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WORLD HISTORY

RUSSIAN REVOLUTION

INTRODUCTION

• The Russian Revolution of 1917 was a very important political event of the 20th Century. For the

first time, Karl Marx’s idea of socialism and Proletariat revolution became a reality.

• Russia was a big and powerful country. Even Napoleon Bonaparte could not conquer Russia in

1812. However, during the beginning of the 20th Century Russia was no longer a powerful

country. During this time Russia was ruled by the Romanov dynasty.

• Tsar Nicholas II ruled Russia at the time of the Revolution. During his rule Russia faced serious

domestic and international problems. Eventually, a series of political events led to the overthrow

of the Tsarist rule by October Revolution of 1917.

• Bolshevik Party headed by Lenin led the revolution. Thus, Russia became USSR [Union of Soviet

Socialist Republics], which lasted until its disintegration in 1991.

LEARNING CURVE

Things to Understand

• The causes for the Russian Revolution of 1917.

• The rise of Socialists in Russia.

• The Course of the Russian Revolution.

• The end of the revolution and its results.

Words/name that Matter (3 Marker)

• Bloody Sunday, Pogroms,October Manifesto,The Duma, Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin

• First International, Second International, Mensheviks, Bolsheviks

• March Revolution, Nicholas II, October Revolution, Vladimir Lenin, the Red Army, the ”Whites”,

Rusputin.

Practice Questions MPPSC Mains (Marks)

• Write about the formation of USSR and the results of the Russian Revolution.

• Write short note about the political, social and economic causes of the Russian Revolution.

• Discuss the role of Lenin in the Russian Revolution.

• Write a note on the February Revolution.

• What were the Impact of Russian Revolution?

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• Russian Revolution is the collective term for a series of revolutions in Russia in 1917, which

dismantled the Tsarist autocracy and led to the creation of the Russian SFSR.

• The Emperor was forced to abdicate, and the old regime was replaced by a provisional

government during the first revolution of February 1917. In the second revolution, during

October, the Provisional Government was removed and replaced with a Bolshevik government

BRIEF HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF RUSSIAN REVOLUTION

• In the years leading up to the Russian Revolution of 1917, the country had a succession of wars.

• These were The Crimean War (1854-56), The Russo- Turkish War (1877-78), The Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905), and World War I (1914-18).

• All of these required a lot from the state, including tax dollars and manpower. Russia suffered defeat in all, except against Turkey. This series of war caused great discontent among the people and caused suffering in the country’s economy and government.

• Along with these wars, there were three major parties that contributed to the cause of the revolution.

• First, there were the peasants, who maintained the majority of the population in Russia. They were excessively poor and could barely escape famine from harvest to harvest. The population boom in Russia from 1867-1896 was felt most drastically by the peasants. The government tried to help, but war took precedence.

• Second, there was a rise of the industrial working class. These workers were employed in the mines, factories and workshops of the major cities. They suffered low wages, poor housing and many accidents. Again, the government tried to help by passing factory acts to restrict the amount of hours one could work. However, their efforts were at too small a scale to have any real effect. As a result, there were many strikes and constant conflicts between the workers and the police.

• Lastly, the tsar of Russia was the cause of much disapproval. Tsar Nicholas II was much more interested in his family life, than matters of the state.He had an obsession with retaining all his privileges and the belief that he was chosen by God to rule. Also, he didn’t understand the forces of industrialization and nationalism that were growing throughout Russia.

• His disregard for the struggles of the people led them to lose faith in him and the long- standing tradition of autocracy. The people were not content and were ready to revolt. They just needed a good reason and a strong leader.

WHAT WERE THE REASONS/CIRCUMSTANCES THAT LED TO THE RUSSIAN

REVOLUTION?

1) Political causes

• Russian state under Czars was completely unsuited to the needs of the modern times. Czars still

believed in the divine right of kings . Alexander III- “Pogroms” ("the term “pogroms” is usually

applied to attacks on Jews in the Russian Empire in the late 19th and early 20th centuries)-

organized violence against revolutionaries and Jews which broke out in many parts of Russia.

With this the government alienated three most important groups peasantry, industrial workers

and the intelligentsia.

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• They imposed use of Russian language and tried to belittle the cultures of the people of these

areas.

• The Czar Nicholas announced his "October Manifesto" granting freedom of speech, press and

association and conferred the power to make laws upon an elected body called "The Duma”.

But he soon relapsed into his old ways.

• Many scandals took place especially royal family's association with Rasputin a self-imposed holy

man who became the real power behind the throne. The Tsarist court was under the evil

influence of Rusputin. The Tsarina was strongly under his influence and at times the

administration was affected by his influence. Hence, the nobles poisoned Rusputin to death

• Corruption resulted in great suffering to the people.By 1912, Both Bolsheviks and Mensheviks

revived.

2) Economic causes

• Industrialization began very late in Russia in the second half of the nineteenth century. More

than half of the capital for investment came from foreign countries. But they showed no concern

for the workers conditions.

• Whether factories were owned by foreigners or Russians the condition of work were horrible.

Low wages, child labour was common. Workers had no political rights and trade unions were

outlawed.

• By 1911, Stolypin's (Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin was the 3rd Prime Minister of Russia, and

Minister of Internal Affairs of the Russian Empire from 1906 to 1911.) land reforms were

starting to fail because of the rapid growth of peasantry and the inefficient farming techniques.

Whatever improvements had taken place post 1905, they were obviously not enough to remove

all the pre-1905 grievances.

3) Historical Causes

• Almost the entire Europe underwent political and economic transformation by becoming

republics like France or constitutional monarchies like England. However, Russia was still living in

the old world under the autocratic rule of Czars.

• Even though serfdom was abolished in 1861, it did not improve the condition of the peasants.

They still had small land holdings with no capital to develop. Land hunger of the peasants was a

major social factor in the Russian society.

4) Rise of Socialist Party

• One of the most important events in the history of socialist movement was the formation in

1864 of the International Working Men’s Association or the First International. During the

short period of its existence, the International exercised a tremendous influence on workers’

movements in Europe.

• To unite the socialist parties in various countries into an international organisation, a Congress

was held in Paris on 14th July 1889, the centenary of the French Revolution of 1789. The result

of this Congress was what has come to be known as the Second International.

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• The formation of the Second International marked a new stage in the history of socialism. On the

first of May 1890, millions of workers all over Europe and America struck work and held massive

demonstrations. Since then the first of May is observed as the international working class day all

over the world.

• In Russia when the workers’ organizations were set up they were dominated by Marx’s ideas on

socialism. In 1883, the Russian Social Democratic Party was formed by George Plekhanov, a

follower of Marx.

• This party along with many other socialist groups was united into the Russian Social Democratic

Labour Party in 1898. However, the party was soon split over questions of organization and

policies. One group which was in a minority called the Mensheviks [Russian it means minority].

The majority party was called as the Bolsheviks.

• The leader of the Bolsheviks was Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, popularly known as Lenin. He is

regarded as one of the greatest leaders of the socialist movement after Marx and Engels. He

devoted himself to the task of organizing the Bolshevik Party as an instrument for bringing about

revolution. His name has become inseparable from the revolution of 1917. The Russian

socialists, including Plekhanov and Lenin, had played an important part in the Second

International.

5) Military Actions

• In 1904 Russian Japanese war, Russia suffered reverses in the war which strengthened the

revolutionary movement in Russia.

Bloody Sunday (Revolution of 1905)

• In 1905 mass of peaceful workers with their wives and children were fired at in St.Petersburg while on their way to the winter palace to present a petition to the Czar.

• This incident provoked a wave of strikes all over the country and it was considered a dress rehearsal for the later revolution.

• A new form of organization developed in this revolution which proved decisive in the upheaval of 1917.This was the "Soviet" or the council of workers representatives.

World War I failure:

• Czarist state was incapable of waging a modern war and Russia entering WW-I proved fatal and breakdown of Russian autocracy.

• 6,00,000 soldiers were killed. Russia's weak generals and poorly equipped troops were no match to the German army.

• Poor transportation meant that arms and ammunition were slow to reach the front.

WHAT IS “OCTOBER MANIFESTO”? • The concessions by Czar took the form of a promise named October manifesto after the 1905

revolution. Some of the provisions are: -

• An elected parliament named "Duma" will be established

• Working conditions in the factories will be improved

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• Workers pay will be hiked

• Cancellation of redemption payments by former serfs

• Greater freedom for press

• Promised a genuine democracy with Duma playing a greater role.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BOLSHEVIKS AND MENSHEVIKS

• Bolsheviks under Lenin wanted a small, disciplined party of professional revolutionaries who

would work full time to bring about revolution.They believed they have to work with peasants

and get them involved in the revolutionary activity

• Mensheviks were ready to have party membership open to anyone .They believed that a

revolution could not take place until Russia is fully industrialized and industrial workers were in

a big majority over peasants. They did not believe much in peasants

• Mensheviks were strict Marxists but Bolsheviks moved a bot away from Marxism.

THE TWO REVOLUTIONS: (FEBRUARY AND OCTOBER) • In Russia, these revolutions are still known as February and October revolutions as the Russians

were still using the old Julian calendar which was 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar used by

the rest of Europe. Russia adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1918.

MARCH REVOLUTION: (FEBRUARY IN RUSSIA)

• Bread riots: demonstration of working-class women trying to purchase bread were quickly

joined by thousands of strikers from nearby factories.

• Demands made by the people were:-Peace, land to the tiller, control of industry by workers,

equal status for non-Russian nationalities

• Czar's troops opened fire and 40 people got killed. Also, some of the troops refused to shoot and

then whole Petrograd garrison mutinied.

• Duma suggested Czar to setup a constitutional monarchy but he refused and sent more troops

to restore order .Czar abdicated the throne in favour of his brother listening to senior generals

who believed that would save monarchy.

• As his brother abdicated the throne, monarchy ended in Russia.

• March revolution was a spontaneous outburst of popular unrest which the imperial government

did not handle well.

• Fall of Czar Nicholas II is known as February revolution. A provisional government under

Kerensky was setup but this government did not implement any demands and lost the support

of the people.

OCTOBER REVOLUTION 1917

• The failure of the provisional government led to October revolution where Bolsheviks did a coup

and overthrew the government.

• The October Revolution was led by Vladimir Lenin and was based upon Lenin’s writing on the

ideas of Karl Marx, a political ideology often known as Marxism-Leninism.

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• It marked the beginning of the spread of communism in the 20th century. It was far less

sporadic than the revolution of February and came about as the result of deliberate planning

and coordinated activity to that end.

• Though Lenin was the leader of the Bolshevik Party, it has been argued that since Lenin was not

present during the actual takeover of the Winter Palace, it was really Trotsky’s organization and

direction that led the revolution, merely spurred by the motivation Lenin instigated within his

party.

• On 7 November 1917, Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin led his leftist revolutionaries in a revolt

against the ineffective Provisional Government (Russia was still using the Julian Calendar at the

time, so period references show a 25 October date).

• The October revolution ended the phase of the revolution instigated in February, replacing

Russia’s short-lived provisional parliamentary government with government by soviets, local

councils elected by bodies of workers and peasants. Liberal and monarchist forces, loosely

organized into the White Army, immediately went to war against the Bolsheviks’ Red Army, in a

series of battles that would become known as the Russian Civil War.

• Soviet membership was initially freely elected, but many members of the Socialist Revolutionary

Party, anarchists, and other leftists created opposition to the Bolsheviks through the soviets

themselves.

• When it became clear that the Bolsheviks had little support outside of the industrialized areas of

Saint Petersburg and Moscow, they simply barred non-Bolsheviks from membership in the

soviets. This obviously caused mass domestic tension with many individuals who called for

another series of political reform, revolting, and calling for “a third Russian revolution,” a

movement that received a considerable amount of support.

• The most notable instances of this anti-bolshevik mentality were expressed in the Tambov

rebellion, 1919–1921, and the Kronstadt rebellion in March 1921.These movements, which

made a wide range of demands and lacked effective coordination, were eventually defeated

along with the White Army during the Civil War.

THE RUSSIAN CIVIL WAR • The Russian Civil War, which broke out in 1918 shortly after the revolution, brought death and

suffering to millions of people regardless of their political orientation.The war was fought mainly

between the Red Army (“Reds”), consisting of the uprising majority led by the Bolshevik

minority, and the ”Whites” — army officers and cossacks, the “bourgeoisie”, and political groups

ranging from the far Right to the Socialist Revolutionaries who opposed the drastic restructuring

championed by the Bolsheviks following the collapse of the Provisional Government to the

soviets (under clear Bolshevik dominance).

• The Whites had backing from nations such as Great Britain, France, USA and Japan, while the

Reds sported internal, domestic support which proved to be much more effective. Though the

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Allied nations, using external interference, provided substantial military aid to the loosely knit

anti-Bolshevik forces, they were ultimately defeated.

IMPACTS OR CONSEQUENCES OF RUSSIAN REVOLUTION

Political • Overthrow of autocracy and destruction of aristocracy and the power of the church.

• Czarist state got transformed into USSR and led to end of Czarist rule.

• Policies of the new state were to be directed to the realization of the old socialist ideal from each according to his capacity to each according to his work.

International • First revolution in the history which proclaimed the building of a socialist society as its objective.

This had led to the creation of new states all across the globe.

• Formation of communist parties in many countries of the world with the objective of bringing about revolution and following common policies.

Rise of Russia as a world power • It also influenced movements for independence in Asia and gradually broadened the objectives

of independence to include social and economic equality through planned economic development.

Economic • Private property was abolished.

• Economic planning by the state was adopted to build a technologically advanced economy

• Right to work became a constitutional right.

Social • Education of the entire people was given a very high priority. Promoting secularism, iprovement

in women conditions, class differences removed.

Cultural • Equality of all the nationalities in the USSR was recognized in the constitution

• The constitution gave republics formed by the nationalities autonomy to develop their languages and cultures.

COMMUNIST INTERNATIONAL (THIRD INTERNATIONAL OR COMINTERN)

Communist International was formed for promoting revolutions on International Scale. Communist

parties were formed in several other countries. Soviet Union became leader of Communist

Movement across the world.

• The group of countries that followed USSR ideology came to be known as Second World or

‘Socialist Block’.

• Revived the idea, ‘He that does not work neither shall he eat’, gained widespread acceptance,

adding a new dignity to labour.

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• Socialists all over the world organized campaigns for putting an end to imperialism.

• The new Soviet state came to be looked upon as a friend of the peoples of the colonies

struggling for national independence.

• Russia after the Revolution was the first country in Europe to openly support the cause of

independence of all nations from foreign rule.

• Immediately after the Revolution, the Soviet government had annulled the unequal treaties

which the Czar had imposed on China.

• It also gave assistance of various kinds to Sun Yat Sen in his struggle for the unification of China.

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