What was the Russian Revolution

The Russian Revolution It is one of the events with the greatest significance in the entire Contemporary Age and the set of events that occurred between February and October 1917 which led to the removal of the tsarist regime and the establishment of communism as a new system of government. Next in this lesson from a PROFESSOR we are going to see in a very summarized way what this Russian revolution consisted of, what were its causes and consequences. Keep reading and you will discover a short summary about what was the Russian Revolution, one of the historical events that most influenced the evolution of our history.

To be able to understand what was the russian revolution It is important that we understand why it happened, therefore, we are going to analyze the causes of this event. They can be divided into three mainly, it must be borne in mind that these factors are going to occur in the Russia of the Tsars and are the following;

Political causes of the Russian Revolution

At the beginning of the 20th century, Russia was ruled by Tsar Nicholas II, his political regime was based on a absolute monarchy. It could be said that his power was unlimited, he was not accountable to anyone, not even to Parliament. nor was he subject to any Constitution, thus he never showed affection for the welfare of the town.

Social causes

The social organization of the Russian Empire was based on great inequalities marked by two well differentiated social classes; On the one hand, we find the nobility that we could consider as the privileged since they had large properties and enjoyed all their rights; on the other hand, the people made up mostly of peasants and workers among others who often fought for their recognition rights and freedoms such as the disappearance of low wages and increased working hours, a better distribution of land ...

Economic causes of the Russian Revolution

Russia was fundamentally based on a agrarian economy but, technically speaking, it was quite backward and that resulted in very low production making it difficult to maintain an entire population.

At the same time we have to add that at the end of the 19th century capitalism was introduced in some parts of Russia causing the industrialization in which many workers were involved to work in industries but with very low wages and precarious conditions.

In this video of a PROFESSOR you will be able to discover in detail what were the causes of the Russian Revolution.

Opposition to Tsarism was growing and the result caused the diffusion of new doctrines and liberal ideas like anarchism and Marxism, The latter led to the founding of the Russian Social Democratic Party, which was led by Vladimir Lenin.

At the beginning of the 20th century this party was divided into two camps, the moderates (Mensheviks) and the radicals (Bolsheviks).

Two stages are distinguished in the revolutionary process:

First stage: the February Revolution of 1917

When the First World War broke out in 1914, Russia decided to participate in the war as part of the Triple Entente. This fact made many of the factories become war industries and the mobilization of the peasants reduced agricultural production, so they provoked demonstrations in the face of the shortage of products. To this must be added the continuous defeats against Germany and that Russia could not control. Faced with such a situation Tsar Nicholas II was forced to abdicate power.

In the following months there was a duality of powers between the provisional government and the Soviets (organization formed by the delegates of the workers, peasants and soldiers and who represented the working class), until a Republic led by Alexander Kerenski. However, his government did not last long because he wanted in some way or another to continue the war against Germany, apart from the fact that he did not carry out any reform beneficial to the people.

Second stage: the October Revolution of 1917

Lenin was the cause of this Bolshevik revolution since he was the one who incited the workers, peasants and soldiers to go against the provisional government. He also had the help of Leon Trotsky, chief of the Red Guard, an armed unit propelled by the soviets.

After several combats and the assault on the Winter Palace in Petrograd where Kerensky was, he was forced to flee, so that Lenin was proclaimed by the Soviets prime minister, that is, take over the government of Russia.

Lenin, among many other things, chose to organize the State in Federal Socialist Republic directed by Soviets, he also confiscated many lands, becoming owners of the peasants and abolished private property.

As regards the First World War he signed an armistice with both Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire (Treaty of Brest - Litovosk) in 1918 with which he was responsible for paying large compensation and in turn renouncing Poland and the Baltic States, of this way he was retiring from the war.

Lenin eventually succeeded in completely restoring Russia's political-economic system through the establishment of a communist government that was renamed Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).

Lenin died in 1924 and he succeeded Jósef Stalin who ended up establishing a totalitarian and dictatorial government whose objectives at the economic level were to turn Russia into a great industrial and military power, to establish the massive collectivization of agriculture in the exploitation of land and spread the ideals of communism throughout Europe, for this the Third International was created that brought together all communist parties existing.