The Russian Revolution

The Russian Revolution

2006, History  -   62 Comments
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Ratings: 6.17/10 from 151 users.

The Russian RevolutionThe 1905 Russian Revolution was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire. Some of it was directed against the government, while some was undirected. It included terrorism, worker strikes, peasant unrest, and military mutinies. It led to the establishment of limited constitutional monarchy, the State Duma of the Russian Empire, the multi-party system, and the Russian Constitution of 1906.

The Russian Revolution is the collective term for a series of revolutions in Russia in 1917, which destroyed the Tsarist autocracy and led to the creation of the Soviet Union. The Tsar was deposed and replaced by a provisional government in the first revolution of February 1917 (March in the Gregorian calendar; the older Julian calendar was in use in Russia at the time). In the second revolution, during October, the Provisional Government was removed and replaced with a Bolshevik (Communist) government.

The February Revolution (March 1917) was a revolution focused around Petrograd (now St. Petersburg). In the chaos, members of the Imperial parliament or Duma assumed control of the country, forming the Russian Provisional Government. The army leadership felt they did not have the means to suppress the revolution and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, the last Tsar of Russia, abdicated.

The Soviets (workers' councils), which were led by more radical socialist factions, initially permitted the Provisional Government to rule, but insisted on a prerogative to influence the government and control various militias. The February Revolution took place in the context of heavy military setbacks during the First World War, which left much of the army in a state of mutiny.

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Talented Tenth
Talented Tenth
2 years ago

Jewish plutocrats financed the Bolshevik Revolution...not to make russia a better place to live in for the russians...the J's hated the russians because the czars didn't allow them to carry out their underhanded business practices in Russia proper..The 2 major reasons for the revolution and why the plutocrats financed it was to, loot the czar who was one of the richest men in the world, and to set up a base to send out emissaries like Bela Kun and Rosa Luxemborg to overthrow the european aristocracies and replace them with jewish bankers

David Dieni
David Dieni
2 years ago

Westerners are only good at parroting the anti-communist BS their leaders have filled their heads with. Not a single one has any working knowledge whatsoever on any subject, especially history and economics. Butt hurt precludes any objective study, as to realize capitalism is the most toxic system in history that has robbed them of their birth right to the land and its resources, and they are wage slaves and landless serfs is more than their fragile egos could stand. Lenin and Trotsky had more intelligence and principles in the little toenail than all the western parrots combined.

"Morons of the world unite, you have nothing to lose, not even a brain, you live in denial and are all insane"

wtfo
wtfo
2 years ago

Psychopathy is humanity's greatest threat, not any particular form of government.

Reed Kinney
Reed Kinney
2 years ago

Anyone who cares to can reply to my 08/06/2021 at 03:51 message. Thank you. You be well!

David Dieni
David Dieni
2 years ago

Indoctrinated and infantile
We swallow every insane lie,
As denial, blind hope and optimism,
Hold up the walls that are our prison.

Evidence, data who needs that
They're just a bunch of useless facts
That only make me feel uneasy,
A little sick, a little queasy.

It's the immgrants....its the JEWS!!
So many scapegoats, now which one to choose?
And don't forget the neo-Marxists
Hiding at home in your bread baskets!

Now I haven't studied history
Or any political economy,
Don't know shit about sociology
Or the development of society.
I have no expertise at all,
No diplomas hang upon the wall.
But I know everything there is to know,
Because Jordan Peterson told me so.
Now I am registered with Jobster,
Looking for work as a lobster.

So hang on tight, we're going down,
Infantile foold before slaves of knaves and clowns.
No money left for the sick and poor,
Its all been spent on endless war.
And edumaction, well who needs that?
When its all downloadable from an app.

Now faster than the world's revolving,
Humanity is fast devolving
While good old Donald is no one's hero,
Why, he's a fiddler just like Nero!

Can't believe its come to this
My God we're bloody idiots

Adrianople
Adrianople
4 years ago

the Russian Revolution destroyed millions of lives, created the Cold War, the arms race, caused chaos & destruction in other countries, and stifled the progress of 20th c. Eastern Europe.

cossie
cossie
5 years ago

Russia could have definitely been the greatest country in the world were it not for the bolshevik revolution in february 1917. The Csars were capitalists, and eliminating them is by far the greatest injustice in human history. It has subsequently caused the cold war and so much hatred and tension between Russia and the west.

DustUp
DustUp
6 years ago

Incremental Socialism is where you tamp down opportunity, make enough people poor so they have the majority of the vote and dribble enough to them so they will vote for you. Then screw them until next election. That has been the usa for decades. It seems we got tired of that.

DustUp
DustUp
6 years ago

Propaganda never ceases. Why? Because you not only believe it, you take up the cause and defend it.

Socialist propaganda tells you that everything wrong is caused by greedy capitalism. It is clear that few know the definition of Capitalism. It has been a LONG time since the usa was Capitalism.

Never forget that before the usa was the usa and just a colony, it started out with that same old dusty utopian mindset of Socialism. They nearly starved to death. Much like the Soviets every so often.

Which is worse? Greedy bureaucrats who must eliminate competition (take over services and other businesses which people could and would do without govt) or people wouldn't need them; or people who desire opportunity and doing things in their own self interest?

Far too many confuse Corporatism with Capitalism. Mussolini who coined the term Fascism said Corporatism was a better description. Capitalists are not the greedy elites who hide behind the corporate banner, to rape, pillage, and pollute.

If I recall, Marx, being the corrupt weasel minded that he was, who has fooled so many into buying into his scheme, stated you have to lie to the people; if you told them the truth, they will never go for it.

Low and behold, we have fake news and non stop propaganda throughout all the major news organizations who are owned or controlled by those who will benefit from Socialism.

If you think Socialism is great, go visit the VA hospitals. Go wait in line for a life saving surgery in Canada or the UK, etc. Who invented all that life saving equipment? Communists? Socialists? The benevolent Capitalists donate tonnes of used medical equipment to needy countries. Meaning the usa's old stuff is a god-send to many countries under the thumb of Socialism and worse.

I would say that the most efficient and likely the beneficial for the people type of government would be a Benevolent Dictatorship. The ever increasing risk would be the content people falling for propaganda by some psychopath. So the idea of checks and balances is the next best thing.

Why is it so important to force Socialism upon those of us who know better and don't want it? Force it upon those who went through a lot to escape from it? Why not just move to a Socialist country and live your happy life?

It appears that the Socialists are miserable types and want more company.

If I recall the grand Marxist scheme is that the whole world must be converted for it to work. Why do people buy that nonsense. Rational and reasonable people experiment on a small scale to see if something works before building bigger.

I for one, don't need govt, any govt, of any kind. Socialism and Communism are means of controlling me. I don't need you to be controlling me, piss off. Same for Corporatism or Fascism. However, it would only be natural for me to want to trade with a neighbor, a pig for some ethanol for the stove I ripped out of an old sailboat after the Commies and the Corporatists ruined the world, or whatever the case may be. Heaven forbid you allow me to trade anything without you skimming your TAX off of it so you can live off of that and dribble a bit to enough others to vote you in.

So bribing officials is bad (which happens as much or more with Socialism) but bribing voters is good if it is a Socialist doing it?

Tax the rich vs. an opportunity rich environment. Which makes a prosperous country? Which makes for the angry who want more free stuff vs. people with dignity earning their own way? Which makes for those who starve vs. those who invent better medical diagnostic devices and other niceties?

What happens to Socialism when the money runs out and the rich are no longer rich because you have taxed and taken them down to the level of the rest or they escaped your travel ban? As some wise people have said, Socialism works fine until the money runs out, and it always runs out.

Do your homework instead of listening to your Socialist teachers, Socialist professors, and Socialist media. You are the subject of a large scale brainwashing, paid for by the bankster elite who own or control via $$ enough of the above to have done enough propagandizing for decades. They have correctly determined that most of you are lazy minded and will not check the facts or seek the truth. They cover the skies with chemtrails, toxify your water with fluoride, screw up your body with GMO, encourage you to take their pharmaceutical toxic meds, or self medicate with drugs ...all so you are more susceptible to what they want you to believe.

The choice is yours. Get clean and get smart or be a useful idiot. Another term for you by those you revere in the Collectivist(socialism, communism, progressivism) movement.

Would you rather be a valued customer or be told to take a number and wait in the long lines like the rest of the ants with no competing service provider? That is the difference between true Capitalism and true Socialism-Communism.

Aijahlon
Aijahlon
8 years ago

"You must understand. The leading Bolsheviks who took over
Russia were not Russians. They hated Russians. They hated
Christians. Driven by ethnic hatred they tortured and slaughtered
millions of Russians without a shred of human remorse.
The October Revolution was not what you call in America the
'Russian Revolution.'
It was an invasion and conquest over the Russian people.
More of my countrymen suffered horrific crimes at their
bloodstained hands than any people or nation ever suffered in the
entirety of human history.
It cannot be overstated. Bolshevism committed the greatest
human slaughter of all time.
The fact that most of the world is ignorant and uncaring about
this enormous crime is proof that the global media is in the hands
of the perpetrators." -- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Hemu
Hemu
9 years ago

Socialism Is the biggest and best thought of this new modern human society.But after saying that i must also agree with the fact that its experiments all over world are wrong ,communism biggest strenght is equality freedom and justice ,which are lacking in all communist world because they are following people or party ,they forget its the idea that changed the world .Its the idea that will bring the revolution ,people will be defeated but idea can travel for me and you ,I belive that every revolution require a leader because we follow leader not the idea ,thats the real problem with communism
Read the writings of swami vivekand and che

Alejandra Armitage
Alejandra Armitage
10 years ago

After reading down comments I just want to clear up a few things about communism itself. According to Marx and Engels, in an ideal communist state there is NO STATE. there is no strong centralized government, because there is no real "government". It calls for each individuals interests to be those of the society and the people living in it. It calls for a group of people that works for the improvement not of themselves as individuals but as the society as a whole, ensuring that there is no one left behind or unable to sustain themselves, and ensuring that everyone has the same good quality and standard of living that everyone else has. Because no one deserves it more than anyone else. It is a society based on work ethic,autarky (self-sufficiency) sharing and selflessness. This is where communism fails. From what we've seen in history so far. It is very difficult for any group of people to be completely selfless towards one another. Maybe this is human nature or because we haven't been born in a communist society, the need to improve our individual selves overrides our selflessness. It is also very difficult for a person to give up power once he or she has acquired it. This, as well as the fact that for a communist society to be self sufficient, the country would have to have all the resources it needs to function, and unless a country is very very lucky, this isn't the case. I hope this clears things up a little bit. I think this website is supposed to be to educate people and it is very hard to do so when people are insulting each other with "downs syndrome", etc. respect each others opinions and have an intelligent debate. Communists aren't people who are stupid or with downs syndrome. communists are people who believe what Marx and Engels published. Communists are not nazis (because Nazism itself fought communism heavily. Many communists were sent to concentration camps) Communists are not Stalinists or Fascists, because that would demand the presence of a state and one leader for that state, and as I stated above, that is not ideal communism. Communism is not a religion, it is not a "higher power". Communism is in essence an ideal world where everyone gets what they need. However, this hasn't proved to work. Maybe I am a naive idealist, but I think that we can respect each other a little bit more on this website, given it is supposed to be informative. Everyone has diverging political opinions for their own reason, it is what they as a person believe is ethically right. Don't bash it. Debate with people, educate them and be willing to be educated by them. If the world is going to suck as much as it does, might as well learn something from everyone in it. DFTBA

madscirat
madscirat
11 years ago

Great doc. I really enjoyed the use of primary source material, the reflections of the sailors. They seem to endorse the view that the Russian revolution was not originally about communism but simply decentralized government and that this revolution was hijacked by the Bolsheviks during the later stages of the upheaval.

Another great point it makes is how the brutality of the Civil War, usually laid entirely at Lenin's feet, was at least in part caused by the meddling of outside powers like Britain and the US who essentially added fuel to the fire by pumping funds and supplies into the counter revolutionary forces. Ironically, the Allies were doing the same thing Hitler would do later during the Spanish Revolution though without the same success.

EddieC
EddieC
12 years ago

mr bongo worldwide? hmmm..

politicstudent
politicstudent
12 years ago

Please read the orginal works of marx and Engels. You will soon realise that Communism in its pure form entails a stateless society where everyone's interest is their own interest. There is no state for people to be enslaved by. The reason this happened during the USSR period is because the transitional stage of socialism was administered poorly, therefore never allowing for an opportunity for pure Communism as marx envisaged it to happen.

Steve Messi
Steve Messi
12 years ago

Communism is as bad as Hitlerism; they both promote the absolute obedience of the individual to the State. They are both forms of absolutism! So, those who claim that Communism brought some positive change to Russia must reread their history books. The fact of the matter is that communism was far more murderous than fascism. Lenine basically starved a wide portion of his own population into subjugation, and Stalin went even further! As a matter of fact, Stalin by himself killed far more people than Hitler! Let's not forget the other characters like Pol Pot, Mao Tse Tsung, Issen Habre and many other Communist murderers who terrorized their population for decades. The Russian revolution was not a mere accident of history in my opinion. At the juncture of the 21st century, the US was vying to become a dominant State and England was also trying to remain the most powerful empire on earth. Russia was a fast rising Nation, filled with Natural resources that enticed the envy of European and American interests. The fact of the matter is that the Communist revolution was facilitated by Western interests. Trosky has spent some time in the west and Lenin was in exile for a while. They returned to their Nation to lead a " revolution"; but did they return in Russia empty handed or were they helped by Wall Street and London financiers? This is one theory that has never been taken seriously, but a lot of evidence clearly pinpoint to the fact that both communist leaders were actually helped by the " pseudo-democratic" West. In the same way Saddam Hussein, the Shah of Iran, and today's " Libyans rebels" are being supported by their western clients who have been salivating for that Nation oil resources.

joellenco
joellenco
12 years ago

No longer available, as of Aug. 17. 2011. :(

Lightf00t
Lightf00t
12 years ago

We all know communism doesn't work.

So why are there so many dumb people who still say they are communists?

Because they all have Downs Syndrome.

Shah Gee
Shah Gee
12 years ago

This website Should be Clean from Propaganda Docs. we watch those everyday on Netgeo

penfold22
penfold22
12 years ago

sorry 'propaganda' ! Lost brief control because of my anger

penfold22
penfold22
12 years ago

US propoganda??? First of all the doc is British and therefore what is there to gain from peddling misinformation in this day and age? These facts can be corroborated, so this twat must face the truth and realise that this was a shameful period of Russian history from which the great Russian nation is still paying a price. However, the Bear will catch up !

sonu83
sonu83
12 years ago

it just US propaganda film these r not facts

sonu83
sonu83
12 years ago

f***ing US propaganda

adilrye
adilrye
12 years ago

I wouldn't say Communism was a complete failure. Russia was a serfdom, bound to an absolutist king. The vast majority of people were tied to the land they worked on, ala Medieval Western Europe. There was abject poverty, high illiteracy, frequent famines and institutionalized aristocratic inequality.

Then, Russia transformed into an industrial superpower. Yes, the Communists did some terrible things and governed with heavy repression, but under their rule, the country did change in many ways for the better. Women began to work for the first time. Children went to school for free. There was public healthcare. Jobs for all. Urbanization and a decline in absolute poverty.

In a sense, it was failure because it collapsed. But it wasn't ALL bad. There were certainly some triumphic aspects of the Soviet Union. But of course, this being a Western doc, it has to be ant-Communist.

0zyxcba1
0zyxcba1
12 years ago

We stand here and write
Into the Declaration of the Rights of Man
The holy right of property.

And, now, we see where that leads:

Every man is equally free
To fight, fraternally,
And with equal arms, of course.

Every man his own millionaire:

Man against man,
Group against group,
In happy, mutual, robbery!

And ahead of us, the great springtime of mankind:

The budding of trade and the blossoming of Industry,
In one enormous financial upsurge,
And we stand here more oppressed than when we begun.

And we think the Revolution's been won?

~ Peter Weiss (Marat/Sade)

Guest
Guest
12 years ago

Zionists were behind this "operation" against the Tsar-regime. They failed in 1905, started WW1 via Wallstreet banksters (Federel Reserve) and succeeded in taking over Tsariat Russia in 1917 :D. What happened later in Russia, is a history. I mean Tsar was a mother teresa when compared with these [na((zi)on)communist] bastards like Lenin, Trotsky and the worst of all: Stalin!

reefcake
reefcake
12 years ago

studied The Russian Revolution at college its really interesting.

Petar Vitanovich
Petar Vitanovich
12 years ago

F***ing Communists are so stupid. "Hey, I want FREEDOM! So lets put in power someone who's gonna take it all away!"... Constitutional Monarchy is the way to go, simply because a King is always held accountable for his debts and therefor wouldnt want to pass it on to his heir. And if he ever gets out of control, you kill him and apoint a new one. History has proven this method over and over, while democracy rapes you with a hidden beauracracy, and communism rapes your freedom of everything but their full support. I have family who lived in all three and they say when Serbia was a Kingdom, it was the freest they ever lived and the taxes the lowest they ever paid.