WWI - Reds vs. Whites: The Russian Revolution (Lesson)

Reds vs. Whites: The Russian Revolution.

In the early 20th century, the Russian Empire encompassed a tremendous amount of territory. It spread from Poland (west) to the Pacific (east) and from the Arctic (north) to the Black Sea (south). St Petersburg, the imperial capital, would later be named Petrograd in World War I to Leningrad in 1924. Although a great power, the Russian Empire was considered backward as it had remained Feudalistic until the 1860's and on the eve of World War I, its industrial base was wholly inadequate to support a modern power. Politically, Russia was autocratic with the Czar as absolute until 1905 when the first political parties emerged. The class structure in Imperial Russia was widely divided with a small minority of extremely privileged and wealthy aristocrats controlling the majority of the wealth, a small middle class, and approximately 95% of the population were peasants whom forty years earlier, had been serfs tied to the land. The social structure coupled with the autocratic nature of the government made Russia a popular battleground for agitation stirred by radical and terrorist groups.

Background:

Nicholas I

• Became Czar 1825
• Ruled by "Orthodoxy, Autocracy, Nationalism"
• More than 700 Serf Uprising During Reign
• Crimean War

Alexander II (Reformer)

• Pulled Russia Out of Crimean War
• Freed Serfs – Provide Labor Force to Work in Factories and to Man a Standing Army
• Created Dumas and Zemstovs for Limited Local Government
• Assassinated by radical Group

Alexander III

• Returned to Repressive Measures

Upon the death of Alexander III, his son, Nicholas II, became the Czar of Russia. Nicholas was a decent, devoted family man but very ineffectual as an autocratic leader. He was insecure with a tendency to second guess his decisions, a recipe for disaster for a man in his position. Nicholas' wife, Alexandra was a German princess (and granddaughter to British Queen Victoria) who had a tendency to dominate her husband. Alexandra was not popular as her shyness was interpreted as aloofness and disinterest to the plight of the Russian people. The royal couple had four daughters and one son, Alexi. Alexi, who was born much later than the grand duchesses, suffered from a hereditary blood disorder, hemophilia.

Hemophilia, the lack of clotting factors in the blood, was non treatable (at this time) and usually resulted in the death of the sufferer by early adulthood or sooner. The condition of Alexi actually played a part in the revolutionary process as the royal couple became very dependent on a wandering monk or "mystic" who was believed to have healing powers. This monk, Rasputin, had a reputation for womanizing, drinking, and using his position with the royal family to bribe and influence. 1904-05 Nicholas, plagued with internal dissent and violence, declared war with Japan over Imperialistic territory in China. While the Russo-Japanese War was fought over territory, it was also significant because Nicholas actually jumped into the war to bind his people around him in the name of nationalism. It never occurred to Nicholas that Russia could lose the war. Much to his dismay, Russia surrendered, shaming the Empire and the Czar who was the personification of that empire. This shame played a significant role in Nicholas II making a hasty decision to mobilize against Austria and Germany at the onset of World War I.

In 1905, thousands of protesters marched to the Czar's Winter Palace to plead for help. Unbeknownst to the protesters, the Czar was not in attendance and upon seeing the crowd, the Czar's palace guard marched out to meet them. The confrontation which resulted, later known as Bloody Sunday, resulted in over 1,000 causalities. This massacre (no fault of Nicholas II) set off revolution throughout Russia. The Revolution of 1905 forced the Czar to issue the October Manifesto, an agreement to reform. The Manifesto established a Duma or representative body and legalized political parties for the first time. In 1906, the government was forced to legalize trade unions due to worker demands and peasants launched mass attacks against landholders. Far from placating the radicals, the Czar's concessions resulted in more agitation and assassinations of government officials. In response to the growing agitation, the Czar shifted his policy and returned to repressive measures.

It was during this unstable environment that Russia entered World War I. His motivation for this action was twofold: he needed to repair Russia's damaged international reputation post Russo-Japanese War and he felt he must back Serbia to reinforce Russia's declared role as "protector" of the Slavic peoples. Due to a lack of resources, especially weaponry and ammunition, the Russian soldiers on the eastern Front were virtually helpless to defend themselves let alone take the offensive in the war effort. The only real resource the Russians had to support the war was a seemingly endless supply of soldiers to replace the dead and wounded. In September 1915, the Czar made the fateful decision to dismiss the commander of the army on the front, Grand Duke Nicholas (his uncle) and take personal command of the troops. Although Nicholas believed that he could better inspire his troops, his decision turned out to be fateful. Inspiration and strategy was not the issue on the front, lack of supplies was and Nicholas's presence could not improve that situation (only one transcontinental rail line and very few manufactured goods to transport). Nicholas left Alexandra in charge of the government; a move which not only caused resentment among the people but also put Rasputin (pictured: left, center) in a position of power which he abused to the point of affecting the government's ability to fight the war.

In 1916, fearing that Rasputin was destroying the Romanov dynasty, a cousin of the Czar's, Prince Yussupov, murdered Rasputin. As the Empress fell into an inconsolable depression stalling the wheels of government, talk of a palace rebellion was circulating in some military and palace circles. At the beginning of 1917, Russia had 7,000,000 men in arms and an additional 2,000,000 in reserves. Class antagonism had created a deep schism between officers and soldiers. In addition, on the home front the populace was screaming for the basics like "bread and butter". Strikes and riots broke out in St Petersburg resulting in a mutiny of the troops which sealed the fate of the Old Regime. Hearing of the internal disarray, the Czar called for troop occupation of the cities in mutiny. The troops refuse to obey the order forcing the Czar to abdicate for himself and his son, in favor of his brother, Grand Duke Michael. The Grand Duke refused the crown and the Duma (liberal legislative body) in conjunction with the Soviets (worker councils) formed the Provisional Government. The royal family was put under house arrest with the intention of finding them a home in exile -most believed they would go to England as their cousin was King George V. Due to the war, no country would take the Romanovs leaving their fate open.

 

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