The Russian Revolution was an important event in history, as it led to the downfall of the Russian economy, the beginning of communism in Russia, and the cold war, just to name a few reasons why. Russia went from a government similar to the others in Europe ruled by tsars (pronounced zars) to being the Soviet Union or the USSR, a large communist economy.
It all started with Tsar Alexander II. He attempted to reform the country, but was assassinated. His son Alexander III also attempted to reform the country, but was assassinated. His son Nicolas II would go on to have a role in the real revolution rather than just dying beforehand. Nicolas also failed, but not quite as bad as his father and grandfather. It was at about this time that Vladimir Lenin began to organize a socialist party, but because he was stubborn with his beliefs about communism, it caused a split in his party.
The Tsar’s advisor realized that the underlying problem with Russia was its economy and its lack of modern technology, so he borrowed money in order to build some factories. The working conditions for the people just got worse when these factories started, and this caused more unrest. At this time, Japan also tried to conquer some Russian territory, and so a war ensued. Japan whipped Russia, causing even more distrust in the government.
A peaceful protest would be lead by a priest against the Tsar. They literally just wanted him to read their petition to make the people’s working conditions better, and in response the imperial troops fired at them. Hundreds of civilians were slain that day for no reason. Workers started going on strikes.
A new advisor for the Tsar had been appointed, and this fixed some of the original issues with the economy, but also made it a little worse in other areas. The country was about back to where it started when World War One broke out. The war brought partition to Russia, but it also brought spending. Resources in Russia went dry quickly, with little food and starving people, most of the population was starving, and mutiny and uprisings started. The communists then forced the Tsar to resign his position, and so the last Tsar resigned.
Vladimir Lenin finally returned from his long exile from Russia, and he quickly abolished the nine-month-old government that had taken the place of the old Russian government for the short time after the Tsar’s resignation and his arrival. He formed the socialist party, with himself as the leader. The people, however, hated Lenin. He acted just as much like a dictator as the Tsars, and they hated him. Lenin’s health declined as the Russian civil war started up, with the red soviets (Lenin’s party) eventually winning. Lenin died shortly after this. Joseph Stalin took over as the head of the new USSR.
The Russian Revolution was important because, not only did it introduce communism to Russia, it would be Joseph Stalin who would fight the Cold War with America, the first true nuclear war.