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Marxists revolutionaries disagree over revolutionary tactics. The more radical Bolsheviks are ready to risk everything. The charismatic Valdimir Lenin becomes the leader.
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Japan retaliated by attacking the Russians at port Arthur, Manchuria. This led to a revolt in the midst of the war.
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Workers and families asked for better working conditions, more freedom, and an elected national legislature. NIcholas II's generals ordered soldiers to fire on the crowd. Thousands were wounded and 100 plus were killed.
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The first Duma met and its leaders were moderates. They wanted Russia to become a constitutional monarchy. The Czar stopped the Duma after 10 weeks because he didn't want to share power.
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Nicholas II dragged Russia into WWI. Germany was much more advanced. More than 4 million Russians had been killed, wounded, or taken prisoner. This revealed the weakness of Czarist rule and military leadership.
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200,000 women textile workers in Petrograd led a citywide strike. They yelled "Down with the autocracy!' and "Down with the war!" At first soldiers shot the rioters, but later sided with them. A year later revolutionaries executed Nicholas and his family.
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Armed factory workers stormed the winter palace. Called themselves the Bolshevik Red guards. They arrested leaders and took over the provisional government. Kerensky disappeared instantly.
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Russia and Germany signed the Treaty of Brest litovsk. Russia surrendered a large part of its territory. Russians objected to the Bolsheviks and their policies and to the murder of the royal family.
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Civil war raged in Russia. Western nations sent military aid and forces to help the white army. They were little help.
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Lenin resorted to a small scale version of capitalism called the New Ecconomic Policy (NEP). Allowed peasants to sell surplus crops instead of turning them over to the government.
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The country was named the Union of Soviet Republics, in honor of the councils that helped launch the Bolshevik Revolution.
