Lulu.com. ISBN ​ ​ ​ ​ 9781329947207. ​ 63 Ibid. ​ 64 Steinberg, Mark (2017). The Russian Revolution. Oxford University Press. P. 69. ​ ​ ​ 65 Ibid. 66 https://www.york.ac.uk/history/news/news/2017/tsar-nicholas-ii/ 67 Smith, S. A. Russia in Revolution. Oxford University Press. pp. 104–106. ​ ​ ​

involvement in the Great War, the Provisional Government maintained the status quo and continued to fight Germany on the Eastern Front.68 Ineffective governance was compounded by Vladmir Lenin’s return to Petrograd in April 1917 and his resumption of revolutionary activity aimed at the bourgeoisie.

Throughout much of summer 1917, workers began organizing en masse with local councils, termed soviets, and Bolsheviks were widely elected to positions in Petrograd and elsewhere.69 During July, a wave of violent unrest against the Provisional Government swept through Petrograd, resulting in severe repression of Bolshevik newspapers and political leaders.70 Aleksander Kerensky then became prime minister and selected Lavr Kornilov as general of the Red Army to unify the state and military.71 General Kornilov organized an army in late August to march on Petrograd and eliminate the Soviet. However, Prime Minister Kerensky viewed such a provocation as a coup d'état and worked alongside the Bolsheviks to diffuse the situation.72 By ​ September, Kornilov’s army was in shambles and he was promptly imprisoned for the attempted coup.73 The work of the Bolsheviks to disarm the situation was seen by many Russians as a clear indication that the Kerensky government was inadequate to deal with serious conflicts. This ultimately fueled further rebellion, setting the stage for the October Revolution.

By October 1917, it was clear to many international observers and political activists in Russia that the situation would not be defused. The Bolsheviks, led by Lenin, agreed that it was time to conduct an armed insurrection against the Provisional Government and began gathering support amongst soldiers and workers in Petrograd.74 Kerensky’s government responded by seizing Bolshevik and far-right newspapers which had called for an armed uprising against the state. However, this only further isolated the Provisional Government and caused Bolshevik-aligned groups in Petrograd to take control of key government infrastructure, including bridges and telegraph centers.75

Revolutionary fervor reached a critical point on 25 October, 1917 when many of Kerensky’s troops stationed in the vicinity of Petrograd defected or allowed for Bolshevik militias to seize government buildings.76 Within 24 hours, Kerensky had fled Petrograd and

68 Ibid. 69 Steinberg, Mark (2017). The Russian Revolution 1905-1917. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 143–146 ​ ​ ​ 70 Steinberg, Mark D. (2001). Voices of Revolution, 1917. New Haven: Yale University Press. pp. 154–155. ​ ​ ​ 71 Ibid. 72 Beckett, Ian F. W. (2007). The Great war (2 ed.). Longman. ​ ​ ​ 73 https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zyc72hv/revision/5 74Lenin’s Collected Works, Progress Publishers, Moscow, Volume 26, 1972, pp. 188-190 ​ ​ 75 Rabinowitch, Alexander (2004). The Bolsheviks Come to Power: The Revolution of 1917 in Petrograd. Pluto ​ ​ ​ Press. pp. 273–305. 76 Suny, Ronald (2011). The Soviet Experiment. Oxford University Press. pp. 63–67. ​ ​ ​

Bolshevik forces proclaimed victory over the city.77 Although the Provisional Government had been overthrown, control of Russia was far from secure; Mensheviks and other socialist factions promptly condemned the Bolsheviks for their aggressive actions.78 Divisions became especially apparent in regions without close Russian ties, including Ukraine and Estonia. In fact, both of these regions announced independence from Bolshevik controlled Russia and contributed to the Russian Civil War which lasted from 1918 to 1922.79, 80

Recognizing the role that Russian involvement in the First World War played in the February and October Revolutions, the Bolshevik party was determined to end the conflict. On 16 December 1917, Russia and the Central Powers agreed to a nearly month long armistice while peace negotiations were underway.81 The Russian diplomatic mission, organized by Adolph Joffe, began conducting negotiations in the town of Brest-Litovsk with the condition that no Russia land would be annexed by the Central Powers.82 German sentiment shifted, however, and they insisted that much of western Russia be annexed to compensate for war losses.83 The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was reluctantly signed by the Russian delegation despite it ceding control of approximately one third of the Russian population and agricultural output.84 The treaty bolstered anti-Bolshevik sentiments, creating further division and unrest throughout Russia.

Conclusion and Current Scenario

The current situation of Russia is tenuous, following the assassination of Tsar Nicholas II II by the Bolsheviks in July of 1918. Prior to this, the House of Romanov had been the reigning power of Russia since 1613. Tsar Nicholas II's family- his wife, Empress Alexandra, and their children, Princess Olga, Princess Tatiana, Princess Maria, Princess Anastasia, and Prince Alexei were imprisoned and executed after Tsar Nicholas II abdicated the throne on March 15th, 1917 .​ ​

77 Michael Lynch, Access to History: Reaction and Revolution: Russia 1894-1924, Fourth Edition ​ ​ ​ 78 Brovkin, Vladimir N. "The Mensheviks Under Attack The Transformation of Soviet Politics, June-September ​ 1918." Jahrbücher Für Geschichte Osteuropas, Neue Folge, 32, no. 3 (1984): 378-91. ​ ​ 79 Raun, Toivo U. "The Emergence of Estonian Independence 1917-1920." Estonia and the Estonians, Hoover Inst. ​ Press, 2002, p. 102 80 Reid, Anna (2000). Borderland : A Journey Through the History of Ukraine ​ ​ 81 Horne, C. F. (Charles Francis)., Austin, W. F. (1920). The Great Events of the Great War: A Comprehensive and ​ Readable Source Record of the World's Great War. [New York]: The National alumni [printed by J. J. Little & Ives ​ co. 82 Lincoln, W. B. (1986). Passage through Armageddon : The Russians in War & Revolution 1914–1918. New ​ ​ York: Simon & Schuster. pp. 489–491 ​ 83 David Stevenson (2009). Cataclysm: The First World War as Political Tragedy. Basic Books. p. 315 ​ ​ ​ 84 http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwone/eastern_front_01.shtml#four

85 The royal family was also accompanied into prison by some of their loyal supporters, including Eugene Botkin, Anna Demidova, Alexei Trupp, and Ivan Kharitonov, who were also killed.

Although Tsar Nicholas II's abdication was ultimately forced by the Bolsheviks following the February Revolution, Tsar Nicholas II was never a strong leader, a vulnerability the Bolsheviks exploited. Tsar Nicholas II's weaknesses were further emphasized during the Russo-Japanese War, from 1904 to 1905, which was fought in order to capture territory in Northeast Asia. This ended in a loss for Russia, mostly attributed to Tsar Nicholas II's poor war strategy and overconfidence. Even after Russia suffered many losses to Japan, Tsar Nicholas II refused to surrender. This conflict resulted in approximately 88,000 casualties for Japan and 72,000 casualties for Russia. The one benefit of the Russo-Japanese War was that it resulted in Russia strengthening its army. Though much of the Russian citizenry was initially in support of the war, this debilitating loss served as a reminder of the Romanov dynasty’s failure.

A secondary shortcoming of Tsar Nicholas II was the October Manifesto, the Tsar’s attempt to assuage discontent across the peasantry following the Russian Revolution of 1905. 86 The 1905 Russian Revolution was Russia’s first attempt at reform and inspired more revolutionary activity in the future. Moreover, it was partially fueled by Russia’s defeat in the Russo-Japanese War. Tsar Nicholas II's response to this revolution was to grant Russian citizens more rights. These rights included the creation of the Duma, the freedom of conscience, speech, assembly and association, and increased voting rights.87 However, this ended up being an ineffective solution as most of the provisions had little to no enforcement. For example, although the Duma could pass laws, the Tsar had the ability to veto any law he chose and disassemble it at any time. In addition, those loyal to the Russian Orthodox Church were upset by the freedom of religion clause.

After the collapse of the Romanov dynasty, Russia was led by a provisional government, which was set up by the Duma and made up of Russian politicians and ministers.88 However, the provisional government wasn’t truly representative of the people, especially not the working class, something the Bolsheviks took advantage of. Another issue they faced was a lack of

85 Chapple, A. (2018, July 17). Before The Killings: Rare Photographs Of Russia's Last Royal Family. Retrieved ​ from https://www.rferl.org/a/personal-photos-of-the-romanovs-smuggled-out-of-russia/28358342.html

86 Zuckerman, F. (1992). Political Police and Revolution: The Impact of the 1905 Revolution on the Tsarist Secret ​ Police. Journal of Contemporary History, 27(2), 279-300. 87 Walsh, W. (1949). The Composition of the Dumas. The Russian Review, 8(2), 111-116. doi:10.2307/125180 ​ 88 Steinwedel, C. (2000). The 1905 Revolution in Ufa: Mass Politics, Elections, and Nationality. The Russian ​ Review, 59(4), 555-576.

direction on how to handle the war. The war had already placed a lot of stress on Russia’s economy and resulted in a massive loss of territory. The government was ultimately ineffective and failed to solve Russia’s issues. As a result, the government was eventually overthrown by the Bolsheviks, though this wasn’t as bloodless as when the Romanovs were overthrown. Russia’s working class was further inspired to rise up after the 1918 revolts and mutinies in other countries in Europe, such as Austria, Hungary, and Germany. The Russian working class became more educated about world affairs as a result of globalization and the war. These rebellions served as a reminder that the Russian working class had the numbers to fight against oppression. The working class was increasingly frustrated with the food and fuel shortages and the government’s lack of action. Despite the fact that Tsar Nicholas II had previously abdicated, the execution of the royal family serves as a reminder of the current power vacuum of Russia, one the Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin will work to resolve. As of 1919, there is a prevalence of discontent in the Russian populace, spurred largely by the large wealth gap and political instability. Furthermore, many of the issues from the initial Russian Revolution of 1905, such as the lack of rights for citizens, are still present and need to be resolved to truly satisfy the Russian people. The Bolsheviks must not only deal with these issues, but effectively restart the government of Russia in order to succeed.

Character Bios

Joseph Stalin Joseph Stalin was born in 1879 in Georgia, to his mother, a washerwoman and his father a cobbler. Stalin grew up in poverty and regularly suffered from physical abuse at the hands of his alcoholic father. Later in 1899, Joseph’s mother pushed him to become a priest and to study in Tiflis Georgian’s capital city. There, he came across the writings of Karl Marx and joined a local socialist group. Then, he was thrown out of seminary school after he failed to come to final exams. He dedicated most of his school life to revolutionary organizing against the Russian monarchy. Soon after, the Tsarist secret police discovered Stalin’s activities. He went into hiding. In the 1905 Russian Revolution, Stalin joined the Bolshevik Party, and fought as a guerrilla fighter. Lenin is impressed by Stalin’s ruthless leadership. Joseph Stalin married Ketevan Svandize in 1906. They have a son named Yakov Dzhugashvili the year after. In 1907 he robbed a bank stealing around ($3.4 Million) in today’s money to help his family and fund the revolutionary cause. The family escaped the Tsarist forces and traveled to Baku, Azerbaijan. Ketevan died in 1907, and Stalin grieved intensely and threw himself into revolutionary work. The Revolution of 1905 led by Lenin offered “peace, bread, and land.” Meanwhile, Stalin led a Bolshevik newspaper called Pravda. In January of 1905, government troops killed protests in Russia’s St. Petersburg. The revolution quickly spread across the Russian Empire. In November

of 1905, Stalin won the election to be a delegate to a Bolshevik conference in St. Petersburg. While Lenin advocated for a parliamentary process, Stalin thought it was a waste of time. The Bolsheviks seized power in 1917 in the October Revolution. Stalin joined the governed body named the Politburo. While in power, he followed in the tradition of Marxist-Leninism, the Leninist interpretation of Marxism.

Leon Trotsky Leon Trotsky is a Soviet revolutionary, politician, and Marxist theorist. He championed his form of a branch of the theory known as Trotskyism. Trotsky was the next in command to Vladimir Lenin during the early development of the Soviet Union. Trotsky was born into a Ukranian-Jewish family in ultra rural Russian Empire controlled Yanovka. As a child, his father sent him to school in Odessa for education. While there, the school started as a German-speaking school, but when under Russianification. Odessa was an unusually connected city for the region. Living in Odessa gave Trotsky a highly international outlook and priority in politics. Impressively, through his life, he learned Russian and Ukranian as his native languages as well as, French, German, and English. After schooling, he moved to the coastal town of Mykolaiv on the Ukrainian’s Black Sea. Initially opposing Marxism, his then future wife, Aleksandra Sokolovskaya, who pulled him into the cause. He immersed himself in organizing the South Russia’s Workers’ Union. He was sent to prison for his organizing work, along with 200 members of the union. In 1899 he was sent to Moscow to await trial. While in exile in Siberia Trotsky had two daughters. In 1902 Aleksandra urged him to escape in a hay wagon and finally escaped exile. After escaping, he fled to London, where he joined Velimir Lenin and others to found and write a paper called Iskra. He soon became a lead writer. Iskra succeeded in communicating the Second Congress of the Russian Democratic Labour Party held in London. Factions arose into the Mensheviks and the Bolsheviks. Lenin supported the Bolsheviks, and Trotsky aligned with the crowded, but less organized camp the Mensheviks faction. Mensheviks believed in forming alliances with liberals. Trotsky eventually sided with Lenin when the Bolshevik Central Committee decided to stage an uprising to overthrow the Provisional Government. Aleksandr Kerensky was an opposition leader and head of the Provisional Government. For these actions in 1917, Stalin praised Trotsky in his book Pravda noting that the Bolshevik party is, “indebted primarily and principally to Comrade Trotsky for the rapid going over of the garrison to the side of the Soviet and the efficient manner in which the work of the Military Revolutionary Committee was organized.”

Felix Dzherzinsky

Felix Dzherzinsky was an official in the Bolshevik Revolution and later founded the KGB. Dzherzinsky was born into Polish nobility in 1877 in the Minsk Region (now Belarus),

where he grew up on his family’s estate. Dzherzinsky grew up strictly Catholic and almost became a priest. Two months before graduating, Dzherzinsky was expelled due to his involvement in Marxist groups. He was repeatedly arrested for his involvement with Marxism from 1897 to 1912. Dzherzinsky spent 4.5 years in several tsarist prisons after 1912. Dzherzinsky helped create the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania in 1899 and was elected to its General Board in 1903. By the end of 1917, Dzherzinsky was freed from prison and embarked on his mission to organize Polish refugees wanting to participate in the Bolshevik Revolution and then fight for the Revolution from Poland. He was then elected to the Bolshevik Central Committee and played a large role in the Military Revolutionary Committee. Dzherzinsky strongly supported Lenin and endorsed his April Theses, and Lenin appointed Dzherzinsky to create the Cheka, a military force created to combat internal threats. ​ ​

Lev Kamenev

Lev Kamenev was a prominent politician during the Revolution and later served as head of state and Premier of Soviet Russia. Kamenev was born as Leo Rosenfeld into a Russian Orthodox Christian-Jewish family in Moscow in 1883. During his schooling, Kamenev (then Rosenfeld) became indoctrinated in Marxism when he read illegal texts and joined social-democratic and Marxist clubs. His revolutionary activity led to several arrests from 1902 to 1914. Kamenev met Vladimir Lenin in Georgia in 1902 and Josef Stalin in 1904. In 1908, Kamenev became involved with the newspaper Proletariy and published Dve Partii, a criticism ​ ​ ​ ​ of the Mensheviks. In 1911, Lenin sent him to work on the newspaper Pravda and represent the ​ ​ Bolsheviks in the Duma. That same year, Kamenev and several other Duma members were arrested for treason, and Kamenev was exiled to Siberia. He was freed by the 1917 February Revolution and arrived in Petrograd (now St. Petersburg) with Stalin. Along with Grigory Zinoviev, Kamenev was labelled a deserter by Lenin due to his differing ideas on where to take the Revolution, including his opposition to the April Theses. As of 1918, Kamenev had just become chairman of the Moscow Soviet, Lenin's Deputy Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars and the Council of Labour and Defence.

Yakov Sverdlov - Born to a politically active father who was deeply involved in assisting the ​ underground factions to provide for his family, Yakov Sverdlov felt strongly influenced to assist his fellow Russians in the Revolutions, as well. Formerly a member of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, Sverdlov was quick to change platforms when Vladimir Lenin gained a substantial following through the Russian Communist Party, or the Bolshevik faction. Taking part in the 1905 Revolution led to Sverdlov getting exiled to Siberia for several years, along with Joseph Stalin. After the February Revolution in 1917 and when Tsar Nicholas II abdicated from the throne, he was allowed to return to his home city of Petrograd, where he

was elected back into power to the Central Committee of the Communist Party. Due to his extensive background in political activism, Lenin decided to work closely with Sverdlov through the Military Revolutionary Committee to plan the October Revolution. After the Revolution had been executed, Sverdlov was elected as chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, which gave him the role of being the de jure head of state of the Russian Soviet Federalist Republic.

Vyacheslav Molotov - Vyacheslav Molotov, like many other prominent Bolshevik faction ​ members, started his political roots by becoming a member of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party. After Vladimir Lenin rose to power with the Russian Communist Party, Molotov switched party alliances and spent several years following acting as a “professional revolutionary.” He wrote articles for the Bolshevik newspaper, Pravda, and used his platform to try to organize the members of the underground party in order to create a more cohesive revolution. Through these activities, he was put into exile twice over the course of the years, once in Vologda and the other in Siberia. After escaping exile, he moved back to Petrograd and joined the Central Committee of the Communist Party in 1916. Molotov was one of the few who represented the Bolshevik faction during the February Revolution. After a provisional government was formed, Molotov directed Pravda to stand more left in its viewpoints in order to oppose the standing party. Lenin endorsed the new direction Pravda was headed in and invited Molotov to be a member of the Military Revolutionary Committee to help plan the October Revolution.

Anatoly Lunacharsky - A self-declared Marxist at the age of 15, Anatoly Lunacharsky found ​ his start by joining his first political party, the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP). At the time of the split of the RSDLP, he aligned with the Bolshevik faction led by Vladimir Lenin over the Mensheviks led by Julian Martov. However, when Lenin was faced with Alexander Bogdanov’s support for Machism within the Bolshevik party, the faction had split their support for the two leaders. Lunacharsky, having married the sister of Bogdanov, chose to stand by the Machinists. This did not deter him from receiving admiration from the other side of the Bolsheviks and thereby leading him to be appointed as People’s Commissariat for Education. Through this position, he had a role in trying to preserve important historical buildings and artworks in Russia from destruction.

Grigory Zinoviev

Gregory Zinoviev, was a founding member of the Bolshevik faction, Soviet Communist politician, and one of the seven members of the first Politburo that was created to manage the Bolshevik Revolution. He was born in Yelisavetgrad to Jewish dairy farmers, he was home-schooled. He later went on to study philosophy, literature, and history, with a passion for

politics. This passion took him to new heights when he joined the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) at the age of 18 in 1901. Two years later, he became a founding member of the Bolshevik faction. Over the next decade he was the leader of the Bolsheviks, elected into RSDLP’s Central Committee, and one of Vladimir Lenin’s closest associates siding with him after the 1908 split of the Bolsheviks. He was also a soldier in World War I and served in Switzerland, only to return three years later after the fall of the Russian monarchy. He remained part of the Bolshevik leadership and member of the Central committee where he and Lev Kamenev were the only two members to vote against an armed revolt. After a fallout with Lenin, and a decision made in the Central committee by him, Zinoviev resigned from the Central Committee and was regarded as a traitor by Lenin ever since.

Mikhail Kalinin

Mikhail Kalinin, also known as “Kalinych”, was a Bolshevik revolutionary and Soviet politician. Born to a peasant family, and had a primary education and then went on to work for some time on a farm. He then worked as a metal worker in Saint Petersburg. In 1898 he joined the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP). It was through this and his connection to the Alliluyev family that he met Stalin. Kalinin also worked for the Bolshevik party during the Russian a Revolution of 1905 as an early member, on the staff of the Central Union of Metal Workers. He later went on to become active on behalf of the RSDLP oversees in Georgia, Estonia, and back home in Moscow. He was a devoted member of the Bolshevik faction led by Vladimir Lenin. As a result, he was eventually elected an alternate member of the Central Committee. Kalinin was never made a full member on account of being a suspected Okhrana agent. However, he was arrested for his political activities in 1916 only to be freed in 1917 by the February Revolution. That autumn, in the elections for the Petrograd City Duma, Kalinin was chosen as mayor of the city which he administered during and after the Bolshevik Revolution of 7 November.

Nestor Makhno

Nestor Makhno, commonly known as Bat’ko Makhno, was an anarchist revolutionary ​ and later became the commander of an independent anarchist army. He was born into a peasant family, and was the youngest child in a family of five children. Due to poverty, he had to work as a Shepherd at the age of seven. He attended primary school for sometime before being employed as a farmhand on the noble’s estates and wealthy peasants. He eventually became a foundryman for the iron foundry he once worked for. It was during this time that he became interested in revolutionary politics. He joined the anarchist organization in Huliaipole in 1906, and later that year was arrested for the robbery, tried, and acquitted. In 1908 he was arrested for the third time—the charges were dropped the second time—and was sentenced to death by hanging in

1910. The sentence was commuted to life imprisonment and he was sent to Butyrskaya prison in Moscow. It was here where he came under the influence of his cellmate Piotr Arshinov. He was released after the February Revolution in 1917. This was when he organized a peasant’s Union. He expropriated landowners and distributed the land amongst the peasants, thereby giving him the image of a “Robin Hood”.

Vladimir Alexandrovich Antonov-Ovseyenko

Vladimir Alexandrovich Antonov-Ovseyenko, also known as ‘Bayonet’ and ‘Nikita’, was a prominent Bolshevik leader and diplomat. He was born the son of an infantry officer and was of Ukrainian ethnicity. He studied at a secondary military school only to leave the army in 1901 and join a student Marxist circle in Warsaw. In 1902 he secretly joined the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP), and organized a military section of the party among graduate officers in five cities. He then graduated from military college in St. Petersburg in 1904. Early in 1905 he led an uprising in Novo Alexandria, Poland, and started his arrest record of multiple attempts. Following multiple arrests, convictions, sentences, and escapes, he was eventually deported and settled in Paris where he was secretary of the Menshevik Bureau. Soon after World War I, he broke with the Mensheviks and founded the anti-war paper, Golos, later ​ ​ renamed Nashe Slovo. He returned to Russia in 1917 and joined the Bolsheviks, and for a short ​ ​ amount of time was head of the party organization in Helsingfors, as well as Chairman of the Northern Congress of Soviets. He returned to Petrograd in October 1917 and was appointed secretary of the Military Revolutionary Committee of the Petrograd Soviet, thus playing a pivotal role in the military preparations for the October Revolution.

Lazar Kaganovich

Lazar Kaganovich was one of Stalin’s closest aides and longest surviving members of Kremlin politics. Considering that he lived five months short of the collapse of the Soviet Union, he is perhaps the only Soviet Politician that saw the complete rise and fall of the Soviet Union. Living from 1893-1991, Kaganovich was a politician and administrator and is best known for organizing, planning, and supervising famine in Soviet Ukraine. Kaganovich is even regarded as second in command to Stalin. In his early life, Kaganovich was born into a Jewish family in what is now Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine. Before Stalin took power, he joined the Bolshevik party in 1911 while organizing a shoe factory for the communist party. In 1917 he served as the Chairman of the Tanners Union and Vice-Chair of the Yuvka Soviets. Nearing the 1917 Revolution Kaganovich became the leader of a military organization through the Bolsheviks in Saratov Russia. Then accumulating more status, he became a leader of the Polessky Committee of the Bolshevik Party. Polesia or Polessky spans from Central Europe into Eastern Europe

covering parts of Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, and western Russia. During the October Revolution of 1917, he led a revolt in Gomel.

Nadezhda Krupskaya

Nadezhda Krupskaya grew up in an upper-class family, but without material wealth, meaning that her early life oscillated between navigating both upper-class nobility and the working class. Her parents, educated aristocrats who were landless and further lost their wealth when her father charged with committing “un-Russian activities.” After losing his position, he worked in local factories. As they highly valued education, her parents sent her to the best education for women available at the time. She was sent to the prestigious and largest school Bestuzhev Courses in St. Petersburg. Then she worked as a governess. Due to her education and formative experiences as a child growing up between the two worlds of lower and upper-class Imperial Russian society, these experiences let her to radicalize to socialist beliefs. According to Ivan Babushkin in his biography, he described Nadezhda Krupskaya, “[she] was inspired by the spirit of protest against the ugly life around her. After her father’s death, she became an educator to support her family. In 1894, she met Vladimir Lenin. At first, she was unimpressed with his personality but respected his ideas and speeches. Eventually, the two married and became revolutionary leaders together. Neither spoke about their personal lives or marriage often. Nadezhda Krupskaya’s accomplishments as a revolutionary, writer, and educator earn her a spot in history in her own right. Leon Trotsky noted in his autobiography that Krupskaya was integral to Iska, where she was the secretary of the editorial board. She was at the center of all of the organization’s work and bared an enormous amount of respected leadership and responsibility. Then, Krupskaya became the secretary of the Central Committee in 1905. Soon after the 1917 October Revolution, she was appointed the People’s Commissar for Education, where she was instrumental in founding the Soviet education system.

Adolph Joffe

Adolph Joffe, a politician and diplomat, played a critical role in the foreign policy of the Bolsheviks in the aftermath of the October Revolution. Born into a wealthy Russian family, Joffe was involved in leftist politics while in secondary school and officially joined the Russian Social Democratic Party in 1903 at the age of 20. Although exiled from Russia due to his revolutionary contributions in the 1905 Russian Revolution, Adolph Joffe became a dear friend to Leon Trotsky. He relied on his family’s wealth to finance Pravda, a workers’ daily paper which became central to the Bolshevik party, between 1908 and 1912. Following the February Revolution, Joffe returned to Russia with Trotsky and was elected as a voting member of the Central Committee for the Bolshevik Party Congress. He was then given control over the Bolshevik military arm as the chairman of the Military Revolution Committee. Adolph Joffe was then assigned to represent Russia during the Brest-Litovsk negotiations concerning the end

of Russian involvement in the First World War. Joffe resigned from his position as head delegate in protest to the treaty’s terms stipulating that Russia must relinquish control over western territory in early 1918. Adolph Joffe became the Russian representative to Germany in April 1918 and retained close contact with Trotsky during his tenure. Joffe’s knowledge and leadership on the international stage will be necessary to maintain diplomacy in post-tsarist Russia.

Grigori Sokolnikov

Grigori Sokolnikov, a fervent revolutionary since the age of 17, became a key figure in the economic and diplomatic policy of Russia following the October Revolution. After being detained and exiled for participating in Bolshevik activities in Moscow, Sokolnikov earned his doctorate in economics and became an active author in communist newspapers. He quickly became a prominent figure within the inner circles of Trotsky and Lenin, and he was selected to control Bolshevik newspapers in Petrograd. Sokolnikov was chosen as one of the Russian representatives to negotiate the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk alongside Adolph Joffe and reluctantly assumed control as head of the delegation following Joffe’s resignation. Throughout late 1917 and early 1918, he was involved in the Russian banking system and state economic planning. Grigori Sokolnikov’s extensive experience with foreign policy, economics, and state news may prove beneficial to his personal aspirations and the Bolshevik movement.

Timeline of Russian History (1861 – 1918)

1861

· Emancipation Reform of 1861 o An act that freed the serfs of the Russian Empire, a condition that bounded a ​ ​ farmer to hereditary plot and the landlord’s decisions.

1863

· January Uprising o A revolt against Russia and its governments that began in Poland which led to ​ ​ girls being granted standard secondary education.

1864

· Zemstava Established o Local self-government that went into effect with the Emancipation Reform. ​ ​

· Romuland Traugutt hanged o Romuland Traugutt was the dictator of the Poland led rebellion ​ ​ 1867

· Sale of Alaska to the United States of America

1876 ​

· Khanate of Kokand incorporated into the Russian Empire o An Uzbek State in Central Asia that served as a vassal state—a state that has ​ ​ mutual obligations to different regions for the main purposes of military.

1877

· Russo-Turkish War

1878

· Treaty of Berlin o A treaty that was created by the West, imposed on Russia to divide Bulgaria ​ ​ into 2 regions; Eastern Rumelia and the Principality of Bulgaria.

1881

· Alexander II Assassinated

1894

· Alexander III dies, Nicholas II becomes the New Tsar

1895

· Lenin and other Union Members are arrested for sedition—political acts against the party in power.

1896

· Lenin is exiled to Siberia for a term of 3 years o After 3 years he moved to Western Europe to continue revolution-like activity ​ ​ 1898

· The Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) held its first Party Congress

1901

· Socialist-Revolutionary Party was founded

1903

· RSDLP split into 2 factions; Bolsheviks led by Vladmir Lenin and the Mensheviks

1905

· Russian Revolution of 1905

· Lenin returns from Western Europe

1906

· Russian Legislative Election: First free elections to the DUMA1914

1907

· Lenin was forced into exile again

o The Tsar rendered his reforms null and void once order retured after the ​ ​ revolution. o

1914

· WORLD WAR 1

1917

· February Revolution

· 27 February: Nicholas II Abdicated ​

· July Days: Provisional government ordered the arrest of Bolshevik leaders

· 4 September: Bolsheviks released because of public pressure ​

· 25 October: October Revolution,

· 25 October: Lenin returns and becomes chairman of Sovnarkom

1918

· Sovnarkom established the Red Army

· 3 March: Treaty of Brest-Litovsk ​ o Ended participation in World War I. Russia lost Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, ​ ​ Poland, Belarus, and Ukraine

· 26 May: Russian Civil War ​ o Czecho Slovak Legions began its revolt against the Bolshevik government ​ ​

· 17 July: Lenin orders Nicholas II and the royal family’s execution ​