Origins and Progression of the Russian Revolution
FACULTY OF ARTS DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY
NAME: TENDAI MUVADI
REG NUMBER: R115008B
MODE OF ENTRY: CONVENTIONAL
LEVEL: 4:2
MODULE CODE: 423
MODULE NAME:WORLD AFFAIRS SINCE 1945
LECTURER: DR V. NYAWO-SHAVA
ASSIGNMENT QUESTION:
Explain the origins and progression of the Russian revolution between 1917 and 1922.
The origins of the Russian Revolution can be explained in terms of the peasant consciousness of land which can be traced back to 1861. Russia had been the last country in Europe to abolish serfdom; nevertheless, Alexander II’s emancipation edict of 1861 though earning him the title Czar Liberator, had left peasants feeling cheated. The Russian Revolution of 1905 failed to solve the land issue, reaction of the government in trying to suppress the grievances of the peasants helped less. Economic and social changes in Russia from 1905 affected the peasants. The Russo-Japanese war of 1905 humiliated the Russians and increased the economic downturn. The defeat increased the unpopularity of the Tsarist regime among the generals as also did the Bloody Sunday and World war One. “The Russian Revolution is an extremely complex event, made all the more complex by the varying historiographical traditions – Soviet, liberal, libertarian and revisionist – that have sought to explain it.”1 The period after the outbreak of the Revolution in 1917 to 1922 saw the Revolution going through various shapes. These include the abdication of Czar Nicholas II and the establishment of the provisional government, the October Revolution and assumption of power by the Bolsheviks, Treaty of Brest-Litovisk, the Civil War and collapse of opposition to the Russian Soviet State. At the heart of the Revolution
NAME: TENDAI MUVADI
REG NUMBER: R115008B
MODE OF ENTRY: CONVENTIONAL
LEVEL: 4:2
MODULE CODE: 423
MODULE NAME:WORLD AFFAIRS SINCE 1945
LECTURER: DR V. NYAWO-SHAVA
ASSIGNMENT QUESTION:
Explain the origins and progression of the Russian revolution between 1917 and 1922.
The origins of the Russian Revolution can be explained in terms of the peasant consciousness of land which can be traced back to 1861. Russia had been the last country in Europe to abolish serfdom; nevertheless, Alexander II’s emancipation edict of 1861 though earning him the title Czar Liberator, had left peasants feeling cheated. The Russian Revolution of 1905 failed to solve the land issue, reaction of the government in trying to suppress the grievances of the peasants helped less. Economic and social changes in Russia from 1905 affected the peasants. The Russo-Japanese war of 1905 humiliated the Russians and increased the economic downturn. The defeat increased the unpopularity of the Tsarist regime among the generals as also did the Bloody Sunday and World war One. “The Russian Revolution is an extremely complex event, made all the more complex by the varying historiographical traditions – Soviet, liberal, libertarian and revisionist – that have sought to explain it.”1 The period after the outbreak of the Revolution in 1917 to 1922 saw the Revolution going through various shapes. These include the abdication of Czar Nicholas II and the establishment of the provisional government, the October Revolution and assumption of power by the Bolsheviks, Treaty of Brest-Litovisk, the Civil War and collapse of opposition to the Russian Soviet State. At the heart of the Revolution
Bibliography: Darby, G., The Russian revolution, Longman, New York, 2000. Wood, A., The Origins of the Russian Revolution 1861–1917, Lancaster Pamphlets, Second edition, Routledge, London, 1993. Curtiss, J. S., The Russian Revolutions of 1917, D. Van Nostrand Company, INC, New Jersey, 1957. Westwood, J. N., Endurance and Endeavour, Russian History 1812 – 2001, Fifth Edition, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2001. Smith, S. A., The Russian Revolution, A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2002. Wade, R. A., The Russian Revolution, 1917, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2000. Bromley, J., Russia 1848 – 1917, Heinemann Educational Publishers, Oxford, 2002. Pipes, R., A Concise History of The Russian Revolution, Vintage Books, New York, 1991. Fitzpatrick, S., The Russian Revolution, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1990. Ramm, A., Europe in the Nineteenth Century 1789 – 1905, Longman, New York, 1984.