Changes

The [[Great War]] had weakened Tsar Nicholas II, and he abdicated the throne in March 1917.  Russia was left under the provisional government of [[Alexander Kerensky]], which intended to continue fighting in the war, but in November 1917, the [[Bolshevik]] Communist Party, led by [[Vladimir Ilyich Lenin]], overthrew the provisional government and executed the Czar's family.

The [[Great War]] had weakened Tsar Nicholas II, and he abdicated the throne in March 1917.  Russia was left under the provisional government of [[Alexander Kerensky]], which intended to continue fighting in the war, but in November 1917, the [[Bolshevik]] Communist Party, led by [[Vladimir Ilyich Lenin]], overthrew the provisional government and executed the Czar's family.

Lenin made peace with [[Germany]] and then withdrew Russia from the war.  In March of 1918, Lenin signed the [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]], which granted Germany many territories, including what is now Poland, Finland, Lithuania, Ukraine, Estonia, and Latvia.  This was a humiliating defeat, but Russia was simply to weak to fight anymore.

Lenin made peace with [[Germany]] and then withdrew Russia from the war.  In March of 1918, Lenin signed the [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]], which granted Germany many territories, including what is now Poland, Finland, Lithuania, Ukraine, Estonia, and Latvia.  This was a humiliating defeat, but Russia was simply too weak to fight anymore.

The Russian revolution was essentially a [[Socialist]] revolution. Lenin preferred to call his government a Communist government though the term meant very much the same. In fact Russia became known as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. However, Lenin and his colleagues completely discarded the idea of a [[democracy|democratically]] controlled society and instead set up what they called the [[Dictatorship of the Proletariat]] which was in fact nothing more than a dictatorship by the Communist Party, a tiny fraction of the population. It was in fact a dictatorship by technicians an managers formed into an ''[[nomenklatura]]'' or elite,­ the so­-called experts in the Socialist organization.  

The Russian revolution was essentially a [[Socialist]] revolution. Lenin preferred to call his government a Communist government though the term meant very much the same. In fact Russia became known as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. However, Lenin and his colleagues completely discarded the idea of a [[democracy|democratically]] controlled society and instead set up what they called the [[Dictatorship of the Proletariat]] which was in fact nothing more than a dictatorship by the Communist Party, a tiny fraction of the population. It was in fact a dictatorship by technicians an managers formed into an ''[[nomenklatura]]'' or elite,­ the so­-called experts in the Socialist organization.