Russian Revolution (Causes)

Significant Individuals

Leon Trotsky

Joseph Stalin

Vladmir Lenin

Long-term causes (5+)

Trigger Causes (-1)

No political rights and not even food supplies

Tsar loosing support (Rasputin)

Short-term causes (1-5)

Tsar moved away

Tsar thought Duma's and his secret police's warnings were lies (or at least brushed them off as lies)

Joining WW1- Russia leaders supported Great Britain and the French

Slightly outdated economy- largely based on independent peasants (not much owned modern machinery)

The vast demand for factory production of war supplies and workers caused many more labor riots and strikes.

Too overconfident in winning

Soldiers fought with each other a lot, bad planning

Some soldiers had no proper weapon to fight with

3 million Russian soldiers dead

Poverty, terrible living conditions

Food shortage

Suffering from a naturally cold climate, Russia's growing season was only 4-6 months, compared to 8-9 in most of Western Europe.

centuries of oppression towards the lower classes by the Tsarist regime and Nicholas's failures in World War I

Russia consisted mainly of poor farming peasants, with 1.5% of the population owning 25% of the land.

urban overcrowding

poor conditions for urban industrial workers

no running water, and piles of human waste

Bloody Sunday, in which Russian workers saw their pleas for justice rejected as thousands of unarmed protestors were shot by the Tsar's troops

The response to the massacre crippled the nation with strikes

Nicholas promised a democratic parliament (the State Duma) to appease the people, but the Tsar nullified his promises and then dismissed the first two Dumas when they proved uncooperative.

These unfulfilled hopes of democracy fuelled revolutionary ideas and violence targeted at the Tsarist regime.

Tsar Nicholas II