I.
Imperial
Russia ends – bottom line is Russia was doing so badly in WWI they want change
A.
WWI
– Russia is “gung ho” at the beginning, but hits problems…
1.
poorly
mobilized (rather old fashioned and backward)
2.
leadership
problems – Duma vs. tsar Nicholas II
a.
Nicholas
wanted complete control & wasn’t able to form partnership with citizens
b.
Fired
minister of war which forced Duma to want more
control
c.
Nicholas
adjourned Duma and travels to front to manage war
3.
Meanwhile,
back at the Kremlim…
a.
Tsarina
Alexandra becomes enraptured by Rasputin and his powers
b.
Aristocrats
murder Rasputin to rid his influence; Tsarina haunted
4.
Revolution
in Petrograd (St. Petersburg)
a.
women
call for bread and start riots
b.
spread
to factories
c.
soldiers
joined revolutionary crowd
d.
Duma declared provisional government
II.
Duma’s provisional government
A.
establishes
classical liberal government – (equality under law, free religion, free speech,
freedom of assembly, right to organize/unionize)
B.
Alexander
Kerensky – became Prime Minister – refused to confiscate large landholdings
(would hurt what was left of army), instead he wanted to focus on war efforts
C.
Provisional
government had to share power with Petrograd
Soviet (grass-root meetings)
a.
served as a watch-dog to provisional
government. Ex. Army Order No. 1 – took military power from officers and gave
it to common soldiers
b.
“voting
with their feet” began
c.
this
situation opens door for Lenin
III.
Vladimir Lenin & Bolsheviks
A.
Lenin
influenced by Karl Marx & Communist
Manifesto
a.
he
wants a small, intellectual, revolutionary group; Bolsheviks
b.
opponents
wanted a broader more democratic massive group; Mensheviks
B.
Lenin
was in neutral Switzerland, but Germany “pays his way” back to Russia
C.
“All
power to the Soviets” “All land to the
peasants” “Stop the war now”
IV.
Leon Trotsky & seizing
power
A.
Trotsky
supports Lenin (Trotsky is a great politician)
B.
Bolsheviks
get slim majority in Petrograd Soviet
C.
The
coup d’etat…
a.
Trotsky
forms new military-revolutionary committee which he heads
b.
Nov
6, Trotsky trots military & seizes government buildings
c.
Force
provisional government to announce power to Bolsheviks/Lenin
D.
Why
Bolsheviks won…
1.
power
was there for the taking
2.
great
leadership
3.
appealed
to many groups – soldiers, workers, tired of war
V.
Civil
War
A.
Now,
how do Bolsheviks keep power?
B.
Step
1 – gave land to peasants; workers demand control of factories
C.
Step
2 – Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (a
separate peace for Russia) – Germany demanded Russia give up western
territories; Lenin gets this approved
D.
Step
3 – promise of new government
1.
Bolsheviks
said they were only a temporary & they’d have elections, but…
2.
elections
didn’t go well, so results were tossed out
E.
Civil
War – Reds vs. Whites (Reds win/Lenin wins b/c more centralized & better
army)
F.
Step
4 – power with lean mean army, and total war, and Cheka (secret police)
VI.
German
Revolution
A.
Notably
– Germany loses WWI, have many different groups competing for power (liberals,
socialists, radical communists)
B.
Radicals
are squelched (literally arrested and executed – Karl Liebknecht & Rosa
Luxemburg)
VII.
Treaty
of Versailles
A.
Big
Four – Britain, France, Italy, US
B.
Britain
& France want to punish Germany, Italy wants spoils of victory, US wants to
avoid future wars
C.
Britain/France
agree to okay W. Wilson’s League of
Nations; WW agrees to okay War Guilt
Clause
D. US never joins
league of nations & it fails; Germany is embarrassed and ruined by War
Guilt