Russian Revolution and Social Change

879 Words2 Pages

Throughout history, revolutions have developed in response to a variety of conditions. These revolutions have often resulted in significant political, economic, and social change. As the 1900’s rolled in, European nations were at peace, that is until the darker forces were pushing Europe toward war. Those darker forces included nationalism and alliance systems that would help fuel the Great War or World War I. The effects of World War I were massive including the Treaty of Versailles and the enormous amount of human casualties as well as economic losses. During World War I, another revolution broke out in Russia, removing Russia from the war and transformed the Russian empire into the first Communist state. There were many causes of the Russian Revolution including the weakness of the Czar and World War I. Finally, there were many effects of the Russian Revolution, two of which included the establishment of a communist government as well as a new economic policy. World War I was a massive war that overwhelmed Europe and spread across the world. There were many causes of this war, one being nationalism. Nationalism is the belief that people should be loyal to their nation and in the 1900’s, there was a rivalry between Germany, Austria-Hungary, Great Britain, Russia, Italy, and France. They were competing not only for materials but also for territorial disputes. France wanted revenge on Germany after losing the Franco-Prussian War and losing some of their provinces. Finally, after the Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne, and his wife were killed by a member of a radical Slovic nationalist group, World War I broke out. Another cause of World War I were the creation of the military alliances in Eur... ... middle of paper ... ...unist Party and they held all the power. A second effect of the Russian Revolution was the creation of a new economic policy. In 1921 Lenin adopted the New Economic Policy or NEP. It was executed to rebuild the Russian economy. The government controlled the banks, large industry, and foreign trade but businesses that were privately owned controlled themselves. Finally, peasants were able to sell their surplus crops and all in all, the economy was able to slowly recover. In conclusion, throughout history, revolutions such as World War I and the Russian Revolution have developed in response to a variety of conditions. World War I and the Russian Revolution are two of many revolutions that have resulted in significant political, economic, and social changes that not only affected the countries that were fighting, but also countries and people all over the world.

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