1917 Russia's year of revolutions.BACKGROUND The Russian Revolution Russian Revolution, violent upheaval in Russia in 1917 that overthrew the czarist government. Causes The revolution was the culmination of a long period of repression and unrest. that began with the overthrow of the Czar and ended with the Bolsheviks in power holds many lessons for today. Among them: Russia has lived under authoritarian rule for much of its history; and building a free and democratic society from the ruins of authoritarian rule is not an easy task. CRITICAL THINKING/DISCUSSION 1 * Discuss one of the lessons historians take from 1917: that getting rid of dictators is the easy part of revolution and building a democracy from scratch is difficult. Ask why students think people may not always simply embrace democracy when they are given the chance. CRITICAL THINKING/DISCUSSION 2 * Next, ask students to relate that lesson to what's going on What's Going On is a record by American soul singer Marvin Gaye. Released on May 21, 1971 (see 1971 in music), What's Going On reflected the beginning of a new trend in soul music. today in Russia, and in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (born April 28, 1937, Tikrit, Iraq—died Dec. 30, 2006, Baghdad) President of Iraq (1979–2003). He joined the Ba'th Party in 1957. Following participation in a failed attempt to assassinate Iraqi Pres. . CRITICAL THINKING/DISCUSSION 2 * Discuss the power of history and culture in shaping people's ideas and values. [Remind students that democracy requires faith in a country's laws and institutions, which is missing from the lives of many Russians and Iraqis at the moment.) DISCUSSION QUESTIONS * Czar Nicholas Czar Nicholas may refer to:
adj. 1. Lacking sense or meaning; meaningless. 2. Deficient in sense; foolish or stupid. 3. Insensate; unconscious. and criminal." Why do you think he would say something like that? * Why do you think Lenin's promise of "peace, bread, land" was so effective in rallying people to the Communist cause? WRITING PROMPT * Have students write an essay on the statement that history often repeats itself. If they agree, can they cite examples? FAST FACT * Bolshevik in Russian means majority. * During the overthrow of the Czar, Lenin was living in exile in Switzerland. Hoping he would help take Russia out of the war, the Germans sent him back to Russia. WEB WATCH www.bbc.co.uk/history/ historic_figures/lenin_ vtadimir.shtmt Brief BBC biography of Lenin. Nicholas II Nicholas II, pope Nicholas II (c.1010–61), pope (1058–61), a Roman named Gerard, b. Lorraine, France; successor to Pope Stephen IX. A strong proponent of papal reform, he issued (1059) the Papal Election Decree in an effort to minimize political , the Czar of imperial Russia, was commanding his troops in the World War I struggle against Germany when the message arrived from Petrograd: "The situation is grave. Anarchy ANARCHY. The absence of all political government; by extension, it signifies confusion in government. reigns in the capital." It was March 2, 1917, and Nicholas rushed back to Petrograd (now St. Petersburg). But at the Navy's headquarters, his last loyal troops had already surrendered to pro-democracy forces representing both Russia's poor and its intellectual elite. The imperial tricolor tricolor describes a coat color of dogs and cats which has orange and black patches (similar to the tortoiseshell) but has in addition patches of white hair; see tortoiseshell. had been yanked down, and the flag of the revolutionaries rose in its place. Nicholas saw the handwriting on the wall handwriting on the wall Daniel interprets supernatural sign as Belshazzar’s doom. [O.T.: Daniel 5:25–28] See : Omen . He abdicated--and a long legacy of unchallenged rule and unimaginable riches came to an end. The promised democracy, however, proved to be short-lived. Within months, Communists took over and established a dictatorship that would swallow half of Europe and threaten democracy and the West for most of the 20th century. WHY 1917 MATTERS The Soviet Union itself collapsed in a new democratic revolution in 1991. Communism, once a grave threat, is now a discredited dis·cred·it tr.v. dis·cred·it·ed, dis·cred·it·ing, dis·cred·its 1. To damage in reputation; disgrace. 2. To cause to be doubted or distrusted. 3. To refuse to believe. n. ideology. So why should anyone care about the events of 1917? For one thing, because history often repeats itself. Russia had a chance at freedom in 1917 and it slipped away. Could that happen again today in the Russia of Vladimir Putin? (See previous story.) Nor is Russia the only place where 1917's lessons might apply. The world has other new, foundering democracies, like Iraq, where some of the same stresses that tore Russia apart nine decades ago are evident today. Back in 1917, the Czar's fall was greeted with great excitement. "London Overjoyed o·ver·joy tr.v. o·ver·joyed, o·ver·joy·ing, o·ver·joys To fill with joy; delight. o at News," said a New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times headline. Russia "had joined the democracies of the world," the article stated. But it also noted anxiety among some foreign diplomats in London that "troublesome developments may occur." KINGS ON THE RUN During the hundreds of years of czarist rule, Russia was mainly a feudal society Feudal society is a sometimes-debated term used to describe the social order in the Western Europe, Central Europe, and sometimes Japan and other regions in the Middle Ages, characterized by the legal subjection of a large part of the peasantry to a hereditary landholding elite : Millions of peasants tilled soil owned by a small landed class that was loyal to the Czar. But by the mid-1800s, the days of absolute rulers were numbered: Democratic revolutions against monarchs swept through Germany and much of the rest of Europe in 1848, and although the revolts failed, they planted the seeds of a movement that would later replace, or at least reduce the power of, kings with parliaments and prime ministers. Sensing the winds of change abroad and rising discontent at home, some Czars tried reforms. Alexander II--Nicholas's grandfather--abolished serfdom serfdom In medieval Europe, condition of a tenant farmer who was bound to a hereditary plot of land and to the will of his landlord. Serfs differed from slaves in that slaves could be bought and sold without reference to land, whereas serfs changed lords only when the land in 1861 and gave farms to some of the 52 million peasants he had freed. "I'd rather liberate them from the top," he said, "than have them liberate themselves from the bottom." But as the Industrial Revolution, which had been transforming Europe for most of the 19th century, came to Russia, the peasants migrated to cities for factory work--and began to agitate for changes in their brutal living and working conditions. A RADICAL RETURNS The immediate trigger to revolution was World War I, which began in 1914. Nicholas cast Russia into the war against Germany, as an ally with the U.S., Britain, and France, but his ill-prepared army of peasant soldiers suffered huge losses, and the war's economic strains caused starvation at home. Discontent among the people and the military came to a head in March 1917. A provisional government A provisional government is an emergency or interim government set up when a political void has been created by the collapse of a previous administration or regime. A provisional government holds power until elections can be held or a permanent government can otherwise be seized power after the Czar's abdication abdication, in a political sense, renunciation of high public office, usually by a monarch. Some abdications have been purely voluntary and resulted in no loss of prestige. , and in July, Russia's legislature, the Duma duma (d  `mä), Russian name for a representative body, particularly applied to the Imperial Duma established as a result of the Russian Revolution of 1905. , chose
Alexander Kerensky
Lenin was a brilliant politician. His slogan, "peace, bread, land," promised Russia's hungry, war-weary peasants everything they wanted. His followers followers see dairy herd. , the Bolsheviks, infiltrated workers' councils A workers' council is a deliberative assembly, composed of working class or proletarian members, intended to facilitate workers' self-management or workers' control. Unlike a trade union, in a workers' council the workers are assumed to be in actual control of the workplace, rather (called Soviets) that shared power with the Duma, and slowly gained power in the cities. Still, it was Kerensky's clumsy rule that allowed Lenin to seize power. Ignoring popular opinion, Kerensky kept Russia in the war against Germany, hoping Russia would be rewarded with land and aid promised by its allies. LESSONS FOR TODAY By October, Kerensky's support was so weak that Lenin was able to capture Petrograd with a handful of troops. On November 6, Kerensky fled the Winter Palace disguised as either a Red Cross nurse or a sailor. And the Soviet Union was born. What lessons do historians take from all this? One is that overthrowing authoritarian rulers is often easier than building a free nation from the ruins they leave behind and those in charge must show results quickly, before people turn against them in frustration. "It's a pattern you see in lots of places where there's a state collapse," says Michael McFaul Michael A. McFaul (born 1965 in Montana) is a professor of Political Science and director of the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law at Stanford University. He earned his B.A. in International Relations and Slavic Languages and his M.A. , a Stanford University Stanford University, at Stanford, Calif.; coeducational; chartered 1885, opened 1891 as Leland Stanford Junior Univ. (still the legal name). The original campus was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. David Starr Jordan was its first president. political scientist. "You have this interim period where the moderates are in charge. But they don't have the capability, and things start moving too fast. "You have the absence of a state.... And that's always a ripe time for radicals and extremists who say, 'These middle-of-the-roaders just won't do.'" Another lesson is that it's hard to bring democracy to people who have never known freedom. Democracy is an act of faith--faith that everyone will follow a common law; faith in the majority's willingness to be fair to all, respecting minority rights. That faith does not come easily for people who have spent centuries in fear of all-powerful rulers. In 1917, certainly, the Russian people had no knowledge of democracy, and no patience with a government that promised, but could not deliver, a better life. In 1991, when they ousted their Communist rulers, Russians were better informed and more patient. But the first 10 years of freedom were chaotic, marked by economic collapse, poverty, and rampant corruption. 'MANAGED DEMOCRACY' When Putin took power at the end of 1999, many people welcomed a ruler who promised to restore some order to their lives, even if it meant less freedom--just as Russians seemed to accept, at least at first, a Communist dictatorship after the collapse of the Kerensky government. But Putin has silenced much of the press and many of his critics, all but wiping out any opposition. Putin is no Lenin. He still insists Russia is a democracy--just a "managed democracy," in his words. But some Russians haven't given up on the real thing. "It's also a transitional period, to an unmanaged democracy," says Oleg Rzheshevsky, a historian in Moscow. "It's impossible to just move from one stage to another without taking with you some parts, some essence, of the previous period. That's why elements of authoritarian rule exist." Michael Wines Stephen Michael Wines (born June 3, 1951 in Louisville, Kentucky[1]) is an American journalist who is the South Africa bureau chief for The New York Times, based in Johannesburg. is Johannesburg bureau chief for The New York Times. He previously served as The Times's Moscow bureau chief. QUIZ 3 1. The Russian Revolution took place during World War I, while Russia was fighting a Italy. b France. c Germany. d Belgium. 2. The events that occurred in Russia in 1917 are relevant today because a 2007 is the 90th anniversary of both Russian revolutions, b descendants DESCENDANTS. Those who have issued from an individual, and include his children, grandchildren, and their children to the remotest degree. Ambl. 327 2 Bro. C. C. 30; Id. 230 3 Bro. C. C. 367; 1 Rop. Leg. 115; 2 Bouv. n. 1956. 2. of the 1917 revolutionaries have recently come to power in Russia. c it's possible that the same forces that propelled Russia from democracy to authoritarian rule then are at work again today. d Russia has a history of repeated revolutions. 3. Briefly describe how Russia's feudal society operated.-- 4. Identify two consequences of World War I that caused both civilians and Russia's military to rebel against the government of Czar Nicholas II.-- 5. Why, in spite of public opinion, did Alexander Kerensky, Prime Minister after the fall of Czar Nicholas II, continue Russia's participation in World War I? a His generals persuaded him that the tide would turn and Russia would win. b U.S. President Woodrow Wilson asked Kerensky to continue the fight. c He feared that if Russia quit the war, the country would be overrun 1. overrun - A frequent consequence of data arriving faster than it can be consumed, especially in serial line communications. For example, at 9600 baud there is almost exactly one character per millisecond, so if a silo can hold only two characters and the machine takes by Germany. d He hoped to obtain land and aid promised by wartime allies if Russia continued the fight. 6.-- seized power in November 1917, beginning more than 70 years of Communist rule in the Soviet Union. IN-DEPTH QUESTIONS 1. Russia was not the only country with a feudal system. Feudalism feudalism (fy `dəlĭzəm), form of political and social organization typical of Western Europe from the dissolution of Charlemagne's empire to the rise of the absolute monarchies. was common in most of Europe from about the 9th to the 15th centuries.
Why do you suppose the peasants in these countries endured this way of
life for so long?
2. Why might Washington be concerned about the return of an authoritarian Russia? ANSWER KEY 1. [c] Germany. 2. [c] it's possible that the same forces that propelled Russia from democracy to authoritarian rule then are at work again today. 3. Peasants farmed soil owned by a smart landed class that was loyal to the czar. (Similar wording is acceptable.) 4. starvation and huge troop tosses. (Similar wording is acceptable.) 5. [d] He hoped to obtain land and aid promised by wartime allies if Russia continued the fight. 6. Lenin |
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