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Russia At War 1914-17

Awesome Stuff

This is a little toondo i made (yes toondo again :D ). As you can see above it shows the general talking about how they do not support Tsar Nicholas anymore via telegram and they caught news of him coming back to Petrogad. The revolutionaries and some soldiers went to go arrest and force Tsar Nicholas to abdicate his position and well, he did. Enjoy!



I got a picture of Vladimir Lenin because I thought he was a pretty awesome character that was involved in the Russian Revolution. He stirred things up and caused many revolutions and would just run away while everything blows over and come back to take control. I have read far into the textbook and I read a bit about him and he is a pretty interesting character really.

Citation: Web. 20 Oct 2010. .

Early Defeat · Russia decided to enter war against Germany. This was a very popular decision as people thought the war was going to be short and exciting for the soldiers. · Two huge Russian armies attacked Germany by the end of August 1914. While they were supposed to have won as they outnumber one German army force, the Russian army was terribly led and horribly equipped. More than a million soldiers did not have rifles and many did not have boots to wear either. · Over 250,000 men were lost during the first six weeks of war and by the end of 1914 over a million men were lost as they were killed, wounded, or taken prisoner.

The Collapse Of The Economy · When the war continued into 1915, Russia was suffering economically and was collapsing. · Russia lacked enough workers to keep factories working, and since 15.5 million men were taken to become soldiers, the workers working in factories halved and in 1915 nearly 600 factories closed because of insufficient workers. Farms also suffered as fields where crops used to grow had weeds growing out. · Because Russia was so vast and massive, the trade, food, and raw material relied on transportation such as trains. There were not enough trains to send materials to both the soldiers as well as the towns-people and thousands of tones of butter, meat and grains were left rotting in the railway sidings in the country side while the people become hungry and this was simply because there were not enough trains. · Russia’s money, the Rouble, began to lose its value in 1914 and at the same time food prices were rising. · Russia suffered defeat after defeat and by the end of 1915 300,000 Russians were dead with three million either wounded or taken prisoner in enemy prison camps.

Dark Forces Destroying The Throne · In August 1915 Tsar Nicholas decided to take personal command of the army and left Petrogad and went to live in the army headquarters. It was big mistake as he left Alexandra in charge of the government and she was under complete influence of Rasputin. · From August 1915 to the end of 1916 Alexandra was able to do whatever she wanted or liked and she used her power to sack ministers who displeased her and replaced them with people she and Rasputin liked. During the time Alexandra took over there were four different prime ministers, five ministers of the interior, four ministers of agriculture, three ministers of war and two ministers of foreign affairs. · With so many ministers being changed, the government work came to a halt. Food and ammunition were already in short supply but now they were almost unobtainable. While the Russian army was able to win some major victories in 1916, the death toll of Russian soldiers continued to rise in 1916 until it went over one million. · Back at Petrogad, rumours began to pop up about Alexandra and Rasputin. Since they are both German, the people of Russia began to think that they were secret agents trying to destroy Russia. They decided that it was because of them that Russia was defeated and losing in so many battles. Because of this, during December 1916 three nobles loyal to the Tsar murdered Rasputin. · People began to rejoice after the death of Rasputin, but even though Rasputin was killed things did not improve for the people. When 1917 started it brought blizzards and temperatures as low as 35 degree Celsius below zero. More than a thousand railway engines froze and burst their boilers. Food supplies and material dwindled to nothing and as the people froze, conditions became right for revolution.

The Revolution Of March 1917 · During March 1917 long series of events happened and eventually added up to a full-scale revolution. This was what happened. · During Wednesday March 7th the manager of the giant Putilov steel works locked out their 20,000 workers after pay talks broke down. The 20,000 workers, who were tough, angry and were jobless, went on strike and workers from other factories went on strike as well to support the steel workers. · On Thursday March 8th, fifty factories closed down from the incident that happened the day before and 90,000 workers went on strike. Since it was the International Women’s Day there were also thousands of socialist women on the streets demonstrating. · Friday March 9th. 200,000 workers are now on strike. One half of the industrial workers of Petrogad are on strike and the workers go to the factory in the morning not for work, but to hold meetings. Throughout the entire day crowds of people poured from one part of the city to the other. They were constantly attempted to be stopped by the police and the cavalry and occasionally the infantry. · On Saturday March 10th 250,000 workers were on strike now. There is no longer any public transport and no newspapers. Food shortages continue and later in the day when the Cossacks were ordered to break up the strikers they refused and did not do anything. · On Sunday March 11th the president of the Duma, Michael Rodzianko, sent Nicholas a telegram informing him of the situation in Petrogad. Nicholas completely ignored the telegram and simply told him to stop meeting at the Duma. · On Monday March 12th, at six o clock in the morning a mutiny began with a sergeant shooting his officer dead in the Volinsky Regiment. The soldier left the barracks and marched to the center of Petrogad. During this time the Duma held a meeting and created the Provincial Committee to govern Russia. At the same time the revolutionaries once again set up their Soviet and wanted it to govern Russia. · On Tuesday March 13th Nicholas sent a deletgram to the Duma saying that he would share power with the Duma. But Michael Rodzianko replied that the offer was useless and that it would not change anything. · On Wednesday March 14th the leading army general sent telegrams to Nicholas telling him that none of the army supported him anymore. Nicholas tried to go back to Petrogad and abandoned his army headquarters. · Thursday March 15th was when Nicholas, while travelling via train back to Petrogad, was stopped by revolutionaries and forced him to abdicate. Nicholas at first intended on giving the throne to Alexis, but realizing the state he was in, he gave the seat to his brother, Grand Duke Michael. Grand Duke Michael feared he would be as unpopular as his brother and he abdicated within twenty-four hours. Russia then became a republic, but the question remains whether the provincial committee or the petrogad soviet will govern Russia?

The Provincial Government

Two New Governments · The Provincial Government decided to govern Russia for a short time until election would come and then they would resign · At the same time, the Petrogad Soviet, aimed to protect the interest of working people and soldiers. They challenged the Provincial Government in trying to be the real government of Russia. · The first action of the Petrogad Soviet was issuing the order to the armed forces known as Order No. 1. It meant that soldiers and sailors must set up committees to take control of all arms, ammunition and equipment. Also off-duty soldiers were not to solute their officers and only need to address them as Mister Colonel or Mister General. · The Order No. 1 was obeyed by all parts of the army and the navy and it showed that they were with the Petrogad Soviet instead of the Provincial Government.

Lenin And The April Theses · Lenin, still exiled in Switzerland, disagreed with the revolutionaries for agreeing or co-operating with the Provincial Government for the time being and he wanted another revolution. · Lenin managed to get back home with the help of the Germans because they know he would cause some trouble within Russia and that it would help them in the war. · Lenin reached Petrogad on April 16th 1917 and he made a speech to the Bolsheviks and that there must be an end to the war with Germany. He also stated that all land must be given to peasants and that all banks are nationalized. He also wanted to change the name of the Bolsheviks to Communists and said no support must go to the Provincial Government. The ideas later became known as April Theses. · The return of Lenin shocked the Bolsheviks and they did not want another revolution because they thought it was too soon. In June 1917 the Russian army made a major attack on Austria but they had failed terribly and were on the retreat. Soldiers abandoned their armies in large numbers and many went back to Petrogad to join the Bolsheviks. The Bolsheviks and the soldiers demanded an end to the Provincial Government and demanded that the Bolsheviks should sieze power. After a three day riot known as the July Days, Alexander Kerensky , the Minister Of War, sent troops to Petrogad and from July 16 to 17 they attempted to break up mobs and killed and wounded 400 of the people. Kerensky claimed that the Bolsheviks were paid by the Germans to cause trouble in Russia and that Lenin was a German agent. Kerensky ordered his arrest but Lenin once again fled and was exiled in Finland. Other Bolsheviks were arrested and put in prison.

The Kornilov Revolt · Alexander Kerensky became the Prime Minister of the Provincial Government and he was instantly faced with the Commander-In-Chief of the armies, general Kornilov. Kornilov believed a strong man should lead Russia and that he should be in charge. So he decided to get rid of the Petrogad Soviet and to arrest the revolutionaries and to take control of the Provincial Government. · Kornilov had the best rebel troops in Russia, the Salvage Division from the Caucasus Mountains and also the Cossacks. He sent his men to Petrogad to get rid of the Provincial Government and it seems that their revolt will be successful. · Kerensky allowed the Bolsheviks to set up a new defense force called the Red Guards. Within a few days 25,000 Bolsheviks armed with weaponry such as the rifle and machine guns were setup in the streets. But Kornilov’s troops refused to fight the fellow workers and Kornilov was soon arrested. · As a result of the arrest, The Bolsheviks became heroes and had saved the Provincial Government and it also showed that they were not German agents after all. · By October 1917 the Bolsheviks were more powerful than they ever were and again they considered attempting a second revolution against the Provincial Government.

The Bolshevik Revolution Of November 1917

The State Of Russia In September 1917 · During the summer of 1917 peasants began to take the land they grow food on and they killed their landlords because they waited for the Provincial Government to give the land but they failed to do so. · More than 2000 farm’s peasants killed their landlords and divided the land amongst them. · Kerensky tried to stop the peasants by sending soldiers on Punishment Expeditions, where the soldiers wiped peasants and burned down their houses. But Kerensky did not find enough loyal soldiers and many areas still had violence between peasants and the landlords. · The violence had delayed the harvest on many farms and this led to food shortage. Now the people of Russia faced the threat of winter with famine. · In the armies discipline was breaking down and the Order No. 1 caused many soldiers to disobey the orders given by the officers. Thousands of soldiers continued to desert from the army and most would go back to their village. The Bolsheviks encouraged the army to lay down their firearms and give up the fighting. This caused drunkenness, chaos, and violence in the army. In many parts of the front line soldiers would roll live grenades into the officer’s quarter to amaze themselves.

The November Revolution · In October 1917 Lenin returned to Russia after going to hide out in Finland. At a Bolshevik meeting he stated that they should begin revolution immediately. · The Bolsheviks prepared to stage an armed uprising against the Provincial Government and Leon Trotsky, the Bolshevik chairman of the Petrogad Soviet, drew up plans and set a headquarter in the Smolny Institute. · The army said it would support the Bolsheviks and the guards of the Peter and Paul fortress gave al the rifles in the fortress to the Bolsheviks. On November 6th the red guards were armed with rifles and were ready to for action. They seized all the important locations in Petrogad and then in the morning of November 7th they took over government buildings, the power station and the railway stations. · In the evening of November 7th a cruiser, the Aurora, sailed up the river Neva and fired blank shells at the Winter Palace, the meeting place and headquarters of the Provincial Government. The red guards stormed the palace and the men protecting the place gave up instantly. The ministers of the Provincial Government surrendered and were arrested. · The Bolsheviks now controlled Russia and had control of Petrogad. The next day Lenin stated he was setting up a new government and the Bolsheviks, after a single day of rebelling, had power in which only eighteen people were arrested and two were killed.

Summary During The time between 1914-1917 there were series of revolts. At first Tsar Nicholas goes to war against Germany but the Russian army suffered defeat over and over. The economy of Russia continued to sink and Rasputin was killed because he was believed to be a German agent attempting to destroy Russia. Starting on March 1917 a series of events happened where workers went on strike and everything closed down with Nicholas being arrested and abdicated and Russia becomes Republic. The Provincial Government and the Petrogad Soviet struggled to gain power in Russia and Lenin wanted the Bolsheviks to take over and defeat the Provincial Government. After a series of violent events the Bolsheviks finally took over with the Provincial Government crushed and the Bolsheviks now controls Petrogad as well as Russia.

Question Why was Rasputin assassinated and who killed him? What was the Russian currency and what was happening to it during 1914? Describe the April Theses, who was involved, and what did the Bolsheviks thought about it? Who was general Kornilov, what was his motives, what important thing did he control, and what ultimately happened to him? Who were the Red Guards and who allowed them to be set up?