| Three objectives of Russian Revolution | Peace to nation, food to hungry, land to tiller |
| 1917 | Russian Revolution |
| Causes of Russian Revolution | i) Political Causes ii) Social and Economic causes iii) Russification iv) Role of intellectuals v) Bloody Sunday incident vi) Military causes |
| Political Causes of Russian Rev | Tsars; absolute control, Romanov Dynasty; Divine origin; corrupt, autocratic. Tsarina Alexandra and Rasputin interfered in administration and caused troubles. Duma (Parliament) was not consulted by the Tsars. |
| Social and Economic causes of Russian Rev | Two classes - Privileged and Unprivileged. Priv - Royal family, landlords and capitalists. Underpriv - common man, peasants. Majority = underpriv. Poverty. Serfdom abolished, but condition still bad. First agri, then ind rev. Capitalists wanted more workers, didn’t care about farms. Crops = low, price = more. Inflation. Starvation. Longer hours, low wages, bad working conditions at factories. |
| Role of intellectuals in Russian Rev | Karl Marx (Das Capital, Communist Manisfesto; Marxism), Fyodor Dostoevsky (Poor Folk), Leo Tolstoy(Anna Karenina, War and Peace), Maxim Gorky(Mother, Children of the sun), Turgenev (Fathers and Sons) Workers were inspired by socialism and marxism. Even prominent leaders like Lenin, Trotsky, Kautsky. Inspired Russians, made them question the rule of Tsars, freedom, meaning of life, fate, etc. They realized they didn’t want tyranny. Karl Marx’s call “Workers of the world unite, you have nothing to lose but your chains of slavery” inspired thousands of men and women. |
| Bloody Sunday Incident | Sunday, 22nd Jan, 1905. Father Gapan led huge rally of workers to meet Tsar at St Petersburg. Army opened fire. Caused resentment towards tsar |
| Military Causes of Russian Rev | Involvement in WW1. Lost and defeated by Japan, huge loss. Shattered image of Tsars being invincible. Disorganized, no proper strategies. Defeated in 1915 in WW1. |
| Tsar at the time of Russian revolution | Tsar Nicolas II. Tsarina Alexandra |
| Rasputin | |
| Ruling dynasty at the time of Russian Revolution | Romanov Dynasty |
| Poor Folk | Fyodor Dostoevsky |
| Russification | Tsar Alexander III and Nicolas II. “One nation, one language, one church, one Tsar”. Poles, Finns, Jews were subjected to this |
| Course of revolution | - influenced by Marxism, organised Workmen’s Social Democratic Party. Split into two - Bolsheviks by Lenin (extremes) and Mensheviks by Alexander Karensky (moderate). - 1915 defeated in WW1. So wanted to overthrow Tsar regime. 1916 - Rasputin killed. Tsar dissolved Duma and arrested its members. Negligent of admin = food supply low. March 8 1917 - Woman workers started at protest at Petrograd for food. Next day more workers joined the rally. Call for general protest on Mar 10. Soldiers ordered to fire; disobeyed and expressed support to the people. Nicolas II abdicated throne March 15th. Provisional govt est. by Mensheviks headed by Alexander Karensky. March Revolution / Menshevik Revolution. Freedom of speech,religion, and press, liberal reforms. Provisional govt cont participating in wwi. Suffered setback. People lost faith. Bolshevik challenged on 15th October 1917. Won October 25th. October Revolution. Used force and red army to help the people get their aspirations, land, peace and security. USSR formed. Lenin head. |
| Workmen’s Social Democratic Party | |
| 1914 | Join war |
| 1915 | Lose at WWI |
| 1916 | Rasputin Killed |
| March 8th 1917 | Women workers rally at Petrograd |
| March 9th 1917 | More workers join rally |
| March 10th 1917 | General protest |
| March 15th 1917 | Tsar Nicolas II abdicates throne. Mensheviks form provisional govt headed by Karensky. March Revolution |
| October 15th 1917 | Bolsheviks challenged Mensheviks govt |
| October 25th 1917 | Bolshevik under Lenin come to power. USSR formed, October revolution |
| Results of Russian revolution | 1) Fall of Tsar and autocratic rule 2)Formation of USSR 3)Spread of communism 4)Conditions of workers and peasants improved because of New Economic Policy. 5)Tremendous progress, became powerful nation |
