Russian Revolution
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Russia:
Autocracy to Dictatorship (Ch. 20)
Objectives:
Understand
the 19th-century background to the revolution.
Describe
conditions in Russia that led to revolution.
Assess
the grievances of the lower classes as a cause of revolution.
Evaluate
the impact of World War I on the Russian revolutions.
Discuss
the factors that led to the fall of the Provisional government.
Assess
the importance of Lenin to the Bolshevik revolution.
Describe
the means Lenin used to consolidate power.
Reading
Guide:
Read
pages 359-362:
1.
Describe the two Russian revolutions of 1917.
2.
Identify the immediate cause of the first revolution, and discuss the
significance of the
following:
a.
World War I
b.
Loss of confidence in the Tsar
c.
working class and peasant grievances.
Read
pages 363-367:
3.
Identify important revolutionary movements in Russia before 1917.
4.
Discuss the immediate events leading to the first revolution.
5.
Discuss the role of the following:
a.
the Provisional Government
b.
the Soviets
c.
Army Order #1.
6.
Assess the weaknesses of the Provisional Government.
7.
Evaluate the role of Lenin in the Bolshevik Revolution.
8.
Describe the coup d'etat of November 1917.
Read
pages 368--370.
9.
Describe the provisions of the Treaty of Brest‑Litovsk and explain
why Lenin agreed to it.
10.
How did Lenin consolidate power?
11.
Describe the following:
a.
the Civil War
b.
War Communism
c.
the New Economic Plan
d.
the Soviet Constitution of 1919.
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Eyewitness
Account: The Outbreak of the Russian Revolution
The Russian Revolution of 1917 started with a series of
ill-organized demonstrations in Petrograd early in March. The nature of these
actions and the government's response are described in the memoirs of Maurice
Paleologue, the French ambassador.
Question:
Based on this account, why did this spontaneous, disorganized
“revolution” succeed in overturning the monarchy?
What are some key factors?
Monday, March 12, 1917
At half-past eight this
morning, just as I finished dressing, I heard a strange and pro- longed din
which seemed to come from the Alexander Bridge. I looked out: there was no one
on the bridge, which usually presents such a busy scene. But, almost
immediately, a disorderly mob carrying red flags appeared …and a regiment came
towards it from the opposite side. It looked as if there would be a violent
collision, but on the contrary the two bodies coalesced. The army was
fraternizing with revolt.
Shortly
afterwards, someone came to tell me that a …regiment of the Guard had mutinied
during the night, killed its officers and was parading the city, calling on the
At ten o'clock there was a sharp burst of firing and flames could be seen rising some- where…close to the embassy. Then silence.
Accompanied by my military attache,
I went out to see what was happening. Frightened inhabitants were
scattering through the streets. There was indescribable confusion.... Soldiers
were helping civilians to erect a barricade. Flames mounted from the Law Courts.
The gates of the arsenal burst open with a crash. Suddenly the crack of
machine-gun fire split the air: it was the regulars who had just taken up
position near the Nevsky Prospect. The revolutionaries fired back…
About
half-past eleven I went to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, picking up Buchanan
[the British ambassador to Russia] on the way.
I told Pokrovski [the Russian foreign minister] everything I had just witnessed.
"So it's even more serious than I thought," he said.
But
he preserved unruffled composure, flavored with a touch of scepticism, when he
told me of the steps on which the ministers had decided during the night:
"The
sitting of the Duma has been postponed to April and we have sent a telegram to
the Emperor, begging him to return at once. With the exception of M. Protopopov
[the Minister of the Interior, and chief of the police], my colleagues and I all
thought that a dictatorship should be established without delay; it would be
conferred upon some general whose prestige with the army is pretty high, General
Russky for example."
I argued that, judging by what I saw this morning, the loyalty of the army was already
too heavily shaken for our hopes of salvation to be based on the use of the "strong hand," and that the immediate appointment of a ministry inspiring confidence in the Duma seemed to me more essential than ever, as there is not a moment to lose. I reminded him that in 1789, 1830, and 1848, three French dynasties were overthrown because they were too late in realizing the significance and strength of the movement against them. I added that in such a grave crisis the representative of allied France had a right to give the Imperial Government advice on a matter of internal politics.
Buchanan
endorsed my opinion.
The Minister replied that he personally shared our views, but that the presence of [the chief of police] in the Council of Ministers paralyzed action of any kind.
I asked him: "Is there no one who can open the Emperor's eyes to the real situation?"
He
heaved a despairing sigh. "The Emperor is blind!"
Deep
grief was writ large on the face of the honest man and good citizen whose
upright- ness, patriotism and disinterestedness I can never sufficiently extol.
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