By History.com
Editors, 6/6/19.
The Russian Revolution
of 1917 was one of the most explosive political events of the twentieth
century. The violent revolution marked the end of the Romanov dynasty and
centuries of Russian Imperial rule. During the Russian Revolution, the
Bolsheviks, led by leftist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin, seized power and
destroyed the tradition of Czarist rule. The Bolsheviks would later become the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
When
Was the Russian Revolution? - In 1917, two revolutions swept through Russia,
ending centuries of imperial rule and setting into motion political and social
changes that would lead to the formation of the Soviet Union.
While the two revolutionary events took place within a few short months, social
unrest in Russia had been simmering for decades.
In the
early 1900s, Russia was one of the most impoverished countries in Europe with
an enormous peasantry and a growing minority of poor industrial workers. Much
of Western Europe viewed Russia as an undeveloped, backwards society. The
Russian Empire practiced serfdom—a form of feudalism in which landless peasants
were forced to serve the land-owning nobility—well into the nineteenth century.
In contrast, the practice had disappeared in most of Western Europe by the end
of the Middle Ages.
In
1861, the Russian Empire finally abolished serfdom. The emancipation of serfs
would influence the events leading up to the Russian Revolution by giving
peasants more freedom to organize.
Russian
Revolution of 1905 - Russia industrialized much later than Western Europe and
the United States. When it finally did, around the turn of the 20th century, it
brought with it immense social and political changes.
Between
1890 and 1910, for example, the population of major Russian cities such as St.
Petersburg and Moscow nearly doubled, resulting in overcrowding and destitute
living conditions for a new class of Russian industrial workers.
A
population boom at the end of the 19th century, a harsh growing season due to
Russia’s northern climate, and a series of costly wars—starting with the Crimean War (1854-1856)—meant
frequent food shortages across the vast empire.
Large
protests by Russian workers against the monarchy led to the Bloody Sunday massacre of 1905.
Hundreds of unarmed protesters were killed or wounded by the czar’s troops.
The
massacre sparked the Russian revolution of 1905, during which angry workers
responded with a series of crippling strikes throughout the country.
Nicholas
II - After the bloodshed of 1905, Czar Nicholas II promised
the formation of a series of representative assemblies, or Dumas, to work
toward reform.
Russia
entered into World War I in
August 1914 in support of the Serbs and their French and British allies. Their
involvement in the war would soon prove disastrous for the Russian Empire.
Militarily,
imperial Russia was no match for industrialized Germany, and Russian casualties
were greater than those sustained by any nation in any previous war. Food and
fuel shortages plagued Russia as inflation mounted. The economy was hopelessly
disrupted by the costly war effort.
Czar
Nicholas left the Russian capital of Petrograd (St. Petersburg) in 1915 to take
command of the Russian Army front. (The Russians had renamed the imperial city
in 1914, because the name “St. Petersburg” had sounded too German.)
Rasputin
and the Czarina - In her husband’s absence, Czarina Alexandra—an unpopular
woman of German ancestry—began firing elected officials. During this time, her
controversial advisor, Grigory Rasputin,
increased his influence over Russian politics and the royal Romanov family.
Russian
nobles eager to end Rasputin’s influence murdered him on December 30, 1916. By
then, most Russians had lost faith in the failed leadership of the czar.
Government corruption was rampant, the Russian economy remained backward and
Nicholas repeatedly dissolved the Duma, the toothless Russian parliament
established after the 1905 revolution, when it opposed his will. Moderates soon
joined Russian radical elements in calling for an overthrow of the hapless
czar.
February
Revolution - The February Revolution (known
as such because of Russia’s use of the Julian calendar until February 1918)
began on March 8, 1917 (February 23 on the Julian calendar).
Demonstrators
clamoring for bread took to the streets of Petrograd. Supported by huge crowds
of striking industrial workers, the protesters clashed with police but refused
to leave the streets.
On
March 11, the troops of the Petrograd army garrison were called out to quell
the uprising. In some encounters, the regiments opened fire, killing
demonstrators, but the protesters kept to the streets and the troops began to
waver.
The
Duma formed a provisional government on March 12. A few days later, Czar Nicholas abdicated the
throne, ending centuries of Russian Romanov rule.
The
leaders of the provisional government, including young Russian lawyer Alexander
Kerensky, established a liberal program of rights such as freedom of speech,
equality before the law, and the right of unions to organize and strike. They
opposed violent social revolution.
As
minister of war, Kerensky continued the Russian war effort, even though Russian
involvement in World War I was enormously unpopular. This further exacerbated
Russia’s food supply problems. Unrest continued to grow as peasants looted
farms and food riots erupted in the cities.
Bolshevik
Revolution - On November 6 and 7, 1917 (or October 24 and 25 on the Julian
calendar, which is why the event is often referred to as the October Revolution),
leftist revolutionaries led by Bolshevik Party leader Vladimir Lenin launched a nearly
bloodless coup d’état against the Duma’s provisional government.
The
provisional government had been assembled by a group of leaders from Russia’s
bourgeois capitalist class. Lenin instead called for a Soviet government that
would be ruled directly by councils of soldiers, peasants and workers.
The
Bolsheviks and their allies occupied government buildings and other strategic
locations in Petrograd, and soon formed a new government with Lenin as its
head. Lenin became the dictator of the world’s first communist state.
Russian
Civil War - Civil War broke
out in Russia in late 1917 after the Bolshevik Revolution. The warring factions
included the Red and White Armies.
The
Red Army fought for the Lenin’s Bolshevik government. The White Army
represented a large group of loosely allied forces, including monarchists,
capitalists and supporters of democratic socialism.
The
Russian Civil War ended in 1923 with Lenin’s Red Army claiming victory and establishing
the Soviet Union.
The late Rudolph Rummel,
the demographer of government mass murder, estimated the human toll of twentieth-century socialism to be about
61 million in the Soviet Union, 78 million in China, and roughly 200 million
worldwide. These victims perished during state-organized
famines,
Comments
The
significance of the Russian Revolution today is a cautionary tale for the
governments of all countries. If governments are dismissive of their citizens’
basic needs, these governments will be vulnerable. Countries with political
instability, unnecessarily high poverty rates and high inflation remain
vulnerable. Autocratic, tyrannical, corrupt governments are the most
vulnerable.
Norb
Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
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