History Of Russia
Friends, today we are going to tell you about a revolution which gave the slogan of land, bread and democracy for the first time. For the first time, socialism was started whose leader was Vladimir Lenin. Yes, we are talking about the Russian Revolution. Friends, the Russian Revolution was not the result of any one day or any one reason, but the widespread corruption in the government and the growing dissatisfaction among the workers, farmers and soldiers.
At the same time, it was under the control of the monarchy everywhere, from the Church to everything else. It was ruled by the Romanov dynasty. These rulers were called Czars. Most of the land was in the possession of feudal lords and clergy while the farmers wanted to have their own land. Friends, on the other hand, a revolution broke out in France in the 70’s which was due to the widespread dissatisfaction among the people. People understood that under conditions of oppression and exploitation they could instigate revolution and its effect was later seen in Russia.
Like France, in Russia too the feudal lords were considered special, whereas the laborers were meant only to work hard. In this way, a huge gap was being created between the two and this was happening when the number of farmers in Russia was the highest. 60 57% of the land was owned by the feudal lords and 13% by the clergy. In this way most of the farmers were forced to work as laborers in their fields. Thus, in a way, they were their slaves who used to work on the land for their livelihood. Due to which there was opposition in 1860 and this slavery system was abolished in 1861. But these were all things to say.
The situation at the ground level was the same. They had to pay taxes for many years for the land they were given. And in this way, even in the 20th century, when land reform work was done at the upper level, the farmers remained poor, because there was no clear situation regarding the ownership rights of their land. After the Industrial Revolution of 1850, the condition of workers started becoming even more miserable. Whether it was a Rishi’s factory or an outsider’s, workers were being exploited everywhere. They were neither getting proper salary nor full rights. All these reasons together gradually pushed Russia towards revolution.
Many Russian thinkers also came forward in this. Like other countries, he wanted changes in Russia to end the autocracy of the rulers and freedom of the poor in the country. He proposed the ideology of organizing among farmers and laborers. Due to this, during the last phase of the 19th century, a movement called Going to the People was started, in which they started showing the people the path to revolution. Despite the Tsar’s many restrictions, it was Western thinkers who were the first to change Russian people’s views. Various Russian writers like Leo Tolstoy, Ivan Tarzan, etc.
revolutionized the ideas of war, demanding their rights. In 1883, Georgy Plekhanov founded the Russian Social Democratic Party. Later, in 1898, this party, along with socialist groups, established the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party. But it divided into two factions, in which one faction was supporting the parliamentary elections to be held in Germany and France and was called Mensheviks. The other group believed that in a country where there is no Parliament and where there are no democratic rights, it is not wise to form an organization according to the parliamentary system.
This group is called Bolshevik. Vladimir Lenin was its leader. Lenin started using this party as an instrument of revolution. But soon due to treason he was sent to live in exile in Siberia. During this time, he emerged as a leading theoretician in the Labor Party. Further, in 1904 and 5, there was a war between Russia and Japan in which Russia was defeated and this was the first time that an Asian power had defeated a European power. This defeat shattered Russia’s dream of capturing the whole of Asia.
At the same time, this defeat also created more dissatisfaction among the Russian people against the Tsar because he was not capable enough to defeat a small country and its lack of military power was also exposed. Amidst this war a movement took place in Russia. In the beginning of the 20th century, Russia was ruled by Czar Nicholas. On January 9, 1905, the workers arrived with their wives and children to submit a memorandum to the Czar. These people were going towards the Winter Palace, but Nicholas’s soldiers opened fire on them. The streets were filled with blood and there was hue and cry everywhere.
Since January 9 was a Sunday, it is also known as Bloody Sunday. After this many more revolutions took place. Organizations were also formed. This new organization came to be known as the Soviet. This was a council that raised its voice for the rights of workers. But soon it came in contact with the political right and started dancing on their tunes. Started working on his instructions. After the massacre of 1905, people’s dissatisfaction with the Czar was increasing, due to which pressure started coming on Nicholas and he had to wait for a while.
He prepared the October Manifesto, in which there was talk of formation of an elected parliament i.e. Duma. Its main function was to reach a compromise between the Czar and non-feudal people like the legislature so that participation of all people could be ensured. But Nicholas did not fully accept this and kept many main powers to himself, such as the selection of people to the Duma. Dissolving the Duma at any time, making the Duma dependent on the Czar for any decision, etc.
Thus, Russia’s government at the grassroots level transformed into an unofficial absolute monarchy, and frequent dissolutions of the Duma led to widespread discontent among both the people and the elite. Also, due to this no improvement was seen in any social and economic situation. Rather it remained like a puppet. In such a situation, the First World War started in 1914 and Russia also jumped into it. It was supported by Britain, France and Serbia. But this proved to be very bad for Russia, because the Russian army proved to be inferior in front of the German soldiers equipped with modern weapons and by February 1917, about 6 lakh Russian soldiers were killed.
Not only were soldiers martyred on a large scale, but Russia’s economic condition also became worse, for which the government imposed huge taxes on the people, due to which people were not only facing hunger and dissatisfaction, but also had to face war. After the defeat, public confidence also faltered. Due to lack of education, depression started increasing among the people and political imbalance was also increasing leading to various disputes.
In this way, the social, economic and political crisis in Russia due to the war gave further impetus to the revolution. Then in 1916-17, there was a severe famine in Russia, which created a food crisis and people held the monarchical rule responsible for this. In this way, by March 1917, the condition of the people had become very pathetic. They had neither ration to eat nor clothes to wear. Then on March 7, workers started looting shops for bread on the streets of Petro Garden.
The government ordered the army to open fire on the revolutionaries, but the soldiers also refused to open fire due to great dissatisfaction. Then on March 8, 1917, women started striking on the road for bread and on the other hand, soldiers and farmers also started a movement. In this way a strike started all over Russia and then on 12 March 1917 the revolutionaries captured St. Petersburg and then on the same day they captured Moscow also. The Duma advised the Tsar that perhaps the people would agree to establish a democratic monarchy, but they did not agree to this either.
But on March 12, the Duma formed the provincial monarchy and thus the monarchical monarchy came to an end in Russia. The Soviet of Soldiers and Peasants, together with the Duma, formed the government, and Alexander Kaiser became its head. Thus the Romanov rule came to an end. But the picture is of Russia’s continuation of the war in the First World War, while the soldiers, workers and farmers had protested against joining the war, which further increased the food crisis. In this way this government also became unpopular among the people.
There was huge dissatisfaction and anger among the people. Against the government. So after this revolution another revolution took place. Which is known as October Revolution Lenin. As soon as they returned in April, the Bolsheviks put forward four demands before the government. First, workers and farmers should have control over the state’s means of production and distribution. Second, to establish peace in Russia, it should distance itself from the First World War. Third, agricultural laborers and small farmers should have ownership rights of land and fourth, non-Russian people should also get equal status.
But the government rejects these demands, which sparks another revolution. During this time the Bolsheviks captured government houses, railway lines, power houses etc. and then the government fell on 17 November 1917. After which, under the leadership of Lenin, monarchy was abolished and proletariat was established. By the Treaty of Bristol with Germany. He was sidelined by the First World War. State control over the means of production and distribution was established in Russia.
The rule of the Church ended and education spread among the people. In this way, through this revolution, Russia became an example of an alternative system for the whole world. However, these planets then became victims of war, in which the Czar’s army was named the White Army and the Soviet army was named the Red Army. This war ended with the victory of the Red Army in 1921. This revolution made Russia so powerful that later it stood in front of a superpower like America and gave it equal competition. The Russian Revolution showed the whole world the path of socialism which was later adopted by many countries.
Anyway, see you again with the powerful explanation of the History.
