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RUSSIAN REVOLUTION

RUSSIAN REVOLUTION The fundamental causes of the Russian Revolution were the direct consequence of a dreadfully long period of suppression of the Russian people combined with a prolonged instability of the Russian government. For centuries, czarist regimes forced their strict demands upon the populace by exerting their unilateral power, with no moral consideration for human life or freedom. At the same time, to maintain its status as a great power, the Tsar promoted higher education. The result was perpetual tension between government and society, especially its educated element, known as “intelligentsia.” The United States emerged as the leader in automated technology in the late 1800’s and human rights quickly became a concern in places of employment. This gave stimulation to industrial development in Russia. 1890 was the beginning of the great leap forward in Russian industrialization. Huge factories were constructed, implementing the most modern technologies available, which were imported from England, Germany and the USA. Along with the most up to date technology brought in from the West, came the most current and advanced ideas of socialism. As a result, big industrial towns sprang up rapidly. Peasants were now required to be relocated from their work place in the fields in order to now be employed in these giant factories, thus the Proletarian class emerged and became an important social class in Russian society. By 1914, their number reached approximately 225 million and by 1917, Russia had over 3 million workers. There was an elite group of educated Russians that attempted to adopt the Western ideals of human rights and to apply them to the Russian work force. This sparked the leaders within the peasant class to make demands asking for more rights and freedoms, which brought about fear of revolution and dissension. The working conditions for the factory workforce was unsafe because there were no safety regulations. The hours were very long and the living quarters were overcrowded and deplorable with no sanitary facilities. Democratic Socialism was now favored by the majority of the people who wanted control over their own production in the factories. The concept of Marxism was recognized by the Russians as early as 1980. The first Marxist group was formed by Georgi Valentinovich Plekhanov, known as the “Father of Russian Marxism” in 1883. In the late 1800s, one of Plekhanov's most passionate supporters was Vladimir Lenin. Lenin admired Plekhanov as the founder of Russian Marxism and strove to master the revolutionary activity and party building Plekhanov had begun. In 1900, when Lenin founded Iskra, Plekhanov wrote for the paper, and jointly, they supported proletarian revolution backed by Marxist theory. Lenin formed another Marxist party, known as the Russian Social Democratic Party. In August 1903, the Social Democratic Party held a party in congress in London. This congress was significant not only because the entirety of the Russian socialist groups attended, but also because it marked the point of departure for the vital split among the Social Democrats into the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks. Both the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks were in agreement with their decision to overthrow Czardom, and to transform Russia into a democratic bourgeous republic. Their intention was to over throw it by a social revolution. They had great differences on the method used to achieve their goals. This revealed two opposing ideas concerning the personal that would make the social revolution. The Bolsheviks, were led by Lenin. Nicholas II became Tsar in 1894. He was involved in war with Japan, which ended with the signing of the Treaty of Portsmout, in 1905. Russia suffered gravely at the hands of the Japanese. This humiliation, joined with the intense unrest in Russia, forced Nicholas II to give in to some of the reformers’ wishes. These included a constitution and the establishment of the Duma,or parliament. Russia was still trying to recover from its military disaster with Japan when WW1 broke out in 1914. Russia found itself with an inadequate weapons industry and a sluggish army to pull together. By March of 1917, 10 million peasants had been recruited into military service. Peasant woman were forced off the farms and relocated into the St Petersburg factories to continue with the manufacturing in order to support the feeble war effort. Russian manpower was virtually never-ending. Russian industry, however, lacked the capacity to arm, equip and supply some 15 million men who were sent to war. The food supply decreased, in the trenches the soldiers went hungry and frequently lacked shoes or munitions, sometimes even weapons. The Russian army lost more men than any other army which ever took part in a national war – approximately two and a half million soldiers were killed. The humiliating defeats that the Russian army suffered at the hands of the Germans, who expelled it from Poland, reduced the prestige of the monarchy. After tolerating these conditions for three years, workers and soldiers began to protest and riot. They wanted Peace. They wanted Bread. And they wanted land. The czarist regime collapsed under the gigantic strain of WW1. Another main cause was the lousy economic condition of the country which made it unable to wage effort against the powerful, manufacturing Germany On February 23,1917, riots began to break out in Petrograd because of lack of food. Initially the police and army helped to stop the rioting, but later they began to leave their posts and desert. Alexander Kerensky was the Minister of Justice of the Provisional Government that was legitimized, by the manifesto written by Mikhail Alexandrovich Romanov, on March 3,1917. In April of 1917 Kerensky took on the job of Minister of War and Navy. He announced two goals: offensive against the Central Powers and democratic reorganization of the military command. Kerensky’s “Declaration of Soldiers Rights” included the appointment of commissars in the army to handle soldiers councils, but the councils issued orders contradicting the commanders and thus undermined the officer corps. Defeatist literature was distributed on a massive scale by radical socialists and Bolshevik agents. The Russian army began to mutiny. The Bolsheviks thoroughly expected the Provisional Government to meet their demands for an end to Russia’s involvement in WW1, distribution of lands to the peasants and reduction in factory labor hours and bread. The Provisional Government under Kerenski flatly refused. They had entered into a series of treaties with Britain and France which promised Russia a warm water seaport and sections of Persia and Turkey if they continued to support the war effort. The concept of Marxism was recognized by the Russians as early as 1980. The first Marxist group was formed by Georgi Valentinovich Plekhanov, known as the “Father of Russian Marxism” in 1883. In the late 1800s, one of Plekhanov's most passionate supporters was Vladimir Lenin. Lenin admired Plekhanov as the founder of Russian Marxism and strove to master the revolutionary activity and party building Plekhanov had begun. In 1900, when Lenin founded Iskra, Plekhanov wrote for the paper, and jointly, they supported proletarian revolution backed by Marxist theory. Lenin formed another Marxist party, known as the Russian Social Democratic Party. In August 1903, the Social Democratic Party held a party in congress in London. This congress was significant not only because the entirety of the Russian socialist groups attended, but also because it marked the point of departure for the vital split among the Social Democrats into the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks. Both the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks were in agreement with their decision to overthrow Czardom, and to transform Russia into a democratic bourgeous republic. Their intention was to over throw it by a social revolution. They had great differences on the method used to achieve their goals. This revealed two opposing ideas concerning the personal that would make the social revolution. The Bolsheviks, were led by Lenin. On the night of November 6,1917 the Bolsheviks staged a coup, engineered by Trotsky. They captured the government buildings and the Winter Palace in Petrograd. A cabinet, known as the Council of People’s Commissars was set up with Lenin as chairman, Trotsky as foreign commissar and Stalin as commissar of nationalities. The second congress immediately called for cessation of hostilities, gave private and church lands to village soviets, and abolished private property. Bibliography: Works Cited Baudot, Bernard, Brugmans. Historical Encyclopedia of World War II. New York: Greenwich House, 1977. Detailed information of all aspects of the Soviet involvement in WWII including tank specifications comparing Germany’s machinery to the Soviet. Cass,Frank. Soviet Military Deception in the Second World War.London:1989. The author explains how Soviet intelligence activities on the Eastern Front evolved during the Second World War. The study is based on numerous formerly secret Soviet and German sources. McNeal, Robert H. Stalin: Man and Ruler. New York: New York University Press, 1988. Soviets started the war handicapped by the 'intuitions' of their leader Joseph Stalin. By 1942, the Soviets established a group of interacting agencies and collection and analysis methods that are still in use today. By war's end, the Soviets had refined their procedures in a series of regulations, directives, and instructions. Although the Soviet empire is gone, the lessons enumerated in this book are still applicable Read, Anthony and David Fisher. Deadly Embrace: Hitler, Stalin, and the Nazi-Soviet Pact. New York: W. W. Norton, 1988. An in depth view of the strategies used by Stalin and Hitler with the emphasis on the psychological implications of Stalin’s behavior. Shukman, Harold. Stalin: Triumph and Tragedy. New York: Grove Widenfeld, 1988. The weather in Russia was the most important aspect of Stalin’s plan. This book gives a chronological weather related report of the war.

Word Count: 1364