2.

Russia and the Revolutions,

1900-1924.
 1. Introduction

 In the early years of the twentieth century,

Russia was in a troubled state.
 Nichollas II, who was Tsar (emperor) from
1894 until 1914, insisted on ruling as autocrat
(someone who rules the country as sees fit,
without being responsible to a parliament),
but had failed to deal adequately with the
country’s many problems.
 Introduction continues
• Thus, unrest and criticism of the government reached a
climax in 1905 with the Russian defeats in the war
against Japan (1904-05); there was a general strike and
an attempted revolution, which forced Nicholas to make
concessions (the October manifesto).
• These included the granting of an elected parliament
(the Duma).
• When it became clear that the Duma was ineffective,
unrest increased and culminated, after a disastrous
Russian defeats in the first WWI, in two revolutions,
both in 1917.
 Introduction continues
The first revolution (February/March) overthrew
the Tsar and set up a moderate provisional
government. When this coped no better than the
Tsar, it was itself overthrown by a second
uprising:
 The Bolshevik revolution (October/November)
 The new Bolshevik government was shaky at first
and its opponents (known as the whites) tried to
destroy it, causing a bitter civil war (1918-1920).
 Introduction continues
 Thanks to the leadership of Vladimir Lenin and
Leon Trotsky, the Bolsheviks (Reds) won the
civil war, and, now calling themselves
communists, were able to consolidate their
power.
 Lenin began the task of leading Russia to
recovery, but he died prematurely in January
1924.
After 1905: Were the Revolutions of 1917
inevitable?
(a) Nicholas II tries to stabilize his regime
Nicholas survived the 1905 revolution because:
 his opponents were not united
 there was no central leadership (it was a
spontaneous revolution).
 he had been willing to compromise at the
critical moment by issuing the October
Manifesto, promising concessions;
 After 1905 continues
 most of the army remained loyal

 With the above mentioned factors Nicholas

bought himself time to make a constitutional
monarchy work and to throw himself on the
side of the people demanding moderate
reforms which included the following:
 improvements in industrial working conditions
and pay;
 After 1905 continues
 cancellation of redemption payments.
 more freedom for the press
 Genuine democracy in which the Duma would
play an important part in running the country.
 Unfortunately, Nicholas was not genuine in all
these reforms demanded by the October
Manifesto. He only agreed to them because
he had no other choice.
 After 1905 continues
For example;
 The first Duma (1906) was not democratically elected;
 The second Duma (1907) suffered the same fate.
 The third Duma (1907-12) and the fourth Duma
(1912-17) were much more conservative and lasted
longer. However, on occasion when they criticized the
government they were rendered powerless because
the Tsar controller the Ministers and the secret police.
Read more as to why this situation was allowed to
happen for so long?
 After 1905 continues
(b) Strengths of the regime
1. The Govt seemed to recover remarkably
quickly. Peter Stolypin, Prime Minister from
1906 to 1911, introduced strict repressive
measures. Provide examples of his
repressive measures.
2. As more factories came under the control of
inspectors, there were signs of improvement
working conditions. Provide examples
 After 1905 continues
3. In 1908, a programme was announced to
bring about universal education within ten
years; by 1914 an extra 50 000 primary schools
had been opened.
4. At the same time, the revolutionary parties
seemed to have lost heart, they were short of
money, torn by disagreements and their leaders
were still in exile.
 After 1905 continues
(c ) Weaknesses of the regime
1. Failure of the land reforms
2. Industrial unrest
3. Government repression
4. Revival of the revolutionary parties
5. The royal family discredited
(d) The verdict?
Historians have debated the issue whether the
revolution against the Tsar government of
Nicholas II was bound to happen even if Russia
did not join WWI or that WWI itself provided
fertile grounds for the revolution.
What is your view regarding this same issue?
 After 1905 continues
(e) War failure made revolution certain.
Discuss how the Russian war failures made the
revolution certain? The same principles as in (d)
applies. [two pages only.]
 The Two Revolutions: February/March
and October/November 1917
• The Revolutions are still known in Russia as the
February and October Revolutions.
• This was due to the old Julian calendar which was
13 days behind the Gregorian calendar used by the
rest of Europe.
• Russia only adopted the Gregorian calendar in
1918.
• Homework! Give the exact dates when the two
revolutions took place on each of the two calendar.
 (a) The February Revolution
• The First Revolution began on 23 February
when bread riots broke out in Petrograd (St.
Petersburg).
• The Strikers were quickly joined by thousands
of strikers from a nearby armaments factory.
• The Tsar sent orders to the troops to use force
in order to end it. 40 people were killed.
• However, soon thereafter there was a mutiny.
• Mobs seized the opportunity by occupying
public buildings, releasing prisoners from jails
and took over police stations and arsenals.
• The Duma advised Nicholas to set up a
constitutional monarchy but he refused. He sent
more troops to Petrograd to try to restore order.
• At this point the Duma and army generals got
convinced that Nicholas had to go and that he
should renounce the throne.
• On 2nd March, Nicholas II, the Tsar abdicated
the throne in favour of his brother, the Grand
General Duke Michael.
• Michael refused the throne and thus the
Russian monarchy came to end.
• Homework! Was it a revolution from above or
below?
 (b) The Provisional government.
• Most People expected the tsarist government to be
replaced with a democratic republic with an elected
parliament.
• However, the struggling Duma set up a mainly
liberal provisional govt with Prince George Lvov as
Prime Minister.
• In July, he was replaced by Alexander Kerensky, a
moderate socialist.
• However, the new Govt was perplexed by the
enormous problems facing it as the Tsar had been.
• Thus, on the night of 25 October, a second
revolution took place, which overthrew the
provisional govt and brought the Bolsheviks to
power.
 (C ) Why did the provisional government
fall from power?
1. It took the unpopular decision to continue the
war.
2. The Govt had to share power with the
Petrograd Soviet.
3. The government lost support because it
delayed elections.
4. And failure in fulfilling promises on land
reforms.
5. Lenin was able to return to Russia from exile.
6. There was increasing economic chaos.
7. The Government lost popularity because of
the July days.
8. The Kornilov affair embarrassed the
government.
9. In mid-October, urged on by Lenin, the
Petrograd soviet took the crucial decision to
attempt to seize power
(d ) Was it a Coup or a Mass insurrection?
Four Interpretations
1. The Official Interpretation
2. The traditional liberal interpretation
3. The libertarian interpretation
4. Revisionist interpretations
 (e) Lenin and the Bolsheviks consolidate
their control
• The Bolsheviks were in control in Petrograd as a
result of their coup, but some places the take over
was not so smooth as there was extended fighting
(Until November).
• The Rural areas were difficult to deal with.
• Peasants were in favour of the social revolutionaries
who promised them land. The Bolsheviks appeared
to have favoured the Industrial workers.
• Because of this complexities, few people expected
the Bolshevik govt to last long.
 How successfully did Lenin and the Bolshevik
deal with their problems (1917-24)?
These Problems were;
a) Lack of Support.
b) The war with Germany
c) The drifts towards violence
d) The ‘Red Terror’
e) The Civil War
f) The effects of the civil war.
g) Lenin and the economic problems.
h) Political problems were dealt with decisively
 a) Lack of support.

• They knew that they lacked the majority support in

the country as a whole. The problem was then how
to remain in power and yet allow free elections?
 He nationalised land and distributed it to the
peasants.
 He lost the elections but never handed power to the
SRs. He used force to disperse them.
 He rather appointed a 15 all-Bolshvik member
cabinet with himself as Chairman.
 b) The War with Germany
• The next pressing question was how to
withdraw from the WWI. Since December
1917, the central powers never yielded to
Russia’s demand of the armistice.
• It eventually culminated into a The Treaty of
Brest-Litovsk (March 1918) which was cruel
against Russia.
• Russia lost so much in this Treaty; Give
examples of what Russia lost.
 c) The drift towards violence
• After the October Revolution, the Bolshevik
increasingly resorted to coercion in order to
get things done and to stay in power.
• This raises the question, much debated by
historians, of whether Lenin had the Violent
intentions from the beginning, or whether he
was pushed into these policies against his will
by the difficult circumstances.
• Soviet historians played down the violence
with a justification that circumstances became
increasingly difficult.
• Traditional liberal historian reject this
interpretation as they believed that Lenin and
Trotsky were committed to violence from the
beginning.
 d) The Red Terror
• Whatever the intentions of the Bolshevik were, there
is no doubt that violence and terror became
widespread.
• The Red Army was used to enforce the procurement
of grain from peasant who were thought to have
surpluses.
• During 1918, the Cheka suppressed 245 peasant
uprising and 99 in the first half of 1919.
• Cheka official figures show that during this period
3000 peasants were killed and 6300 executed
• One of the worst incidents of terror was the
murder of the ex-Tsar Nicholas and his family.
 e) The Civil War
• By April 1918, armed opposition to Bolshevik
was breaking out in many areas, leading to
civil war.
• The opposition was mixed bag, consisting of
SRs, Mensheviks, ex-Tsarist officers and any
other groups which did not like the Bolsheviks
for their terrors and way of government.
• How did the Lenin and the Bolsheviks survive
all these?
 f) The Effects of the Civil War
• The war was a terrible tragedy for the Russian People.
Recounts their losses in the civil war.
• At the end of the war, important changes had taken place in
the communist regime. Economically it became more
centralised, as state control was extended over all areas of the
economy.
• Politically, however, the regime became militarised and even
brutallized
• The question that have occupied historians is whether it was
the crisis of the civil war which forced these changes on the
government, or whether they would have taken place anyway
because of communism.
 g) Lenin and the economic problems
• From early 1921, Lenin faced the formidable
task of rebuilding an economy shattered by the
WWI and Civil War.
• War Communism was unpopular with the
peasants.
• To win the support of the Peasants, Lenin came
up with New Economic Policy.
• There is a usual debate among historians about
Lenin’s motives and intentions
 h) Political Problems were solved
decisively
• Russia was now the world’s first communist state. It
became known as the USSR.
• Power was held by the Communists and no other parties
were allowed.
• The main problem for Lenin now was disagreement and
criticism within the Communist Party.
• In 1921, Lenin banned factionalism within the party.
• Thus so many party members were purged(expelled from
the party with the help of the Cheka (the secret police)
• The Politburo became a government in a government.
 Lenin – Evil Genius?
• a) Lenin remains a controversial figure.
 Was he a great stateman or a ruthless?
• b) Leninism and Stalinism
 Did Stalin continue Lenin’s legacy or did he
betray him?