Russian Revolution/Week 1

Why
The purpose of this course is to introduce you, the students, to the events that shocked the world: Russian workers and peasants turned on the ruling elite of the Russian Empire in the middle of World War I. According to Robert Service in his book, Twentieth Century Russia, “No imperial power before the First World War was more reviled in Europe than the Russian Empire” (Page Number --). Russia was a nation that until the creation of St. Petersburg (named Petrograd after Russia went to war against Germany in 1914) by Peter the Great in -. Why did Russia become such a great power? Why did the Russian Empire evolve into the Union of Socialistic Soviet Republics which rivaled the United States from 1945-1991? Russia was behind European nations in most everything from its military, businesses, and people. Russia was a modern day pre-industrial revolution nation found in the mid 17th century.

What were the influences of the Revolutions
Russia, rose and fell because of the revolutions that occurred in it's nation history. How did these revolutions effect the people it was trying to liberate or help? What substantial difference can be physically evaluated?

Karl Marx
It all started with Karl Marx. Karl Marx believed that the proletariat (working class, who made up over 88% of the population) class could only gain freedom by rising up against the bourgeoisie (Capitalist/Ruling class, who made up 2%)

Questions
Week 1 Questions

Next week's materials
Week 2