In early October 1917 all of the following were true of the Bolsheviks except Many were still uneasy about going ahead with a coup They held public debates together with members of the provisional government The Bolsheviks' Central Committee met and decided to overthrow the provisional government They used the Smolny Institute as a headquarters 23. Introduced by Vladimir Lenin in 1921, the New Economic Policy (or NEP) was a radical shift in Bolshevik economic strategy. The Question is Posed by the Russian Revolution, The subsoil of the revolution was the agrarian problem Trotsky. Enter the next, and as it turned out final, disaster for the fragile regime of Tsardom: World War I. Peasants and workers alike suffered horrendous living and working conditions and hence posed a. 140 0 obj The Bolsheviks formula for this was the dictatorship of the proletariat and the peasantry. With the influence of Lenins thinking, and Trotskys promotion of the Marxist understanding of the revolution in permanence, this formula was revised to assert the need for a dictatorship of the proletariat in alliance with the peasantry. The other half of all arable landand often the worst landwas in the hands of some 10 million peasant families, mostly in the communes, or small ownership plots. <>stream Priests, wealthier peasants and alleged White sympathisers were arrested, tortured and killed. The immediate cause of the first revolution, the February Revolution of 1917 was the collapse of the czarist regime under the gigantic strain of World War I. / 0000009578 00000 n By early 1921, the Soviet regime had been rattled by the Kronstadt rebellion, peasant revolts in the provinces, angry food queues in the cities, strikes by hungry workers and factionalism within the Communist Party. 130 0 obj Among those killed were women and children (Dobrovol'skii 1922, pp. <>stream What are the units used for the ideal gas law? French Revolution. trailer endobj In 1917, social tensions and an unpopular war against Germany and the Central Powers strained Russian society to the . [15-16] St. Nicholas as the patron of children. This conclave, though composed primarily of representatives of the upper layers of the peasantry, provided an opportunity to assess the peasant state of mind. After several months of chaos, Czar Nicholas II tried to end the revolution by announcing the "October Manifesto," in which Nicholas made major concessions. The peasants, who were obligated to sell bread to the state, answered with "the bread strike": they decided to wait until spring to sell their grain, because in spring the prices were to grow. Authors: Jennifer Llewellyn, Michael McConnell, Steve Thompson World War 1 set up and helped create a peasant body that could play a role in the Russian Revolution by allowing peasants to join the army and learn what it was like to be treated as an individual and as an equal. The Bolshevik Party desperately needed a role to play; it needed a reaffirmation that it was leading Russia and not simply waiting for the conditions to arise when the socialist offensive could resume. Now Streaming. endobj There was also a reported case of a group of peasants breaking apart a grand piano, sharing out the ivory keys. Throughout history, peasant revolts had never been capable of leading to a peasant revolutionary state. 0000031991 00000 n In May, a month-long All-Russian Congress of Peasant Deputies was held in Petrograd. And so it went for months. xref endobj In Russia, the peasants were still serfs meaning that they were still in the feudal system with class privileges (Wilde 2nd). Causes of the Russian Revolution. Sukhanov was a Menshevik with a wide range of contradictory opinions, but he was a great eyewitness reporter. Centuries of virtually unchecked Russian expansion in Asia ended with an embarrassing defeat in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-05). Witnesses reported that some people were tortured under a slow stream of water from a boiling samovar. Finally, the peasants were also required to make redemption payments for the land they did receive for 49 years, with interest! Under the NEP, Russian farmers were once again permitted to buy and sell their surplus goods at markets. 135 0 obj endobj jEQny~G'e9 teSh#yqi=XZq7'&wqq ) ;8ts8qC^fo/P_ Part three: Nationalism or Internationalism? This was to be an alliance, not an overlordship. This soon produced uprisings, including major revolts in the 17th and 18th centuries. [1] Furthermore, the landlords retained the best lands for themselves, and large sections of what had been commons, including forests, roads and rivers, were now accessible only for a fee. As Trotsky explains, To be sure, the kulak understood equality only in the sense of his equality with the landlord, not at all in the sense of his equality with the hired hands. Throughout the 16th century, Russian tenant farmers lived on large estates, working the land for owners, but were allotted small plots to grow food for their own families. As the Twentieth Century dawned however, the Russian autocracy failed another big test on the international stage. The Soviet Union's 'Great Famine' between 1932 and 1933 may have resulted in the deaths of nine million people. This signaled that the Bolsheviks had succeeded in splitting the peasantry along class lines, and this was a good thing for a transition to socialism. The Industrial Workers Support of Growing the revolution This capitalistic profiteering was strictly forbidden before 1921. Forced requisitioning of grain became essential. But the redemption payments were essentially uncollectible from the poor peasants, who lacked sufficient land to be able to survive, let alone sell their produce. The Revolution thus far had unleashed a torrent of organizing activities among the masses, and peasants were no exception. C0tfJ:8y#4?[XUP*Tj~{ID ;glf8b|]\Hb4&+g{G]jC6>*l8CO}1.aIm[R0jBc$>nq>@4flz!j4}8QL"|YJ5Hq!Teg! 2, p. 371. objectives: describe the causes of the russian revolution introduction directions: The landlords complained of the mounting confiscations of their land, and the Kadet (bourgeois liberal) bankers were loaned out against the real estate for billions of roubles. A muzhik is a Russian peasant. The Kulaks and poor peasants had been united in overthrowing the landlords, but now rich peasants were selling their grain on the black market at high prices, defying the workers states monopoly, and even threatening its survival. The purpose was to promote capitalist farmers who would be a support for the regime. The Russian Revolution plays a vital role in World history and had a huge impact not only on Russia but also in other regions as well. The Social Revolutionary party also agreed with the peasants and wanted them to start a Revolution. 1- Tsar Nicholas II and his family lived a life of luxury other's didn't. The NEP alsolifted a ban on agricultural and town markets, allowingpeasants to buy and sell their surplus produce. [1] In the violence there was also a much 'culture smashing', and peasants went out to destroy anything that 'smacked of superfluous wealth': setting fire to libraries, smashing antiques and dumping faeces on the expensive oriental carpets all took place. Explanation: 1- Tsar Nicholas II and his family lived a life of luxury other's didn't. 2- There was feudalism, the peasants of Russia ( which were the largest in populations) had no say in how the government was run. This decree took a step away from feudalism, and at first, peasants were thrilled. [4], With the most destruction finding place in Saratov, Stolypin's daughter wrote of how 'the steppe lit up at night by the burning manor houses' and how the long lines of peasants and carts moving across the red horizon looked like 'a peasant army coming home from its wars'. Peasants were generally mobile, as there was abundant land as well (as noticed by Babur). The NEP ended the policy of grain requisitioning and introduced elements of capitalism and free trade into the Soviet economy. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. Soviet terminology divided the Russian peasants into three broad categories: bednyak, or poor peasants; serednyak, or mid-income peasants; and kulak, the higher-income farmers who had larger farms. Dubbed the Nepmen, these shopkeepers, salesmen and market stall holders obtained items wholesale or secondhand and sold them with a markup. This provoked women workers to take to the streets in protest on International Working Womens Day in 1917; and they were soon followed by the rest of the workers and the soldiers who were garrisoned in and around Petrograd. While the Cheka was created in 1917 during the Russian Revolution and could be considered as the rightful heir to the Tsarist Okhrana, American espionage entered the fray with the considerable handicap of the absence of a tradition and experience in the field of espionage. Economically, widespread inflation and food shortages in Russia contributed to the revolution. Contrary to popular belief, no bras were burned during this Sept. 7, 1968, protest outside the Miss America beauty pageant. 136 0 obj The NEP was controversial within the Bolshevik party, where some saw it as a backdown or retreat from socialism. By 1921, this had fallen to less than 50 million tons but four years of the NEP saw it increase to 72.5 million tons. 0 If it valued peasants like him enough to share info - it wouldn't be russia. After all, the masses had rebelled in February against the imperialist war, yet it went on; and against the approaching famine (largely due to the war), yet that went on; workers demanded the 8-hour day, but that was ignored; and the peasants were rebelling against the icy grip of the aristocracy over the land, yet the Provisional Government let that go on. Who wrote the music and lyrics for Kinky Boots? That formula included the peasants, and explains the Bolsheviks Land Decree, and its relation to the theory of permanent revolution. The workers immediately formed soviets again as in 1905, and peasants began to take action against the landlords, slowly at first, but soon ramping up. peasants to have a more significant role in the Great War and the Russian revolution. The peasants, having gone through all the Tsars reforms, were still land hungry and rebellious. How do you calculate the ideal gas law constant? This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. This example proves why economic was one of the most important cause of the Democratic Revolution because the colonist money was limited by the king. They took a leading role in events that were soon to envelope the countryside. The aristocrat class treated the peasants like slaves, giving them few rights under the law and treating them almost like animals. <>stream Starting with the early days of the Revolution, factories began to lock out workers in defiance of the Bolsheviks, and the trickle of workers who went back to the peasant villages where they were from increased. endobj Peasants rose up as well; not all, but enough to make the Tsar pick very carefully for a loyal regiment to shoot down protestors outside the Winter Palace in the Bloody Sunday massacre, killing at least 1,000. Organisations like the United Nobility was formed to protect the gentry's properties, and the provincial zemstvos changed nature from being 'liberal strongholds' to 'bastions of law and order'. For centuries, Russians lived under a feudal system in which peasants were born tethered to the great estates of nobility. [2], Several witnesses noted how the night sky was illuminated by the amount of burning manors, and how long lines of peasant carts drawn by horses filled the roads, packed with stolen items. A new group ofaffluent peasants or kulaks, a group long demonised in Bolshevik propaganda and persecuted by the Red Army and the Cheka, began to emerge. . t`5tB %, By early 1921, the Soviet regime had been rattled by the Kronstadt rebellion, peasant revolts in the provinces, angry food queues in the cities, strikes by hungry workers and factionalismwithin the Communist Party. A historians view: [1], Despite the large destruction there were only one confirmed account of a landowner being killed, although reports report that 50 non-communal peasants who were particularly disliked were murdered. This was certainly not what the SR compromisers wanted, but it wasnt exactly what the Bolsheviks wanted either. Students can take a free test of the Multiple Choice Questions of Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution. [2], What followed the uprisings was a wave of 'gentry reaction'. Castro was unhappy about Allende's reluctance to introduce strict . It was a period of social and political chaos. Kerensky became leader of the Provisional Government in July. 2- There was feudalism, the peasants of Russia( which were the largest in populations) had no say in how the government was run. The 'Great Famine' was a man-made affair and was introduced to attack a class of people - the peasants -who were simply not trusted by Joseph Stalin.There is little doubt that Joseph Stalin, the USSR's leader, knew about this policy. 127 0 obj endobj When early summer came and it became clear that the harvest had failed, the peasants started launching large, organised attacks on the estates; they would loot the properties, and set the manor on fire, making the landowner flee. 132 0 obj There were also knock-on improvements in industrial production and the wages of industrial workers, which doubled between 1921 and 1924. Peasants remained unhappy that most arable land remained with the nobles. The NEP did not solve all of Russias economic ills either. romanovs the russian revolution political revolutions (definition) political revolutions are relatively violent to government which, over period of time, the The NEP allowed the return of capitalist behaviours, such as buying and selling for profit and produced the emergence of new kulak and Nepmen classes. Genuinely curious, I'm assuming there are much less records of what peasants personally thought (up to the French revolution) than what the nobles/higher classes told the peasants to feel but I'm wondering if you would have swarths of peasants defending the kings and nobles and selling out anyone that dared speak against the king or church? <>/Border[0 0 0]/Contents( s c h o l a r s a r c h i v e @ b y u . 123 0 obj This article will further elaborate on the causes and . He became one of Vladimir Lenin's closest associates and was appointed as a Political Commissar to ensure loyalty to the . Serfdom in Russia was slave-like feudalismpeasants were not allowed to leave the land they were born on. Many Bolsheviks interpreted it as a surrender or retreat towards capitalism. The SRs had tended to favor individual action by the richer stratum, while the Bolsheviks, whose influence now increased, continued to support poor and landless peasants. The revolution would necessitate that the workers put forward their own demands, not limiting themselves to the democratic simplicities of the capitalists. Peasant rebellions dated back as far as the Russian defeat of the Mongols, and the establishment of the Tsar as the ruler of all Rus in 1503. What did Russian peasants have do to with Russian Revolution? How do I determine the molecular shape of a molecule? 120 29 The Russian Revolution of 1905 had begun. Frequently, they refused to pay rent and even murdered landlords. HKo@stl@U%@i* 1 ^dWDeofgf3~C)`$S[`H\~}(o$pjt}~71!'D ;bU@|qx `(Da1D>l[h'}]f94HpL[B d}W_VZ`y?#^xVU[xl(BJyl69&G40xcn[}$`F"X*x4c&gU9SyEv!JB0iS? 4. Transitional methods included state support and incentives for collective farms. The vast majority (85 percent) of the population were peasants, very poor and mostly illiterate. 8Lenin, Speech On the Agrarian Question, to First All Russia Congress of Peasants Deputies, May 22 (June 4th) 1917, Collected Works (CW), vol. In our publication, we look at the various aspects of these turbulent times and their impact on the Czech and European societies, with a special emphasis on the middle class. The New Economic Policy, or NEP, was a revised economic strategy, developed and introduced by Lenin in early 1921. %PDF-1.7 % (In this, peasants were remembering their long experience with failed rebellions. 0000002020 00000 n Discontent among workers Women take to the. But when the war ended with the vic-torious Soviet advance, the Western governments were unable to secure for the peasants equal standing in the so- During the Russian Revolution, the Bolsheviks, led by leftist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin took power and ended the czarist legacy. As the army was called out to put down the peasant uprisings' of 1905-1906, many units especially in the infantry, which consisted mainly of peasants refused to obey orders and mutinied in favor of the Revolution; between autumn 1905 and winter 1906 over 400 mutinies took place, causing the army to be brought to the brink of collapse, with it taking several years to restore something close to order. By the mid-1920s,Russias agricultural output had been restored to pre-World War I levels. Version: 2019-03-03. 4N. N. Sukhanov, The Russian Revolution 1917, Harper, 1962, vol. This made the colonist unhappy with the taxes because they rarely had money. The question is, why were there two revolutions? 2 How were peasants treated during the Russian Revolution? Hungry peasants were unhappy peasants, and even Lenin recognized that this would encourage mass support for overthrow of the monarchy. This only increased opposition to the Bolshevik regime which, in turn, increased the risk of rebellion or counter-revolution. The also fearful Tsar however, did not want to create a proletariat of landless workers. As recently as 1959, Norman Mailer could aspire to effect, single-handedly, a revolution in the consciousness of our time, but by centurys end such vaunts gave way to recognition, in some quarters, that certain tectonic shifts in the culture had sidelined its most gifted literary artists, however cogent and perceptive their . Russian Revolution memory quiz events 1907-1916, Russian Revolution memory quiz events 1917, Russian Revolution memory quiz events 1918-1924, Russian Revolution memory quiz revolutionaries, Russian Revolution memory quiz tsarists, Russian Revolution memory quiz: concepts (I), Russian Revolution memory quiz: concepts (II), Russian Revolution memory quiz: events 1906 to 1913, Russian Revolution memory quiz: events 1914 to 1916, Russian Revolution memory quiz: events to 1905. 120 0 obj 486-505. HMK0g'FDqD/P[0vlAeCo.fp|2' 4A\2N'Eck0bk\Qe,E{pVf{-aB9DiiVdEkvRZ2Zql!r[l(Zu:p%q2WCRyfU+Ml%k#rU-4*Qw4&\RoU&ioK=zoM[O~`v$NIu1_\6y)9^^CU_ASA}~akVM[H endobj Whatever his justifications, the NEP did seem like a concession that earlier policies had failed. 0000006561 00000 n A compromise ensued, but it did not provide enough land for a growing population of peasants to survive on and still maintain their traditional three-field system. This added to the problem of crop failure and caused supply troubles in many industrial centers. 3- Heavy taxes on peasants. It did not solve all of Russias economic problems, however, nor did not produce immediate results. A council of workers called the St. Petersburg Soviet was created in all this chaos, beginning the era of communist political protest. \;|u BIG6*b`:D_7 *Y Delegates came from the zemstvos, or elected local assemblies, established by Tsar Alexander II in 1864, which were dominated by village shop keepers, as well as the co-ops of the more well-off peasants; and a few from the village mir. It contained elements of both socialism and capitalism. I p. 59. For Russia, World War I was an unprecedented disaster: Russian casualties were greater than those sustained by any nation in any previous war. <>stream The forests were important to the peasants for building material and for fires in winter. Seeing the weakness of the government, they started organising rent strikes in an effort to force the landowners to pay out higher wages. [1] Much violence also occurred in the Baltic region, with the least violence happening in the West and South. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. The mir was a self-governing body of peasants who maintained control of local land. endstream Writing in 1921, Alexandre Barmine said: We felt as though the revolution had been betrayed and it was time to quit the Party If money was reappearing, wouldnt rich people reappear too? Russian peasants were different from other European peasants in another way. Answered by DeanAtom10143. The numbers illustrate the situation. days the village became a site of plundering and pillage. <>stream 0000001829 00000 n In the Russo-Japanese War of 1904, the Tsars naval fleet was demolished by the Japanese Empire, which the Tsar had seriously underestimated. Could their grievances, so long ignored, be addressed in this new situation? Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. The first factor that led to the 1917 Russian Revolution and the communist government that followed was Russias participation in World War I. Those peasants who produced more began to acquire surplus goods, bought more land and hired labour. Corruption in the Czar Family: Rasputin 4. 1. For most of 1917 however, the peasants were represented by the SRs, not the Bolsheviks. The Russian people were unhappy with their country's involvement in World War I for several reasons. How were peasants treated during the Russian Revolution? 0000002926 00000 n In 1905, about one half of all arable land was private (including church and state-owned land), and about half of that was owned by 30,000 great landed gentry. 0000004958 00000 n 0000002447 00000 n 9Lenins Decree on the Land, in Mervyn Matthews, ed., Soviet Government: A Selection of Official Documents on Internal Policies, New York, 1974, p. 319. The events of Bloody Sunday triggered a line of protests. endstream The immediate causes of the 1905 revolution were failed state-level leadership and policy, inflation poverty, hunger, Russo-Japanese War, the rise of reformer and revolutionary groups, and Bloody Sunday. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin.