☁️Russia- understand events + dates
.
Lenin was the main theoretician and practical leader of the Bolsheviks,
leading a break from the Mensheviks at the second congress of the Russian Social
Democratic Labour Party in 1903 Returning from exile in April 1917, it was Lenin
who called for an insurrection in 1917 (See his April Theses) and led the Party to
power. A stroke incapacitated Lenin in March 1923, and he finally died on January
21 1924.
Leon Trotsky joined Bolsheviks on returning to Petrograd in 1917 and becoming
convinced that only the Bolsheviks could make the Revolution and agreeing with
Lenin's call for an insurrection. Trotksy led the Military Revolutionary Committee
which organised the insurrection and went on to build and lead the Red Army. After
Stalin seized the leadership of the Party, he formed the Left Opposition, but was
deported and in 1940, assassinated. His History of the Russian Revolution and
Revolution Betrayed are important analyses of the Russian Revolution.
Nadezhada Krupskaya was a longstanding Bolshevik and Lenin's wife. Krupskaya
worked in education after the revolution. After Lenin's death she carried a great
deal of prestige but was unable to prevent Stalin's triumph and was isolated.
Alexandra Kollontai was the most prominent female member of the Bolshevik
Party, a leader of the left-wing workers opposition after the Revolution, she
championed the rights of women within the Soviet Union and raised feminist issues
which went way beyond her times. Eventually she was posted as a diplomat by Stalin,
where she was unable to play an active role in the party, but lived longer than any
of her comrades as a result.
Grigory Zinoviev was one of the most prominent Old Bolsheviks, who took on
the role of leading the Communist International when it was founded in 1918. Like
many others, Zinoviev wavered in the struggle between Stalin and Trotsky, but was
eventually executed after the first of the Moscow Trials.
Lev Kamenev was an Old Bolshevik, an old friend of Lenin's.
Kamenev was closely associated with Zinoviev as both had initially voted against
the decision to use violent revolution in October 1917, he was eventually shot on
Stalin's orders in 1936.
Nickolai Bukharin was one of the theoreticians of the Party and a gifted agitator.
Although initially close to Trotsky, after the Revolution, Bukharin was on the
right of the Party favouring more cautious programs of socialisation, and "market
socialism". He was shot in 1938.
Karl Radek was a leading member of the Bolsheviks since 1901 and played an active
role in the movement against World War I in Germany and Poland. Radek was also
involved in the work of the Communist International. Later a member of the Left
Opposition he died in prison.
Josef Stalin was a Georgian who joined the Bolsheviks after the split with the
Mensheviks in 1903. In 1912, Stalin was appointed editor of the Bolshevik paper
Pravda. Stalin played little role in the Revolution, at first sceptical of the
prospects of insurrection, but followed Lenin in favour of insurrection, and during
the Civil War his undisciplined experiments in irregular warfare brought him close
to court martial. As General Secretary of the Party, he became very powerful after
the end of the Civil War and became a spokesperson for "socialism in one country".
He isolated Lenin during his last days and eventually gained the ascendancy in the
Party after the international setbacks of 1923. During the Moscow Trials, he
systematically eliminated all the Old Bolsheviks and instituted personal rule over
the Party. After having executed all the experienced military cadre of the Red Army
and making a Pact with Hitler in 1940, he brought the Soviet Union close to defeat,
but emerged after World War Two more powerful than ever. He was denounced by Nikita
Khrushchev only after his death in 1953
Russia in 1855:
Largest country + population in Europe- 70m.Church- pillar of autocracy-Tsar
,regarded embodiment of God on earth/controlling Russian Orthodox Church.
Army- pillar of autocracy- 1.4m 1855- largest in Europe.
Religion:
Every peasant home had 'Red corner'.
Controlled by the Tsar.
Pillar of autocracy- church taught obedience to Tsar.
How strong was autocracy:
Russian Orthodox Christian- religious observance + taught obedience to Tsar-
peasants were illiterate so relied on info from church.
No meaningful opposition groups (but some nobles- Westernisers- talked of desire to
change)
Army:
Lack of training + modern equipment.
Lack of meritocracy- achieve position through status not ability.
Difficult to control different groups- anger due to wealth gap.
Hierarchy- nobility didn't pay tax/small % were middle class.
Size- poor transport + communication.
Under governed- Tsar reliant on provincial governors (nobility).
Can't afford to alienate nobles e.g. emancipation had to be carried out on noble's
terms.
Technologically backward- poor infrastructure + few large-scale industrial works.
Competency of state brought into question by Crimean war.
Nicholas II like as a ruler
Accepted inheritance as God-given + set out to rule in 'Romanov way'- asserting
against demands of growing reform movement.
Tutored by Pobedonostsev- taught any signs of weakness would be indications of
cowardice/failure.
Committed to Orthodoxy- ensured Church maintained powerful influence.
Continued Russification + support for 'Black hundreds' (Right-Wing + anti-Semitic).
No more popular with ethnic minorities than Alexander III.
Regime + opposition
Stolypin (Tsar's minister) dealt with disturbances with ferocity- aggravated
situation further.
1901-Obukhov factory (St Petersburg)- violent clashes between armed police + whip-
carrying Cossacks.
1900- chief of Okhrana in Moscow (Zubatov) organised own police sponsored Trade
Union with approval of governor General of Moscow (Grand Duke Sergei)- attempt to
control proliferation of illegal unions.
Stolypin's political repression:
1906-1911 wiped out political opposition to Tsar in countryside.
• Suspected opponents tried by army + executed.
Key political groups in Dumas
Social Democrats- divided since 1903 into Bs and Ms.
Social Revolutionaries.
Trudoviks (Labour group).
Kadets (Constitutional Democrats).Octobrists (Union of 17 Oct).Progressives.
Rightists- including Union of Russian People.Nationalist groupings.
Category Details
Autocracy Russia was an absolute monarchy under Tsar Nicholas II. The Tsar held
ultimate power with limited political representation.
Orthodox Church Only 15% of Russians were literate; the majority relied on the
Church for guidance. The Church supported autocracy, teaching that the Tsar was
chosen by God.
Tsar as Head of Church The official doctrine stated the Tsar was appointed by God,
and any challenge to him was an insult to God.
Duma Introduced after the 1905 Revolution but had little influence. The Tsar could
dissolve it at will.
, Opposition Groups Included liberals seeking constitutional reforms and radical
socialists like the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks.
Civil Service Administrators and officials who carried out the Tsar's
instructions.
Secret Police (Okhrana) Infiltrated opposition groups, arrested threats to Tsarist
rule, and had 18,000 informants by 1905.
Censorship Books and newspapers were censored to prevent liberal and socialist
influence.
Exile & Law Opponents of the Tsar were exiled to Siberia to minimize threats.
Army Russia had the world’s largest army in 1855 (1.5 million conscripted serfs).
45% of the government's budget was spent on the military.
Cossacks Elite mounted soldiers who acted as personal bodyguards to the Tsar and
suppressed unrest.
Size of Russia Vast geography made communication and spreading revolutionary
ideas difficult. The majority of the population were peasant farmers.
Peasantry (80% of population) Lived in rural areas, faced poverty, and resented the
land-owning elite.
Urban Workers Suffered harsh working conditions, low wages, and poor housing.
Labor strikes were common.
Nobility & Aristocracy Controlled vast estates and had significant power over
peasants.
Middle Class Included professionals, merchants, and industrialists; some
supported reform, while others feared revolution.
Agriculture Inefficient farming methods, peasants lacked land, and rural unrest was
common.
Industrialization Rapid growth in coal, steel, and textiles, but living conditions
for workers remained poor.
Foreign Investment Industrial growth relied on investments from France,
Britain, and Belgium.
Transport Infrastructure The Trans-Siberian Railway symbolized modernization
but Russia's infrastructure remained underdeveloped.
Strikes & Protests (Pre-1917) 13,000 strikes in 1905 (2.75 million workers
involved); 3 million workers went on strike from 1912-1914.
Famine & Agricultural Crisis The 1891-92 famine affected 36 million people;
Tsarist response was inadequate, increasing distrust.
World War I Impact Russia lagged behind in industrial and military strength;
800,000 soldiers lacked rifles at war’s start.
1917 Crisis By 1917, 1.3 million soldiers were dead, 4.2 million wounded, and 2.4
million captured. Transport and supply systems collapsed.
Economic Hardship (1917) Prices in Petrograd increased sixfold, food shortages
worsened, and workers spent 40 hours a week in queues.
Key February 1917 Events Feb 22 - Putilov Iron Works lockout led to protests.
Feb 23 - Women’s Day protests; 240,000 people on the streets. Feb 27 - Soldiers
mutinied, 66,000 joined protests with 40,000 rifles. Mar 2 - Nicholas II abdicated,
ending Romanov rule.
Putilov Steelworks Strikes Protests over wages combined with dissatisfaction
with the Tsar. Owners locked out workers, worsening tensions.
February 1917 Revolution Widespread protests and military desertions led to
the fall of the Tsarist government.
Key Political Groups (1917) Liberals - Wanted elections and reforms. Socialist
Revolutionaries - Supported peasant land redistribution. Bolsheviks - Led by Lenin,
favored a small, elite revolutionary group. Mensheviks - Believed revolution should
come naturally from workers.
Historians’ Views Robert V. Daniels - No leaders were prepared for the February
Revolution. Orlando Figes - 1917 was a general crisis of authority, leading to
widespread rejection of all forms of control.
Group Leaders Beliefs Support Base Key Actions
Tsarist Autocracy Nicholas II Absolute monarchy, divine right Nobility,
.
Lenin was the main theoretician and practical leader of the Bolsheviks,
leading a break from the Mensheviks at the second congress of the Russian Social
Democratic Labour Party in 1903 Returning from exile in April 1917, it was Lenin
who called for an insurrection in 1917 (See his April Theses) and led the Party to
power. A stroke incapacitated Lenin in March 1923, and he finally died on January
21 1924.
Leon Trotsky joined Bolsheviks on returning to Petrograd in 1917 and becoming
convinced that only the Bolsheviks could make the Revolution and agreeing with
Lenin's call for an insurrection. Trotksy led the Military Revolutionary Committee
which organised the insurrection and went on to build and lead the Red Army. After
Stalin seized the leadership of the Party, he formed the Left Opposition, but was
deported and in 1940, assassinated. His History of the Russian Revolution and
Revolution Betrayed are important analyses of the Russian Revolution.
Nadezhada Krupskaya was a longstanding Bolshevik and Lenin's wife. Krupskaya
worked in education after the revolution. After Lenin's death she carried a great
deal of prestige but was unable to prevent Stalin's triumph and was isolated.
Alexandra Kollontai was the most prominent female member of the Bolshevik
Party, a leader of the left-wing workers opposition after the Revolution, she
championed the rights of women within the Soviet Union and raised feminist issues
which went way beyond her times. Eventually she was posted as a diplomat by Stalin,
where she was unable to play an active role in the party, but lived longer than any
of her comrades as a result.
Grigory Zinoviev was one of the most prominent Old Bolsheviks, who took on
the role of leading the Communist International when it was founded in 1918. Like
many others, Zinoviev wavered in the struggle between Stalin and Trotsky, but was
eventually executed after the first of the Moscow Trials.
Lev Kamenev was an Old Bolshevik, an old friend of Lenin's.
Kamenev was closely associated with Zinoviev as both had initially voted against
the decision to use violent revolution in October 1917, he was eventually shot on
Stalin's orders in 1936.
Nickolai Bukharin was one of the theoreticians of the Party and a gifted agitator.
Although initially close to Trotsky, after the Revolution, Bukharin was on the
right of the Party favouring more cautious programs of socialisation, and "market
socialism". He was shot in 1938.
Karl Radek was a leading member of the Bolsheviks since 1901 and played an active
role in the movement against World War I in Germany and Poland. Radek was also
involved in the work of the Communist International. Later a member of the Left
Opposition he died in prison.
Josef Stalin was a Georgian who joined the Bolsheviks after the split with the
Mensheviks in 1903. In 1912, Stalin was appointed editor of the Bolshevik paper
Pravda. Stalin played little role in the Revolution, at first sceptical of the
prospects of insurrection, but followed Lenin in favour of insurrection, and during
the Civil War his undisciplined experiments in irregular warfare brought him close
to court martial. As General Secretary of the Party, he became very powerful after
the end of the Civil War and became a spokesperson for "socialism in one country".
He isolated Lenin during his last days and eventually gained the ascendancy in the
Party after the international setbacks of 1923. During the Moscow Trials, he
systematically eliminated all the Old Bolsheviks and instituted personal rule over
the Party. After having executed all the experienced military cadre of the Red Army
and making a Pact with Hitler in 1940, he brought the Soviet Union close to defeat,
but emerged after World War Two more powerful than ever. He was denounced by Nikita
Khrushchev only after his death in 1953
Russia in 1855:
Largest country + population in Europe- 70m.Church- pillar of autocracy-Tsar
,regarded embodiment of God on earth/controlling Russian Orthodox Church.
Army- pillar of autocracy- 1.4m 1855- largest in Europe.
Religion:
Every peasant home had 'Red corner'.
Controlled by the Tsar.
Pillar of autocracy- church taught obedience to Tsar.
How strong was autocracy:
Russian Orthodox Christian- religious observance + taught obedience to Tsar-
peasants were illiterate so relied on info from church.
No meaningful opposition groups (but some nobles- Westernisers- talked of desire to
change)
Army:
Lack of training + modern equipment.
Lack of meritocracy- achieve position through status not ability.
Difficult to control different groups- anger due to wealth gap.
Hierarchy- nobility didn't pay tax/small % were middle class.
Size- poor transport + communication.
Under governed- Tsar reliant on provincial governors (nobility).
Can't afford to alienate nobles e.g. emancipation had to be carried out on noble's
terms.
Technologically backward- poor infrastructure + few large-scale industrial works.
Competency of state brought into question by Crimean war.
Nicholas II like as a ruler
Accepted inheritance as God-given + set out to rule in 'Romanov way'- asserting
against demands of growing reform movement.
Tutored by Pobedonostsev- taught any signs of weakness would be indications of
cowardice/failure.
Committed to Orthodoxy- ensured Church maintained powerful influence.
Continued Russification + support for 'Black hundreds' (Right-Wing + anti-Semitic).
No more popular with ethnic minorities than Alexander III.
Regime + opposition
Stolypin (Tsar's minister) dealt with disturbances with ferocity- aggravated
situation further.
1901-Obukhov factory (St Petersburg)- violent clashes between armed police + whip-
carrying Cossacks.
1900- chief of Okhrana in Moscow (Zubatov) organised own police sponsored Trade
Union with approval of governor General of Moscow (Grand Duke Sergei)- attempt to
control proliferation of illegal unions.
Stolypin's political repression:
1906-1911 wiped out political opposition to Tsar in countryside.
• Suspected opponents tried by army + executed.
Key political groups in Dumas
Social Democrats- divided since 1903 into Bs and Ms.
Social Revolutionaries.
Trudoviks (Labour group).
Kadets (Constitutional Democrats).Octobrists (Union of 17 Oct).Progressives.
Rightists- including Union of Russian People.Nationalist groupings.
Category Details
Autocracy Russia was an absolute monarchy under Tsar Nicholas II. The Tsar held
ultimate power with limited political representation.
Orthodox Church Only 15% of Russians were literate; the majority relied on the
Church for guidance. The Church supported autocracy, teaching that the Tsar was
chosen by God.
Tsar as Head of Church The official doctrine stated the Tsar was appointed by God,
and any challenge to him was an insult to God.
Duma Introduced after the 1905 Revolution but had little influence. The Tsar could
dissolve it at will.
, Opposition Groups Included liberals seeking constitutional reforms and radical
socialists like the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks.
Civil Service Administrators and officials who carried out the Tsar's
instructions.
Secret Police (Okhrana) Infiltrated opposition groups, arrested threats to Tsarist
rule, and had 18,000 informants by 1905.
Censorship Books and newspapers were censored to prevent liberal and socialist
influence.
Exile & Law Opponents of the Tsar were exiled to Siberia to minimize threats.
Army Russia had the world’s largest army in 1855 (1.5 million conscripted serfs).
45% of the government's budget was spent on the military.
Cossacks Elite mounted soldiers who acted as personal bodyguards to the Tsar and
suppressed unrest.
Size of Russia Vast geography made communication and spreading revolutionary
ideas difficult. The majority of the population were peasant farmers.
Peasantry (80% of population) Lived in rural areas, faced poverty, and resented the
land-owning elite.
Urban Workers Suffered harsh working conditions, low wages, and poor housing.
Labor strikes were common.
Nobility & Aristocracy Controlled vast estates and had significant power over
peasants.
Middle Class Included professionals, merchants, and industrialists; some
supported reform, while others feared revolution.
Agriculture Inefficient farming methods, peasants lacked land, and rural unrest was
common.
Industrialization Rapid growth in coal, steel, and textiles, but living conditions
for workers remained poor.
Foreign Investment Industrial growth relied on investments from France,
Britain, and Belgium.
Transport Infrastructure The Trans-Siberian Railway symbolized modernization
but Russia's infrastructure remained underdeveloped.
Strikes & Protests (Pre-1917) 13,000 strikes in 1905 (2.75 million workers
involved); 3 million workers went on strike from 1912-1914.
Famine & Agricultural Crisis The 1891-92 famine affected 36 million people;
Tsarist response was inadequate, increasing distrust.
World War I Impact Russia lagged behind in industrial and military strength;
800,000 soldiers lacked rifles at war’s start.
1917 Crisis By 1917, 1.3 million soldiers were dead, 4.2 million wounded, and 2.4
million captured. Transport and supply systems collapsed.
Economic Hardship (1917) Prices in Petrograd increased sixfold, food shortages
worsened, and workers spent 40 hours a week in queues.
Key February 1917 Events Feb 22 - Putilov Iron Works lockout led to protests.
Feb 23 - Women’s Day protests; 240,000 people on the streets. Feb 27 - Soldiers
mutinied, 66,000 joined protests with 40,000 rifles. Mar 2 - Nicholas II abdicated,
ending Romanov rule.
Putilov Steelworks Strikes Protests over wages combined with dissatisfaction
with the Tsar. Owners locked out workers, worsening tensions.
February 1917 Revolution Widespread protests and military desertions led to
the fall of the Tsarist government.
Key Political Groups (1917) Liberals - Wanted elections and reforms. Socialist
Revolutionaries - Supported peasant land redistribution. Bolsheviks - Led by Lenin,
favored a small, elite revolutionary group. Mensheviks - Believed revolution should
come naturally from workers.
Historians’ Views Robert V. Daniels - No leaders were prepared for the February
Revolution. Orlando Figes - 1917 was a general crisis of authority, leading to
widespread rejection of all forms of control.
Group Leaders Beliefs Support Base Key Actions
Tsarist Autocracy Nicholas II Absolute monarchy, divine right Nobility,
