The Russian Revolution

Discussion in 'Writers' Corner' started by Otus_NigRum, Mar 15, 2019.

  1. FYI: This is a written essay for my Social Studies project on the February and October Russian Revolutions in 1917 and the impact it left on the world.

    The Russian Revolution – Big Questions
    The Russian Revolution is split between two main years which eventually conclude with the foundation of the USSR, these events are the 1905 Russian Revolution and the one which ended Tsarist rule, the 1917 Russian Revolution. During this time, Russia was one of the biggest territorial powers in the world, although compared to its European counterparts, Imperial Russia was much behind, only disbanding Serfdom in 1861, a feudal system which the rest of Europe had disbanded in the Middle Ages. During the time of the Revolution, Tsar Nicholas II, apart of the Romanov Dynasty and last Tsar of Russia was not popular in his Empire, as peasants and workers were unfed, and Russia as a whole was much behind their European neighbours. The Crimean War of 1853-1856, the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, and WW1 in 1914-1918 meant food supply in the Empire was low, and an increased amount of people who wanted war to end, especially during WW1 as Russia was no match for Germany as Germany was much more industrialized.


    After the embarrassing defeat in the Russo-Japanese War in 1905 and the tragedy of the Bloody Sunday Massacre also in 1905 which saw hundreds of non-violent protesters led by Priest Gapon who wanted the Tsar to sign a Petition dead, led to the call of the Russian Empire to end the Tsarist rule. Worker strikes and protests all throughout Russia led to Tsar Nicholas II to form Dumas, which were forms of Parliament who worked on reforms; this lowered the temper of Russia’s citizens, but tension didn’t go away. At this time, Vladimir Lenin, a Russian Revolutionary who had studied Law and Marxism was active in Marxist and Revolutionary circles, something which would lead to his exile in 1895 and 1907 and the eventual Bolshevik Revolution.


    In 1914 the Great War had erupted in Europe. With Russia attempting to back up their Serbian, French and English allies, they joined the war, another disappointment to the entire population who was still starving. Russia was no match for Germany’s strength, Russian Troops were deranged and demoralized, and no one was happy. Tsar Nicholas II left for the war, and left his wife, the Czarina in charge who was known for firing multiple important officials, making her extremely disliked. 1916 was also an event of the infamous death of Grigory Rasputin, a mystical advisor and friend of the Romanov Dynasty which was famed to have taken multiple gun shot wounds, poison and drownings to die. When Tsar Nicholas II left St. Petersburg, he changed the name to Petrograd because it sounded too “German.”


    The February Revolution in 1917 saw mass protests, strikes and opposition in the streets, troops sent to quell the uprising were demotivated and eventually joined in the strikes. Tsar Nicholas II was then forced to abdicate the throne, ending a 3-century rule of the Romanov Dynasty. In his place was set the Provisional Government, although they promised freedom of speech, right to law and civil rights, they still wanted to continue the war which angered the Russian Population. Finally, in the October Revolution of 1917, Lenin and his led Bolsheviks occupied government buildings and strategic locations in Petrograd and eventually overthrew the Provisional government.


    After Lenin ended the Russian conflict with Germany, a Civil war erupted which lasted from 1917-1922. It was a multi-faction fight of the Bolsheviks Red Army and the Anti-Bolshevik White Army who fought for power. During this conflict, in attempts to make sure another Romanov would never sit on the throne again, the Tsar and his entire family was gunned down by the Bolsheviks at one of their palaces in 1918. Eventually the war was won in 1922 by the Bolsheviks, although the White Army had amassed more territory and power, their disorganization and infighting led to their fall. In 1922 Lenin founded the United Socialist Soviet Republic, the first Communist state in the world, which Lenin was the first ruler of.


    This brings the big question, “How did the Russian Revolution of 1907 impact the world?” Without much of argument, the Russian Revolution of 1917 is mostly without a doubt the most important revolution to have happened in the 20th century. The cold war which occurred between 1946-1991 was a conflict between the USSR and the USA, although during the conflict both nations never fought each other directly, the world was under heavy tensions, it changed our world socially, politically and economically. During this period both nations attempted to win in an arms race, with both sides heavily industrializing and creating advanced military equipment, but most notoriously, Nuclear weapons. Although nuclear warfare brought fear to the people of the world, space travel opened to our eyes, and on 1969 the first man (from the US) walked on the moon. The incredibly fast speeds of production on these highly advanced technologies which were insanely early for their time created positive change, such as the scientific research on space, satellites and GPS.


    In the USSR though, Communism seemed to have failed the people, main pieces of evidence are seen by the undeveloped sectors of Russia and the dictatorship type lifestyle. One example is of East and West Germany, the West side which was apart of NATO, democratic governments, was much more developed under Capitalism, while East Germany was a lot more dislocated from society, an outcome of Communism which forced people to never leave East Germany. Tyrannical leaders such as Joseph Stalin didn’t help the cause of Communism either, starving millions of people in Gulag and killing his own soldiers and people. For a while, Russia wasn’t up to the living standards of Capitalist nations, people were still starving, and Russia’s government was suppressive.


    So yes, the Russian Revolution did change the world, for good and for bad, it plagued the world with conflict and tension between the U.S.S.R and the USA and brought nuclear warfare to the plate, yet it also opened space travel with countless beneficial inventions. As for Russian’s it did indeed bring them out of an unwanted Tsarist rule, yet it brought multiple famines and the deaths of millions, due to the implementation of Marxism which meant Peasant’s fields were confiscated by the government and millions were put in Gulags for they were believed to have “been against the government.” Overall, Russia’s state today expresses the outcome of the Russian Revolution and Communism. Russia is a bit less developed than their European counterparts yet is still a force to be reckoned with economy wise and military wise, they aren’t a utopia civilization like Karl Marx expected, but they aren’t a civilization of mud houses and serfs either. The Russian Revolution in 1917 changed Russia, their people, and the world forever.
    MoreMoople, FalloutHood55 and Joniia like this.
  2. This is pretty good, Otus! I love historical works and I find essays to be the best form of them (but, that may just be me). I think this will/did earn you a great grade. I learned a lot from it and it was jam-packed with info!

    However, if you're looking for friendly criticisms, I do think it was very condensed and lacked sentences or testimonies to break up information so it's not like reading a textbook. Though, that may just be personal preference!

    Are you planning on posting more essays like this in the future? I'd be very interested if you are!
    Otus_NigRum likes this.
  3. Hey! I'm learning about this too!
    Otus_NigRum likes this.
  4. Yeah, I was never good with compacting words, the standard word count was suppose to be 300-500 words, I did 1200.

    As for more essay writings? Maybe, it'll depend on what I'm asked of, but I hope so! I am doing a creative project on the Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx, it'll either be a poem, a short story or a research paper, i'm not sure.

    Thanks though!
    Joniia likes this.
  5. If you want any help with the Russian revolution, I'll be happy to help :)
  6. I'm already done all I have to do, i'm studying Marxism and communism atm, thanks though. As you can see by what I wrote above, I think I know what's going on, :p