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The Russian Revolution THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION UNIT 3: REVOLUTION CENTRAL QUESTIONS • What was the historical context that laid the groundwork for revolution in Russia? • What were the revolutionary leaders’ goals? – What were Vladimir Lenin’s goals? • Were the revolutionaries successful in meeting their goals? • Unprepared for total war of WWI – Weak industry – Lack of supplies CAUSES OF – Inexperienced leadership • Rasputin’s influence in Russian gov’t RUSSIAN • Economic crisis REVOLUTION – Harsh food rationing – Growing rate of poverty • Dissatisfaction with Tsar Nicholas II • Late and rapid industrialization THE REVOLUTION • Russian Revolution is actually comprised of two separate revolutions in a short span of time: – February Revolution – October Revolution (or Bolshevik Revolution) FEBRUARY REVOLUTION March 8, 1917 • A strike in Petrograd snowballed into massive protest – Protestors and striking laborers demanded bread – Russian troops called in to suppress riot • Nicholas orders deadly force; many troops mutiny • Tsar’s palace guards abandon post • March 15, Nicholas abdicates (renounces throne) • Group of government officials declare the Provisional Government (PG) as new gov’t OCTOBER/BOLSHEVIK REVOLUTION • PG proves to be weak – Remained in WWI; hugely unpopular – Industry weakened; mass unemployment – Cost of living skyrocketed • Soviets (town councils of local workers, commoners) began to form and challenge the PG • Vladimir Lenin convinces Bolsheviks (revolutionary socialist political party) to overthrow the PG – Soviets support Bolsheviks • Overthrow is successful, Lenin becomes leader VLADIMIR LENIN • Leader of the Bolshevik Party • Charismatic • Well-liked by lower class • Believed a vanguard of socialist intellectuals (including himself) should lead the proletariat in violent revolution, not wait for them to do it like Marx predicted • Vanguard = group of people leading the way in new developments or ideas • Was exiled from Russia for printing and spreading documents encouraging violent revolution; returned in 1917 • Returned in 1917 after February Revolution • Exiled to Finland after a failed revolt • Returned again in mid-1917 to lead October Revolution END OF THE REVOLUTION • Lenin taking power sparks the Russian Civil War – Red Army (Lenin’s Bolsheviks) versus White Army (loose alliance of anti-communist groups) • War sees a devastating cost in human life – 7,000,000-12,000,000 total casualties, mostly civilians • Red Army wins, Bolshevik power cemented – Rename themselves the Communist Party; government called Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) SUCCESS: DID THE BOLSHEVIKS SUCCEED IN THEIR GOALS? SUCCESSES OF THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION Goal: Overthrow oppressive governments • Both a success… – Tsar Nicholas II is forced to abdicate, and the PG is dissolved • …and a failure – Lenin and later Stalin’s USSR was an oppressive tyranny worse than the previous regimes • Dissidents imprisoned, murdered, “disappeared,” or exiled • Mass famine SUCCESSES OF THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION Goal: Create a communist utopia with newly empowered workers • Failure – Socialism, and eventually communism, is achieved through a “revolution from below” • The USSR took power through a “revolution from above” – Lenin/Stalin’s brutal dictatorships helped the common man no more than Nicholas or the PG – The USSR’s communism was not communism at all • Classes still existed • The workers owned nothing – Wealthy elite owned everything • Profit drove production of goods EXIT TICKET With a partner, on a half-sheet of paper, answer the following: 1. What was the sequence of events in the February Revolution and October Revolution? 2. Why was the Bolshevik goal of creating a communist utopia a failure? (USE YOUR OWN WORDS) 3. Why did people dislike Tsar Nicholas II so much? Use specific examples from the lesson..
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