russian+revolution-wh

__The Russian Revolution__

 * //Summary: Examines the causes and the effects of the Russian Revolution. Focuses on political reasons, socioeconomic reasons, and philosophic causes. Examines the state of post revolution Russia and argues that revolutionaries rapidly forgot their goals of equality and socialist society, and just like the Czarist regime, turned the nation into an autocratic bureaucracy.//**

One of the biggest and most interesting revolutions the world has known is doubtlessly the Russian October revolution. This revolution was caused by political reasons, socioeconomic reasons, and philosophic reasons. Its effects changed the course of history. First of all, the revolution had several political causes. One of these causes was the nature of the czarist regime. This regime, in his last days became an autocratic bureaucracy that relied on force to impose it's will on people. This regime passed some laws such as "The emancipation edict" that opened the way to industrialization, but had terrible consequences on workers and peasants making them more receptive to radical ideas such as nihilism, anarchism and communism. It also prosecuted the non-Russian nationalities throughout the empire. Another political cause was that Russia was divided into several political parties. Some of these parties were asking for a constitutional monarchy, but the largest share of them wanted to radically change the regime. From these parties, we can cite: the "Social Revolutionary Party" that regrouped the peasants and the intellectuals, and Social Democratic Labor party, which regrouped the Bolshevik and Menshevik movements. These movements were representing the workers class. The defeat of Russia in the Russo-Japanese war was also a political cause, for that it showed the incompetence and weaknesses of the czarist regime.

Secondly, the socioeconomic situation of Russia was favorable to the revolution. Famine was widespread and Russian workers were striking and rioting o make the regime increase their food rations. The regime repressed these riots in blood. Also, the Russian participation in WWI made the living conditions tougher. During WWI Czar Nicholas II, who went to the front to command his armies in 1915, left his wife in charge of the country. She was under the influence of Rasputin a charlatan, who was claimed to be a "holy man." He used his influence over the Czarina to appoint incompetent person into crucial posts. The czarina's attempts to protect Rasputin, and the scandals caused by the persons he placed on the government, and the corruption that he spread destroyed all positive opinions about the government among the people. His body will be exhumed and burned after the revolution.

The last cause is the return of Lenin to Russia. He was finally allowed by Germany to cross his borders in order to return to his homeland. Germany, which was in war with Russia, hoped that the return of Lenin, who was against the war, will undermine the Czarist regime. Lenin's return revived the Bolshevik movement. His new interpretation of Marxism encouraged the workers to go on numerous strikes, and finally overthrow the government.

This revolution had also huge effects, such as the Russian civil war, the foundation of the USSR, and later the Cold War. The earliest effect of the revolution was the civil war between the "reds" and the "whites." The "reds" were the Bolshevik and the "whites" represented the Anti-Bolsheviks, they were manly aiming to restore the Czarist regime, or to set up a military dictatorship. The "whites" were helped by the Allies who invaded Russia, officially in order to protect strategic points from seizure by the Germans. The Bolsheviks managed to achieve victory mainly because of the lack of cooperation between their enemies, and of the reorganization of the Red Army when Trotsky became commissar for war. However, this war ruined Russia, and atrocities where committed by both sides.

The second effect of was the foundation of the USSR. The USSR was the first state in the world that was founded on Marxist Socialism. It was ruled effectively by the Communist Party Politburo who controlled all levels of government. USSR was divided into 15 republics such as Ukraine, Estonia, Lithuania, etc. That country, that most nations refused to recognize when it was founded, managed after WWII to impose itself as one of the two world major powers through military strength, scientific research and aid to developing countries.

The final and latest effect was the Cold War. After the cooperation between USSR and the western powers during WWII, relations between the USSR and the west (especially the USA) started to deteriorate rapidly. The Cold War struggle took place in the third world countries, and was an indirect confrontation between the two super powers. With these struggles, each super power aimed to gain the allegiance of third world countries. Some well known examples of these struggles are: The Korean war, the Viet-Nam war, the guerrilla in Angola, Nicaragua, the building of the Berlin Wall, the Cuban Missile crisis, etc. The Cold War had a lot of bad effects on third world countries, it caused both the USSR and the USA to support some brutal dictatorships in order to win their allegiance.

To sum up, we can see that the Russian Revolution came for good causes such as poverty and corruption, and had some positive effects on the world and on Russia. But as all the revolution that history has known, the Russian revolution rapidly forgot its former goals of equality and socialist society, and just like the Czarist regime, it turned into an autocratic bureaucracy, which caused its dissolution on 1991, destroying the Russian economy and making a country, that was once feared and respected among the greatest countries of the world, begging the its former enemies to help her.