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The Russians and Japanese had been jostling for years for control over Korea and Macguria. Russia's loss to the Japanese hightlighted their industrial weakness and their inept leadership.
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Tsarists troops opened fire on a group of protesters who were begging the Tsar for help. In all, 130 were killed and hundreds were wounded. This showeed the incometence of the Tsarists regime in dealing with a dissatisfied populance and it pushed many workers who previously supported Tsar to join revolutionary groups.
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Nicholas II issued the Manifesto which made promises to grant civil liberties, and the need for the Duma to consent before passing laws. In effect it would have turned Russia into a Constitutional Monarchy.
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All of Russia was on strike (it has been called the most effective general strike in history). It is during the Strike that the first Soviet was formed in St. Petersburg.
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This set of laws were proclaimed in 1906, and were to put the Tsar's October Manifesto promises into effect. By this time things has settled down (temporarily) and the Tsar reneged on most of his promises. He retained huge powers to himself, and most importantly he held the power to call and dismiss the new Duma.
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Tsar's son had now to be known as Hemophilia B, and a courrupt monk named Rasputin miracuously "saved" or "healed" his son (for.. now) and this gave him a great deal of power. It seemed as Tsar would take orders from him because he thought he had a special connection to God. It was almost as if Rasputin was the real leader of Russia.
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The war didn't create the problems faced by Russia; it merely exaggerated all the existing problems. To the eariler problem of food shortages now was added to the probelm of the shortages of just about everything needed to fight a war. Many Russian troops were sent to the front of the line without weapons and were instructed to take a rifle of the dead. The war gave Tsar an excellent oppertunity to rally his country around a great nationalistic cause and forget about their internal issues.
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In Tsar's mind, the Duma was taking away his righful power, he therefore called for change and dismissed the Duma right then and there. Not many were supportive of his decisions or actions. He took complete control of the army and that resulted in many losses, and soon after the army joined the rioters in protest.
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The Duma takes over power promising free elections due to Tsar's loss of support because of his actions of dismissing the Duma in the first place and making the poor decisions putting Russia in it's misery.
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Lenin returns and leading the Bolsheviks in revolution against the Provisional Government. They were angry that the PG didn't fufill their promises, including the continuos delays in the free elections. Lenin saw a chance at power and in result created the April Theses that promised "peace, land, and bread".
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Radical soldiers and mobs tried with the Bolshviks to seize power and overthrow the government. They failed because the Soviet failed to endorse the effort. This showed the incresing strength of the Soviet. Lenin, however had to flee from the PG. He continued to lead the Bolsheviks from Finland. Alexander Kerensky, a moderate (or at least presented to be) now became PM, and the more conservative socialists made some gains.
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Taken by anger and frusteration of the extremly poor condtions they had been living in, the peasants tried to take a stand attempting to overthrow the Bourgeoise and taking land. This was a clear statement for the desire of equailty and rights.
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The Bolshevik Rev. was, unlike the March rev. a very much planned affair. On October 17th the Bolshevik gained control of Petrograd. On the 23rd of October they took Moscow. Lenin returned that day and togther with Trotsky and the Soviets on the 7th of November, the Blosheviks arrested the PG and seized power.
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The revolution was so spontaneous, that no one group is prepared to take full power. Therefore the power was shared between the Provisional Government and the Petrograd Soviet's (union of workers, soldiers and revolutionaries). This is the end of the Tsar regin.
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Lenin believed there was no way that the young government could begin to tackle the huge problems facing Russia and countinue to fight a foregin war at the same time. He was willing to give up huge parcels of land in exhnage for peace, This was done in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Not everyone agreed with Lenin and in result he lost the next election.
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In this civil war the Bolsheviks quickly became knownas the Reds, while all other groups who opposed to them were known as the Whites. The Reds controlled the heart of Russia throughout the war. In this area the Reds had control in industry, had a larger population and military supplies, The Whites controlled more of the country side area. Reds also had unity in command, while the Whites fought as many independant groups as they could. It was for these reasons that the leadership of Trotsky =vic
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Lenin annoced the end of war communism on this date in hopes he would gain some of the followers he lost. That same day he introduced the New Economic Policy. This demonstrated that Lenin was willing to comprimise with the peasants which allowed for Russia's economy to rebuild.
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Finally envolving from a long fought revolution, Russia was finally able to focus on improving their economy rather than just trying to maintain it.
