Russia's Path from Tsarism to Revolution

Tsarist Autocracy in Russia

At the turn of the twentieth century, the rule of the Tsars was an absolute monarchy. It applied backward social structures. Tsarism was an autocracy; the Tsar was invested with absolute power, ruling by decree. He was not subject to any constitution nor did he have to respond to a legislature. The army ensured control of the empire. The Orthodox Church acted as one of the ideological pillars of the regime.

Agriculture was the main economic activity, and the land was in the hands of a few landowners who belonged to a privileged aristocracy. The bulk of the population were peasants living in miserable conditions. The proletariat worked in factories for low wages.

Among the workers, Marxism had spread, and in 1898, the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party was founded. In 1912, it split into Mensheviks and Bolsheviks.

The February Revolution

The situation created by World War I in Russia set the conditions for a revolutionary outbreak. Russia was unprepared for such a hard and costly war.

There were military disasters and a decline in agricultural production (due to the mobilization of millions of peasants). This led to widespread hunger and unrest in cities among workers and peasants.

They began to organize soviets (councils of workers, peasants, and soldiers who demanded the Tsar's withdrawal from the war and the end of autocracy).

Fall of Tsarism

In February 1917, a revolution broke out in St. Petersburg that caused the fall of Tsarism. Power passed to the Provisional Government headed by Kerensky and supported by the liberal parties of the Duma, which began a series of reforms. Russia became a democratic republic.

The October Revolution

The slow pace of land reform, which kept land in the hands of landowners, increased popular discontent. This benefited the Bolsheviks, who wanted to overthrow the Provisional Government and establish socialism.

On October 25, the Soviets, driven by the Bolsheviks, revolted and, within ten days, took power and dissolved the Provisional Government. With support from the Congress of Soviets of Russia, Lenin formed a workers' government.

The new Soviet government established the first revolutionary measures:

• Land was expropriated for distribution among the peasants.
• Factories were placed under the control of workers' committees.
• Peace was made with Germany via the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (1918), which involved major territorial losses for Russia.