-
Marxists Revolutionaries split
Marxists revolutionaries disagree over revolutionary tactics. The more radical Bolsheviks are ready to risk everything. The charismatic Vladimir Lenin becomes the leader. -
Russian Awakening
Russia goes through a series of crisis and reveals the czars weakness and paved the way for revolution. The repeated losses made the people back in Russia uneasy about the wars. -
March in St. Petersburg
2,000,000 workers and families held a petition asking for better living conditions and more freedom. They marched to the czar's Winter Palace in St. Petersburg. Soldiers were ordered to fire at the crowd resulting in more than 1,000 wounded and hundreds injured. Russians now call the event “Bloody Sunday”. -
1st Parliament
Russia's first parliament was created. The leaders wanted to turn the government into a Constitutional Monarchy similar to Britain but the czar didn’t like sharing his power. It was ended after 10 weeks. -
Regretful Actions
Nicholas II, the czar of Russia, made the decision to enter WWI. However Russia was unprepared to the military and economic strain. They were defeated many times and it revealed the weakness of the czars rule and the military leadership. -
Power to the Women
Women who worked in the textile industry went on strike and other workers rioted against the current conditions. They rioted the shortages of bread fuel and other resources for themselves. The soldiers later sided with the people. -
Storming of the Winter Palace
Lenin and the Bolsheviks gained control of the Petrograd soviet. Unexpectedly armed factory workers stormed the Winter Palace in Petrograd and arrested the government leaders. They called themselves the Bolshevik Red Guards. -
Shameful Treaty
Russia and Germany signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Russia gave up some of its territory to Germany. The Russian people were ashamed and angered by the terms of the treaty and disagreed with the Bolsheviks. -
Red Vs. White
Forces from the U.S. and Western nations sent military support to help Russia defeat the White Army, who wanted to be ruled by a czar again. Around 14 million Russian soldiers died during the three years and the revolution was soon followed by a famine. The Red Army won and proved that the Bolsheviks could take and maintain powerful positions. -
Small-Scale Capitalism
Lenin set up a small-scale version of capitalism for the people. He called this new government the New Economic Policy. This allowed small business owners and farmers to sell their crops instead of giving them to the government. Although the government still controlled banks, industries and communication posts. -
Questionable Leadership
Lenin suffered from a stroke and lived but this caused competition to erupt for the new position coming up for the Communist Party. Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin were the two more important candidates up for running. Lenin was concerned the Stalin would abuse his power and not know what to do with it. Trotsky was exiled in 1929 so Stalin was given all of the power. He was in complete command of the Communist Party and was capable of becoming a dictator.
