RUSSIA (again)

1905

In 1905, people were upset with Tsar Nicholas' government. Bloody Sunday had incited a widespread revolutionary fervor. After an embarrassing defeat by Japan, Russian citizens lost total faith in the tsar and revolution commenced. The revolution was characterized by strikes, peasant uprising, minority revolts, and troop mutinies. In response to the revolution, the tsar issued the October Manifesto and introduced a popularly elected Duma, giving the revolutionaries a false sense of representation in government. However, when the Duma failed to comply with what the tsar wanted, he dismissed them, greatly upsetting the masses. He basically gave them a taste of freedom and took it away. 

How are the events of 1905 connected to the events of 1917?

World War I was the major reason why Nicholas was overthrown. Russia basically quit the war with the Brest-Litovsk peace treaty. Russia failed in the war as a result of poor industrialization. The tsar's failure to modernize and industrialize Russia resulted in a shortage of military arms, supplies, and technology. WWI was the first war fought with industrialized, modern technology, and Russia was not equipped to fight a modern war and was forced to withdraw. (The one industrial success of Russia during this time was the trans-Siberian railroad). 

The secondary, and still majorly influential, reason for this second revolution was the leftover resentment of the Russian government from the revolution of 1905. When Alexander II dismissed the Duma, he took away the peoples' power - the power that they fought for and got only a brief taste of when the Duma was first set up. 

These two reasons coupled with growing unrest in the mass populations of Russia resulted in two revolutions. First was the fall of the tsar, the forced abdication of Nicholas II, and second was the following fight as to whether or not Russia would be a communist nation. 

Quick review and video of the Russian Revolution of 1917

The big question - "It is easy to explain why Nicholas II should not be in charge, but it is not easy to explain why a communist revolution occurs in an agrarian society."

Essentially, it is easier to explain why Nicholas lost power vs. why Lenin gained power. Communism is best suited for an urban society, but the majority of Russians were peasants and farmers. So, how did Russia become communist when it's full of agrarian society? Lenin was successful because weaknesses in the provisional government set up after the abdication of Nicholas allowed him to create an anarchical situation. The provisional government was supposed to be revolutionary but really wasn't. The tsar was a puppeteer for the 'representatives', and once he was gone, the puppets didn't know what to do. This was a perfect set up for anarchy and for Lenin's rise to power. 

Background on Lenin

Lenin had a history of radicalism in Russia, which explains his exile. Lenin's older brother was part of the People's Will that assassinated Alexander II, and he actually led the plot of Alexander III's assassination (which never happened). Lenin led the radical Marxist party called the Bolsheviks which seized power during the 1917 Russian Revolution, leading to a communist Russia.