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Home , Ilya Repin, Sergei Witte

Russian Revolution 1905-1917 Overview

! Structural weaknesses within

! Revolution of 1905

! October Manifesto

! Russia 1906-1917

! Revolutions of 1917

! Civil War Economic Weaknesses

! Industrially & economically underdeveloped ! top 1% controls majority of Land & wealth ! bottom 85% = peasants Typical Noble Estate ! agriculture poorly developed ! Landless & extremely poor

Russian Peasants Modernization – The Witte Program

! ! Finance Minister ! Govt. Modernization Program: ! Stablise currency & link to gold standard ! To fund economic dvlpm: ! Raised taxes ! Borrowed money ! relied on foreign investment ! Trans-Siberian Railway

Sergei Witte Modernization – The Witte Program

! :Hired foreigners to run factories ! lacked educated industrial class ! Workers paid low wages ! extremely poor conditions ! organised to push for reform ! Formed ‘soviets’ ! Tended to be very radical ! Anarchy & communism seen as attractive ideologies Female Textile Workers Political Weaknesses ! Autocratic ruler ! Isolated & Ignorant to Russia’s problems ! No personal freedoms ! ! Few civil liberties ! Govt. opposition not allowed ! Political dissidents arrested & exiled (Lenin) or executed

Tsar Nicholas II Political Weaknesses

! Political divisions ! Intelligentsia ! Educated M-C & university students ! Nobility – Boyars ! maintain status quo & influence ! Workers ! Better pay & work conditions ! representation ! Peasants ! Land ! representation

Royal Family, 1913 ! Political parties L-R Back: Grand Duchesses Maria, Olga, Tatiana Middle: Tsarina Alexandra, Tsar Nicholas, Grand Duchess Anastasia ! liberal reforms Front : Tsarevich Alexei Social Weaknesses

! Citizens = internally divided: ! Only ½ population = Russian ! Objectives of different groups: ! Minorities – ! Greater autonomy ! independence ! Nobility – ! gradual reform ! Status quo re: power ! Fear ‘mob’ rule ! Intelligentsia – ! Not a single unified bloc ∴ No consensus on goals ! Workers – ! better conditions ! Stable prices for food ! Peasants - land reform Revolution of 1905

! Causes: ! Russo-Japanese War 1904-05 ! Humiliation !defeat by Japanese ! Worker discontent ! Working conditions ! Availability of food ! " cost of food January 9, 1905

! Peaceful demonstration of workers ! Demands: ! end to Russo-Japanese War ! formation of a constituent assembly ! Improve worker conditions, rights & wages ! Price controls on bread ! Leaders included members of clergy, workers & intelligentsia ! Troops open fire on workers ! +100 killed ! Result: Riots t/o Russian cities ! Including Poland, ,

Father Gapon – led march on Bloody Sunday

! Result: ! Riots & strikes t/o Russia ! Radicals organize workers into Unions (Soviets) ! Soviets !"workers’ rights ! October ! nation paralyzed by 10 day strike ! Tsar forced to make changes Demonstration at the Winter Palace ! Concession to striking in St. Petersburg workers & civil unrest October Manifesto

! Concession by Tsar to regain order and placate demands ! Creates constituent assembly ‘’ (parliament) ! Male ! All classes represented ! Laws must pass the Duma ! Russia’s first ! Grants some civil liberties ! liberty, freedom of conscience, speech, assembly & association

Duma Legacy of 1905 Revolution & October Manifesto

! Results: ! Divides opposition ! Moderates satisfied ! Radicals want more reform (esp. Soviets) ! October Manifesto in practice: ! Had little real power ! Tsar ! absolute veto ! ! dismiss Duma

Ilya Repin -- October Demonstrations Legacy of 1905 Revolution & October Manifesto

! Ethnic Regions ! "unrest in Russian provinces -- Ukraine, Georgia, Poland ! Brutal & bloody suppression !" revolutionary sentiment ! " animosity agst Tsar & Russia ! Continued instability, esp. amg. urban workers (soviets) ! instituted agst. Jews ! Scapegoated for riots, radicalism ! Expulsion from villages & Russia ! Diaspora to Poland, Germany, U.S., etc. ! Fiddler on the Roof

Russian Newspaper report of Polish rioting Russia 1906-1916

! Peter Prime Minister (1906-11) ! Conservative -cracked down on revolutionaries ! Introduced agricultural & educational reforms to help peasants ! Encouraged foreign investment to modernise Russia ! Assassinated ! Worker’s Movement ! Strikes waned 1907-1910 ! Strikes & riots increase 1911-1914

Peter Stolypin World War I

! Tsar sees WWI as way to unify nation ! Distract public from domestic political & economic woes ! “Wag the Dog” ! Shortages of basic food stuffs continue to plague urban Russia ! War exacerbates problem as food is diverted to feed soldiers ! Public support for War & Tsar begin to wane ! Army poorly equipped for war ! Army suffers devastating defeats ! Morale decreases ! Desertions increase World War I

! 1916 Nicholas II takes over Army ! Hopes to inspire troops ! Weaknesses of govt. further exposed ! War increases suffering & discontent ! Criticism becomes more public & calls for democratic change increase Rasputin

! Nicholas II leaves country to command army ! Tsarina in charge of gov’t during Tsar’s absence ! Heavily influence by Rasputin, ‘the Holy Man’ ! Tsarina gives power to make governmental decisions ! Boyars resent his influence & murder him March Revolution 1917

War, food shortages, & political oppression "Strikes & bread riots ! Soldiers, sent to restore order ! Ordered to shoot rioters, ! shoot the officers instead and join rioters ! Results in collapse of monarchy Rioting in Petrograd March Revolution 1917

! Tsar Nicholas II ! Orders the dismissal of the Duma ! Duma disregards Tsar & forms a Provisional government. ! March 15, 1917 Tsar Nicholas II abdicates ! Brother refuses to accept crown March Revolution 1917

! Provisional Government ! Kerensky – social democrat (menshevik) ! Moderate, slow, measured reform ! ! Maintain Russian role in WWI ! Goal: political not social revolution ! free elections to Duma assembly ! freedom speech, press, assembly, & religion

Alexander Kerensky March Revolution 1917

! Kerensky gov’t fractured, weak & unorganized ! little experience w/political leadership ! opposed by Petrograd Soviet ! Most powerful & radical workers’ group in Russia ! Heavily influenced by communist ideology ! Opposition led by ! Lenin, Trotsky ! Further weakened by WW I ! Heavy Russian losses ! Growing public dissent ! Pace of reform too slow for populace, esp. urban soviets Petrograd Soviet 1917

! Bolsheviks compete with Mensheviks for power ! radical!immediate Δ ! Eliminate old system (ancien régime) ! well organized & supported ! Most effective amg. workers’ soviets ! " power w/failure of provisional govt. ! Similar to Jacobins in French Revolution ! Lenin returns from exile to rally Bolsheviks

Petrograd Soviet – most powerful, radical and organised of opposition groups agst. moderate Menshevik reforms. Led by .

Leon Trotsky Vladimir Ilych Lenin April – October 1917

! Lenin calls for ‘all power to the soviets’ ! Workers ! take control of Russia ! Seize power for the benefit of all ! “Peace, Land, Bread” ! Peace – end Russia’s role in WWII ! Land – land reform for peasants ! Bread – end food shortages in cities ! " Support from sailors, workers, & peasants strengthen Bolshevik position April – October 1917

! #Support from sailors, workers, & peasants strengthen Bolshevik position ! Lenin October 24 ! “Call to power speech” ! Demands action now ! Seize control of gov’t 1917

! Bolsheviks launch successful coup ! Establish the ‘Cheka’ ! Secret police ! Political opposition banned ! Censorship ! Kerensky flees Russia ! Confiscate church property ! Treaty of Brest-Litovsk March 1918 ! Russia exits WWI ! Loses , Estonia, Latvia & Lithuania ! Loses Russian portion of Poland ! Tsar & family executed July 16, 1919

Looting Orthodox Church Civil War (1917-1921)

! Marxist-Leninist !hybrid ! not Marxism ! lacked industrialism seen as necessary byu Marx & Engels ! “Dictatorship of the Proletariat” ! Bolsheviks focus ! maintain power ! “vanguard” of the revolution ! Guide Russia to Marx’s worker’s Revolution ! Civil War ! Red Army (Bolsheviks) vs. the Whites (socialists, nationalist, liberals) ! Whites receive help from U.S. & Europe ! See Bolshevism (communism) as a threat ! Sim. to Austria & Prussia during Fr. Rev War Communism (1917-1921)

! First step towards establishing a communist society ! Nationalize industry, banks, transportation, communication & natural resources ! Eliminated private ownership ! under gov’t control ! Labour strikes banned ! All men under 50 drafted ! Peasants hoarded or destroyed crops to prevent confiscation ! Result: ! famine, worker revolts, political dissent ! Russia w/out industry, transportation, & trade. ! Re-evaluate modernisation policy NEP – New Economic Policy 1921 ! Response to ineffectiveness & chaos of ‘War Communism’ ! Goal: stability, " food production, " industry & business ! Small factories, businesses, & farms ! return to private ownership ! Major economic, information, production ! under govt control ! factories, banks, railways, & communication ! Introduce incentives: govt est. quotas for production; ! $$$ for exceeding production ! Result: huge success; " in production ! agri. & industry ! (USSR) established 1922 Legacy of Revolution