Crash Course European History: The Russian Revolution and Civil War

Introduction

• Host: John Green
• Focus: Impact of World War I and the Russian Revolution

Failures of Tsar Nicholas II's Government

• Inadequate war administration
  • Lacked weaponry, transportation, food, medical care
• Soldiers suffered from shortages (e.g., bullets, boots)
• Some generals ineffective, focusing on internal issues rather than the war
• Local organizations (zemstvos) took over responsibilities for civilian welfare

Prelude to Revolution

• Czar Nicholas's poor leadership led to public dissatisfaction
• International Women's Day protests on February 23, 1917
  • Women protested war mismanagement leading to inflation and food scarcity
• Protests spread, prompting Nicholas's abdication
• Formation of Provisional Government by Duma members

Power Struggles

• Emergence of soviets (workers' councils) seeking power
• Conflicts between Provisional Government and soviets
• Discontent among soldiers and workers due to wartime chaos
• Optimism for change among some social classes

Lenin and the Bolsheviks

• Bolshevik ideology diverges from Marxism
  • Elite leadership vs. working-class revolution
• Lenin's return from exile in April 1917
  • Advocated "Peace, Bread, Land"
• Effective organizing and propaganda by Lenin and Trotsky
• Call for violent overthrow of the Provisional Government

October Revolution of 1917

• Bolshevik coup against Provisional Government
• Control of government buildings and infrastructure
• Constituent Assembly elections in January 1918
  • Bolsheviks won minority seats but dismissed Assembly
• Use of violence against democratic advocates

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

• Negotiated withdrawal from WWI with harsh terms from Germany
• Lenin's initial rejection of the treaty
• Acceptance due to advancing Central Powers
• Shift of Russian capital from Petrograd to Moscow

Civil War (1917-1922)

• Rise of the Bolshevik dictatorship and Red Terror
• Conflict between Bolsheviks (Reds) and anti-Bolsheviks (Whites)
• Disunity among White factions and their ultimate defeat
• Bolsheviks’ consolidation of power and establishment of the USSR

Post-Revolution Developments

• Industrial production decline and massive death toll
• Propaganda and social improvements initiated
• Introduction of the New Economic Policy (NEP) allowing limited capitalism
• Lenin's health decline and eventual death in 1924

Conclusion

• Stalin's rise post-Lenin
• Future topics: Soviet Russia and its developments
• Thanks for watching!