Russian Revolution

1917

Czar Nicholas II

!   Last Czar of Russia

!   Exhausted nation’s economy by involving Russia in WWI

!   This left the Russian people poor and starving, but the Czar and his family lived comfortably.

!   The people were angry with this, so they decided to REVOLT!

Karl Marx (1818 – 1883)

• He died long before Revolution began, but his political ideas of communism lived on. • Considered father of communism • People of Russia who revolted adopted his ideas

Karl Marx !  Karl Marx - 1848 published

the Communist Manifesto with Fredrich Engels

!  This document advertised Marx’s belief that pure communism would be the inevitable outcome of human history

!  “From each according to his abilities, to each according to his need.”

Communism

• Form of government that has a classless society • Everyone is equal; no rich and no poor • The Bolsheviks, or revolutionaries, adopted this idea.

Bolsheviks • The Bolsheviks - an organization formed by the revolting people, or revolutionaries, of Russia. • Bolsheviks were led by Vladimir Lenin.

Vladimir Lenin

• A revolutionary who led the Bolsheviks (working class) to freedom. • They eventually were able to overthrow the Czar.

Czar is Overthrown…

• With the rise of the Bolsheviks, the Czar was forced to give up thrown • In 1918, the Czar and his entire family, wife and 5 children, were assassinated by an execution squad set up by the revolutionaries • The entire family was killed because they feared one of them could rise to power again.

Lenin’s Death

• Lenin died in 1924, leaving the Bolsheviks leaderless. • This caused a power struggle between two other revolutionaries, Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin.

Leon Trotsky

• A revolutionary who was popular with the people • Wanted to make life better for all by industrializing Russia

Josef Stalin

• Lied to people to gain support • People believed his lies and promises, so he beat Trotsky in the power struggle • Stalin had Trotsky exiled from Russia. He feared Trotsky would try to regain power, so he eventually had him killed.

Stalin, cont’d…

• Stalin grew more and more powerful over the years. • He began eliminating anyone who opposed him. • He set up a secret police to carry out his deadly orders.

NKVD (KGB)

• Stalin’s secret police • Killed, tortured, starved, intimidated anyone Stalin ordered • Completely loyal to Stalin

Totalitarianism

Form of government with a strong central rule that attempts to control individuals by means of coercion and repression.

Examples of Totalitarian governments and their

leaders

!  Nazi Germany - Adolf Hitler !  Soviet Union - Joseph Stalin !  Italy - (Facist) Benito Mussolini !  Spain - Gen. Francisco Franco

Propaganda

-Propaganda: is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position.

-Stalin used this to keep his image in the public eye positive

-He had a bureau dedicated to coming up with new propaganda on a regular basis creating pictures, statues, continuous praise and applause for him.

Stalin’s Rule • Stalin became so greedy, he lost the original vision of the revolutionaries • Millions of innocent people were killed under his rule • Ironically, he made Russia worse off than it had been before the Czar • Stalin became known as one of the most ruthless dictators in history, comparable to Hitler

Animal Farm was an attack on Stalin