THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION (1917)

After a series of revolutions, Russia became the first country in the world to form a COMMUNIST
GOVERNMENT and the TSARIST GOVERNMENT was abolished. The revolutions took place as a
result of short-term and long-term causes.

1. THE LONG-TERM CAUSES OF THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION

- AN UNDEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT WHICH WAS NEITHER FAIR NOR GOOD

The ruler of Russia was the TSAR. He made all the decisions and he could ask for advice if he
wanted to. There was a secret police which spied on everyone: anyone who spoke against the
government could be shot or sent to Siberia. Books and newspapers were censored. The Tsar was
also supported by the Church.
The Tsar was Nicholas II, who had become Tsar in 1894 (belonged to the Romanov dynasty,
which was the last).

- THE BAD WORKING AND LIVING CONDITIONS FOR THE WORKERS IN TOWNS

During the 1890s, industry began to develop in Russia: iron foundries, textile factories and
engineering works were set up. Most were in the big cities such as Moscow or St Petersburg.
Peasants moved from the country to the cities to get jobs in the factories. However, factory workers
had some problems: wages were low, rent allowances and bonuses were being taken away and
hours of work were long.

- THE EXTREME POVERTY OF THE PEASANTS AND THEIR NEED FOR MORE LAND

There were only 2 social classes in Russia, which were remarkably different from each other:
peasants and the Nobility.
Before the revolution, 75% of Russians were peasants who lived in villages. Until 1861 they had
belonged to their masters, who could buy and sell them like cattle. In 1861 they were freed and
given small amounts of land for which they had to pay the government back. Peasants were
illiterate and, since they did not know how to improve the land, they used old farming methods,
working on their plots by hand.
Upper-class people (the nobility) held most of the wealth and power.

THE OPPOSITION OF THE TSARIST SYSTEM

- REFORMERS OR LIBERALS → they wanted to modernise Russia gradually and admired

the Parliamentary systems of Britain, France and the USA. They wanted free elections,
more education for the people and no censorship.
- REVOLUTIONARIES → they wanted to throw out the whole tsarist system and build a
different one. One group of revolutionaries were MARXISTS and believed in his ideas.
Marx said that:
- all history is about struggles between classes: middle class against the nobles; workers
against bosses
-the system in Europe is unfair because the factory owner (capitalist) makes a profit out of
the workers (proletariat), who actually do the work
-there will be a violent revolution when the workers throw out the bosses and take over the
country. The workers will run the country for the benefit of all.
The Marxist Revolutionaries could not say these things in Russia. They lived in exile in
Western Europe. The most dedicated of them were the BOLSHEVIKS1 who were led by

1
“Bolshevik” means “majority” and were a faction of The Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party,
which was formed after the Second Congress in 1903 when it split from the Mensheviks. The Congress
agreed that Russia needed a revolution in order to establish Socialism. The Bolsheviks became the leading
 Lenin. Their newspaper ISKRA (“The Spark”) was smuggled into Russia. Lenin planned for
the day when his chance would come to spark off a real revolution.
However, the Liberals were much more popular, especially among the educated people.
They had even made a tiny gain: in 1906, a Russian Parliament, THE DUMA, had been
granted by the Tsar after Russia was defeated in a war against Japan (1904-1905), causing
strikes in the Russian cities. For a few days the Tsar lost control of his country and, thus, he
offered to call a Duma with free elections. Some of his opponents accepted this and
protests died down. However, when the Duma met, it began to criticise the Tsar and
demand more changes. Nicholas was not used to being criticised and he did not like it, so
the Duma was dismissed and elections for the next one were controlled by the Tsar. The
Duma was like a gun without bullets.
Two things became clear: no revolution would ever take place as long as the army stayed
loyal to the Tsar, and the Tsar could not be trusted.

2. THE SHORT-TERM CAUSES OF THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION

WWI brought revolution nearer. The Tsar’s rule was bad during peacetime but during the
war it showed how inefficient it was. The war went badly. An advance into Germany in 1914
had been halted by two defeats at the Battle of Tannenberg and the Massurian Lakes.

- RASPUTIN
In 1915, the Tsar took personal command of the Russian army and left his wife in charge of
the government. Alexandra has put her trust in Rasputin, a drunken peasant who said he
was a holy man who could cure their son’s illness (hemophilia). Alexandra and Rasputin
were both against changes, which made them very unpopular. In 1916, Rasputin was killed
by the nobles since they were worried about his influence over Nicholas and Alexandra.

- INFLATION AND UNREST

The peasants were angry because the army took away the young men and the best horses,
making farmwork difficult. Also food prices were high and hunger was widespread. Workers
in the cities could not afford high food prices for wages were low. But if they tried to strike
for better wages, they were accused of being disloyal. In the cities, soldiers were asked to
stop strikes but they had been peasants and workers before the war started so they were
not likely to fire Russian people.

THE REVOLUTIONS OF MARCH AND OCTOBER

In March 1917, a revolution put an end to the Tsar’s rule in Russia. Strikes and bread riots
broke out in Petrograd (formerly called St. Petersburg). Rioters were joined by factory
workers on strike. When the soldiers were asked to fire on rioters they refused and joined
the rioters instead. Now the Tsar could not rely on his troops and abdicated on 17 March.
So, the Duma formed a PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT led by Alexandr Kerensky
(Liberal). The Provisional Government promised to hold elections soon and to divide the
land more fairly among the peasants. However, Kerensky did not keep to his promise and
felt Russia had to keep fighting the war against Germany and stick to the alliance made
with Britain and France.
At the same time, soldiers and workers were electing their own councils in the big cities
(Petrograd and Moscow). These councils were called SOVIETS2 and at first supported
Kerensky (they let him govern).

party during the Russian Revolution’s October Revolution phase in 1917. They founded the Russian Soviet
Federative Socialist Republic, which later became the Soviet Union.
2
A political party. The popular organizations which came into existence during the Russian Revolution were
called "Councils of Workmen's and Soldiers' Deputies." These bodies were supposed to hold things together
under the provisional government until the election of a constituent assembly could take place. As World War
I continued and the Russians met defeat after defeat, and the provisional government proved inadequate at
establishing industrial peace, the Bolsheviks began to grow in support.
LENIN

Lenin was in Switzerland at the time of the first revolution (in exile). The Germans had
made a deal with him: they would give him a train to take him to Russia. They hoped that in
return he would cause a revolution that would take Russia out of the war. As soon as he
arrived in Russia in April, Lenin declared his opposition to Kerensky: for him the real
enemies were the landowners and capitalists, not the Germans as Kerensky thought.
However, Russia still was at war against Germany. Defeats continued, food prices kept
going up, and so Kerensky’s Provisional Government came to be more unpopular than it
was before and people was getting tired of it. This led the Bolsheviks win more support
among the workers’ and soldiers’ soviets. In July, the Bolsheviks tried to get control of the
government but were defeated. Lenin had to leave the country.

The Russian General Kornilov, who still supported the Tsar, wanted to remove Kerensky
and bring the Tsar back to power, so he turned the army against him. The Bolsheviks
saved Kerensky: Bolshevik railway workers stopped Kornilov’s advance, while Bolsheviks
soldiers and civilians formed armed RED GUARD units.

By October, Lenin was ready to make a revolution. Law and order had almost collapsed
and Bolshevik ideas were beginning to spread. The Red Guard was prepared to fight and
Kerensky had lost the support of the people.

On 24-25 October 1917, Red Guards stormed the WINTER PALACE where members of
the government were meeting and Kerensky was sent to exile. LENIN became the ruler of
Russia and the FIRST COMMUNIST GOVERNMENT was settled. This Bolshevik takeover
was called OCTOBER REVOLUTION.

Lenin organised the BOLSHEVIK PARTY until it was ready for revolution. He had called for
a second revolution in 1917.