The Bolshevik Tactics that Allowed the October Revolution

The Bolshevik October Revolution brought Vladimir Lenin to power. Lenin’s vow to end the war and open negotiations with the Germans provoked the Allies and led to the detachment of a military excursion to oppose the newly established government and aid rebels who had begun a civil war to oust the Bolsheviks.

Lenin was able to consolidate Bolshevik rule in Russia by combining popular policies and repression: To what extent do you agree with this statement.

From the initial seizure of power in 1917 until 1924, the Bolsheviks were confronted with a series of crises that threatened their ability to control and govern in Russia. The response and resolutions to these crises included Initial Reforms, Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Civil War, Red terror, War Communism and the NEP. Under the leadership of Lenin, the execution of these responses were made possible and the Bolsheviks were able to maintain and expand their power. The Civil War however was the direct consequence of the Bolshevik’s actions as they tried to maintain their grasp on power. The victory in the Civil War was extremely pivotal for the Bolshevik consolidation of power as it brought control and power but more importantly it eliminated

Architecture should not be separated from the political and social life of human-beings. On the contrary, “throughout the history, architects have always been involved to some extent in politics, and have a nearly always sought positions of power and influence’’. Communist ideology in the Soviet Union had a huge impact on the architectural development of many modern nations: Russia, Ukraine, Belorussia, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Uzbekistan, Tadzhikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Bulgaria, Romania, Georgia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Moldova and Azerbaijan. The amount of affected countries makes the topic of my analysis relevant and worth-discussing. My essay will be structured in a following way. I argue that communist ideology had an

Assess the role of the Bolsheviks for the decline and fall of the Romanov dynasty.

The Russian Revolution of 1917 set the country on a course that few other countries took in the 20th century. The shift from the direction of a democratic, parliamentary-style government to a one party communist rule was a drastic change that many did not and could not predict. Looking back on this key moment in Russian history, many historians ask the question ‘why did the political power in Russia shift to the Bolsheviks’? Since the revolution in 1905 Russia was becoming progressively more democratic, distributing power throughout the political sphere. This came to an abrupt halt when Vladimir Lenin was put into power by the Bolshevik takeover of the Provisional Government. Many authors have had different takes on this event. Two particularly interesting ones were Arthur Mendel and John D. Basil. Their pieces On Interpreting the Fate of Imperial Russia and Russia and the Bolshevik Revolution give various perspectives on the Russian Revolution and attempt to answer the question of the power shift. This key point in Russia’s history sets the tone for the next 100 years. Russia became a superpower, an enemy of the United States, started multiple wars directly and indirectly, and started using an economic system used by various countries around the world. Today we still see the effects of the 1917 Revolution. Looking at both Mendel’s and Basil’s attempt to answer why the power shifted to the Bolsheviks. Since both historian 's account of the events is different they cannot

Figes stating that “The masses were...largely passive in their demands and actions; the Bolsheviks successfully manipulated and exploited this...” . These views could largely be due to the ‘History from Above’ standpoint of Liberal historians that did much of the post-Union analysis at the tail end of the Cold War. This forms many of our traditional views of the nature of The Revolution.

The Bolsheviks created one of the most sophisticated propaganda machines of the early 20th century, establishing a wide range of government newspapers, while banning all counter revolutionary papers. This allowed them to develop and garner the support they needed to consolidate the regime. The implementation of a coercive machinery of power was crucial to their consolidation efforts. The building of a new army, police system, a disciplined ruling group and fiscal machinery necessary to support their regime. The evolution of the Red army showed clearly how the government were forced to abandon the idea of a “people’s army” and created an authoritarian style rule.

In the light of the Russian struggle there was a Revolution called the February Revolution which came before the October revolution and dethroned Czar Nicholas II. (“1917 Russian Revolution Facts and Summary”)The end result of this revolution was the birth of the Provisional Government which was made up of high class Russians. The October Revolution is also known by two other names: Russian Revolution and Bolshevik Revolution which occurred in November of 1917. This date might catch some off guard, but according to (“Russian Revolution”) the Russians used a Julian Calendar which means in Russia it was “October”. The Revolution was led by Vladimir Lenin, who was the leader of the Bolshevik party at the time. The reason for both of the Revolutions is that the people felt that they should not be involved in World War I while Russia was struggling to survive. The Bolshevik party was made

Although he was inspired by Lenin’s revolutionary theory, he was opposed to his idea of a centralised, dictatorial control of the Bolshevik party and joined the Mensheviks in 1903. He remained a member for a year and in 1905 returned to St Petersburg where he was elected chairman of the St Petersburg Soviet. As a powerful orator and skilful organiser, he inspired the support of the workers in the 1905 revolution, organising general strikes, a boycotting of taxes and the establishment of an eight-hour working day. Although these actions failed to overthrow the tsarist regime, Trotsky was successful at gaining support and preparing himself for the revolution of

In the early 1900’s, Russia was a country ripe for a revolution; with a dwindling tsar autocracy deteriorating due to poor leadership, overworked and poverty stricken citizens, World War I in motion, and numerous attempts at economic, social or political reforms, which all failed, the people of Russia had had enough and decided that the year 1917 was the right time to create the Bolshevik (Russian) Revolution.

The misuse of absolute power from a tyrant eventually results in revolution and constitutional change; The United States and USSR revolted from their previous ways of government and crafted constitutions to gain control over their decision as a country; various changes also occurred over time with The United States choosing to distribute its new power to the people and the USSR after gaining civil rights by force tried to distribute its power to eliminated social class. Although the ways the USSR and United States distributes its new power as countries radically differ from one another, they remain to change and alter to fit the needs of its people.

These radical ideas that Lenin has caused a split in the Russian Social Democratic party. In 1903 it split into the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks, the Bolsheviks being led by Lenin and the Mensheviks being led by Martov. Stalin went with the Bolsheviks and Trotsky went with the Mensheviks. The Bolshevik party that was formed was the main contributor to the revolution in 1917 as they were the ones that would eventually overthrow the provisional government. However that revolution would never have been able to take place without the social and political factors in Russia at the time, as well as the contribution of the First World War.

The Tsars guards open fired on the marchers, killing around 200 people, including women and children. This tragic event is often thought of as the catalyst that started the Revolution; it damaged the parental image of the Tsar and evoked a wave of protest. Russia was not united in her attempt to change the government, the peasants, workers liberals, soldiers, students… did not work together to co-ordinate their agitation on the Tsar. The groups all had different motives and aims; the workers and soldiers wanted better working conditions while the peasants were only focused on gaining more land, had no comprehension of the world of politics and thus did not care about the running of the country. In contrast the educated liberal bourgeois understood that the current system was failing Russia.

Lenin’s April Theses targeted areas that the Provisional Government was failing in. “Peace, Bread, and Land” appealed to large masses of the population. Peace targeted most people, as it addressed the war weariness the majority of Russians were experiencing. Bread appealed to the masses due to the massive food shortages in Russian cities due to the war. Land appealed to many farmers, as they desired owning their own land. The other thesis, “All Power to the Soviets” was an attack against the legitimacy of the Provisional Government and intensified the ideas among the population that the Provisional Government had no right to rule. Furthermore, the Bolshevik party was highly organized and exploited the militaristic weakness of the Provisional Government. Trotsky, the head of the Petrograd Soviet and the dominant member of the Military Revolutionary Committee of the Bolsheviks, exploited the military weakness of the Provisional Government revealed during the Kornilov Affair when devising the October