Russian Revolution
By: Jon Maxim, Andrew Novak, Taylor Skinner
Investigation A
Questions 3: Andrew Novak
Question 4: Taylor Skinner
1. What were the causes of the Russian Revolution of 1905?
It began when anxious troops and the working class of Russia followed the leadership of Father Georgii Gapon, marching to St. Petersburg to petition the tsar. When they arrived at St. Petersburg, the nervous troops saw the approaching crowd and fired upon them, killing at least 200 peaceful marchers. This happened on January 9, 1905, which is now known as"Bloody Sunday."
The Bloody Sunday massacre caused revolts throughout the nation, workers went on striked, agricultural struggles began, terrorism threats came about, and army mutiny started to happen. Eventually it got so bad the tsar had to leave the country because his life was endangered, he fled to America where he tried to find an end to this war.
On October 7th, 1905, more nation threats began to come up and strikes became longer. The tsar came back to Russia to deal with the nations struggles.
Tsar Nicholas II, after trying to regain full control of the nation for almost a year now, found a solution by creating the October Manifesto, a document which gave basic civil liberties and rights to the Russian people, giving citizens a voice in the government through the election of the Duma. The 1905 Revolution caused significant reform in Russia, even know Russia was still in turmoil, the document did put an end to the 1905 Russian Revolution.2. How did the various social, political, and economic groups view the Russian Revolution?
The role that Leon Trotsky played in the Bolshevik takeover was that he was Commissar of war and had full control in how the newly formed Red Army went about it’s work. He also set about eradicating those who wanted to destroy the Bolshevik. Even though he was an untrained commander he excelled in his job. The Red army was successful and the leadership by trotsky couldn't be undervalued. He had a philosophy if a commander in the failed, he paid the price. If the whole unit was at fault , they would pay the price. That kind of policy helped the Red Army which the White army didn’t have. His success keeping the revolution alive made him get enemies. Trotsky was murdered on August 20th 1914 by a stalinist agent.
Vladimir Lenin established the first the first communist government when he overthrew the Provisional Government. He lead the Russian Communist to power. Lenin worked very long hours to figure out how to bring down the Russian Government. He wanted to help the poor and thought that anyone making a profit was abusing everyone else. He wanted a government that truly represented the people. He saw what the russian government was like when 150,000 were peacefully protesting and they started to kill them. He realized that the millions of poor russian were incapable of organizing themselves. On March 1917 the revolution lead to a fall.
Alexander Kerensky was a member of the Duma where he stood as a democratic socialist. He was seen as a soldier representative of the working class then in 1917 he became the prime minister. He developed a reputation for effective leadership in whatever area of government he worked in. However he made two major errors he ensured Russia stay into war and not give the peasants any land. He ordered an election for a constituent assembly. After the defeat Lenin ordered a coup d’etat in november. The november revolution ended ending the Provisional Government and the power of Kerensky.
3. To what extent was World War I a cause of the March and October Revolutions
World War I affected the Russian Revolution because the war was fought on a Russian Front and started to begin the destruction of their economy. During the war; czar Nicholas II took post of commander-in-chief of the army in 1915 which directly connected him to the destruction of cities on the front, and take sole responsibility for the atrocity of the economy inside of Soviet Russia. The czar, head of the already rebelling Soviet Russia, made more enemies by joining in World War I thus solidifying the war’s role as a catalyst for the Russian Revolution of 1917.
With Czar Nicholas II on the battlefield he left decisions up to his wife, Alexandra Feodorovna. With Alexandra alone in the Petersburg, the capital of Russia, with the widely hated Rasputin making decisions for her many decisions that were made whilst he was away were very hated. In December 1916 Rasputin was murdered by Russian nobles, and in February 1917 workers in Petrograd began to go on strike. When soldiers were sent to deal with the strikers refused to obey orders; the army turned against czar Nicholas II. The Provisional government, led by the Bolsheviks, took control over Soviet Russia. It is thought that if Czar Nicholas II hadn’t engaged Russia in World War II the February Revolution and the October Revolution of 1917 wouldn’t have occurred and Russia may still today be ruled by a czar.4. What roles did Trotsky, Lenin, and Kerensky play in the Bolshevik takeover?
The role that Leon Trotsky played in the Bolshevik takeover was that he was Commissar of war and had full control in how the newly formed Red Army went about it’s work. He also set about eradicating those who wanted to destroy the Bolshevik. Even though he was an untrained commander he excelled in his job. The Red army was successful and the leadership by trotsky couldn't be undervalued. He had a philosophy if a commander in the failed, he paid the price. If the whole unit was at fault , they would pay the price. That kind of policy helped the Red Army which the White army didn’t have. His success keeping the revolution alive made him get enemies. Trotsky was murdered on August 20th 1914 by a stalinist agent.
Vladimir Lenin established the first the first communist government when he overthrew the Provisional Government. He lead the Russian Communist to power. Lenin worked very long hours to figure out how to bring down the Russian Government. He wanted to help the poor and thought that anyone making a profit was abusing everyone else. He wanted a government that truly represented the people. He saw what the russian government was like when 150,000 were peacefully protesting and they started to kill them. He realized that the millions of poor russian were incapable of organizing themselves. On March 1917 the revolution lead to a fall.
Alexander Kerensky was a member of the Duma where he stood as a democratic socialist. He was seen as a soldier representative of the working class then in 1917 he became the prime minister. He developed a reputation for effective leadership in whatever area of government he worked in. However he made two major errors he ensured Russia stay into war and not give the peasants any land. He ordered an election for a constituent assembly. After the defeat Lenin ordered a coup d’etat in november. The november revolution ended ending the Provisional Government and the power of Kerensky.