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Industrialization starts in Russia
Russia's factories nearly doubled and they became the 4th largest producer of steel. To pay for this they got foreign investors and raised taxes. Workers in Russia did not like industrialization because it brought worse working conditions, lower pay, and child labor, and there dislike for industrialization led many people to support revolutionary movements. -
Marxist Movement in Russia splits
The Marxist movement split into two groups, the Mensheviks, who were moderate and wanted many people to join there movement, and the Bolsheviks, who were extremist and wanted fewer people who were totally devoted to their cause. Since the Mensheviks and Bolsheviks split, the Bolsheviks were able to use radical methods without the resistance from the Mensheviks. -
Russia loosing at Port Arthur, Manchuria
Russia and Japan competed over ownership of Korea and Manchuria, They signed agreements, but Russia broke them. Japan declared war and that led to the Battle at Port Arthur, Which Russia Lost. Russia's loss caused its citizens to revolt. -
Bloody Sunday
Nicholas II generals ordered soldiers to fire on a crowd of workers and their family's who were petitioning for better working conditions in front of the czar’s Winter Palace. Several hundreds were killed and more than a thousand were injured. Bloody Sunday led to many strikes and violent responses across the nation. -
Russias entry into WWI
Czar Nicholas II made the poor choice to enter into WWI because Russia was unprepared economically and militarily. When in the war fighting did not go well for Russia, They were no match for the German army with it's superior military technology. Russia's inability to preform on the battlefield led many of its citizens to doubt if a czarist rule really worked. -
Rasputin Controls the Government
Nicholas II decided he needed to rally his troops if he wanted any chance of victory so he moved his headquarters to the war front and left his wife in charge. Rasputin gained political powers by Nicholas's wife who gave it to him because he claimed to have magical powers that made her sons disease better. With his power he ended reform and gave important government positions to his friends, Rasputin was unequipped to lead the government and caused many future uprisings with his actions. -
The March Revolution
Woman textile workers led a city wide strike in Petrograd, and riots began to break out because of shortages of food and oil. At first the soldiers followed their orders and shot at the crowds, but eventually sided with the protesters. The riots turned into an uprising and the people overthrew Czar Nicholas II. -
Bolsheviks gain power
Armed factory workers, called The Bolshevik Red Guard, stormed the Winter palace and took it over. They broke into the government buildings and imprisoned the officials, replacing them with their own. This event allowed Lenin to gain power and enact his communist views. -
Civil War in Russia
People who didn't support the Bolshevik rule, formed an opposition group called the White Army, They were spit into three different groups, people who wanted the return of a Czar, democrats, and socialists. 14 million Russians died in the three years of civil war and the Red Army end up defeating the White Army to win the war. The lives lost, outbreak of disease, and deadly famine all created a major civil unrest in Russia. -
Stalin Becomes Dictator
In 1922 Lenin had a stroke, he didn't die, but it allowed Joseph Stalin to begin his rise in power. In 1922 Stalin worked secretly to get his supporters into government positions and by 1928 Stalin had gained total control of the communist party. Stalin's rise to power proves that not every change in a dictator had a violent revolution.
