Russian Revolutions 1905–1917: Tsarism, War, and the Bolshevik Rise

1. Tsarist Russia at the Beginning of the 20th Century

• The Russian Empire had about 150 million people, living across a vast and unevenly populated territory with great ethnic and cultural diversity.
• The economy was based on agriculture, with only slow industrial development; most of the population lived in poverty.
• It was an autocratic monarchy: the Tsar held absolute power, supported by the Orthodox Church, the feudal aristocracy, and a corrupt bureaucracy.
• Political opposition developed within the educated elite, inspired by liberal and Marxist ideas. In 1898 the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party was founded.
• 1903: split into Bolsheviks (radical revolutionaries, led by Lenin) and Mensheviks (more moderate, led by Julius Martov).
• Grigory Rasputin, a controversial figure close to the tsar's family, became a symbol of the regime's corruption and decline; he was assassinated in 1916.

2. 1905 Revolution and the Road to War

• In 1904–05 Russia lost the Russo-Japanese War, revealing military weakness and deepening the political crisis.
• Bloody Sunday (1905), when peaceful demonstrators were shot by the army, sparked a wave of outrage.
• Protests, strikes, peasant revolts, and mutinies followed. The first Soviet appeared in St. Petersburg.
• The revolution failed to topple the regime, but it forced the Tsar to introduce reforms: creation of the Duma, limited civil liberties, and agrarian reform.
• In 1914 Russia entered World War I; this worsened the economic crisis, caused military defeats, and deepened popular discontent.
• In 1915 Tsar Nicholas II took personal command of the army, accelerating the collapse of state authority.

3. February Revolution (1917)

• Early 1917 Russia faced economic hardship, rationing, hunger, and military defeats.
• In February 1917 massive protests led by women and workers erupted in Petrograd.
• The army mutinied and the Duma supported the revolution; the Tsar abdicated.
• A Provisional Government was formed, promising reforms and elections.
• At the same time, Soviets spread across Russia, representing workers, peasants, and soldiers.
• This created a situation of dual power: the Duma/Provisional Government and the Soviets.
• Lenin returned from exile and presented the April Theses, rejecting the Provisional Government and calling for power to the Soviets, nationalization of land and banks, and an end to the war.

4. October Revolution (1917)

• The Provisional Government continued the war, losing popular support.
• In August 1917 General Lavr Kornilov attempted a failed coup, further weakening the government.
• Lenin and the Bolsheviks saw the opportunity for action.
• On the night of 24–25 October the Bolsheviks took Petrograd, stormed the Winter Palace, and overthrew the government.
• The Congress of Soviets, now Bolshevik-dominated, approved the new regime.