The 1905 Russian Revolution and the First World War

The founders of Communism, Marx and Engels, had created a set of social structures and industrial developments that were believed necessary for Communism to be achieved. Imperial Russia did not fit these conditions and yet at the start of the twentieth century Russian revolutionaries were some of the most active and most dedicated to ensuring that revolution would come. The First World War created a whole set of new harsh conditions for the workers and the middle class, allowing emotions and politics to reach new levels of outrage and change.

In this film, Dr Lara Douds (Northumbria University) takes us through the disastrous Russo-Japanese War, the tumult of the 1905 Russian Revolution and Tsar Nicholas II’s subsequent creation of the relatively powerless Russian Parliament (Duma). Lenin would spend much of the next few years in Europe developing his ideas, watching and waiting for his moment to return.