RUSSIAN REVOLUTION NOTES
I. Economic Background
A. Mongols (1200’s)
1. Terrorists
2. Made Russian princes their vassals
a. Taxed for the Mongols
b. Learned how to get the most tax money
3. Became the pattern of control in Russia
B. Lack of capital
1. Because of extreme taxation there was not enough:
a. General capital for investment
b. Money for savings
2. Capital-intensive investment was needed for industrialization
C. Western nations stepped in to help
1. Had needed technological knowledge
2. Had needed investment capital
3. Later Lenin could say that Russia was a victim of economic
imperialism
II. Political background
A. Alexander II (1855-1881)
1. Emancipated the serfs in 1861
2. Allowed for elected local governments
3. Murdered
B. Alexander III (1881-1894)
1. Attacked any opposition
2. Appointed officials
3. Oppressed peasants
a. Still had no land
b. Continued heavy taxation
4. Russification
C. Nicholas II (1894-1917)
1. Continued father’s programs
2. October Manifesto of 1905
a. Guaranteed freedom of conscience, speech, assembly, and
the press
b. Duma was to be established
i. All laws were to be approved by the Duma, though it was basically a consultive body
ii. First Duma met May 10, 1906
A) Nicholas became frustrated with it
B) Revolutionaries had foreseen this and so mainly liberals had been elected
iii. Second through Fourth Dumas from 1907 to 1916
A) Second Duma had more radicals
B) Third and Fourth Dumas had more conservatives and reactionaries because of changes in the electoral system
3. Reactionary responses to people’s calls for rights with placement of troops throughout Russia
4. Entrance into WWI
a. Agriculture
i. Productivity suffered
ii. Trouble getting produce to cities
b. Soldiers ill-equipped to fight
i. Lack of needed industrial complex
ii. Inability to receive supplies from allies
D. Marxists exploited this situation
1. Socialist Revolutionary Party (SR’s)
a. Peasants
b. Some socialists
c. Some liberals
2. Social Democratic (Workers’) Party (SD’s)
a. Bolsheviks
i. Lenin
ii. Name meant “majority”
iii. Minority party
iv. Lenin-controlled
b. Mensheviks
i. Martov
ii. Name meant “minority”
iii. Majority party
iv. Party democracy
3. Intelligentsia
a. Many were for constitutional monarchy
b. Eventually moved toward revolutionary thought
4. Bolsheviks were only party with internal discipline to lead a
revolution
a. Mensheviks' party democray
i. Okrana--tsar’s secret police--inflitrated the party
ii. Damaged the party through its democracy
b. SR’s should have led a revolution
i. Represented the largest number of people
ii. Just prior to the Bolshevik Revolution there was a split
A) Moderates—Kerensky
B) Radicals—Chernov
5. Revolution of 1905
a. Bloody Sunday (January 9, 1905)
i. 1,000’s of workers, led by Father Gapon, marched on the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg
ii. Had a petition requesting:
A) 8-hour workday
B) Higher wages
C) Bill of rights
D) Universal education
iii. 20,000 troops barred the way, although the tsar was
not there
iv. Warning shots and cavalry charge dispersed the
crowd
v. 100’s were injured, over 100 were killed
b. Large numbers of unemployed were expelled from the city, further spreading the rumors of the incident
c. Strikes, mutinies, and other violent demonstrations followed
d. These culminated in October with 10 days of strikes, crippling the country
e. This led to the Nicholas’ October Manifesto
6. Soviets
a. Began as committees of workers in response to the
Revolution of 1905
b. Grew to include military and peasants
c. Lenin did not begin them, just used them
d. Trotsky was elected vice-chairman of the executive committee of the Petrograd Soviet
e. Response to the October Manifesto:
“So a constitution is granted. Freedom of assembly is granted but the assemblies are surrounded by the military. Freedom of speech is granted, but the censorship exists as before. Freedom of knowledge is granted, but the universities are occupied by troops. Inviolability of the person (freedom from arbitrary arrest and imprisonment) is granted, but the prisons are overflowing with the incarcerated . . . . A constitution is given, but the autocracy remains. Everything is given—and nothing is given.” Leon Trotsky
f. Bolsheviks gradually took control of the Petrograd Soviet
i. German army moved toward Petrograd in 1917
ii. Petrograd asked the Soviet to protect it
iii. Trotsky accepted the request, creating the Military Revolutionary Committee (War Revolutionary Committee)
g. Eventually soviets gained control in Moscow and other cities
h. It took civil war for the soviets to gain control of the
countryside
III. The Revolutions of 1917
A. First Revolution
1. February/March, 1917
2. Provisional Government
3. Prince George Lvov
4. Alexander Kerensky
B. July Insurrection
1. Soviets (workers) in Petrograd
a. Stormed the streets
b. Demanded revolution against the Provisional Government
2. The Bolsheviks didn't see it coming
a. Ran from it
b. They looked bad
c. Lenin went back into hiding in Finland in disgrace
d. Bolsheviks didn't like spontaneity
3. Ideal situation for Kerensky (moderate Socialist) to come to power
a. Links with the peasants and students
b. In Provisional Government and the soviets
c. Could have been the Washington of Russia
C. Kornilov Insurrection (August/September)
1. Kornilov
a. General at the front
b. Saw the chaos
c. Led a right-wing attempt on Petrograd
d. Revolt was stopped with aid from the Bolsheviks
2. Gave Soviets ideal opportunity for propaganda
3. Kerensky's mistakes
a. Didn't deal with land reform
b. Didn't end Russian involvement in WWI
i. Needed Western money
ii. Played into Lenin's hands
4. Petrograd Soviet swung toward the Bolsheviks
D. Second Revolution (October/November)
1. Led by Lenin and the Bolsheviks
a. In early 1917 Lenin was in Switzerland and Trotsky was in
NYC
b. They had not been in Russia for several years
c. Germany offered a private train to take Lenin and other revolutionaries from Switzerland into Russia (April, 1917)
i. Took advantage of chaos in Russia
ii. Train was sealed to make sure they arrived in Russia
2. November 6-7, 1917
a. Bolsheviks took telephone exchanges, railway stations, and electric plants
b. Warship Potemkin in Petrograd harbor pointed its guns at the Winter Palace, home of the Provisional Government
3. Congress of Soviets was hastily assembled
a. Pronounced the Provisional Government defunct
b. Created the Council of People's Commissars with Lenin as
its head
c. Trotsky--Commissar for Foreign Affairs
d. Stalin--Commissar for Nationalities
4. Kerensky fled
a. Eventually came to the US
b. Died in 1970 in NYC
5. Constituent Assembly
a. Long-awaited legislature elected by the people met in January, 1918
b. 9,000,000 votes had been cast for Bolshevik representatives
c. 21,000,000 votes had been cast for SR's (Kerensky's party)
d. Assembly surrounded and broken up on its second day by soldiers representing the people's commissars
e. Lenin had decided it should not exist because it would be "compromising with the malignant bourgeoisie"
6. Dictatorship of the proletariat was established
7. 2 months later, in March, the Bolsheviks renamed themselves the Communist Party
IV. The Aftermath
A. Political
1. Lenin
a. Through Treaty of Brest-Litovsk withdrew Russia from WWI
b. Created NEP to help the struggling communist economy
c. Died January 21, 1924
i. Attempted assassination in 1918 badly wounded him
ii. Several strokes in 1922 and 1923 left him semi-paralyzed and unable to speak or write
d. As he was dying, he warned his comrades to depose Stalin as Party Secretary
2. Trotsky
a. Lost post-Lenin power struggle with Stalin
b. Exiled from Russia in 1929
c. Fled Stalinist agents across Asia and Europe
d. Settled in Mexico where he was murdered in 1940
3. Stalin created his post-Lenin image and power through propaganda
and terror
B. Romanovs
1. Rasputin
a. "Holy man" who believed that more sinning led to a greater salvation
b. Presented to Empress Alexandra in 1905
c. She believed he was God's messenger
i. She was a convert to Russian Orthodoxy
ii. Rasputin could help her son, Alexis
d. Alexandra convinced Nicholas to listen to his advice
e. Nicholas went to the war front, leaving Alexandra in charge in Petrograd
i. She removed any officials who criticized Rasputin
ii. She discussed all important governmental decisions with him
f. Nobles saw the damage caused by Rasputin
i. Invited him to a party on December 17, 1916
ii. Used drugs, poison, and gun shots to try to kill him
iii. He was tied up and thrown into the river
2. Nicholas II was at the war front when he realized the Provisional Government had ended his government during the chaos at home
a. Boarded his train for Petrograd
b. Stopped by representatives of the Provisional Government
i. Warned him that railways were controlled by
revolutionaries
ii. Advised him to abdicate
c. He abdicated for himself and his son, Alexis, in favor of his brother, Michael (who declined)
d. Left the Provisional Government without a monarch
3. Royal family was put under house arrest
4. In the summer of 1917 they were deported, eventually arriving in Ekaterinburg under the control of the local soviet
5. The night of July 16, 1918, the family, doctor, and servants were
murdered
a. Advancing White army during the civil war
b. Fear that the royal family would become a symbol of anti-Communist resistance
15 March, 1917Abdication of Nicholas II
Nicholas II signed his abdication on 15 March 1917 (2 March, Julian Calendar), at 3.05 pm. The document was counter-signed by the Minister of the Imperial Court, and directed to the Chief of Staff.
The Russian original is also available.
In the days of the great struggle against the foreign enemies, who for nearly three years have tried to enslave our fatherland, the Lord God has been pleased to send down on Russia a new heavy trial. Internal popular disturbances threaten to have a disastrous effect on the future conduct of this persistent war. The destiny of Russia, the honor of our heroic army, the welfare of the people and the whole future of our dear fatherland demand that the war should be brought to a victorious conclusion whatever the cost. The cruel enemy is making his last efforts, and already the hour approaches when our glorious army together with our gallant allies will crush him. In these decisive days in the life of Russia, We thought it Our duty of conscience to facilitate for Our people the closest union possible and a consolidation of all national forces for the speedy attainment of victory. In agreement with the Imperial Duma We have thought it well to renounce the Throne of the Russian Empire and to lay down the supreme power. As We do not wish to part from Our beloved son, We transmit the succession to Our brother, the Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich, and give Him Our blessing to mount the Throne of the Russian Empire. We direct Our brother to conduct the affairs of state in full and inviolable union with the representatives of the people in the legislative bodies on those principles which will be established by them, and on which He will take an inviolable oath.
In the name of Our dearly beloved homeland, We call on Our faithful sons of the fatherland to fulfill their sacred duty to the fatherland, to obey the tsar in the heavy moment of national trials, and to help Him, together with the representatives of the people, to guide the Russian Empire on the road to victory, welfare, and glory. May the Lord God help Russia!
The English translation of the renunciation by Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich of the adoption of the supreme power:
Manifesto.
A heavy burden has been laid on me by my brother's will in transferring to me the imperial throne of All Russia at a time of unprecedented war and unrest among the people.
Inspired by the thought common to the whole nation, that the well-being of our homeland comes above all, I have taken the hard decision to accept supreme power only in the event that it shall be the will of our great people, who in nationwide voting must elect their representatives to a Constituent Assembly, establish a new form of government and new fundamental laws for the Russian State.
Therefore, calling on God's blessing, I ask all citizens of the Russian State to obey the provisional government which has been formed and been invested with complete power on the initiative of the State Duma, until a Constituent Assembly, to be convened in the shortest possible time on the basis of general, direct, equal, secret ballot, expresses the will of the people in its decision on a form of government.
Signed:
"MIKAEL".
Following is a Radio-Telegram sent by Alexander Kerensky to all the people of Russia.
I hereby announce:
On August 26 General Kornilov sent to me member of the State Duma Vladimir Lvov with a demand for the surrender of the Provisional Government of all civil and military power, so that he may form, at his personal discretion, a new government to administer the country. The authenticity of Deputy Lvov’s authorization to make such a proposal to me was subsequently confirmed by General Kornilov in his conversation with me by direct wire. Perceiving in the presentation of such demands, addressed to the Provisional Government in my person, a desire of certain circles of Russian society to take advantage of the grave condition of the State for the purpose of establishing in the country a regime opposed to the conquests of the revolution, the Provisional Government has found it indispensable:
To authorize me, for the salvation of our motherland, of liberty, and of our republican order, to take prompt and resolute measures for the purpose of uprooting any attempt to encroach upon the Supreme Power in the State and upon the rights which the citizens have achieved by the revolution.
I am taking all the necessary measures to protect the liberty and order of the country, and the population will be informed in due time with regard to such measures.
At the same time I order herewith:
1. General Kornilov to surrender the post of Supreme Commander to General Klembovsky, the Commander-in -Chief of the Northern Front which bars the way to Petrograd; General Klembovsky to assume temporarily the post of Supreme Commander, while remaining at Pskov.