abdicateTo step down as monarch; to renounce the crown. Nicholas II abdicated on 15 March 1917, which was 2 March by the calendar Russia then used.
autocracyRule by one person who holds unlimited power. Russia gained an elected assembly after 1905, yet the czar's rule was still called an autocracy until 1917.
BolsheviksThe radical wing that seized power in October 1917. Vladimir Lenin led them. Their party was later renamed the Communist Party.
communismA classless system in which property is owned in common. The name is built on the Latin communis, common.
czarThe title of Russia's emperors; also spelled tsar. The title is derived from caesar, a Latin word. Nicholas II was the last to hold it in Russia.
DumaThe Russian Empire's elected lawmaking assembly. There were four Dumas between 1906 and 1917. Their meeting place was the Tauride Palace in Saint Petersburg.
MarxismThe ideas of Karl Marx, built on class struggle. Marx and Friedrich Engels, German thinkers of the 1800s, worked out its ideas.
Show all 36 terms (29 more)
Czar, soviets and Bolsheviks, continued
MensheviksThe more moderate wing of the party that split in 1903. They wanted a broad party open to many members; their rivals wanted a small party of professional revolutionaries.
proletariatThe class of people who earn their living by wages. One member of the class is called a proletarian.
Provisional GovernmentThe temporary cabinet formed when the monarchy fell. It was to hold power until an elected assembly could settle how Russia would be governed, and it lasted about eight months.
Romanov dynastyThe family that reigned over Russia from 1613 to 1917. Its rule of about 300 years ended in March 1917.
sovietA council of deputies chosen by workers and soldiers. The word is Russian for council. The first soviets were set up during the Revolution of 1905.
From 1905 to October 1917 12
April ThesesTen directives of spring 1917 urging power for the soviets. Lenin issued them when he returned to Petrograd from exile in Switzerland.
Bloody SundayThe day in 1905 when soldiers fired on a peaceful march. On 22 January 1905 workers were walking to the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg to hand the czar a petition.
dual powerTwo rival bodies claiming to govern at the same time. In 1917 the two were the Provisional Government and the Petrograd Soviet.
Eastern FrontWhere Russia fought Germany and its allies in World War I. At its longest the front reached from the Baltic Sea down to the Black Sea.
February RevolutionThe 1917 uprising that brought down the monarchy. It began in Petrograd on 8 March 1917, the 23rd of February by the old calendar, with mass protests over food.
October ManifestoA 1905 decree promising civil rights and a parliament. Nicholas II issued it on 30 October 1905, which was 17 October by the old calendar.
October RevolutionThe armed takeover that put the Bolsheviks in power. It began in Petrograd on 7 November 1917, which was 25 October by the old calendar.
Old StyleSaid of a date given in the older Julian calendar. In 1917 that calendar ran 13 days behind the one used in the West. Russia changed over in February 1918.
PetrogradRussia's capital in 1917; today's Saint Petersburg. The city was renamed Petrograd in 1914 and Leningrad in 1924.
Red GuardsArmed volunteer units formed to defend soviet power. City workers filled much of their ranks, and some units became part of the Red Army in 1918.
Revolution of 1905A year of strikes, revolts and mutinies across the empire. It brought Russia its first constitution, adopted in 1906.
Winter PalaceThe official home of the emperors in the capital. The Romanov rulers used it from 1732 to 1917. Today the building holds the Hermitage Museum.
Civil war and the Soviet state 12
commissarA Soviet official, such as the head of a ministry. The first Bolshevik government was named the Council of People's Commissars.
Constituent AssemblyA body elected to settle a country's form of government. It met for about 13 hours in January 1918 before the Bolshevik-led government dissolved it.
hammer and sickleAn emblem standing for workers and peasants united. It was designed in 1918 and came into wide use in the Soviet Union.
Kronstadt rebellionA 1921 revolt of sailors against Bolshevik rule. It lasted sixteen days in March 1921 at a naval fortress on an island near Petrograd.
nationalizationA government taking privately owned property as its own. Soviet Russia nationalized industry in the years of war communism.
New Economic PolicyA 1921 plan that let small private businesses return. The state kept control of large industries and banks. It is often called the NEP.
Red ArmyThe Bolshevik government's fighting force, set up in 1918. A decree of January 1918 created it. In full it was the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army.
Russian Civil WarThe struggle over who would rule after October 1917. It is usually dated 1917 to 1922, and its two largest sides were the Red Army and the White forces.
Soviet UnionThe communist country founded in 1922; the USSR. USSR stands for Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Its capital was Moscow, and it lasted until 1991.
Treaty of Brest-LitovskThe 1918 peace that took Russia out of World War I. Russia signed it with Germany and the other Central Powers on 3 March 1918.
war communismStrict state control of the economy from 1918 to 1921. The Bolsheviks said it was needed to keep the towns and the Red Army supplied with food and weapons.
White ArmyThe forces that fought against Bolshevik rule after 1917. Its leaders were mainly conservative officers of the old imperial army. The Bolsheviks were known as the Reds.
How this list was compiled: Term list chosen for this site on 2026-10-12. Each meaning is written in our own words and was checked that day against the English Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/), whose text is under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license, in the articles Russian Revolution, Tsar, Tsarist autocracy, Autocracy, House of Romanov, State Duma (Russian Empire), Soviet (council), Abdication of Nicholas II, Russian Provisional Government, Bolsheviks, Mensheviks, Communism, Proletariat, Marxism, Bloody Sunday (1905), Russian Revolution of 1905, October Manifesto, Saint Petersburg, February Revolution, Dual power, Petrograd Soviet, April Theses, Red Guards (Russia), Winter Palace, October Revolution, Old Style and New Style dates, Eastern Front (World War I), Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Russian Constituent Assembly, Commissar, Council of People's Commissars, Red Army, White movement, Russian Civil War, War communism, New Economic Policy, Nationalization, Kronstadt rebellion, Soviet Union and Hammer and sickle, and against the entries of Wiktionary, the free dictionary (https://en.wiktionary.org/), under the same license, for abdicate, autocracy, soviet, proletariat and commissar. The second source is World History Encyclopedia (https://www.worldhistory.org/), in its entries Bolshevik Revolution, Russian Revolution of 1905, Russian Civil War and Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and its articles Causes of the Russian Revolution of 1917 and The Role of Workers' Soviets in the Russian Revolutions. It bears the abdication, the Provisional Government, dual power, Bloody Sunday, the soviets of 1905, the date of the October Revolution, the Red Guards, the dates of the civil war, the Reds and the Whites and the treaty of 3 March 1918. The other rows, and the fact after each meaning, rest on the Wikipedia articles. Licence: own work
How it works
A Russian Revolution vocabulary worksheet to print: czar, autocracy, Duma, soviet, abdicate, Provisional Government, Bolsheviks, communism and four more terms on the left, their meanings mixed up on the right. The answer key comes out as the last page.
Read the full guide
From 1905 to October 1917
In Set, the second sheet has Bloody Sunday, Revolution of 1905, October Manifesto, Petrograd, February Revolution, dual power, April Theses, Red Guards, Winter Palace, October Revolution, Old Style and Eastern Front.
Civil war and the Soviet state
The third has Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Constituent Assembly, commissar, Red Army, White Army, Russian Civil War, war communism, New Economic Policy, nationalization, Kronstadt rebellion, Soviet Union and hammer and sickle. Under the tool each term has a fact, checked against Wikipedia and, for many, World History Encyclopedia.
One line per term leaves much out: the sheets do not tell what the revolution and the civil war cost in lives.
Questions and answers
What was the Russian Revolution?
A period of political and social change in Russia that began in 1917. The country abolished its monarchy and, after two revolutions and a civil war, came under a socialist government.
What caused the Russian Revolution?
Many things together: the czar's authoritarian rule and the reforms he promised after 1905 and did not deliver, defeats and food shortages in World War I, and workers and peasants who wanted better conditions, land and a say in government.
What is the difference between the February and October Revolutions?
Both happened in 1917. The first removed the czar and left a Provisional Government that shared power with the soviets. In the second, later that year, the Bolsheviks overthrew that government and ruled in its place.
What did peace, land and bread mean?
It was the Bolshevik program of 1917, and it made the party popular: an end to the war, land for the peasants and an end to hunger.