The Russian Revolution was the result of over a century of unrest under oppressive czarist rule. In 1917, widespread discontent over World War I led to the abdication of Czar Nicholas II and the establishment of a provisional government. Lenin and the Bolsheviks then seized power in November through the Bolshevik Revolution, establishing the Soviet Union and communist rule. A long civil war ensued as the Bolsheviks consolidated power, leading to enormous loss of life and economic devastation before stability was restored under Lenin's New Economic Policy. Stalin later emerged as the new dictator following Lenin's death.

1. Revolutions in Russia
Chapter 30, Section 1

2. Introduction
 The Russian Revolution was like a
firecracker with a very long fuse. The
explosion came in 1917, yet the fuse had
been burning for nearly a century. The
cruel, oppressive rule of most 19th-century
czars caused widespread social unrest for
decades. Army officers revolted in 1825.
Secret revolutionary groups plotted to
overthrow the government.

3. The Beginings
 In 1881,
revolutionaries angry
over the slow pace of
political change
assassinated the
reform-minded czar,
Alexander II. Russia
was heading toward a
full-scale revolution.

4. Czars Resist Change

5. End to Reform
 In 1881, Alexander
III becomes czar and
ends the reforms of
his father, Alexander
II.
 Alexander III institutes
autocratic rule ,
suppressing all
opposition and
decent.

6. Czars Continue Autocratic Rule
 Government censors written criticism;
secret police monitor schools
 Non-Russians living in Russia are treated
harshly

7. Anti-Jewish Pogroms
 Jews become target of government backed
pogroms (organized persecutions)
 Alexander III encourages Jewish emigration to
the United States during this time. The musical
Fiddler on the Roof is set in this era.

8. The Last Czar
 In 1894, Nicholas II
becomes czar and
continues autocratic
ways

9. Russia Industrializes

10. Rapid Industrialization
 Number of factories doubles between
1863 and 1900, but Russia still lags
behind other European countries.
 In late 1800s, new plan boosts steel
production and a major railway begins

11. The Revolutionary Movement Grows
 Industrialization breeds discontent over working
conditions and wages.
 Growing popularity of Marxist idea that
proletariat (workers) will rule
 Bolsheviks—Marxists who favor revolution by a
small committed group

12. Lenin
 Lenin—Bolshevik
leader—an excellent
organizer and
inspiring leader

13. Crisis at Home and Abroad

14. The Russo-Japanese War
 Defeat in the Russo-Japanese War in the
early 1900s causes unrest in Russia.

15. Bloody Sunday: The Revolution of
1905
 In 1905, 200,000
workers march on the
czar’s palace to
demand reforms
 The army fires into
the crowd, killing
many
 Massacre leads to
widespread unrest;
Nicholas if forced to
make reforms

16. The short lived Duma
 The Duma,
Russia’s first
parliament,
meets in 1906
 Czar is
unwilling to
share power,
dissolves the
Duma after
only 10 weeks

17. World War I: The Final Blow
 Heavy losses in World War I reveal
government’s weakness
 Nicholas goes to war front; Czarina
Alexandra runs government in his
absence

18. Man of Mystery destroys the
Autocracy
 Czarina falls under the
influence of Rasputin—a
mysterious “holy man”—
who she believes has the
power to heal her son.
 Nobles fear Rasputin’s
influence and murder him
 Army losing
effectiveness; people at
home are hungry and
unhappy

19. The March Revolution

20. First Steps
 In March 1917, strikes expand; soldiers refuse to
fire on workers.
 Most of the tension is caused by Nicholas II
personally taking command of the military in
World War I, and the war going so badly.

21. The Czar Steps Down
 March Revolution—protests become
uprising; Nicholas abdicates throne
 Duma establishes provisional, or
temporary government
 Soviets—committees of Socialist
revolutionaries—control many cities

22. Lenin Returns to Russia
 In April 1917,
Germans aid Lenin in
returning from exile to
Russia (pictured in
disguise with his
goatee shaved and
wearing a wig).

23. The Bolshevik Revolution

24. The Provisional Government Topples
 In November 1917, workers take control of
the government

25. Bolsheviks in Power
 Lenin gives land to peasants, puts
workers in control of factories
 Bolsheviks sign treaty with Germany;
Russia pulls out of World War I
 Treaty of Brest-Livoscks 1917

26. Civil War Rages in Russia
 Civil War between Bolsheviks’ Red Army
and loosely allied White Army
 Red Army wins three-year war that leaves
14 million dead

27. Comparing World Revolutions
 Russian and French Revolutions are
similar—both attempt to remake society
and use violence against citizens who
resist these changes.

28. Lenin Restores Order

29. New Economic Policy
 In March 1921, Lenin launches New
Economic Policy; has some capitalism
 NEP and peace restore economy
shattered by war and revolution
 By 1928, Russia’s farms and factories are
producing again

30. Political Reforms
 Lenin creates self-governing republics
under national government
 In 1922, country renamed Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.)
 Communist Party—new name taken by
Bolsheviks from the writings of Marx

31. Stalin Becomes Dictator

32. A New Leader
 Trotsky and Stalin
compete to replace
Lenin after Lenin’s
death
 Joseph Stalin—
Leon
Trotsky
cold, hard
Communist Party
general secretary
in 1922
Joseph Stalin

33.  Stalin gains power
from 1922 to 1927
 Lenin dies in 1924
 Stalin gains complete
power in 1928; Room where
Trotsky is forced into Trotsky was
murdered
exile. (above);
Trotsky’s
 Trotsky is murdered murderer,
in Mexico City in 1940 NKVD agent,
Romón
by an NKVD agent. Mercader
(right).