Russian Revolution

Russian Revolution, momentous political upheaval that changed the course of world history. It destroyed the autocratic tsarist regime and culminated in the establishment of the world's first Communist state, the Soviet Union (1922). Its roots lay in the political and economic backwardness of Russia, the chronic poverty of most of the people, and rising discontent in the middle and lower classes.

The Revolution of (1905)

On “Bloody Sunday,” Jan. 22, troops fired on a workers' demonstration in St. Petersburg. Widespread disorders followed, including mutiny on the battleship Potemkin and a national general strike organized by the St. Petersburg soviet (workers' council). These events, coupled with the disastrous Russo-Japanese War, forced Nicholas II to grant civil rights and set up an elected duma (parliament) in his October Manifesto. Repression continued until late in World War I, during which Russia suffered severe reverses.

The February Revolution (1917). Food shortages and strikes provoked riots and mutiny. A provisional government under the progressive Prince Georgi Lvov was set up, and Nicholas II abdicated.

The October Revolution (1917). The Bolsheviks, led by V.I. Lenin, staged an armed coup. Moscow was seized, and the remnants of the provisional government were arrested. The constitutional assembly was dispersed by Bolshevik (“Red”) troops, and the Cheka (political police) was set up. A Council of People's Commissars was established, headed by Lenin and including Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin. In the civil war (1918–20), the anticommunist “Whites,” commanded by A.I. Denikin, A.V. Kolchak, and P.N. Wrangel were defeated. Russian involvement in World War I ended with the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. The tsar and his family were murdered at Ekaterinburg (July 1918), and the new Soviet constitution made Lenin and the Communist (formerly Bolshevik) Party all-powerful.

See also: Communism; Marxism; Lenin, V.I.