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Industrialization and the problems it caused it Russia
Rapid industrialization changed the face of the Russian economy. The number of factories more than doubled bretween 1863 and 1900. Rapid industrializations stirred discontent among the people of Russia. The groth of factories brought new problems, such as grueling working conditions, miserably low wages, and child labor. The government outlawed trade unions. In an effort to improve their lives, workers organized strikes. -
Czar Nicholas II Rule
Nicholas succeeded to the throne following his father's death from liver disease on 20th October, 1894. Later that month he married the German princess, Alexandra of Hesse-Darmstadt. Alexandra, the grand-daughter of Queen Victoria, was a strong believer in the autocratic power of Tsardom and urged him to resist demands for political reform. A cultural nationalist, Nicholas was opposed to the Westernization of Russia. He made a speech in January, 1895, denouncing the "senseless dreams" of those -
Developement of Revolutionary Groups
At the start of the 20th century Russian liberals formed the Union of Zemstvo Constitutionalists and the Union of Liberation which called for a constitutional monarchy. Russian socialists organized into two major groups: the Socialist-Revolutionary Party, following the Russian populist tradition, and the Marxist Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party. In the fall of 1904, liberals started a series of banquets calling for political reforms and establishment of a constitution. -
Bloody Sunday
On January 22, 1905 about 200,000 workers and their families approached the czar's Winter Palace in St. Petersburg. They carried a petition asking for better working conditions, more personal freedom, and an elected national legislature. Nicholas II's generals ordered soldiers to fire on the crowd. More than 1,000 were wounded and several hundred were killed. -
World War I
World War One was to have a devastating impact on Russia. When World War One started in August 1914, Russia responded by patriotically rallying around Nicholas II. Nicholas II had a romantic vision of him leading his army. Therefore, he spent much time at the Eastern Front. This was a disastrous move as it left Alexandra in control back in the cities. By January 1917, it was clear that Nicholas had lost control of the situation. -
Stalin becomes Dictator
Lenin died of a heart attack on January 21, 1924. After, Stalin's disputes with Lev Kamenev and Grigory Zinoviev intensified. Kamenev and Zinoviev grew increasingly isolated, and were eventually ejected from the Central Committee and then from the Party itself. Kamenev and Zinoviev were later readmitted. Stalin pushed for more rapid industrialization and central control of the economy, contravening Lenin's New Economic Policy. -
The March Revolution
The March revolution of 1917 occured in Russia during WW1. It all stared when 90 000 textile workers went on strike in Russia protesting about the shortage of fuel and bread. Many people joined and by the end of the week 400 000 people had joined the cause. The Czar had banned protesting so he sent out the military to shoot the proesters. Instead the army shot their officers and joined the cause. The Czar and his family were executed -
The Czar Steps Down
As the government failed to produce supplies, there was mounting hardship creating massive riots and rebellions. With Nicholas away at the front in 1915, authority appeared to collapse, and Saint Petersburg was left in the hands of strikers and mutineering conscript soldiers. Despite efforts by the British Ambassador to warn the Czar that he should grant constitutional reforms to fend off revolution, Nicholas continued to bury himself away at the Staff HQ 400 miles away at Mogh. -
Bolshevik Revolution
It was the second phase of the Russian Revolution, after the March Revolution of the same year. The Bolshevik Revolution in Petrograd overthrew the Russian Provisional Government and gave the power to the local soviets dominated by Bolsheviks. As the revolution was not universally recognized outside of Petrograd there followed the struggles of the Russian Civil War and the creation of the Soviet Union in 1922. -
Lenin in Power
Vladimir Lenin was a Russian revolutionary and communist politician who led the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. He headed the Soviet state during its initial years, as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a socialist economic system. On 8 November 1917, the Russian Congress of Soviets elected Lenin as Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars, as such, declaring that "Communism is Soviet power plus the electrification of the entire country."
