Immediate Cause SLMS/11

The Wake of Bloody Sunday World War I

•After Bloody Sunday, the Czar •At the start of World War I, Russia had a
was forced to grant the people massive army of 5 million men. However,
of Russia political due to Russia’s lack of industrial
representation in the form of a development and disrupted supply lines, the
Duma — or parliament. soldiers were poorly equipped.
•However, the Duma was often ignored by •Frequently, soldiers at the front had no
the Czar, or worse, was actually dissolved weapons or ammunition, and they were
by the Czar. Therefore it had little power, encouraged to take whatever weapons they
and almost no ability to effect political could find off of dead bodies.
change. •Likewise, Russian soldiers rarely
•The people of Russia continued to have no had enough to eat, and were forced
say in government, and limited freedoms of to forage for their food.
speech, press and religion. •As if these conditions weren’t bad
enough, the Russian army was led
Riots and Protests by a series of incompetent generals who
could not devise an effective way to deal
•At home, inflation skyrocketed as the with the better supplied German army.
Russian government printed money in •By the end of 1916, the Russians had lost
order to finance the war. The cost of 1.6 million men, with 2 million as prisoners
products went up, but wages did not, and of war and another 1 million missing for a
the people of Russia, who already suffered staggering total of nearly 5 million.
from terrible conditions, were forced to
endure food shortages.
Abdication
•Peasants began hoarding grain, and using a
barter system since they could not get •By February 1917, the protests were so
enough money for their harvests. By early widespread that the Czar was forced to
1917, riots broke out in St. abdicate (give up) his throne. On March 15,
Petersburg and Moscow, as 1917 (the ides of March), the Czar
food became scarce and signed his letter of abdication.
residents began starving. •This represented the first phase
•People broke into granaries (storage places of the revolution, and is
for grain) to steal stored food that the commonly referred to as the
government had stockpiled. Police officials February revolution.
sent to stop the riots often ended up joining •The Duma assumed ruling duties for the
the rioters, as they, too, were hungry. country temporarily until a constitution
•As word of the growing protests spread, could be written and a government created.
thousands soldiers deserted the army daily Alexander Kerensky led the Duma and
in order to go home and protect their headed what would be known as the
families. Provisional Government.
 The Bolshevik Revolution SLMS/11

The October Revolution Desperate for Peace

•By October 1917, the Bolshevik •The Bolsheviks had promised peace,
leaders had decided it was time to and they wasted no time negotiating
act, and they organized a secret an end to World War I for Russia.
plot to overthrow the government. •The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was
•Small groups of Bolsheviks seized signed in March 1918, and it was costly for
control of government buildings, telephone Russia. They gave up an enormous amount
& telegraph buildings, railroad stations, of land (which housed 25% of their overall
electric plants, and other transportation population), and 90% of their coal mines.
stations in St. Petersburg (and later in
Moscow). By holding the main buildings of The Civil War (1918-1921)
these cities, they essentially held the •By November 1917, the Bolsheviks had con-
government hostage and demanded they trol of the major cities in Russia, and had
relinquish power. various soviets scattered throughout the
•The Provisional government, unsure of their nation, but were far from controlling the en-
police or army support, relinquished power tirety of the world’s largest country.
to the Bolsheviks. Kerensky fled the •Opposition to the Bolsheviks was
country. strong and scattered throughout
the nation. Their opponents were
The Red Scare
known as ‘The Whites’ and included
•The victory of the Bolsheviks and the es- upper and middle classes, many
tablishment of a communist government in peasants, and foreign countries.
Russia launched an era known in the West •Since the Bolsheviks were communist, their
as the ’red scare’. supporters were known as ‘The Reds’, and
•In the Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx had their army was the Red Army. (Red is the
written about a world-wide com- color of revolution and often associated
munist revolution, and many west- with communism.)
ern democratic nations feared that •The Civil War was fought for control of
Russia would attempt to forcibly Russia. Foreign countries like the USA,
spread communism. Britain & France sent troops to defeat the
•The worsening economic situation in Eu- Reds because communism was considered a
rope and the Americas contributed to the major threat to world political stability.
red scare. As banks failed, unemployment •During the war, the Bolsheviks
soared and economies went into depression, killed the Czar & his whole
the ranks of communist parties in many family so that they could not
countries swelled. People sought economic serve as a rallying point for his
and political alternatives to the status quo. ’white’ supporters.
•Many western government officials imag- •Overall, the Whites suffered from a lack of
ined communist plots were everywhere. good leadership, and lost to the Reds.