7-2-I-Search-JessicaBel

= Why did the Russian Revolution take place? by Jessica Bel = media type="custom" key="781651"

**Introduction**
My family came from Russia, and my great-great-grandfather had been killed in the air force during the Russian Revolution. I am very interested in what events led up to it, and what happened during the Russian Revolution since my ancestor had a gruesome but heroic death because of it. I want to know what the Russians had lived through. I heard many stories, and have wanted to find out which are true and which aren't for a while now. I am interested in the types of governments there were before the Russian Revolution, since after it the type of government had taken a while to change even after the Revolution. Many people had died and whichever government had won the people that opposed them were gruesomely killed. I already know a little bit, but I want to learn what led up to the Russian Revolution and why this dreadful event took place. Also, by knowing this I will know what changes the Russian government has had from the Revolution.

Search
Russia was at war with Germany in 1914, many peasants and a Tzar. The Tzar was very wealthy while many didn't have jobs. The peasants were starving and didn't have jobs. Many of them lived in the streets. The was a political party called the communists. They promised the peasants democracy, free health care, and education. Many followed but some didn't because of fright. My great-grandfather was one of the many that believed the communists. They fought a war against the Tzar, and then continued to beat Germany. The war with Germany had been going on for years where the communists beat the Germans by themselves. After that there weren't many survivors but thank G-d my great- grandfather was one of them. After the Tzar, a new man came into power. As the communists had promised there was "free" health care and education but it was coming straight out of the people's paychecks. Doctors were getting no more than $700 a month. Also, there was no democracy and a dictatorship had taken place. It had started when two men, Stalin and Lenin came into power. They forced the survivors into the streets but my great-grandfather was able to keep his house and job. Most of the surviving communists were very poor and unemployed. You may think ( like I did) that the people would revolt but that didn't happen until a while later. My grandfather told me about this and it was passed down. (Abram Belkin).

After this, I decided to check out some websites for more information. They told me that the war had started in 1917 and had lasted a couple of years. Unlike the interview they explained only the main reason. The Tzar was supposed to take care of his people but soon turned into a dictator. As I had said earlier, there were people out in the streets, jobless, and starving. There were food rations because of the war with Germany, and a lot of money was going toward it, and there were food rations. My great-grandfather had just come back from the war with Germany to find himself fighting against the Tzar of Russia- the man he had just been fighting for. The way the war turned out was completely different from what they had wanted. Everyone was very surprised that the communists had won the war since the Tzar had a huge and experienced army. What was even more surprising was that the communists had won the war against Germany while the whole of Russian couldn't. This war had been going on for three years and until then the Russians were terribly losing. As I had thought before I did my research, the communists didn't just launch into the Revolution, but killed many important government officials and burned down houses as a way to signal their revolt before the war. ( Russian Revolution in Dates)

When the war was over there were many consequences. For instance, paychecks were much lower and there was no established government. They tried to create a democracy, but failed and created a real dictatorship with first Stalin, then Lenin ruling. They were in control of everything and made many people miserable. No one could go out of Russia, since the dictators were afraid of people wanting to move. Also, for a Jewish family like mine, it was especially tough. The dictators hated the Jews and they had to hide their prayers and celebrate their holidays privately. It was like this for a long time, and now even though there is less antisemitism. (World Encyclopedia)

**Conclusion**
I learned so much that I never even thought about before. For instance, I would never have thought that they killed government officials. Also, I thought that the Revolution took place for longer than one day. Since I knew about the American Revolution I thought it would be something like that but as it turned out it was totally different. In total, I learned a lot and I realized how little fighting styles had changed.

**Works Cited**
Belkin, Abram, live interview, 04/09/08

Belkin, Alexander, live interview 04/05/08

"Russian Revolution in Dates." __/Www.Barnsdle.Com__. 9 Apr. 2008 <[|http://www.barnsdle.demon.co.uk/russ/datesr.html>.]

World Encyclopedia-R-2008