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=__ Revolution in Russia Part 2 __=

AWESOME STUFF:
This is a portait of Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the Bolshevik. He was the mastermind of the 1917 November Revolution.

The storming of the Winter Palace in November 7, 1917. The Bolsheviks wanted to get rid of the Provisional Government, which had its headquarters in the Winter Palace.

media type="custom" key="7264899" These are specific events that occurred during the Revolution of March in 1917. This revolution led the Tsar Nicholas to abdicate his throne. This revolution also made Russia a republic instead of an autocracy

**Russia at War, 1914-17**

 * August 1914: Russia went to war
 * There were demonstrations that supported Tsar
 * Hatred of Germany spread
 * Nicholas renamed St Petersburg, Petrograd

__Early defeats:__
 * End of August 1914: Two huge Russian armies attacked Germany
 * The Russian armies were badly led and equipped
 * In battles at Tannenberg and the Masurian Lakes, both Russian armies were wiped out
 * At the end of 1914, Russians lost over one million men

__The collapse of the economy:__
 * Russian economy began to collapse
 * Problems:
 * Lack of workers -
 * Many young men were taken into the armies to fight
 * There were lack of workers working in the factories and the fields
 * Transport -
 * There were not enough trains to keep the armies and the townspeople with food and materials
 * Many factories were closed
 * Inflation -
 * Russian money began to lose its value in 1914 and food prices went up
 * People had not enough wages to buy enough food

__'Dark forces destroying the throne':__
 * August 1915: Nicholas decided to take personal command of his armies
 * He left Petrograd (St Petersburg) and went to live at army headquarters
 * He left Alexandra in charge of the government in Petrograd and she was completely under the influence of Rasputin
 * August 1915 to the end of 1916: Alexandra used her power and ran the government in Petrograd
 * Rumors spread that Alexandra and Rasputin were German agents, working to destroy Russia
 * People called them 'dark forces destroying the throne'
 * December 1916: three nobles loyal to the Tsar decided to destroy those 'dark forces' and murdered Rasputin
 * People were happy about Rasputin's death
 * Rasputin's death did not help Russia:
 * In the new year, 1917, the temperature was extremely low
 * Railway engines froze, supplies of grain, coal, etc dwindled
 * Conditions were bad and became right for revolution

**The Revolution of March 1917**

 * March 1917: Conditions in Russia grew worse
 * People's frustration turned into a full-scale revolution to overthrow the Tsar
 * From Wednesday 7 March to Sunday 11 March, people got wild and workers were on strike, Russia was in a state of anarchy
 * Tsar ordered the Duma to stop meeting
 * On Monday 12 March, despite the Tsar's order, the Duma held a meeting
 * They set up a twelve-man committee called the **Provisional Committee** to take over the government
 * Revolutionaries set up a **Soviet** (or council), of workers and soldiers in Petrograd
 * Petrograd Soviet wanted to take over the government
 * On Tuesday 13 March, Tsar Nicholas said that he would share power with the Duma but the Duma leader replied that there is no return
 * On Thursday 15 March, Nicholas tried to return to Petrograd but the revolutionaries halted his train and he agreed to abdicate
 * Nicholas gave the throne to Grand Duke Michael since Alexis was too ill
 * Grand Duke Michael feared that he might be just as unpopular as Nicholas, he abdicated right away
 * Russia was now a republic - a country governed not by a monarch but by an elected leader

**The Provisional Government**
__Two new governments:__
 * Russia's new government was the **Provisional Government** - twelve men committee that the Duma had set up on 12 March
 * The twelve men called themselves Provisional Government, which means that they would rule Russia until elections are held
 * It was the official government
 * There was an unofficial government, the **Petrograd Soviet** of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies
 * Aimed to protect the interests of working people and soldiers
 * The Petrograd Soviet issued an order to the armed forces - **Order No. 1**
 * This said that soldiers and sailors must set up committees to take control of all arms, ammunition and equipment
 * This shows that Petrograd Soviet took control of the armed forces not the Provisional Government
 * Most of the revolutionaries in the Soviet wanted to co-operate with the Provisional Government and to wait for the changes

__Lenin and the April These:__
 * During the March Revolution: Lenin (leader of the Bolsheviks) was exiled to Switzerland
 * He disagreed with the revolutionaries who worked for the Provisional Government
 * He wanted to get back to Russia to organize a second revolution
 * The lands between Switzerland and Russia were held by Germany and Austria (Russia's enemies in the Great War)
 * Germans were happy to help Lenin because they knew he would make trouble for the Provisional Government
 * They provided Lenin with food, money, and other supplies for him to cross Germany safely
 * Lenin arrived in Petrograd by Germans support
 * He made a speech to the Bolsheviks, saying that:
 * They must end war with Germany
 * All land must be given to the peasants
 * Banks must be nationalized
 * Bolsheviks should change their name to 'Communists'
 * No support must be given to the Provisional Government
 * These ideas are known as the **April Theses**
 * People thought that the time for the second revolution was not right
 * June 1917: Russian armies attacked Austria, however, the attack failed
 * Many soldiers left the armies and went to Petrograd to join the Bolsheviks and to demand an end to the Provisional Government
 * Soldiers and Bolsheviks shouted 'All Power to the Soviets!', roaming the streets
 * **July Days:** Alexandra Kerensky (minister of war) sent troops into Petrograd
 * 16 and 17 July: these troops broke up the mobs
 * Kerensky stated that Lenin was a German agent and that the Bolsheviks had been paid by the Germans to make trouble
 * Kerensky tried to arrest him but he fled

__The Kornilov Revolt__
 * Alexander Kerensky became the Prime Minister of the Provisional Government
 * General Kornilov (Commander-in-Chief of the armies) wanted to be in charge of Russia, believing that Russia needed a 'strong man'
 * He planned to get rid of the Petrograd Soviet and to take control of the Provisional Government so that he could fight with Germany
 * Kornilov had best troops in Russia - the Savage Division from the Caucasus mountains, and the Cossacks
 * He sent them to Petrograd to command them to get rid of the Provisional Government
 * Kerensky allowed the Bolsheviks to set up a defence force called the **Red Guards**
 * Kornilov's troops refused to fight against workers and Kornilov was soon arrested
 * The Bolsheviks saved the Provisional Government
 * They were not known as the German agents anymore
 * They were armed and trained
 * They got a majority in elections for the Petrograd Soviet
 * Bolsheviks began to think about carrying out a second revolution

**The Bolshevik Revolution of November 1917**

 * Kerensky and the Provisional Government gradually lost their power
 * Bolshevik got ready for a second revolution

__The state of Russia in September 1917:__
 * Summer of 1917: Peasants began to take control of the land
 * Many farms peasants killed their landlords and divided the land up among themselves
 * Kerensky tried to stop the peasants from seizing the land by sending soldiers on 'punishment expeditions' into the countryside
 * They whipped peasants and burned their homes
 * Kerensky needed more troops to do the work for him
 * Violence between landlords and peasants continued
 * This delayed the harvest on many farms
 * Led to food shortages
 * People faced winter, threatened by famine
 * Many soldiers were leaving the army to go back to their homes and to make sure they got their fair share of land
 * Bolsheviks encouraged soldiers to give up fighting
 * The army was chaotic

__The November Revolution:__
 * October 1917: Lenin returned to Petrograd
 * Lenin said to the Bolsheviks that they should begin a revolution immediately
 * Leon Trotsky (Bolshevik chairman of the Petrograd Soviet) drew up plans and set up headquarters in the **Smolny Institute** (disused school)
 * The armies supported the Bolsheviks
 * 6 November: Red Guards were armed and were ready to take actions
 * The Provisional Government had its headquarters in the **Winter Palace**, guarded by weak armies
 * 7 November: **Aurora** (a cruiser), which Bolsheviks had captured, sailed up the river Neva and opened fire on the Winter Palace
 * The Winter Palace was stormed by the Red Guards
 * Bolsheviks now controlled Petrograd
 * Next day: Lenin claimed that he was setting up a new government

**Summary**
Russia faced many problems, which made the lives of the peasants to be difficult. After Rasputin's death, revolution was carried out during the month of March 1917, when the conditions in Russia grew rapidly worse. Nicholas soon abdicated his throne and two new governments were formed - Provisional Government and the Petrograd Soviet. The Bolsheviks however, hated the Provisional Government. As the Kornilov revolt made the Bolsheviks popular, they became more powerful, and soon led a second revolution, storming the Winter Palace in November 1917.

**Questions**
1. What were the outcomes of the Revolution in March 1917? 2. What were the conditions that led the Revolution in March 1917? 3. Why did Lenin wanted a second revolution? 4. What was the Smolny Institute? 5. Who was Alexander Kerensky and which government did he support?