February or March-October or November? the
Russian calendar was 13 days behind the rest of
the world, so its February Revolution actually took
place in March, and what was called the October
Revolution happened in November!
All the institutions that
supported the monarchy- such
as the Church, the nobility and
the faithful loyalty of the
peasants- ame from the
Middle Ages.
New, modern forces were threatening
the monarchy such as the middle class,
an industrial working class and
Marxism
The Romanov dynasty had lasted 300
years but Nicholas ll, who ascended
the throne in 1894, turned out to be
that last Tsar of Russia.
The first WW and the February revolution
The first WW had two main effects on Russia : firstly a
huge number of men lost their lives, and secondly it
caused economic chaos. On 8 March 1917 women in St
Petersburg went on a strike for 'bread and peace', starting
the February Revolution.
In February 1914 the Deputy Minister of the
Interior and former head of police sent a memo
to the tsar warning him that a war against
Germany even if Russia won - would destroy
the monarchy.
Lots of men were murdered Tsarina wrote to the Tsar blaming hooligans for the
trouble. The Tsar tried to get back from the front on 13 March, but it was too late.
None of the soldiers were loyal and his train could not get through to St
Petersburg.
What was to blame ?
The February Revolution of 1917 brought the
300-years-old Romanov dynasty to an end.
Russia was old-fashion and
weak- it collapsed because it was
unsuitable.
The First WW- Its huge problems and
disasters overturned a monarchy that
had, so far, managed to survive.
The stupidly of the Tsar- his
decisions and actions cost him
his throne.
Bolsheviks...
Lenin and Bolshevik
Revoluton
'The February revolution was
spontaneous; the October revolution
was planned'.
You may well have heard or read
other statements like this about
the two Russian revolutions of 1917,
but what is the evidence ?
The NEP
After the civil war, Lenin
revised his economic policy
and introduced the New
Economic Policy (NEP)
Through this, peasants
were allowed to run
businesses.
Either Lenin
succeeded or failed !
The Civil War
The Bolshevik takeover was not
welcomed by everyone. Those
who had been loyal to the Tsar
and foreign power were alarmed
by the revolution so they joined
together under the banner of
the Whites to defeat the
Bolsheviks.
Lenin dismissed the
Constituent Assembly and ruled
by decree.
The Bolsheviks instituted a Red
Terror that killed anyone who
opposed them - strikers were
shot, and Trotsky even arrested
the families of Red generals to
keep them loyal.
Trotsky organised and
inspired the Red Army.
Stalin...
Five year-plan
To do this, Stalin introduced the Five
year-plan.
Stalin realised that if Russia was to
become key player to the global market,
the country needed to industrialise
rapidly and increase production.
Collectivasation
After years of resistance and
families Stalin eventually
executed thoes who resisted, or
sent to labour camps.
Stalin's Five year-plan dealt with industrial production,
but something had be done about the food supply so
Stalin introduced collectivisation.
Stalin's takeover power
It would be easy to assume that the
natural successor to Lenin would be Leon
Trotsky.
Often Trotsky was regarded as the
second in command. But Joseph Stalin,
the secretary of the Communist Party,
got the job.