Russian Revolution and Rise of the Soviet Union

The Russian Revolution was a series of Revolutions. The 1905 revolution was followed by the 1917 revolution.
There were two revolutions in 1917 in Russia.
- February Revolution – Overthrew the imperial government and established a Provisional government.
- October Revolution – Brought in the Bolsheviks as the leaders of Russia.

Weak Leadership – Tsar Nicholas II who came to power in 1894 had poor leadership qualities and showed authoritarian tendencies.
Revolution of 1905 – Russia’s defeat in the Russo-Japanese War led to this revolution causing political and social unrest. This in turn led to the development of limited constitutional monarchy, the State Duma Of Russian rule, the Multi-party system, and the Russian Constitution of 1906.
Economic and Social Factors
- Deplorable working conditions like long working hours, sanitary conditions, and inadequate wages.
- Peasant movements from villages exposed them to new ideas about political orders.
- Oppression of the lower class by the Tsarist.
- World War I.

Impact within Russia
- End of Autocratic Rule and establishment of a socialist government.
- The National Council was formed to manage Russia’s economy.
- Banks were nationalised during the Russian Revolution.
- The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk ended World War I for Russia.
- Factory workers and farmers were given their respective farmlands and factories.
Global Impact
- Spread of Communism across the world nations.
- Gave a boost to the Anti-imperial movements.
- Soviet Declaration aiming for equality of all nations.

The Working Class became more organized and united with the formation of AITUC (1920), Ahmedabad Textile Labour Association (TLA) (1917), etc.
Lokmanya Tilak and Annie Besant’s home rule movement sought self-rule, much like the Bolshevik revolution sought proletariat self-government.
Influenced the Karachi Resolution of 1931.
DPSP and the Preamble of the Indian Constitution have influenced Russian revolutionary ideologies like Justice.

The Soviet Union was formed in 1922 after the Russian Revolution.
A Treaty was signed in 1922 among Russia, Ukraine, Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republics, and Trans-Caucasian Federation which led to the formation of the Soviet Union, officially known as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).
It was a socialist state that existed from 1922 to 1991. It was governed by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), which controlled all aspects of government and society.
The Soviet Union was a Marxist-Leninist single-party state and also the first nation to declare itself socialist.
It was a major global power during its existence.

Vladimir Lenin (1922-24)
- Founder of the Russian Communist Party and was the first Soviet Head.
- He led the Bolshevik Revolution which established a new Soviet Government.
- He signed a treaty with Ukraine, Belarus, and Transcaucasia (Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan) in 1922 to form the USSR.
Joseph Stalin (1924-53)
- Participated in the 1917 October Revolution.
- Helped in the industrialization of the USSR.
- Created a military-industrial complex and led the Soviet Union into the nuclear age.
- He helped liberate Nazi concentration camps.