- Background of the Soviet revolution
Tsarist Russia
The Russian Empire had around 150 million inhabitants
The population was very unevenly distributed
The economy, based on agriculture, was slowly beginning to develop industrially
Consisted of a great diversity of nationalities, peoples and cultures
The general standard of living was low and poverty was widespread
Russia was an autocratic monarchy, in which the tsar exercised his power as an absolute ruler
Gradually, political opposition to tsarism grew in Russia
At the end of the 19th century, the Marxist-inspired Russian Social-Democratic Workers’ Party (RSDWP) was also founded
Bolsheviks
Defended the seizure of power by a committed working-class minority
Their leader was Vladimir Lenin
Mensheviks
Were more moderate and favoured an alliance with reformist liberalism
Their leader was Julius Martov
Grigori Rasputin
In an atmosphere of crisis and the breakdown of the tsarist regime, he emerged as a symbol of declining Russian autocracy.
Rasputin was a mystic called to the palace to cure the tsar’s eldest son, Alexei
Rasputin came to have a big religious influence on the tsarina
He was accused of
Manipulating the appointment of government positions
Being a German spy
Influencing the tsarina in favour of the Germans
He was assassinated in 1916
From the revolution of 1905 to the great war
Russo-Japanese War, Russia was defeated and the weakness of the tsarist regime was revealed
Forces opposing tsarism tried to take power through a revolution
The trigger was the ruthless repression of a peaceful demonstration where the people begged the tsar for improved living conditions
The tsarist army repressed thousands of demonstrators
There were more than a thousand victims
The massacre of men, women and children unleashed a wave of popular outrage and marked the final rupture between the people and the tsar
Bloody Sunday
The first Soviet was formed in St. Petersburg, capital of the Empire
The Soviet consisted of workers, peasants and soldiers that would later play a fundamental role in the revolution.
The revolutionaries did not succeed in taking power, but they pressurised the tsar into implementing some reforms
Creation of the Duma or National Legislative Assembly
Was the equivalent of a parliament, but was controlled by the tsar
Start of an agrarian reform
Distribution of lands that would serve to create a social base of support for the liberal regime
The project was cancelled because of the assassination of its promoter, Prime Minister Pyotr Stolypin
The establishment of limited individual and citizens’ liberties
In the summer of 1914, World War I began
After the initial Russian defeats, Tsar Nicholas II took direct control of the army in 1915, but could not prevent the collapse of the front or the breakdown of civil power
The war worsened the serious economic and social situation due to increasingly poor living conditions
The war also produced the demoralisation of the army and the people, which generated conditions for a new revolutionary outburst
The Russian Empire in 1914, covered an immense territory that made up one sixth of the Earth’s surface
The Trans-Siberian Railroad, inaugurated in 1904, managed to connect the European part with the most remote regions of the Russian Empire
