KS3 · History

The Russian Revolution, 1917

In 1917 Russia threw out its tsar. Within months the Bolsheviks had set up their own secret police and brought back censorship. So how different were the new rulers, really?

History · Cause & effect

Russia, 1906 to 1921: what led to what

Tap an event to see what led to it and what it led to next.

Causes ←

What led here

The Bolsheviks wanted to take power themselves
Lenin had refused to support the Provisional Government

Event

October Revolution

1917

The Bolsheviks armed their supporters, including soldiers and sailors, and took over key locations in Petrograd. This lesson presents it as done with very little involvement of ordinary Russians. It came less than a month before elections were due.

→ Consequences

What followed

The Provisional Government was toppled
New laws began banning non-Bolshevik newspapers and some other political parties
The Bolsheviks set up the Cheka and brought censorship back

History · Russia before 1917

Who owned Russia?

The aristocracy made up just 1% of Russia's population. What percentage of ALL the land in Russia did they own?

Your estimate

50%

0%100%

February vs October

February RevolutionvsOctober Revolution

Two events, two different governments brought down.

Focus

What it overthrew

February Revolution

The tsar, who was forced to abdicate

October Revolution

The Provisional Government

The insight

They ended two different governments. The tsar fell in February; the government that replaced him fell in October.

Who acted

February Revolution

Strikes and riots in Petrograd, with many police officers and soldiers joining the protestors

October Revolution

Armed Bolshevik supporters, including soldiers and sailors, who took over key locations in Petrograd

How far ordinary Russians took part

February Revolution

A mass protest by the public, and the tsar was also pressed by his own generals

October Revolution

Very little, as this lesson presents it

What followed

February Revolution

A Provisional Government preparing for democratic elections

October Revolution

Bans on non-Bolshevik newspapers and on some other political parties

History · Ways of ruling

Whose tools were these?

Tick every ruler each feature belongs to: the tsar, the Provisional Government, the Bolsheviks.

  • A The tsar
  • B Provisional Government
  • C Bolsheviks
  1. A secret police force
  2. Abolishing the tsarist secret police
  3. Censorship
  4. Carrying on the war against Germany
  5. Freedom of speech
  6. An eight-hour working day for industrial workers
  7. Banning other newspapers and some other parties
  8. Taking Russia out of World War I
  9. A parliament the ruler often ignored

History · The Civil War, 1918 to 1921

Who fought the Reds?

The Reds were the Bolsheviks and their supporters. Sort each group that fought them.

Still to sort

The Whites (0)

The Reds' main opponents

Where the line is: The Whites were a diverse group. The main thing that kept them together was that they opposed the Reds.

National minorities (0)

Groups who wanted to rule themselves

Foreign powers (0)

Countries outside Russia

8 of 8 still to sort.

History · The Red Terror

Who was the Red Terror aimed at?

During the Civil War the Cheka carried out the Red Terror.

Which is closest to what you think it targeted?
How sure are you?

WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED

A quick recap of today's lesson.

How Russia swapped a tsar for the Bolsheviks, and what it cost

What you need to know

  • Russia before 1917 had an absolutist tsar, a mostly rural population and huge inequality in wealth and land.
  • There were two revolutions in 1917: February ended the tsar's rule, and October ended the Provisional Government.
  • Once in power the Bolsheviks limited their opponents, set up the Cheka and re-introduced censorship.
  • By 1921 the Reds had won the Civil War, but methods like War Communism and the Red Terror cost millions of ordinary Russians their lives.

The big picture

Russia in 1917 had two revolutions, not one. In February strikes and riots forced the tsar to abdicate and a Provisional Government took over. In October the Bolsheviks toppled that government, limited their opponents, set up the Cheka and went on to win a Civil War by 1921, using methods that cost millions of ordinary Russians their lives.

Key points

1An absolutist ruler can act as they wish without any restrictions. Tsar Nicholas II created the Duma in 1906 but often ignored it.
2February 1917: strikes and riots in Petrograd, police and soldiers joined the protestors, the tsar abdicated, and a Provisional Government took over.
3October 1917: the Bolsheviks, led by Lenin, toppled the Provisional Government less than a month before elections were due.
4The Provisional Government abolished the tsarist secret police. The Bolsheviks then set up their own, the Cheka.
5The Reds won the Civil War by 1921 as the White armies were defeated and most foreign armies withdrew.

Worked example

Problem

Lenin promised peace in April 1917. Did he keep that promise, and what did it cost? Build the answer link by link.

⚠ Watch out

Treating the Russian Revolution as one event in which the people overthrew the tsar and the Bolsheviks took over. There were two revolutions in 1917: February, when protests forced the tsar to abdicate and a Provisional Government took over, and October, when the Bolsheviks toppled that government.

🧠

Memory hook

February, the tsar goes. October, the Provisional Government goes. Then the Bolsheviks rebuild the tsar's toolkit: a secret police and censorship.

✓

Check yourself

Cover the screen and say it out loud: which revolution ended the tsar's rule, which ended the Provisional Government, and what did the Bolsheviks do to their opponents once they held power?

Flashcards

(14)
What does it mean to say a ruler is absolutist?
They have absolute power: they can act as they wish without any restrictions.
What was the Duma?
A Russian parliament set up in 1906 after the unsuccessful 1905 revolution. Tsar Nicholas II often ignored it, so most power stayed in his hands.
What share of Russia's land did the aristocracy own, and how big a share of the population were they?
They owned 25% of all the land and made up just 1% of the population.
What happened in Petrograd in early 1917?
Strikes and riots broke out. Many police officers and soldiers refused to break them up and joined the protestors, and the tsar was forced to abdicate.
What took power after the February Revolution?
A Provisional Government, which began to prepare for democratic elections.
Who were the Bolsheviks?
A revolutionary party led by Vladimir Lenin. They believed they should take power themselves and rule on behalf of the proletariat (the working class) to create a socialist state.
What did the Bolsheviks do in October 1917?
They toppled the Provisional Government, arming their supporters, including soldiers and sailors, and taking over key locations in Petrograd.
What was the Cheka?
The Bolsheviks' own secret police force. It carried out the Red Terror during the Civil War.
Why did the Cheka execute the former tsar and his family in July 1918?
The Bolsheviks worried that the royal family could inspire their opponents in the Civil War.
Who were the Reds and the Whites?
The Reds were the Bolsheviks and their supporters. The Whites were their opponents, a diverse group held together mainly by opposing the Reds.
Besides the Whites, who fought the Reds in the Civil War?
National minorities, such as Estonians, Ukrainians and Georgians, who wanted to rule themselves, and foreign powers, such as Britain, France, the USA and Japan.
What was War Communism?
A series of policies giving the government control over the economy, including taking over factories and requisitioning most of the food peasants produced.
What was the Red Terror?
During the Civil War the Cheka arrested, tortured and executed people suspected of working against the Bolsheviks, including ordinary people, not only opposition leaders.
How did the Civil War end?
By 1921 the White armies had been defeated and most foreign armies had withdrawn, leaving the Bolsheviks with secure control.

Tap any card to flip it, or use Study as deck to go through them one at a time. In the full lesson these run as a spaced-repetition deck — you rate each card Hard, Good or Easy and the tricky ones keep coming back until they stick.

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