Unemployment rose in industries that were not directly contributing to the war effort these factories could not maintain a supply of raw materials.
Living conditions deteriorated, especially as a result of shortages in the shops. These were caused by:. There was a severe lack of food in Moscow and, in , Petrograd only received half of the grain required to feed its citizens.
These shortages contributed to social unrest. In January , in commemoration of Bloody Sunday, workers went on strike in Petrograd. In February, rioting broke out in the city. Crowds attacked bakeries in a desperate search for bread. This was partially in response to the announcement of bread rationing. In the following days, strikes and demonstrations took place.
Moreover, while the Bolsheviks did not call for peasant land seizures preferring the transfer of property to the state , they did not actively oppose them either. Thus seeing an opportunity to gain support among the peasantry, Lenin composed the Decree on Land, which was passed by the Congress of Soviets on November 8 October 26 , The decree stipulated that all landed estates would become the property of local land committees pending the meeting of the Constituent Assembly.
Their involvement in the war would soon prove disastrous for the Russian Empire. Militarily, imperial Russia was no match for industrialized Germany, and Russian casualties were greater than those sustained by any nation in any previous war. Food and fuel shortages plagued Russia as inflation mounted.
The economy was hopelessly disrupted by the costly war effort. Czar Nicholas left the Russian capital of Petrograd St. Petersburg in to take command of the Russian Army front. During this time, her controversial advisor, Grigory Rasputin , increased his influence over Russian politics and the royal Romanov family.
By then, most Russians had lost faith in the failed leadership of the czar. Government corruption was rampant, the Russian economy remained backward and Nicholas repeatedly dissolved the Duma , the toothless Russian parliament established after the revolution, when it opposed his will.
Demonstrators clamoring for bread took to the streets of Petrograd. Supported by huge crowds of striking industrial workers, the protesters clashed with police but refused to leave the streets. On March 11, the troops of the Petrograd army garrison were called out to quell the uprising. In some encounters, the regiments opened fire, killing demonstrators, but the protesters kept to the streets and the troops began to waver.
The Duma formed a provisional government on March A few days later, Czar Nicholas abdicated the throne, ending centuries of Russian Romanov rule. The leaders of the provisional government, including young Russian lawyer Alexander Kerensky, established a liberal program of rights such as freedom of speech, equality before the law, and the right of unions to organize and strike.
They opposed violent social revolution. As minister of war, Kerensky continued the Russian war effort, even though Russian involvement in World War I was enormously unpopular.
Unrest continued to grow as peasants looted farms and food riots erupted in the cities. Lenin instead called for a Soviet government that would be ruled directly by councils of soldiers, peasants and workers.
The Bolsheviks and their allies occupied government buildings and other strategic locations in Petrograd, and soon formed a new government with Lenin as its head. Civil War broke out in Russia in late after the Bolshevik Revolution. The warring factions included the Red and White Armies. The White Army represented a large group of loosely allied forces, including monarchists, capitalists and supporters of democratic socialism.
On July 16, , the Romanovs were executed by the Bolsheviks. The Russian Revolution paved the way for the rise of communism as an influential political belief system around the world. It set the stage for the rise of the Soviet Union as a world power that would go head-to-head with the United States during the Cold War.
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