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Russia in Revolution
There was a revolution in Russia in February 1917.
There were some long term reasons for the revolution which had made
people increasingly angry:
Russia was an autocracy. This meant that the Tsar had
total power. Although there was a parliament, the Duma, it had little
influence and could only criticise the Tsar's government. Some politicians
wanted to make Russia more democratic.
Nicholas was a weak and incompetent ruler. He allowed
himself to be influenced by people who did not want any changes to take
place in Russia.
In Russia there were huge differences between the rich
and the poor. About four-fifths of the population were peasants many
of whom could not read or write. In the towns workers were squashed
into very poor accommodation. Political parties tried to make use of
these conditions.
There were a number of terrorist groups which used violence.
One was the Bolsheviks led by Lenin. In 1881, Nicholas' grandfather,
Tsar Alexander II, was murdered. In 1911 the prime minister, Peter Stolypin,
was murdered.
The Tsar's government used violence against the people;
Stolypin had 9,000 people executed. If there were disturbances in the
streets the government would use Cossacks (soldiers from southern Russia)
to break up the crowds. Many people were killed.
There were also some short term reasons, these developed in the years
before 1917:
The Tsar's wife came under the influence of Gregory Rasputin.
She was already unpopular because she was a German, but her connection
with Rasputin made things even worse.
The Tsar kept dismissing the Duma and then changing its
organisation; this made people think that they could not trust him.
But the most important reason was that Russia became
involved in the First World War.
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How the First World War affected Russia?
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The Russian armies were very
badly defeated by the German army. Millions of Russian soldiers were
captured or killed.
Russian industry could not produce enough war materials.
Soldiers went into battle without weapons and were told to pick up rifles
from their comrades who were killed.
The Russian railway network was very poor and it could
not get food to the cities. Prices rose and people began to starve in
the big cities of Petrograd and Moscow.
To make matters worse the Tsar dismissed the commander-in-chief
of the army in 1915 and took command himself. This was a terrible mistake.
Now he got the blame for everything that went wrong.
When Nicholas left Petrograd for the front, he relied
on information about the situation in the capital from his wife. She
often did not tell the truth and made out that everything was fine.
In fact by late 1916 the situation was desperate.
In December 1916 Rasputin was murdered by Russian nobles,
and in February 1917 workers in Petrograd began to go on strike. Soldiers
sent to deal with the strikers refused to obey orders.
The Tsar tried to return to Petrograd, but his train
was stopped. He was forced to abdicate and a Provisional Government
took over.
The Bolsheviks were able to seize power in October 1917.
The Provisional Government
was only meant to be temporary. It was there to govern Russia until
a general election was held. The Provisional Government did not want
to take any major decisions.
The Provisional Government did not end the war with Germany,
which many Russians wanted them to do. This was because the Provisional
Government did not believe that it could take decisions like this as
it had not been elected. It also needed the support of the Petrograd
Soviet. This was a committee of Soldiers and Workers which was set up
soon after the Provisional Government. It represented the workers of
Petrograd.
The Bolsheviks were well organised and well led by Lenin
and Trotsky. Lenin supplied the leadership and Trotsky organised the
military take-over. He became the chairman of the Military Committee
of the Petrograd Soviet in September 1917.
The leader of the Provisional Government, Alexander Kerensky,
became more and more unpopular; he also did not take the threat from
the Bolsheviks very seriously.
The Provisional Government lost the support of the Army
in August and this led to the Kornilov Revolt. General Kornilov believed
that the new prime minister, Alexander Kerensky, was going to seize
power himself and tried to arrest him. Kerensky had to ask the Bolsheviks
to defend him. This meant that they realised just how weak the Provisional
Government really was. The Bolsheviks had tried to seize power in July
(the July Days), but had failed. Now Lenin was sure they could succeed.
On the night of 25th October 1917 the Bolsheviks seized control of the
Winter Palace in Petrograd almost without firing a shot. No one was
ready to fight for the Provisional Government.
The factors that let to the outbreak of Civil War in
Russia in 1918.
As soon as he gained power,
Lenin made clear what he intended to do. A "Land Decree" was
issued which said that land now belonged to the people who farmed it.
This was followed by the "Peace Decree", which stated that
the war with Germany was over.
These decrees were intended to win support for the Bolsheviks,
but Lenin's plans did not work. When a general election was held in
November, the Bolsheviks came second to the Socialists-Revolutionaries.
Lenin's response was simple. When the new Russian Parliament, the Constituent
Assembly, met on 5th January, it was dispersed and Lenin began to rule
as a dictator.
Other political parties were banned, newspapers were
censored and a secret police force was set up, the Cheka, led by Felix
Dzherzhinsky. They enforced Lenin's ideas and thousands of people were
murdered.
The property and land of the Russian Orthodox Church
was seized.
All businesses and banks were taken over.
In March 1918 a peace treaty with Germany was signed
at Brest-Litovsk. Russia left the First World War. All the loans, which
the Allies had given to Russia, were repudiated.
Lenin made many enemies and they all came together to try to overthrow
the new Bolshevik government. Britain, France and the USA, who landed
troops in northern Russia in 1918, supported them. The Poles, Ukrainians
and Cossacks also tried to win independence. Together these forces were
known as the Whites. But the Reds, as the Bolsheviks were called, were
better equipped and had more men. Many Russians did not want a return
to rule by the Tsar. By 1920, the White armies had all been defeated
and the Bolsheviks controlled Russia.
So began the Communist dictatorship of Russia, which was to last for
seventy-four years.
Summary
On 2nd March 1917, Nicholas
II, the Tsar of Russia, abdicated. His family had ruled Russia for nearly
three hundred years, but their demise occurred in a matter of days.
Nicholas tried to pass the throne on to his brother Michael, but he
refused and also abdicated on 3rd March. The situation in Russia was
so bad that Michael could see no future for the royal family.
Answer
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Why was
there a revolution in Russia in February 1917?
How
did the First World War affect Russia?
Why were
the Bolsheviks able to seize power in October 1917?
What factors
let to the outbreak of Civil War in Russia in 1918?
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