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BACKGROUND TO THE SOVIET REVOLUTION - Coggle Diagram
BACKGROUND TO THE SOVIET REVOLUTION
TSARIST RUSSIA
beginning of the 20th century, the Russian Empire had around 150 million inhabitants
population was very unevenly distributed and consisted of a great diversity of nationalities
economy, based on agriculture, was slowly beginning to develop industrially
Russia was an autocratic monarchy
tsar exercised his power as an absolute ruler
sovereign was backed by a feudal aristocracy
political opposition to tsarism grew in Russia
At the end of the 19th century, the Marxist-inspired Russian Social-Democratic Workers’ Party (RSDWP)
RSDWP split into two groups
Mensheviks: were more moderate and favoured an alliance with reformist liberalism. Their leader was Julius Martov.
Bolsheviks: defended the seizure of power by a committed working-class minority.
FROM THE REVOLUTION OF 1905 TO THE GREAT WAR
THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE IN 1914
Russian and Japanese imperialism competed for control of Korea and Manchuria. This tension led to the Russo-Japanese War
trigger was the ruthless repression of a peaceful demonstration where the people begged the tsar for improved living conditions
tsarist army repressed thousands of demonstrators gathered in front of the Winter Palace in St Petersburg
more than a thousand victims
massacre of men, women and children, known as Bloody Sunday
protests, workers’ strikes, peasant revolts and military uprisings culminated in a prerevolutionary situation
Political strikes became the main weapon
