I work for 18 hours a day and can barely afford to eat...
PAY UP PEASANT!
Bloody Sunday and the 1905 Revolution
We are suffering and we deserve better!
They are threatening the Tsar!
World War I
MOVE SOLDIERS MOVE!
I don't want to die...
In the late 19th and early 20th century, there was discontent among the workers and farmers of Russia. Farmers were overtaxed, workers experienced poor factory conditions and starvation and poverty was widespread. To appease the masses, the Tsar implemented civil rights, universal suffrage and created an elected parliament.
Vladimir Lenin
I promise every one of you peace, land, and bread.
In 1905, 150,000 workers signed a petition asking for better rights and marched toward the Winter Palace to deliver their petition to the Tsar. Perceiving this as a threat, soldiers opened fire and killed 200 people. This sparked the 1905 revolution which included protests, strikes, and widespread discontent among the peasantry.
1917 Revolution
We have toppled the oppressive Tsar! Za Rodinu!
Despite experiencing massive famines and unrest from the peasantry, Russia entered WWI on the side of the entente. This strained resources and infrastructure across the country, making the internal situation even worse. This, coupled with the many casualties caused by the war, led to widespread dissent from the people.
Bolshevik Red Army
Vladimir Lenin was a Russian communist and leader of the Bolshevik Party during the 1917 Revolution, to his death in 1924. He gained popular support by promising the peasants and soldiers "peace, land and bread", and took advantage of the Tsar's unpopularity to overthrow him and make himself a dictator.
Since the beginning of WWI, protests and strikes in Russia were commonplace as very few people supported the war and the issues faced by the peasants before the war were still not resolved. In 1917 however, Vladimir Lenin and his Bolshevik Party overthrew the Tsar and ended Russia's involvement in WWI.
The Bolshevik Red Army was a communist party and armed organization in Russia that gained its support from the angry peasantry to achieve power. Led by Vladimir Lenin, the Bolsheviks would overthrow the Tsar and execute his family to prevent any opposition. In the Russian Civil War, the communist Bolsheviks were known as the "Reds", while the capitalist faction was the "Whites".