1. RUSSIA
FROM ABSOLUTISM TO REVOLUTION
Material de apoyo para 4ºESO
Sección bilingüe

2. THE TSARIST EMPIRE

3. THE TSARIST EMPIRE

4. • Despite the liberal revolutions of the 19th century, the
Russian Empire continued to be an absolute monarchy.
• The Russian absolute monarchy was ruled by the tsar.
THE TSARIST EMPIRE
Thetsar
Concentrated all
the powers
Was supported
by:
The nobility
The orthodox Church
The army
Burocracy

5. THE TSARIST EMPIRE
THE LAST TSAR: NICOLAS II AND HIS FAMILY

6. • Political situation:
• Civil rights were not recognised.
• Political parties faced repression.
• There was a Parliament called
DUMA:
• Its powers were very limited.
• The Tsar could gather or disolve
the Duma whenever he wanted.
THE TSARIST EMPIRE

7. • The economy
THE TSARIST EMPIRE
There was a semi-feudal economy:
A wealthy minority
owned most of the
agricultural land.
A peasant majority
worked the
agricultural land.

8. • The pesants were extremely poor.
THE TSARIST EMPIRE
Russian peasants at the beggining of the 20th century.

9. • The economy
THE TSARIST EMPIRE
Industrialisation
Heavy
industry
and
railways
The working
class
increased.
It depended
on foreing
capital and
on the State
The
bourgeoisie
was smaller
and less
significant
than in other
European
countries.
A capitalist
economy could
not develop.

10. • Working-class assembly in a Russian factory. 1905.
THE TSARIST EMPIRE

11. Political
problems
1898
1903
1905
1914-1917
THE TSARIST EMPIRE

12. THE TSARIST EMPIRE
Theopposition
Liberal parties Bourgeoisie
Revolutionary
parties
Social
revolutionary party
Peasants
Social democratic
party
Workers

13. THE TSARIST EMPIRE
• In 1898, the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party
(RSDLP) was formed.
It was composed by workers.
Its aim was to establish a Social state
based on the principles of Marxist ideology.

14. THE TSARIST EMPIRE
• In 1903, the RSLDP divided into two separate factions:
Moderate
faction.
Martov argued
that gradual
reforms could
achieve a
Socialist
state.
The Mensheviks
Radical faction.
Lenin argued
for an
immediate
revolution to
remove the tsar
from power and
establish a
Socialis state.
The Bolsheviks

15. THE TSARIST EMPIRE
• THE REVOLUTION OF 1905
• Trigger:
• Russia tried to expand to Japan, but Japan defeated Russia.
• Russia suffered an important economic crisis.
• January 1905:
• There were protests against the
tsar´s absolutist regime.
• The Russians went to the
Winter Palace in St.
Petersburg, residence of the
Tsar, to ask him to make
political changes.

16. THE TSARIST EMPIRE
• THE REVOLUTION OF 1905
• January 1905:
• In response to the repression:
• Workers and soldiers formed a revolutionary council or SOVIET in the
city of St. Petersburg.
Bloody Sunday: The
government suppressed the
protests with violence. As a
result, there were a lot of
dead and wounded people.

17. THE TSARIST EMPIRE
• From 1914-1917, Russia took part in
WWI:
• It worsened the economic and political
problems that the empire was already
experiencing.
• This caused more discontent and protests
because Russian soldiers did not have
enough food or military equipment.
• This led to a revolution in 1917.

18. • Video about Nicholas II: Russia's Last Emperor.
• Part 1
• Part 2
THE TSARIST EMPIRE

19. THE REVOLUTIONS OF FEBRUARY
AND OCTOBER 1917

20. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE RUSSIAN
REVOLUTION OF 1917
• Why is the Russian Revolution so important?
• It´s an important milestone in the Contemporary
History:
1. It means the emergence of a new model of State based in
Socialism.
2. It means the end of the liberal Revolutions.
3. Two different social systems emerged: socialism and
capitalism.

21. THE REVOLUTION OF
FEBRUARY 1917
• What are the causes of the revolution of
1917?
• Russia´s participation in the First World War
caused more discontent and protests because
Russian soldiers did not have enough food or
military equipment.

22. THE REVOLUTION OF
FEBRUARY 1917
• When did the Russian Revolution begin?
• The Russian Revolution began on 23rd February with a
demonstration in St- Petersburg.
• Slogan:
• Peace and Bread.

23. • What happened next?
• On 25th february there was a general strike.
• On 26th february the tsarist troops refused to shoot
against the strikers.
THE REVOLUTION OF
FEBRUARY 1917
The tsarist army

24. THE REVOLUTION OF
FEBRUARY 1917
• There were demonstrations before the Palace of the Tsar.

25. THE REVOLUTION OF
FEBRUARY 1917
What was the result of these protests?
• The protests involving peasants, workers and soldiers
forced Nicolas II to abdicate.

26. THE REVOLUTION OF
FEBRUARY 1917
• What happened after the abdication of Nicolas II?
• At first, the Mensheviks formed a
provisional government led by Kerensky.
• The provisional government:
• Declared Russia a republic.
• Made political parties legal.
• Its aim was to establish a liberal political
system.
• But the provisional government did not take control
over all the Russian territory:
• Because it was in favour of taking part in WWI

27. THE REVOLUTION OF
FEBRUARY 1917
• Which alternative government emerged
in Russia?
• The Bolsheviks opposed the Mensheviks
and established and alternative
government based on the soviets.
• The soviets spread throughout Russia.
• Peasants, workers and soldiers formed soviets.
• They had their own army: The Red Army.

28. THE SOVIETS´ IDEOLOGY
The key character: LENIN
• Lenin was the leader of the
Bolsheviks.
• He was the promoter or the
Russian Revolution.
• He established a program
to be followed in the Revolution
based on his famous “April
Theses”

29. THE SOVIETS´ IDEOLOGY
• “April Theses”
• These theses consisted on:
• Withdraw of WWI.
• Redistribution of lands to all the
pesants.
• Control of the factories by the
workers comitees.
• Autonomy for the different
Russian nacionalities.
• Delivery of power to the
soviets.

30. THE REVOLUTION OF
OCTOBER 1917
• What happened in october 1917?
• There was another revolution:
• The soviets controlled by the Bolsheviks took
control over St. Petersburg and stormed the
Winter Palace.
• As a result, the
provisional government
fell.

31. THE REVOLUTION OF
OCTOBER 1917
• What were the consequences of the fall
of the provisional government?
• The Bolsheviks sized control of the
government and Lenin became the new leader
of Russia.

32. THE REVOLUTION OF
OCTOBER 1917
What were the consequences
of the fall of the provisional government?
• Russia signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with
the German Empire in March 1918:
• This allowed Russia to withdraw from an
unpopular war.
• But in return the Bolsheviks agreed to give large
amounts of land and resources to Germany.

33. REMEMBER!!
THE CRISIS OF 1917 IN WWI
(We saw this slide when
learning about WWI).
• The Russian Revolution.
• The Tzar was overthrown and a
Communist government was
imposed.
• The new government signed the
Peace Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
(1918):
• Russia withdrew from the war and gave
a big part of territory to Germany.

34. THE REVOLUTION OF
OCTOBER 1917
• What were other consequences of the
fall of the provisional government?
• Land was redistributed among the poorest
peasants.
• Minor nationalities were recognised.

35. 1918
• At the beggining of
1918 the Revolution
had succeeded.

36. 1918
What did the
Bolsheviks do after
taking power?
• In July 1918 they
killed the tsar
Nicolas II and his
family.
VIDEO: Murder Of The Romanovs
Min. 22:07

37. 1918
What did the Bolsheviks do after taking
power?
• They began persecuting their opponents:
• Supporters of the Tsar: landowners, high-ranking
military, Orthodox Church.
• Supporters of the liberal political system.

38. THE CIVIL WAR: 1918-1921
In response to these events, a civil war
broke out:
Between
two
groups
White
Russians
The
counterrevolutionaries, su
pported by the foreign
powers.
Red
Army
The Bolshevik forces,
who supported the
Revolution.

39. THE CIVIL WAR: 1918-1921
Who won the war?
The war was won by the
Bolsheviks, thanks of the
influence of Trotksy in the
Red Army.

40. CHANGES IN ECONOMY, SOCIETY
AND POLITICS
ECONOMY
• In 1921 a NEW ECONOMIC POLICY (N.E.P.) was
established to improve:
• The production
• The social conditions
• One of the most important actions was:
• The State controlled transports,
foreign trade, the banks and great
enterprises.

41. CHANGES IN ECONOMY, SOCIETY
AND POLITICS
A NEW STATE
• In 1922, Lenin established the UNION OF SOVIET
SOCIALIST REPUBLICS (URSS or Soviet Union).
• It was a federation
of republics.
• It was a
plurinational and
multiethnic state.

42. CHANGES IN ECONOMY, SOCIETY
AND POLITICS
• The flag of the USSR (1921-1991)

43. CHANGES IN ECONOMY, SOCIETY
AND POLITICS
• The flag of the USSR (1921-1991)
The sickle and the hammer is a symbol
which represents the union of the workers.
It was also used to represent the
communism and its political parties.
It is composed by a hammer overlapping a
sickle. This tools are the symbol of the
industrial proletariat and the peasants,
respectively.
The overlapping of both tools symbolizes
the unity between all the workers.

44. CHANGES IN ECONOMY, SOCIETY
AND POLITICS
• The flag of the USSR (1921-1991)
The red five-pointed star is one of the
symbols of Socialism and
Communism.
It represents:
• the five fingers of the worker´s hand
• the five continents. It is related to the
internationalism of the marxist
slogan “Proletarians of all
countries, unite!”.
• the five social groups who led the
establishment of Socialism: the
youth, the militaries, the workers, the
peasants and the intellectuals.

45. CHANGES IN ECONOMY, SOCIETY
AND POLITICS
POLITICS
• In 1923 a new constitution was established.
• It was based on Communist principles.

46. CHANGES IN ECONOMY, SOCIETY
AND POLITICS
POLITICS
• In the USSR, Karl Marx´s idea of the dictatorship of the
proletariat was put into practice through a system in
which workers´ interests were represented by one political
party: the communist Party of the Soviet Union
(CPSU).
• The party controlled the soviets.
• The soviets directed all state
institutions.

48. CHANGES IN ECONOMY, SOCIETY
AND POLITICS
POLITICS
• Under the Communist system, the state also controlled
the means of production, such as factories and energy
sources, as well as trade and finance.
http://kristaris2007.blogspot.com.es/2007/1
1/weblog-project-russian-propaganda.html

49. LENIN AND THE INTERNATIONALISM
• Lenin thought that it was necessary
to spread the revolution outside the
USSR.
• In 1919 Lenin created the Third
International (KOMITERN).
• Other countries were invited in
order to create communist
parties.
• The communists parties followed
the model of the CPSU:
• Very centralised party.
• Not much democratic party.
• Critics were considered dissidence
(people who disagrees with the
government)
• In 1924 the USSR was recognised
by many countries.

50. • VIDEO
• Lenin´s speach 1919
• What is the Soviet Power?
Comrade Lenin cleans the world
from garbage.

51. • EXERCISES ON PAGE 173
• 16
• 17
• 18
• 19
• 20