Chapter 12 Section 3: Revolution in Russia

I. Russia and WWI  Czar Nicholas II promised reform after the revolution of 1905 but little change happened  Economic conditions grew worse A. Years before the war

 Marxist group known as the Bolsheviks wanted to change life in Russia through a revolution  Vladimr Lenin wanted to throw the czar to make a socialist country  By 1914 economic conditions in Russia were so bad that WWI provided a break for Nicholas  Nicholas hoped that that the military crisis would unit the country B. Russia WWI

 Start of war Russia had a huge army (6 million soldiers)  Fighting helped patriotism  Russia’s factories were not able to meet the armies needs, transportation was weak, and over all they were not ready for war  Millions of Russian soldiers were wounded or killed during the wars early battles C. Conditions grow worse

 1915 Nicholas II took demand of Russian forces  This was a bad move because he didn’t know anything about running a military  Central powers were able to stop a major Russian offense  Confidence was destroyed

1  Russian peasants grew desperate because of the lack of food and goods  Czarina Alexandra (czars wife) was in control but she was very unpopular  She relied on a healer and self proclaimed healer but was corrupt and was not good which made everything worse

II. The Russian Revolution

A. Revolution Begins  March 8, 1917 unhappy citizens marched the streets of Petrograd (the capital of Russia) to protest the lack of food and fuel  Soldiers were ordered to shoot rioters but they did not they ended up joining them and took over the monarchy  The March Revolution forced Nicholas to step down is known as the February Revolution in Russia

B. Provisional Government

 After the fall of the czar Duma created a temporary government  Government was led by Aleksandr Kerensky  Planned to continue fighting in WWI even though unhappy with the new leadership  The temporary government was called the Bolsheviks a Marxist Revolution  They planned to abolish (get rid of) private property and enforce social equality  Bolshevism became known as Marxism-Leninism after Vladimir Lennin

2 C. The Bolshevik Revolution  In mid 1917 Kerensky’s government ordered a final fight against the Central Powers along the Eastern Front  It failed  Officers were being killed by their own men in Russia  The army collapsed  November 1917 armed Bolshevik factory workers known as the Red Guard attacked the temporary government (known as October Revolution)  Lenin became the nations leader and created a radical Communist Movement  Bolsheviks gave land to the peasants and seized Russia’s factories

III. After the Revolution A. Civil War  Lenin sent Leon Trotsky, a top Bolshevik official to negotiate peace with the Central Powers and get Russia out of WW1  The peace treaty insulted the Russians and those that opposed created the White Army  The White Army opposed Lenin’s Communist system  The Whites received help from France and the United States B. New Economic Policy  Civil war pushed Russia’s collapsing economy to the end  Lenin responded to the crisis in 1921 which involved capitalist activity  Peasants could sell there food for profit  Food production then increased

C. The Soviet Union  1922 the Russian economy began to improve

3  United with several neighboring lands before 1917  The new country was called the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic also known as the Soviet Union  Russia’s communist leadership took over the entire country  Lenin died in 1924