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Communist Manifesto was written by Karl Marx.
Beliefs: Private ownership of land should be abolished.
Equal distribution of wealth, classless system.
Communal life where everyone shares prosperity. -
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Nicholas II becomes the Czar of Russia when his father dies.
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Russian workers revolted against terrible conditions in the workplace. Workers went to the Czar's palace with a petition and were met by gunfire from the guards. As many as 1,000 were killed.
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Japan defeats Russia in Battle of Tsushima.
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The public were starving, soldiers were sent to the front lines without guns. The public blamed the Czar.
The Czar went to the battlelines to fight with the people in the war.
Left wife Alexandra in charge of homefront. She was not trusted by the Russian people. Her aide was Rasputin, who was scrutinized. This caused the people to revolt. -
200,000 workers went on strike.
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Czar Nicholas gives up the throne as a result of the February Revolution.
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Alexander Kerensky becomes the leader of the provisional government. He refuses to get Russia out of WWI. This started a Civil War.
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Lenin led the Bolsheviks in the October Revolution to oust Kerensky. The Communist Party was behind him and his Marxist ideals.
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Bolsheviks are now called Communists, or the Reds. The opposing side was called the Whites and were supported by the U.S.
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Lenin changes Russia's name to the USSR, or Union of Soviet Socialist Rupublics.
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Lenin dies. Two contenders for leader of Russia emerged.
Leon Trotsky- good public speaker, former leader of foreign affairs, and favored World Revolutions.
Josef Stalin- opposed Trotsky. Served an administrative role during the October Revolution. He eventually gained control of the Communist Party. -
Stalin replaced Lenin's plan with a 5-year plan. He believed Communism should only exist in his own country, not anywhere else.
