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Hello class, after explaining the living conditions in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century

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under the rule of the Romanov dynasty, today we are going to explain the revolutions of

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1905 and the first revolution in February in 1917.

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What was the situation at that time in 1905?

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At that moment there was a general discontent among people, among the Russian people, and

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for this reason the Minister of War, Plevt, thought that he had a brilliant idea in mind.

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He thought that due to this general discontent against the Tsar, if Russia provoked a war

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against a common enemy, in this case Japan, it would increase the sense of nationalism

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in the country and for this reason the supporters for the Tsar.

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However, the situation was the other way around because it was true that the war emerged between

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Russia and the Japanese in 1905, but the Russians thought that they would defeat easily

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the Japanese, but as I said before, the situation was the other way around because the Japanese

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defeated heavily the Russian Empire.

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This situation led to a revolution in Russia because people at that moment in Russia claimed

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the end of the autocracy, they thought that the system was an old-fashioned system, and

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for this reason they organized a peaceful demonstration in St. Petersburg.

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Here we have the image of the peaceful demonstration in St. Petersburg in January 1905, which regrettably

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ended in the brutal repression from the Tsar.

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At that moment the Tsar was not in the Winter Palace, but he gave the order to stop the

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revolution with a brutal repression.

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Nearly 200 people died in this revolution and 800 were wounded.

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So this situation, this brutal repression from the Tsar, was a turning point in the

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revolution, un punto de inflexión.

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It was a turning point of the revolution because before 1905 people in Russia thought that

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the reform was possible because they thought that the Tsar in reality was the father of

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the nation and he would implement the necessary reforms for the people.

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But after the repression in 1905, people in Russia began to think that the only way to

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change the system was throughout a revolution.

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For this reason, the demonstrations, manifestaciones and strikes were carried on and workers, peasants

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and soldiers began to organize in Soviets.

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They began to organize themselves in Soviets, which were councils to promote the revolution.

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When he imagined the situation for the Tsar, he was really afraid for this situation and

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for this reason, to save the system, the Tsar Nicholas II organized an election using the

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system of universal suffrage to create a Duma, a parliament for Russia.

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And when he created the first Duma, his prime minister at that moment, Stolypin, promoted

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the agrarian reform so as to stop the revolution, in order to stop the revolutionaries and the revolution.

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But the Tsar was a man from the 18th century.

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He was very old-fashioned.

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He didn't believe in reality, in the democratic system.

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And for this reason, he didn't keep his promises.

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And after a few years, he dissolved the Duma.

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He didn't carry out the agrarian reform and the autocracy remained and prevailed.

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So in this context, the First World War emerged and the First World War was the perfect

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breeding ground for another revolution in Russia.

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Russia was not prepared for such a long, hard and expensive war, and its army was also not ready.

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Its transport system was inefficient and its arms industry could not cope with demand.

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For this reason, as economic resources were devoted to war, famine appeared in cities

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and spreading unrest, malestar, among workers, peasants and soldiers.

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And all of this made the Tsar Nicholas II very unpopular.

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He was considered to be, before 1905, the father of the nation.

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But after that, after the revolution in 1905 and above all, during the time of the First World War,

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he was considered to be very, very unpopular.

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Actually, in late 1916, I mean, one year before the Russian revolution, at the end of the First World War,

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those who opposed Tsarism showed the chance to end the regime and take power.

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Why? Because the First World War was extremely painful for Russia due to the mass sufferings

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among people. Actually, almost two million Russian people died in this war.

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And it was the perfect breeding ground, caldo de cultivo, for a revolution.

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Food was scarce. And for this reason, riots began to emerge.

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The most important general strike, the Russians went on a strike on the 23rd of February.

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And this bourgeois revolution in February ended with the political system of Tsarism.

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Because Nicholas II stepped down, he was deposed, he was overthrown in his government on the 2nd of March of 1917.

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Why? Because the bourgeois February revolution succeeded and for this reason, the bourgeoisie came into power.

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On the 8th of March in 1917, there was a very popular women's demonstration.

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Women were claiming for more bread for their children, land for their husbands and for the end of this war.

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And this demonstration was very, very famous.

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And it was the beginning of the women's demonstrations that we have every year in all countries in the world.

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And which were claiming more rights for women.

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Women became really, really important in the Russian revolution because they were the strength to carry on with the reforms.

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And for this reason, on the 2nd of March, basically in March, the Tsarism ended and it became the republic which was headed by a provisional government.

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Whose main leaders were the president, Lvov, who belonged to the cadets, to the political party, and also Kerensky, the prime minister.

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The president was, as I said before, Lvov, and Kerensky was the prime minister who belonged to the socialist party.

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So the provisional government promised new elections in Russia in order to create a truly democratic system.

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But, to be honest, they were not able to implement the reforms because they had two important mistakes.

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They carried on fighting in war, in the First World War, because at that moment Russia had an alliance with France and Great Britain.

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So as they were carrying on fighting in the war, they were not able to improve the living conditions for the Russians, for the country.

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And as a consequence of that, they were not able to implement the agrarian reform, they didn't give land to the Russian people, and this situation led to popular discontent.

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And the Soviets, the councils of workers, peasants, and soldiers took advantage of this moment and they claimed for the dismissal of the government.

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So the First World War led to the downfall of the provisional government, and as a consequence of that, the Bolsheviks became really, really popular.

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However, in April 1917, they didn't have a specific plan about the revolution.

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They had a confused idea, a jumbled idea about the economy and society.

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At that moment, Lenin, his main leader, was in exile in Switzerland, but he came into Russia in April, near April.

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And at that moment, it was true that the forces of the Tsar broke up, and for this reason it emerged a duality of power.

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At that moment, the provisional government was in power, but in reality, the Soviets had the power in the streets.

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Actually, in April, Lenin, when he came from Switzerland to Russia, he set down the new thesis in April, and at that moment, Lenin promised the end of the war.

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He promised everything to the Russians to improve their living conditions, but they were not at this moment very, very secure.

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Actually, as many historians said, they were sitting down in their suitcases because they thought that in every moment, the provisional government could put an end to the revolution that the Bolsheviks were preparing at that moment in Russia.

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I'm about to end. The Bolsheviks actually prepared a revolution in July 1917, but the revolution ended in failure. It was stopped by the provisional government.

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The forces of the far-right movement in Russia, whose main leader was Kornilov, prepared another coup, another revolution. In this case, the far-right movement prepared the revolution in August 1917, but it also ended in failure.

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Prime Minister Kerensky from the provisional government stopped the revolution, but at that moment, the provisional government was a government without supporters.

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They stopped the revolution, which was organized by the Bolsheviks. They stopped also the far-right revolution, but they didn't have enough supporters, and this situation led to the October Revolution.

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But this is another story that I will explain in the following class. Thank you so much for your attention and bye bye.