Causes of the Russian Revolution

Background

1. Beginning in 1328, Russia has been ruled by a Czar.
2. Ivan the Terrible: Blinded his Architects so they could not recreate another such beautiful structure
3. Peter the Great: Peter the great moved the capital from an isolated Moscow to the “window on Europe”, St. Petersburg, ideas slowly filtered into Russia.
4. December 1825: Following the death of Alexander I, the Decembrists attempted a coup. It failed and their leaders were hung.
5. Nicholas I reacted in a reactionary way after the Decembrist revolt.
6. 1861, Alexander II abolished serfdom. Little actually changed for the serf because land reforms did not happen.
7. 1881, Alexander II was assassinated by People’s Liberty when they threw a bomb into his carriage.
8. Alexander III answered the threat with a reactionary and oppressive government. His secret police attempted to stamp out revolutionary activities.

Tsar Nicholas II and his family

1. Nicholas II became Czar in 1894, Unfortunately he was more of a family man than a Czar.
2. Czarina Alexandra: Nicholas II and Czarina Alexandra, his German wife, worried a great deal about their hemophiliac Czarvitch Alexis.
3. Rasputin was a monk that the Czarina believed could comfort and heal the Czarvitch. Rasputin gained much influence with the Czarina and then managed to also gain political control. Rasputin was murdered in 1916.

causes of the Russian Revolution

Social

• Class divisions: The aristocracy had all the wealth & peasants (80% population) were destitute
• In 1861, serf were emancipated but their situation did not improve due to the growing population, illiteracy, lack of knowledge, and lack of land reforms

Economic

• Industrialization came late to Russia with excessive exploitation (more than W. Europe)
• The result was a small urban proletariat ready for revolutionary ideas and movement

Political

• Autocracy
  • The Czar was supported by the Orthodox Church & the aristocracy who were dependent on the Czar for status
  • The Czar blocked political reforms
  • After the 1881 assassination, the secret police OKHRANA became oppressive
• In the late 19th century, industrialization began and a new middle class wanted political power with its growing economic power
• Russification was a policy to get rid of the distinctive cultures and promote the Russian language and Orthodox faith
• Nicholas II was considered incompetent

Intellectual

• Marx’s ideas influenced Russian intellectuals in the late 19th century
• As Russia industrialized, revolutionaries saw the application of Marxism to the Russian situation.

Marxism/Communism

1848 Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels wrote the Communist Manifesto and in 1867 Marx also wrote Das Kapital in 1867

Marx:

”From each according to his abilities; to each according to his needs…"

"The communists…openly declare that their ends can be obtained only by the forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions. Let the ruling classes tremble at a communist revolution. The proletariats have nothing to lose but their chains; they have a world to win. Workers of the world unite!”

Marx believed that the revolution had to develop in an industrial country, either Britain or Germany

Basic Tenets of Marxism:

• man is good by nature
• economic relations determine all human relations
• exploitation is an inherent feature of capitalism
• private property is evil
• capitalism produces two classes of people
• only revolution can rid society of of capitalism and establish the dictatorship of the proletariat
• classlessness & statelessness follow only after revolution & a transition period

Development of the Communist Party in Russia

1. The Social Democratic Workmen’s Party began in 1898 with Gregory Plekhanov as its leader. At the party’s 1903 congress the party split. Plekhanov controlled the minority of Mensheviks and Vladmir Ilyitch Ulyanov or Lenin controlled the majority or Bolsheviks.
2. Bolsheviks: Led by Lenin: Lenin believed that because of the impact of imperialism on Russia, Russia could advance to socialism without going through the capitalist stage. This meant that the Communists could seize power immediately after a bourgeois revolution (fast change). Revolution would be the work of a small group of professional revolutionaries and this revolutionary party would work in secrecy. Therefore, only “trusted” or “True” Marxists could join the party.
3. Mensheviks: Led by Plekhanov: Plekhanov believed in “traditional” Marxism which meant that socialism in Russia could develop only AFTER advancing through the stage of capitalism. Mensheviks supported a bourgeois revolution and believed socialism in Russia would be a gradual change following the full development of capitalism in Russia. They also believed that the party should not work in private and be open to membership.

Political Groups

Social Democrats:

• Bolsheviks
• Mensheviks

Socialist Revolutionaries (SR):

• left wing party that was revivals of the Social Democrats
• Peasants should own the land = much support

Constitutional Democrats or Cadets (Liberals):

• wealthy business & professionals that wanted an end to Czar’s rule

Conflict in Russia Empire 1905

The 1905 Revolution was due to:

• Labour unrest/strikes-hunger
• Russo-Japanese War, Russia losing badly (1904-05)
  • Nicholas II had hoped to unite the country with an easy war against Japan.

Czar’s Winter Palace Bloody Sunday: Sunday, January 22, 1905

• About 100,000 demonstrators tried to present a petition of grievances to the Czar at his Winter Palace.
• The guards opened fire and Cossacks charged charged the demonstrators and killed hundreds
• Bloody Sunday triggered naval mutinies, strikes, & the call for the end of the autocracy
  • For the most part, the armed forces remained loyal to the Czar
• Soviets: Workers from from the Socialist groups had formed councils or soviets in all major cities to support their goal of change; however, the soviets played a very small role in the 1905 revolution but would be key in 1917

October Manifesto

In 1905, the Czar met demands of reformers by granting civil rights & creating a Duma (elected Parliament with about 500 seats).

This saved his autocracy and these reforms split the opposition to the Czar with the Liberals (i.e. Cadets) being satisfied but the Social Democrats and Social Revolutionaries were not and therefore, boycotted the election for the Duma

Results of the 1905 Revolution

• Russia was supposed to be a Constitutional Monarchy with new Duma but the Duma did not have any real power nor was there promised constitution.
• Lenin Learned the Lesson: “to stage a successful rebellion, the people must be armed.”