background to the russian revolution: links to the origins of the 1917 revolutions

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Browse down the page or just click one of these sections....
 
1. Background
2. The Romanovs
3. Political Situation
4. Stolypin
5. Rasputin
6. The impact of World War I
Background to War
Russian war
Primary sources
7. General sites
Documents
 
 
  other related casahistoria sites
  
Background to Revolution · 1917 Revolutions ·
Lenin´s Russia ·  Stalin's Russia 1927-39 ·
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UK		 Channel 4 TV, UK Birmingham GRID for Learning, UK UK joint university database Argentina's national paper
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Blue Ribbon HOT site, USA
 SovLit, Harvard Univ, USA

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1. Background                                                                                go to top of page

For a basic introduction by world-renowned historians:

This material (From PBS) was gathered during the making of The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century.

Nicholas IINorman Stone, Oxford Univ:

Robert K. Massie, Author

Orlando Figes, Cambridge Univ.

 

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2. The Romanovs      go to top of page                                                                              

  • Olga, Tatiana, Anastasia, Marie, and Alexandra in centreNicholas II biography from Spartacus site with primary sources and good cross links in support. NB Remember to scroll down the page: the content is below the ad!!
  • Alexander Palace: Time Machine Extraordinarily lavish presentation of images and information related to the palace, Nicholas II, Alexandra, and other members of the Romanov family. Features well-organized tours of every room in the palace, richly detailed biographies, Romanov diaries and letters that afford insights into daily life in the palace, and a plethora of additional materials. Some key pages:.
 
  1. The index page is an excellent source of links to the Romanovs including links to primary sources such as their letters and diaries.
  2. letters from Nicholas to Alexandra
  3. Diaries of Nicholas II Excerpts of the 1917 Diary of Nicholas II, beginning in March 1917.
  4. Emperor Nicholas II  A clear but un-cited biography of  "Little Nicky".
  5. Emperor Nicholas II As I Knew Him An online book and diary about Nicholas II  written by Major-General  Sir John Hanbury Williams, stationed in Russia during World War I.
  6. Palace Biographies
  7. Documents Relating to the Abdication and Arrest of the Romanovs
  8. Photo album. Well produced
 
  • Nicholas and Alexandra  Virtual tour of the travelling exhibit Nicholas and Alexandra: The Last Imperial Family of Tsarist Russia. Presents an easily navigated, clickable exhibition site map offering a selection of topically organized galleries. These galleries provide an extensive preview of the exhibit, which includes artifacts such as the dresses, coach, and menu from the coronation of Nicholas II in 1896.
  • audio itemAlexandra - the last Tsarina Listen to this item BBC audio report (about 10mins) on a side of Alexandra that is little-known to most people. Maureen Barry talks about the last Tsarina.
  • audio itemMathilde Kschessinska BBC audio report (about 10mins) recalling the first Russian Prima Ballerina and famed lover of the future Tsar Nicholas II
  • Family Album of interesting snapshots.... but the music!!!
  • Exploring Anastasia BBC article

For links to the demise of the Romanovs, click on the 1917 casahistoria page

 

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3. Political Situation         go to top of page
 
  1. Reaction & Reform;
  2. Revolution of 1905;
  3. War and Revolution;  
  • Political Groups: From the Excellent Spartacus site:
  Anarchists 
Black Repartition 
Bolsheviks
Constitutional Democrats (Cadets)
Land and Liberty 
Liberation of Labour Group     

Mensheviks 
Octobrists
People's Will 
Social Democratic Labour Party
Socialist Revolutionaries (SR's)
 Left Socialist Revolutionaries

 

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4. Stolypin         go to top of page
 
  • Repin Ilya. Portrait of P.A. Stolypin. Art print on canvasStolypin Sound, basic biography from Spartacus site with primary sources and good cross links in support. NB Remember to scroll down the page: the content is below the ad!!
  • Stolypin Land Reform Excerpts from the Ukaz of 9 November 1906 On Peasants Leaving the Land Commune. §

Two articles by Lenin on Stolypin:

  • Stolypin and the Revolution  Sotsial-Demokrat, No. 24, October 18 (31), 1911 Published according to the Sotsial-Demokrat text From V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, 4th English Edition, Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1968 First printing 1963  §
  • Stolypin and the Narodnik Agrarian Programmes  July 1, 1912  Published according to the text in Nevskaya Zvezda From V. I. Lenin, Collected Works, 4th English Edition  §

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5. Rasputin         go to top of page
 
  • Sketch of RasputinRasputin: Biography from Alexandra Palace
  • Rasputin Sound, basic biography from Spartacus site with primary sources and good cross links in support. Includes extracts from sources describing his death. NB Remember to scroll down the page: the content is below the ad!!
  • Rasputin § biography from the European Royal History Journal (currently under re-construction)
  • The Murder of Rasputin A detailed article from About.com . To save the Russian monarchy, several members of the aristocracy attempted to murder the holy man, Rasputin. Though their plan was simple, they soon found that Rasputin would be very difficult to kill.
  • Channel 4: Masters of Darkness Website on the Rasputin programme in the series. Well presented information with wide ranging (!) links.
  • Okhrana Surveillance Report on Rasputin The Okhrana (Russian security police) had placed officers outside of Rasputin's home to monitor his and his visitors' comings and goings. This report gives some details of Rasputin's life from January 1, 1915 through February 10, 1916.
  • Picture of Rasputin's Corpse This page has a picture of Rasputin after he was pulled from the frozen river: don't look if you don't want to see a dead body!

 

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6. World War I   go to top of page   

 

General Background to World War 1

go to the casahistoria World War 1 site for links to the war in general

  • Russian Troops surrender at Tannenberg, 1914PBS Great War site : excellent chronological information and useful, brief articles by historians on many aspects of the war and the resultant peace

The Russian War
  • War and Revolution An essay by Professor Rempel, Western New England College, on the origins and impact of Russian involvement in the war. Places this clearly in its diplomatic context. Terrible background - best to copy onto a Word document to read it more easily...
  • Russia in Crisis, 1914 Undergraduate support article by Professor  O'Brien, Dept of History, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York
  • The impact of war on Russia: casahistoria netguide notes.  
  • War, Revolution and Civil War in Russia: The Eastern Front For an outline of events on the eastern front, use these links to the BBC history site on World War 1, by Dr Jonathan Smele:
 
  1. The auguries for war
  2. Campaigns and crises: 1914-1916
  3. Brest-Litovsk and its consequences
  4. Allied intervention
  Russia at War, 1914-16: a description of the early war
Russia: The Fatal Weakening of Tsarism. Concise but clear summary of the impact of war.

 

Primary sources

 

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7. General link sites to the period         go to top of page
  • Soviet Poster - " The victory of October Socialist Revolution - most important event 20th century."Soviet Union From the Library of Congress Country Studies . Uncited, but clear, concise and thorough description of the key stages, both before and after the events of 1917. Well presented.
  • The Russian Revolution  This is a good place to start. It has many links to sites on the background and events of the Revolution. A useful collection of annotated links to other sites relating to the Russian Revolution. It is very suitable for IB Level. NB! The red background to the site will drive you mad if you look at it too long...
  • Russian Studies on the Internet  A very thorough, and quite academic listing of sites relevant to Russian History. For serious casahistorians in particular, but difficult to navigate.  
  • History of the Russian Revolution, The - complete three-volume work by Leon Trotsky in HTML and PDF form.

Links to documentary evidence

  • Chronology of Russian History: Soviet Period  A well presented university site, looking at the grand sweep of Russian/Soviet history from a chronological position. Good linked access to documents such as  Tsar´s abdication letter, Order No 1, April Theses...  §
  • Photographs of the Russian Empire A collection of photographs of Imperial Russia from the archives of the University of California Riverside. It gives an interesting picture of Russia in the period 1890-1920.
  • History of the Soviet Union This website of translated documents by the Univ of East Anglia  is designed to give students easy access to a wide selection of sources on Russian history translated into English and available electronically.
  • Internet Modern History Sourcebook: Russian Revolution Key Documents on the revolutionary period
  • PLP translations: an enormous number of books/documents translated by Computer Based Learning Unit, University of Leeds. This links to the enormous index. Good for browsing for sample documents - but you need a general idea of what/who you are looking for as the index is author based, not thematic
  • People's Century: Red Flag - companion website to a PBS series on the Russian Revolution. Not the easiest site to navigate but includes interviews with participants and eyewitnesses to the rise of the Soviet State.

        For extensive links to the events of 1917 go to the casahistoria Revolutions of 1917 site

 

 

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and finally: fed up looking at this screen? Try a book instead!           go to top of page

Use casahistoria's list of recommended reads to curl up with ...

 

These have all been read and are recommended by casahistoria
 
 

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