Pacific, inhabited by 126 million people, from 194 ethnic groups.

１８９４年、ニコライ２世はロシア皇帝となった。 バルト海から太平洋に至る領土を持ち、

It was a country in which workers and peasants lived in poverty and hardship - while Russia's

１億２６００万の人口と、１９４の民族を抱える 帝国の支配者である

elite - its imperial family and aristocracy - lived lives of gilded luxury.

労働者と農民は貧困と重労働に苦しみ、

There was a long history of struggle in Russia against the injustices of the system.

いっぽうで上流階級の皇室と貴族は 贅沢な暮らしを謳歌していた

And in 1905, a revolution forced the Tsar to allow the creation of a state duma, or

ロシアでは長きに渡って、この不公平な 仕組みに抗う動きが続いてきた

national assembly.

１９０５年の革命により、皇帝は ドゥーマ（国会）開設の承認を余儀なくされた

But its power was limited, and the compromise pleased neither the Tsar nor the reformers.

しかしドゥーマの権限は狭く、この妥協は 皇帝と革命派双方に不満を残した

In 1914, this divided empire was plunged into fresh crisis... by world war.

１９１４年、分裂した帝国は 世界大戦という新たな危機に直面する

World War One was a disaster for Tsarist Russia.

「人民の信任とは一体何の話だ？ その人民にこそ私の信頼を得る努力をさせろ！」 （ニコライ２世　１９１６年）

At the front, the country suffered a series of devastating defeats, while at home there

第一次世界大戦はロシア帝国を災厄に陥れた

were food shortages and economic chaos.

軍は前線で大敗北を繰り返し、

The Tsar was held responsible for the crisis – after all, he was now the army's commander-in-chief,

銃後では食糧不足と経済危機が人々を襲った

and he was standing in the way of government reform.

この危機の原因は皇帝にあった。

His German-born wife, Empress Alexandra, was even thought to be supporting Germany; while

軍の最高司令官である 彼自身が 政治改革への障壁となっていた

the entire family was said to have fallen under the spell of a Siberian mystic and faith

ドイツ生まれのアレクサンドラ皇后も 敵国ドイツを支持していると噂された

healer, Grigory Rasputin.

そして家族全員がシベリアの祈祷師ラスプーチンの 魔術に取り憑かれたという悪評もあった

In December 1916, Rasputin was murdered by Russian aristocrats, possibly with the help

１９１６年１２月、ラスプーチンは ロシア貴族に殺害される

of British secret agents - both groups determined to end his influence over the Tsar.

事件にはラスプーチンの影響力を懸念したイギリスの 工作員も関わっていた

But in the eyes of many, the damage had already been done.

しかしすでに事態は誰の目にも 明らかなほど悪化していた

On 23rd February 1917, thousands of women took to the streets of the Russian capital,

「首都が無政府化し、深刻な状況にある。 行政は機能せず、街道で銃撃戦が起こっている」 （ミハイル・ロジャンコ　ドゥーマ議長）

Petrograd, to mark International Women's Day and protest over bread shortages.

１９１７年２月２３日、数千人の女性が 国際女性デーに合わせて

The next day they were joined on the streets by workers and students, carrying placards

ペトログラードでデモを行ない、食糧不足に抗議した

that read 'Down with the Tsar!'

翌日には労働者や学生も加わり、 「皇帝を倒せ」のプラカードを掲げた

Troops, ordered to put down the disorder, mutinied, and joined the protesters instead.

鎮圧を命じられた陸軍部隊は命令を拒否し、 そのままデモに参加した

Tsarist officials were arrested, prisons and police stations were attacked, emblems of

皇帝派の官憲は捕らえられ、 刑務所と警察署が襲撃され、

Tsarist rule smashed and burned.

皇室の紋章は叩き壊されて燃やされた

The government had lost control of the capital.

政府は首都を掌握できなくなった

The Tsar was told by his ministers that order could only be restored - and Russia saved

閣僚は皇帝に対し、秩序回復と敗戦回避のためには 退位するしかないと説得する

from military defeat - if he gave up power.

３月２日、ニコライ２世は退位を受け入れた

So on 2nd March, Nicholas agreed to abdicate.

３００年続いたロマノフ王朝は 僅か１０日で終わりを迎えた

In just 10 days, 300 years of Romanov rule had come to an end.

「臨時政府に実質的な権力は全くない」 （アレクサンドル・グチコフ陸海軍大臣）

The February Revolution had been remarkably swift and bloodless, and hopes were now high

２月革命は速やかに、少ない犠牲で成功した

for the creation of a more democratic, more just Russian state.

そして民主的で平等なロシアの建設に向けて 期待が高まっていった

Members of the State Duma, the national assembly, had formed a Provisional Government, which

ドゥーマの議員が臨時政府を樹立し、

was to hold power until a Constituent Assembly was elected, to give Russia a new constitution.

選挙を経た新たな議会が新憲法を制定するまで 権力を握ることになった

But in reality, the Provisional Government shared power with the Petrograd Soviet, a

しかし実際には、ペトログラード・ソヴィエトも 大きな権力を持っていた

council elected by workers and soldiers, that controlled the capital's troops, transport

労働者と兵士によって作られた評議会で、 首都の軍事力、交通、通信を掌握していた

and communications.

ペトログラード・ソヴィエトを構成する 社会革命党とメンシェビキは臨時政府より過激だった

The Petrograd Soviet, dominated by the Socialist Revolutionary Party and the Marxist Menshevik

しかし彼らも臨時政府の 戦争継続方針を支持しており、

Party, was much more radical than the Provisional Government... yet it supported the Government's

連合国としての責任があると考えていた

decision to continue the war, and honour the commitments that Russia had made to the Allies.

この決断が運命を分け、弱小党だった ボリシェビキの思うつぼになるのである

It was a fateful decision, that ultimately played into the hands of one of the smaller

指導者のレーニンは１６年間の追放から帰還し、 「帝国主義者の戦争」を痛烈に批判した

parties.... the Bolsheviks.

さらに、地主の土地をただちに取り上げて 農民に再分配すること、

Their leader, Vladimir Lenin, recently returned from 16 years in exile, bitterly opposed the

そして「ブルジョア」の臨時政府から 全国のソヴィエトへと権力を移譲することを要求した

'imperialist war'.

ボルシェビキは計画を シンプルなスローガンにまとめた

He also demanded the immediate redistribution of land from rich landowners to peasants;

「パン・平和・土地」である

and the transfer of power from the 'bourgeois' Provisional Government to the people's Soviets,

ロシアの軍事的、経済的混乱が深まるに連れて この訴えは次々と拡大していった

or councils, that were springing up across Russia.

「我々の戦術は絶対不支持である！ 臨時政府は一切支持しない」 （レーニン）

The Bolshevik programme was summed up in a simple slogan, 'Bread, Peace and Land'.

６月、ロシア軍の新たな攻勢は ４０万の損害を出して失敗に終わる

And as Russia's economic and military crisis deepened, its appeal to the masses grew and

大規模な脱走が起こり、軍の士気と規律は崩壊した

grew.

７月、ペトログラードの兵士と水兵が反抗する

In June, a new Russian military offensive ended in disaster, with 400,000 Russian casualties,

彼らはボルシェヴィキ後援の労働者たちと ともに街道に出た

massive desertions, and the collapse of army morale and discipline.

しかし臨時政府の部隊が 発砲してデモ隊を蹴散らした

In July, soldiers and sailors in Petrograd mutinied.

警察の取締りが始まり、レフ・トロツキーを含む ボルシェヴィキの幹部は逮捕された

They were joined in the streets by workers, with Bolshevik support.

レーニンはスターリンの助けを得て フィンランドに逃れた

But troops loyal to the Provisional Government opened fire on the protestors, and dispersed

コンスタンティン・イワノフの偽名と 偽造旅券を使った

the crowds.

弁舌家の社会主義者、ケレンスキーが 新首相に就任する

A police crackdown followed, leading to the arrest of several Bolshevik leaders, including

ロシアを無政府状態から救う男として歓迎された

Leon Trotsky, while Lenin, with the help of Josef Stalin, fled to Finland, travelling

「レーニン筆頭のドイツのスパイ連中を吊して ソヴィエトを滅ぼせ」 （コルニロフ将軍）

with forged papers under the name of Konstantin Ivanov...

陸軍最高司令官コルニロフ将軍は、 ロシアの戦争遂行能力の低下は―

A socialist, and stirring orator, named Alexander Kerensky, became Russia's new Prime Minister,

国内の混乱と、レーニンを始めとした 「ドイツのスパイ」の破壊工作が原因だと考えた

and was hailed as the man who would save Russia from anarchy.

そして８月、「秩序回復」を目指して ペトログラードへの進撃を開始する

The army's commander-in-chief, General Kornilov, believed Russia's war effort was being undermined

このクーデターでは、ボルシェビキが 首都防衛の主要な役割を果たした

by chaos at home, and deliberately sabotaged by men like Lenin, whom he declared a German

トロツキーが刑務所から釈放され、 そのカリスマを活かして

spy.

ボルシェビキの民兵「赤衛隊」を 市内の要所に配置した

So in August, he ordered his men to march on Petrograd, to 'restore order'.

ボルシェビキ支持の鉄道労働者がストを起こし、 コルニロフ軍の移動を妨害した

Bolsheviks played a leading role in the city's defence against this attempted military coup.

やがてコルニロフの兵士たちは 敵側に寝返るか、家に帰った

Their most brilliant organiser, Leon Trotsky, was released from prison, and sent armed Bolshevik

このクーデター未遂でボルシェビキは 革命の守護者として名を上げた

militias, the 'Red Guards', to defend key points in the city.

そして９月下旬にはペトログラード・ソヴィエトの 多数派となった

Strikes by railway workers, many of them Bolshevik supporters, prevented Kornilov from moving

１０月、レーニンは時が来たと判断する

his men by rail, and his soldiers began to switch sides, or simply go home.

フィンランドからペトログラードへ秘密裏に戻り、 権力奪取の準備を始めた

The Kornilov Affair cast the Bolsheviks as saviours of the revolution.

「ボルシェビキが多数派になるまで待つなど甘い。待った革命など存在しない。 今権力を手にしなければ歴史は我々を決して許さないだろう」（レーニン）

And by the end of September, they'd gained a majority in the Petrograd Soviet.

１０月２５日、ボルシェビキは行動を起こした

In October, Lenin decided the time had come.

赤衛隊と支持派の部隊が首都の要所を占拠する。 その夜、臨時政府のある冬宮に突入した

He secretly returned from Finland to Petrograd, and began preparing to seize power.

この事件は後に、ボリシェビキのプロパガンダと―

On 25th October, the Bolsheviks made their move: Red Guards and loyal troops seized key

名監督セルゲイ・エイゼンシュテインの映画によって 有名になった

points around the capital, and that night they stormed the Provisional Government's

ケレンスキーは辛くも逮捕を逃れ、 首都を脱出した

headquarters at the Winter Palace – an event later immortalised by Bolshevik propaganda,

翌日、第２回ソヴィエト大会において レーニンは臨時政府の転覆を発表した

and the great Soviet filmmaker, Sergei Eisenstein.

「我々に敵分子や白衛隊を撃つ用意が無かったら、 革命はどうなっていた？ 単なる言葉と一杯の粥ほどの価値しかなかっただろう」（レーニン）

Kerensky fled the city at the last moment, narrowly avoiding capture, and the next day,

その後数か月間、ボルシェビキは権力を強化し―

at the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets, Lenin announced the overthrow of the Provisional

同時に外国から援助を受けた反革命の白軍と 激しい内戦を繰り広げた

Government.

白軍の一部はニコライ２世を復位させようとしていた

The following months saw the Bolsheviks consolidate their hold on power, while fighting a brutal

退位の後、ニコライ２世と家族は首都郊外の ツァールスコエ・セロに軟禁されていた

civil war against counter-revolutionary, or 'White Russian', forces, who had foreign support.

そこでは庭仕事や娯楽に時間を費やして過ごした

Some Whites hoped to put Tsar Nicholas back on the throne.

１９１７年夏、一家はシベリアのトボリスクに 移され、知事の館に軟禁された

After his abdication, Nicholas and his family had been held under guard at Tsarskoye Selo,

翌年の春、ボルシェビキは一家を エカテリンブルクへ移した

outside Petrograd, where they occupied themselves with gardening and other diversions.

１９１８年７月、白軍が市街に迫ると ボルシェビキは一家全員を地下室に集めた

In summer 1917 the family was sent to Tobolsk, in Siberia, where they lived under house arrest

皇帝、后、息子アレクセイ、４人の娘、オルガ、 タチアナ、マリア、アナスタシアと４人の従者である

in the Governor's Mansion.

そして全員を銃殺した

The following spring, the Bolsheviks had the family moved to Yekaterinburg.

ロシア内戦は２０世紀最大級の事件であった

In July 1918, as White forces approached the city, Bolshevik soldiers gathered the whole

２００万人が戦死し、チフスと飢餓によって ９００万人以上の民間人が死亡した

family in a cellar – the Tsar, his wife, their son Alexei, their 4 daughters, Olga,

１９２１年後半、ボルシェビキが内戦に勝利した

Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia, as well as 4 servants - and executed them all.

そしてレーニンの強力な指導の下、 社会主義秩序の建設がはじまった

Russia's civil war was one of the 20th century's most devastating events.

１９２２年、ソヴィエト連邦が成立。 その後の第二次世界大戦でナチスドイツを破り、

An estimated 2 million soldiers lost their lives, while a typhus epidemic and famine

世界の超大国へと成長する

claimed the lives of a further 9 million civilians.

しかし反対意見や勢力は容赦なく潰される 一党独裁国家であり続けた

By the end of 1921, the Bolsheviks had emerged victorious, and under Lenin's determined and

２月革命で花開いた民主主義への希望と熱狂は―

uncompromising leadership, set about building a new socialist order.

ボルシェビキの１０月革命によって打ち消され、 数十年の歳月を耐えなければならなかった

The Soviet Union, created in 1922, emerged as a world superpower following the defeat

Bridgeman Images は芸術、文化、歴史の 画像や動画を多岐にわたり提供しています

of Nazi Germany in World War Two.

世界の有名な博物館やコレクションや芸術家の ものを掲載しており、

But it would always remain a single party state, where all opposition or dissent was

テレビや映画で公開、宣伝に使用するための 研究や著作権関連の相談にも対応します

ruthlessly suppressed.

詳しくはHPをご覧ください

Those brief hopes for Russian democracy, that flowered amid the euphoria of the February

Epic History TV はパトロンからの 寄付によって成り立っています

Revolution, were extinguished by the Bolshevik October Revolution, and put beyond reach for

詳しくはリンクからアクセスしてください

decades to come.

In 1894, Nicholas II became ruler of a Russian empire that stretched from the Baltic to the

Pacific, inhabited by 126 million people, from 194 ethnic groups.

It was a country in which workers and peasants lived in poverty and hardship - while Russia's

elite - its imperial family and aristocracy - lived lives of gilded luxury.

There was a long history of struggle in Russia against the injustices of the system.

And in 1905, a revolution forced the Tsar to allow the creation of a state duma, or

national assembly.

But its power was limited, and the compromise pleased neither the Tsar nor the reformers.

In 1914, this divided empire was plunged into fresh crisis... by world war.

World War One was a disaster for Tsarist Russia.

At the front, the country suffered a series of devastating defeats, while at home there

were food shortages and economic chaos.

The Tsar was held responsible for the crisis – after all, he was now the army's commander-in-chief,

and he was standing in the way of government reform. His German-born wife, Empress Alexandra,

was even thought to be supporting Germany; while the entire family was said to have fallen

under the spell of a Siberian mystic and faith healer, Grigory Rasputin.

In December 1916, Rasputin was murdered by Russian aristocrats, possibly with the help

of British secret agents - both groups determined to end his influence over the Tsar. But in

the eyes of many, the damage had already been done.

On 23rd February 1917, thousands of women took to the streets of the Russian capital,

Petrograd, to mark International Women's Day and protest over bread shortages.

The next day they were joined on the streets by workers and students, carrying placards

that read 'Down with the Tsar!'

Troops, ordered to put down the disorder, mutinied, and joined the protesters instead.

Tsarist officials were arrested, prisons and police stations were attacked, emblems of

Tsarist rule smashed and burned.

The government had lost control of the capital.

The Tsar was told by his ministers that order could only be restored - and Russia saved

from military defeat - if he gave up power.

So on 2nd March, Nicholas agreed to abdicate.

In just 10 days, 300 years of Romanov rule had come to an end.

The February Revolution had been remarkably swift and bloodless, and hopes were now high

for the creation of a more democratic, more just Russian state.

Members of the State Duma, the national assembly, had formed a Provisional Government, which

was to hold power until a Constituent Assembly was elected, to give Russia a new constitution.

But in reality, the Provisional Government shared power with the Petrograd Soviet, a

council elected by workers and soldiers, that controlled the capital's troops, transport

and communications.

The Petrograd Soviet, dominated by the Socialist Revolutionary Party and the Marxist Menshevik

Party, was much more radical than the Provisional Government... yet it supported the Government's

decision to continue the war, and honour the commitments that Russia had made to the Allies.

It was a fateful decision, that ultimately played into the hands of one of the smaller

parties.... the Bolsheviks.

Their leader, Vladimir Lenin, recently returned from 16 years in exile, bitterly opposed the

'imperialist war'.

He also demanded the immediate redistribution of land from rich landowners to peasants;

and the transfer of power from the 'bourgeois' Provisional Government to the people's Soviets,

or councils, that were springing up across Russia.

The Bolshevik programme was summed up in a simple slogan, 'Bread, Peace and Land'.

And as Russia's economic and military crisis deepened, its appeal to the masses grew and

grew.

In June, a new Russian military offensive ended in disaster, with 400,000 Russian casualties,

massive desertions, and the collapse of army morale and discipline.

In July, soldiers and sailors in Petrograd mutinied. They were joined in the streets

by workers, with Bolshevik support. But troops loyal to the Provisional Government opened

fire on the protestors, and dispersed the crowds.

A police crackdown followed, leading to the arrest of several Bolshevik leaders, including

Leon Trotsky, while Lenin, with the help of Josef Stalin, fled to Finland, travelling

with forged papers under the name of Konstantin Ivanov...

A socialist, and stirring orator, named Alexander Kerensky, became Russia's new Prime Minister,

and was hailed as the man who would save Russia from anarchy.

The army's commander-in-chief, General Kornilov, believed Russia's war effort was being undermined

by chaos at home, and deliberately sabotaged by men like Lenin, whom he declared a German

spy.

So in August, he ordered his men to march on Petrograd, to 'restore order'.

Bolsheviks played a leading role in the city's defence against this attempted military coup.

Their most brilliant organiser, Leon Trotsky, was released from prison, and sent armed Bolshevik

militias, the 'Red Guards', to defend key points in the city.

Strikes by railway workers, many of them Bolshevik supporters, prevented Kornilov from moving

his men by rail, and his soldiers began to switch sides, or simply go home.

The Kornilov Affair cast the Bolsheviks as saviours of the revolution.

And by the end of September, they'd gained a majority in the Petrograd Soviet.

In October, Lenin decided the time had come. He secretly returned from Finland to Petrograd,

and began preparing to seize power.

On 25th October, the Bolsheviks made their move: Red Guards and loyal troops seized key

points around the capital, and that night they stormed the Provisional Government's

headquarters at the Winter Palace – an event later immortalised by Bolshevik propaganda,

and the great Soviet filmmaker, Sergei Eisenstein.

Kerensky fled the city at the last moment, narrowly avoiding capture, and the next day,

at the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets, Lenin announced the overthrow of the Provisional

Government.

Lenin: “If we are not ready to shoot a saboteur and a White Guard, what sort of Revolution

is that? Nothing but talk and a bowl of mush.”

The following months saw the Bolsheviks consolidate their hold on power, while fighting a brutal

civil war against counter-revolutionary, or 'White Russian', forces, who had foreign support.

Some Whites hoped to put Tsar Nicholas back on the throne.

After his abdication, Nicholas and his family had been held under guard at Tsarkoye Selo,

outside Petrograd, where they occupied themselves with gardening and other diversions.

In summer 1917 the family was sent to Tobolsk, in Siberia, where they lived under house arrest