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Nicholas II ruled a Russia that was vastly different from the society Czar Alexander II had inherited less than 40 years earlier. The Socialist Revolutionary Party was founded in 1901. It called for the czar's overthrow and the seizure and redistribution of all land to the peasants.
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In January 1905, a huge group of St. Petersburg workers marched on the czar's palace to present him with a long list of demands. Many attacks started to take place. Peasants began taking land or other property from landowners and nationalists in Finland, Poland, and other non-Russian parts of the empire rose in revolt.
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The beginning of World War I strongly influenced the revolution of 1917, as well as the course the revolution took, its outcome, and the government that emerged. Russia was poorly prepared for the war, and it put a huge strain on Russian society. About 15 million men were called to fight.
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The February Revolution topples a 400 year old monarchy and created a democracy. This began by female factory workers standing in line for bread while there were food shortages, so they called the men to join them. Soon all the factory workers were on strike. They were then joined by students and soldiers refused to end it and some even joined the protest.
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Having lost control of his army, his government, and his people, Nicholas gave up as the czar. This is because of the February revolution.
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Lenin returned to Russia after 10 years in exile. Right away he called for the soviets to overthrow the Provisional Government.
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The Bolsheviks were in the minority. When Bolshevik workers and soldiers took to the streets of Petrograd, the Petrograd Soviet refused to support them. Government troops easily ended the uprising.
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The Bolsheviks acted fast to solidify their power. They reaffirmed censorship of the press, created a new secret police force to deal with those who opposed them, they also ended Russia's participation in the Great War. The Allies did not want Russia to pull out of World War I. But they also did this because they feared that the communists would spread their revolution if they were not defeated.
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Lenin decided to overthrow the Provisional Government on October 25. This plan made the revolt look like a takeover by all the soviets instead of the act of a single political party. During the night of October 24, Bolshevik soldiers quietly took control of bridges, telegraph offices, railroad stations, and other key points in the city. By the end of the day, the Provisional Government had surrendered.
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The start of this is when the Bolsheviks were trying to solidify all of their power. They started this by creating a police force and ended Russia participation in the Great War. They then help an election promised after the February Revolution, Lenin didn't like the results so he disbanded it. This was the beginning of the civil war.
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The Bolsheviks formed an army called the Red Army in February 1918. In Europe, the color red meant a socialist revolution. This communist group or the "Reds" were opposed by the anti communist group of the "Whites".
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During this time, Russia was in the middle of its revolution. Lenin was taking control and people were revolting. They decided for some reason based on its location, to change Russia's capital to Moscow.
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Just to show how much power that Lenin and the Reds had, they decided to execute the old czar and his family to show his now remaining power.
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In Europe, the color red historically symbolized socialist revolution. In March they changed the name of their party to the Communist Party. The communists, or “Reds,” were opposed by anti-communist forces called the “Whites.”
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Lenin's health after his second stroke was beginning to fail. His death in 1924 set off a power struggle in the Communist party.
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The Red Army also had to deal with nationalist movements in non-Russian parts of the former empire. Instead of giving these regions complete independence, the communists established six self-governing Soviet republics. By 1922, they had defeated the Whites and the Greens and joined these republics with Russia to form the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
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As Lenin was reshaping Soviet communism, his health was beginning to fail. His death in 1924 set off a power struggle in the Communist Party. Over the next four years, party secretary Joseph Stalin outmaneuvered and eventually ousted his rivals. By 1928, he was securely in power.
