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Two Halves of a Whole
A group of people that followed Karl Mark's ideas were Russian Marxists. In 1903 the Marxists split into two groups, a more moderate group called Mensheviks and a more radial group called Bolsheviks. The Mensheviks simply wanted more support for their revolution while the Bolsheviks wanted revolutionaries that would sacrifice everything for the cause. The leader of the Bolsheviks was Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, otherwise known as Lenin, a ruthless and organized man with an engaging personality. -
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Peace, Land, and Bread
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WATCH YOUR STEP!
After competing for control of Korea and Manchuria since the 1800's, Russia and Japan finally signed an agreement over the territories. Unfortunately Russia didn't stick to the plan and over stepped their bounds. Japan retaliated by attacking Russian citizens at Port Arthur, Manchuria. News of this attack reached home and angered the people and started a revolt during the war. -
Blood in the Snow
On this day 200,000 workers along with their families marched down to the czar's Winter Palce carrying a petition for better working conditions, more personal freedoms, and a national legislature to be elected. Upon arriving at the gate Nicholas II's advisors instructed the soldiers to open fire on the crowd, killing hundreds and wounding a thousand. -
Mine! Alllll Mine!
The first Duma, or Russa's first parliment, met. The leaders wanted Russia to become a constitutional monarchy, where the king isn't the only one with power. Unfortunately Nicholas II didn't want to give up any of his power and so the Duma was disbanded after ten weeks. -
We're Coming Serbia!!!
This was the year Nicholas II dragged unprepared Russia into World War I. The Russians had weak generals, poorly equiped troops, and inferior weaponry. The Germans easily took out thousands of Russians with machine guns and by the end of a years time, four million Russians had been killed, wounded, or taken prisioner. This war gave blatant proof of Russia's weakneses under a czar's rule. -
No Worries Ma'am.
Nicholas II moved his headquarters to the war front hoping to revive his troops to victory. Nicholas II's wife, Alexandra, ran the government, listening to a "holy man" with healing powers called Rasputin instead of Nicholas II's advisors.
Alexis, Alexandra's son, suffered from hemophilia and Rasputin helped to ease Alexis pain. To thank Rasputin, Alexandra allowed him to make major political decisions. Fearing him, nobles killed Rasputin while soldiers on the frontlines disregarded their czar. -
Lets Play King of the Moutain.
Women textile workers strike calling for an end to the war, this small protest soon turns to an uprising and forces Czar Nicholas II to step down from his throne, a year later him and his family are executed.
A provisional(temporary) government was set up with Alexander Kerensky at its head, who decided to continue fighting in World War I. -
All Power to the Soviets
(Between March and April of 1917.)
Since the provisional government decided to stay in the war they lost the support of the Russian people very quicky. Groups of workers, peasants, and soldiers, called soviets, had more power within cities than the provisional government did.
After being exiled from Russia for many years, the Germans were able to send Lenin back to Russia where he takes control of bands of Russian soviets and later leads them to victory. -
Hands Above Your Head!
The Bolshevik Red Guards, really just armed factory workers, randomly stormed the Winter Palace in Petrograd. The workers arrested the leaders of the provisional government and took over all the officies. The leaders of this government disappeared very quickly.
Lenin then distrubuted the farmland to the peasants, control of factories to factory workers and signed a truce with Germany to stop the fighting. -
Hey! That's MY Land!
Russia and Germany sign a treaty, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, which gave Germany a large portion of Russia's land. The people were not happy about this nor were they happy about the murder of the royal family. Besides that the Russian people didn't like the Bolsheviks and their new policies and rules being put into place. The Bolsheviks were led by Lenin. -
White, White, and White
The White Army opposed the Bolsheviks rule, Red Army, but the White army was severly disorganized with three groups that all wanted different things and had different ideas. One supported the return of the czar, another wanted a democratic government, and the last opposed Lenins form of socialism. These differences made it extermely hard for the groups to work together. -
Excuse Me Uncle Sam, That's Mine.
The Russian econemy was not doing well, so Lenin implemented the New Economic Policy, a small-scale version of capitalism, that allowed peasants to keep their surplus of crops they originally had to give to the government. The government kept control of major industries, banks, and means of communication but the peasants could have private ownership of smaller operations. -
Karl Marx Lives
In 1922 Russia was renamed the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics(USSR). The Bolsheviks, which was a council that helped launch the revolution, renamed their party the Communist party after Karl Marx's idea of communism.
This was also the year Lenin, the man who led the Communist Party, had a stroke. The Communist Party would soon need a new leader because, even though Lenin survived, he was now in poor health. Vying for the position were Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin, the man of steel. -
Man of Steel
Stalin becomes leader of the Communist Party after Lenin dies, saying four years earlier, "Comrade Stalin...has concentraited enormous power in his hands, and I am not sure that he always knows how to use that power with sufficient caution."
