CH 18.

3 (THE RUSSIAN
REVOLUTION)
 CONTEXT

• In the years leading up to the Russian revolution, there were a series of wars
(The Crimean War, Russo-Turkish War, Russo-Japanese War, and World War I)
• All of the conflict required many resources from the government (money
and people)
• Russia was defeated in all of the wars except for the war against turkey
• This caused major discontent among the people and caused a decline in
the economy and the government of Russia
• So with discontent among the people comes a revolution
 VLADIMIR LENIN
• Born in 1870 into a middle class family
• Known back then as Vladimir Ilich Ulyanov later as Valdimir Ilich
Lenin
• As a teenager, he was radicalized after his older brother was executed for plotting to
assassinate the Czar
• Later, Lenin was thrown out of University for participating in an illegal protest
• After being expelled, he immersed himself in radical political literature, the most
influential author being Karl Marx
• Lenin was arrested for Marxist activities and he was exiled to Siberia, moved to
Germany then Switzerland
• During this time of exile, he established the Bolshevik party
• In WWI Lenin advocated for Russian defeat and the Germans arranged for Lenin and
other exiles to go back to Russia to destabilize them.
• Winston Churchill said, “They transported Lenin in a sealed truck like a plague bacillus
 LENIN CONTINUED
• When Lenin returned home (1917 rember this), the Russian Revolution was already
starting and strikes caused Czar Nicholas II to abdicate which ended centuries of
imperial rule
• The Russians then formed a government known as the provisional government
• Being a Marxist, Lenin viewed the Provision Government as a dictatorship of the
bourgeoisie and decided to try and seize power and give more power to the people
• He promised the people “Peace, Land, and Bread”
• As a result the Russian civil war was started between the Red army (Lenin) and the
white army (monarchists, capitalists, etc)
• Lenin would end up winning the civil war and establishing
the Soviet Union
 LENIN P.O.V.

• Lenin believed that Socialism was characterized by several features:

• The public ownership of the means to of production
• An end to exploitation
• End of dictatorships and proletariat class
• Lenin saw the oppression endured by the Russian people and saw that the sources of
their problems lay in capitalism and that socialism was their solution
• Believed that the peasants should be an integral part of the Russian government
contrary to Marx’s beliefs that under socialism, the government would be a
dictatorship of the proletariat
• Goal was to defend working people’s rights to a decent standard of living and life free
from exploitation
 PROVISION GOVERNMENT
• When the Tsar abdicated and the government crumbled, the members of
the Duma (lower house of parliament, means to think or to consider)
• They never really ruled Russia, the soviets (councils of workers and soldiers)
who were very influential among the people told the whether or not to obey
the Provisional Govt.
• Sometimes known as dual government b/c of the Provisional Government’s
lack of power
• The Provisional Govt. didn’t carry out any major reforms. This laid the
groundwork for Lenin to attack and start the Russian Civil
war
 RUSSIAN CIVIL WAR
• From 1918-1921 a war broke out between the Red army (Lenin/bolsheviks)
and the White army (monarchists, capitalists, etc.)
• The Treaty of Brest-Litovisk caused a split between the besheviks and the
White Russians
• The Bosheviks would murder the entire family of the tsar
• The Bosheviks would win the civil war under the command of Leon Trotsky
• Lenin would set out to build a new socialist order
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cV9G1QUIm7w

• THIS TOO:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U06jlgpMtQs
 LEON TROTSKY
• Born in 1879 to a farmer with a Jewish background and a mother from the
educated middle class
• He was drawn into a socialist circle so naturally he supported Marxism.
• He was arrested for revolutionary activity and made his way to London and
joined the group of socialists working with Lenin
• Trotsky took a leading role in directing countermeasures for the soviet
• He later then functioned as the military leader of the Revolution and under
his supervision
• Believed in the dictatorship of the
proletariat based on working class
self-emancipations and mass
democracy
TROTSKY
• Trotsky also supported proletarian
internationalism (global class
P.O.V./TROTSKYISM
struggle)
• Formulated the theory of
permanent revolution that
became a defining characteristic
of Trotskyism
• Permanent revolution was an
explanation of how socialist
revolutions could occur in
societies that had not achieved
advanced capitalism
• Trotsky also believed in social
revolution in the advanced
capitalist countries through
working class mass action
(basically like all other Marxists)
 JOSEPH STALIN
• Stalin was born as a poor only child of an alcoholic shoemaker and a
laundress in 1878.
• He also began reading the works of Karl Marx and becoming interested
in the revolutionary movement against the Russian Monarchy
• Stalin left school and joined the more militant wing of the Marxist Social
Democratic movement led by Lenin
• After the civil war, Lenin appointed Stalin to serve on the first central
committee of the Bolshevik party.
• Stalin gradually moved up the party ladder and eventually became
secretary general of the Central Committee
• After the death of Lenin, he managed to outmaneuver his opponents
and win the power struggle for control of the communist party
• Stalin launched a series of 5 year plans to transform the Soviet Union into
an industrial superpower
• Centralized on government control of the economy and forced
collectiveness of agriculture which caused widespread famine and killed
millions
• Stalin even instituted the great purge which was designed to get rid of
‘threats’ to the Soviets
 STALIN/STALINISM P.O.V.
• Stalin promoted the escalation of class conflict, utilizing state
violence to purge society of the bourgeoisie
• Believed that the bourgeoisie were a threat to the
communist revolution.
• Contrary to traditional communist thoughts that the state will
gradually wither away as the implementation of socialism
reduces class distinction, Stalin believed that the proletarian
state must become stronger before it can wither away into a
classless society
• Trotsky, Lenin, and Stalin all had different beliefs of what the
Russian government should become but they all originated
from Karl Marx
 TREATY OF BREST-LITOVSK
• The purpose of the treaty was to declare that Russia will be ending it’s participation in
the world war
• Lenin believed that the Russians needed to be pulled from the war because the
Bolsheviks needed time to impose their rule and Russia couldn’t afford to resume the
war effort
• The conditions of the treaty were:
• Russia was to recognize the independence of Ukraine, Georgia, and Finland
• They were to give up Poland and the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia to
German and Austria-Hungary
• And give Kars, Ardahan, and Batum to Turkey
• The Russians lost about 1mil square miles, 1/3 of it’s population, a majority of it’s coal, oil
and iron stores, and much of its industry
• Lenin called it, “that abyss of defeat, dismemberment, enslavement and humiliation.”
 WORKS
• https://www.marxists.org/history/erol/ncm-7/lenin-socialism.htm
CITED
• www.britannica.com
• https://www.wikipedia.org/
• https://www.history.com/
• https://www.biography.com/
• www.bbc.com
• The textbook