The Russian Revolution Overview

The Russian Revolution

• Russia was at war with Germany in World War I from 1914.
• Russia’s working class and peasantry formed the majority of the Russian Army.
• The Russian Army was poorly equipped and inadequately trained for battle.
• Millions of Russians were killed or wounded by 1917.
• Tsar Nicholas II faced public criticism for his role in the war and other issues, including:
  • Taking personal command of the army.
  • Allowing Rasputin's influence over the royal family.
  • Food shortages.
  • Growing political opposition.
• The first revolution occurred in February 1917 on the Julian calendar in Petrograd, the capital of Imperial Russia.
• Protesters demonstrated over food rationing and were joined by striking workers.
• The army was deployed to suppress the uprising, leading to the deaths of some protesters.
• Some soldiers refused to fire on the demonstrators.
• The army was in a state of mutiny against the Tsar.
• The Petrograd Soviet was the city council for workers and soldiers.
• The Tsar abdicated, ending the Tsarist autocracy and paving the way for a new government.
• This government was run by two political parties, the Petrograd Soviet and the Provisional Government.

The Bolshevik Revolution

• The Provisional Government was unpopular because it remained in World War I and failed to distribute land to peasants.
• Vladimir Lenin and the Bolsheviks, a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, later became the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
• Lenin advocated for "Peace, bread and land", a slogan to appeal to the people and the Petrograd Soviet.
  • Peace: Ending Russia's involvement in World War I.
  • Bread: Addressing food shortages.
  • Land: Distributing land to the peasants
• Lenin proclaimed, "All power to the Soviets," intending to seize power in the name of the Soviet.
• On November 6th and 7th, 1917 (October 24th and 25th on the Julian calendar), the Bolsheviks launched a coup d'état against the Provisional Government, led by Lenin.
• They stormed the Winter Palace, arresting the Provisional Government and seizing control of Russia's government.
• After the revolution, the Bolshevik government exited World War I by signing the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany.
• A civil war erupted in 1918 between those who opposed the new Bolshevik government (the White Army) and the Bolsheviks (the Red Army).