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Communism in Russia 1900 to1940
Russia revolution
Russia revolution
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Recommended: Communism in Russia 1900 to1940
The Russian Revolutions of 1917
There were two revolutions that occurred in Russia in 1917. The first
one, in February, overthrew the Russian monarchy. The second one, in
October, created the world’s first Communist state.
The Russian revolutions of 1917 involved a series of uprisings by
workers and peasants throughout the country and by soldiers, who were
predominantly of peasant origin, in the Russian army. Many of the
uprisings were organized and led by democratically elected councils
called soviets. The soviets originated as strike committees and were
basically a form of local self-government.
The second revolution led to the rise of the modern Communist movement
and to the transformation of the Russian Empire into what became known
as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). The goal of those
who carried out the second revolution was the creation of social
equality and economic democracy in Russia. However, the communist
regime that they established eventually turned into a bureaucratic
dictatorship.
The overthrow of the Russian monarch, Emperor Nicholas II, and the
ruling Romanov dynasty took place after an uprising in February 1917.
The events of late February 1917 are known as the February revolution.
After the overthrow of the Emperor, an unstable coalition of
conservative, liberal, and moderate socialist politicians declared
itself the Provisional Government, on February 27, 1917. That
government initially received the support of the soviets. However, the
Provisional Government proved unable to resolve the problems that had
led to the February revolution. The main problem of these was ending
Ru...
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...constituent
assembly. Several of their leaders favored setting up a military
dictatorship, but few were outspoken czarists.
Armed opposition to the Soviet regime centered at first in the south
under General Kornilov. The civil war in the east was equally fatal to
the Whites. A government was organized by a group of Socialist
Revolutionaries who had been members of the constituent assembly. By
January 1920, all Siberia except Vladivostok and some other far
Eastern territory was in Bolshevik hands.
The Bolshevik military victory was due partly to the lack of
cooperation among the various anti-Bolsheviks commanders and partly to
the extraordinary organization of the Red forces after Trotsky became
commissar for war. It was won, however, only at the price of huge
sacrifice, Russia by 1920 was ruined and devastated.