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Unrest among the people grew in Russia. The threat of open revolt in 1905 had led the czar to make some changes, but he still held all the power. At the start of World War I, the Russian people supported the war effort from a sense of patriotism. As the army met defeats, discontent grew and soldiers deserted. People rioted for bread, fuel, and an end to the war. Nicholas II gave up his throne in March 1917, ending imperial Russia. The provisional government. A temporary government tried to run the country. However, the middle-class liberals who ran it did not make enough changes to satisfy the workers and peasants. Nor did the government end the hated war with Germany. Workers formed soviets, or small councils, to talk about political and economic problems. Some soviets wanted to change Russian society according to Marx's view of communism. They wanted to give workers the power and even out wealth. These radical soviets were led by Bolsheviks. More moderate soviets were run by socialists called Mensheviks. The Bolsheviks gained power under the leadership of Vladimir Illich Ulyanov, known as Lenin.
Since his teenage years, Lenin had been against the czarist govemment. Arrested for actions to overthrow the govemment in 1897, he was sent to Siberia for three years. After that, he lived in westem Europe until his retum to Russia in 1917. Lenin adapted the ideas of Marx to conditions in Russia. He believed that peasants as well as factory workers could join in a revolution to bring rule by the working class. The revolution. When Lenin retumed to Russia in 1917, he organized the Bolsheviks to lead a revolution and gained the support of many people. On November 6, 1917, the Bolsheviks took control of the railway station, banks, power stations, and other important points in Petrograd. The next day, they arrested the leaders of the provisional govemment. A new government. To gain the people's support, Lenin held a free election for a legislative assembly. The Bolsheviks won only a quarter of the seats in the assembly. Lenin got rid of the legislature after only one session. In June 1918, Lenin set up a new constitution. Soviets of workers and peasants would form the base of local governments and elect a national congress. Only one political party was allowed. All government of ficials had to be party members. The Politburo, a group of high Communist party of ficials, held real power. This group was made up of Bolsheviks. Because Lenin was general secretary of the party, his word became Russian law.
Russia was exhausted by war and tom by disagreement. Groups such as landowners and industrialists were against Lenin's policies, which took away their power and put them on the same level as everyone else. Also, many czarist army of ficers wanted to bring back the old order. The anti-Bolshevik forces were known as the "Whites." The communists were known as "Reds." Other nations disliked the Lenin government. The Allies were bitter that Lenin had taken Russia out of the war. They saw soviet communism as an intemational threat. Allied troops landed in Russia by 1919 to support the Whites. With Allied support, the Whites began a civil war that lasted three years. Soldiers from both sides destroyed villages and crops. Thousands of people were killed or injured. Nicholas II and his family were executed by Red forces. Lenin began a policy called war communism, in which the government took over all factories and outlawed strikes. The government also took over all farm land and outlawed most private ownership. Factories and farms were run by people who reported to the Communist party. A secret police put down opposition. Political terror was an important part of Lenin's rule and kept control of the government in Communist hands. The Red Army defeated the Whites. Allied forces left Russia by 1921.
A Brief Survey of World History. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1990. (p. c64)
HISTORY-SOCIAL SCIENCE CONTENT STANDARDS
10.5 Students analyze the causes and course of the First World War.
For additional information see the California Department of Education web site at: http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/documents/histsocscistnd.pdf
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