Significance: Lenin fleeing Russia will ensure he can return later and carry out the revolution.

Russia and Japan were imperialist powers. They both competed for control of Korea and Manchuria, so they signed a series of agreements over the territories, but Russia broke them. In retaliation, Japan attacked the Russians at Port Arthur, Manchuria. The Japanese defeated the Russians.

Significance: The news of the loss in Russia sparked unrest at home and led to revolt in the midst of the war (division in a nation during a war is never a good thing).

Why does the Czarina give him so much power?

Alexis, her son, suffered from hemophilia (a life-threatening disease) and Rasputin seemed to ease the boy’s symptoms. She gave him so much power in an attempt to express her gratitude.

What happens to Rasputin?

In 1916, a group of nobles murdered Rasputin because they feared his increasing role in government affairs.

Significance: Rasputin opposed reform measures and spread corruption throughout the royal court.

Significance: All of these factors eventually led to the defeat of Russia in the war.

What happens?

Significance: it forced Czar Nicholas II to abdicate his throne and eventually led to the collapse of the czarist rule of the Romanovs.

It is a temporary government.

What is formed to compete for power?

Soviets were formed. They were local councils consisting of workers, peasants, and soldiers.

Significance: Germany seeked to erode the provisional government’s authority, so they arranged Lenin’s return.

His slogan: “Peace, Land, and Bread”

Significance: People liked Lenin’s slogan. It signified everything they wanted, so they supported him.

Lenin and the Bolsheviks recognized their opportunity to seize power. They gained control of the Petrograd Soviet, as well as the soviets in other major Russian cities. By 1917, people were rallying to the call-- “All power to the soviets.” Lenin’s slogan, “peace, land, and bread” was gaining widespread appeal, so he decided to take action.

What did they give the peasants?

Lenin ordered all farmland to be distributed amongst the peasants.

What did they give the workers?

They gave the workers control of the factories.

Significance: this was the beginning of the new government. They were finally giving more power to the people.

What challenge to the Bolsheviks face?

They had to stamp out their enemies at home.

Who commands the Bolsheviks?

The revolutionary leader Leon Trotsky, who helped negotiate the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, expertly commanded the Bolshevik Red Army.

Who wins?

The Bolsheviks win.

Significance: it showed that the Bolsheviks were able to both seize power and maintain it. They faced a lot of problems with the aftermath of the civil war.

It stopped all fighting on the eastern war front and began peace talks.

What did Russia lose?

They surrendered a large chunk of their territory to Germany and to its allies.

How do the Russian people feel about this?

The humiliating terms of this treaty triggered widespread anger, among many Russians.

Significance: this all led to the people now objecting the Bolsheviks and their policies.