The Failure Of The Bolshevik Revolution

On November 7, 1917, Lenin ordered a coup d’etat that was brilliantly successful and the November Revolution ended the Provisional Government. Kerensky was toppled from power and forced to flee Russia, an impotent and defeated figure who had failed to capitalise on the great opportunity passed to

Lenin defined his movement by the slogan “all power to the soviets” Lenin believed he could make a new revolution in a way the old one happened by starting large street demonstrations. The soviets were giving lenin little support, but lenin believed he could manipulate them for his own purposes. Lenin tried to sieve power for the bolsheviks

Poor Living and Working Conditions as the Reason for Bolsheviks' Seizure of Power in 1917

During the 1900’s the Russian Government made it extremely hard for the Bolsheviks to progress which made them revolt against the government making this a prime matter for the start of the Revolution. The Czarist government was ostracized by the common people of Russia so Tsar Nicholas II was overthrown by the Provisional Government, whom later on were overthrown by Lenin and shortly after the Bolsheviks took control over Russia. Russia was hard to develop because of the major leaders who had control; Lenin, Stalin, Trotsky. Almost overnight an entire society was destroyed and replaced with one of the most radical social experiments ever seen. Poverty, crime, privileged and class-divisions were to be eliminated, a new era of socialism

This downfall came due to the amount of soldier and horses being placed into the war leaving the peasants at home with a loss of man power to continue a, "standard of living"( Causes of the Russian Revolution 2). Due to the decrease in man power, and materials to use at the home front, prices increased and a hunger endemic began. With hunger increasing and inflation of prices continuing strikes began, which eventually stopped transportation. When the transportation stopped supplies and food did not get to the soldiers at war decreasing the amount of people who believed in the czar. The goal of the peasants of the Russian Revolution of 1917, was to gain a new leader and for their voices to be heard. In March 1917, a riot of peasants, and soldiers stormed the streets with the support of the Duma, a group of government officials, forcing Nicolas II out of power.

The Bolshevik revolution came to prominence because of the Provisional Government’s inability to gain support from the Russian population. ‘The government enjoyed little confidence amongst the masses; and many of its members were largely unknown to the new Russia that had burst upon the political scene.’[3 ] Kerensky himself comments on the problematic circumstances his government experienced, ‘the old (governmental machine) had disappeared; the new was not yet established.’ The support of the peasantry was critical in establishing popular rule, as historian Richard Abraham comments, ‘the largest social class in Russia was still the peasantry.

The Russian Revolution was a series of two revolutions that consisted of the February Revolution and the October Revolution. The February Revolution of March 8th, 1917 was a revolution targeted and successfully removed Czar Nicholas II from power. The February Revolution first began to take place when strikes and public protests between 1916 and early 1917 started occurring. These strikes were created to protest against and to blame Czar Nicholas II for Russia’s poor performance in WWI and severe food shortages that the country facing. Soon, violence between protesters and authorities began to escalate, and on February 24th, 1917 in the city of Petrograd, hundreds of thousands of male and female workers flooded the streets. They all had the same purpose which was to protest against the “Great War” and the monarchy. The protests began to escalate and the vastly outnumbered police were unable to control the crowds. When news of the unrest reached the czar, he ordered the military to put an end to the riots by the next day, and on February 26th, 1917, several troops of a local guard regiment fired upon the crowds, but however many soldiers felt pity and empathy for the protesters than the czar, and on the next day, more than 80,000 soldiers join the protest even directly fighting the police.

Urban workers and peasants followed suit and complained about how they are poor and hungry for more land. The First World War played a crucial role in bringing down the Tsardom regime in February because of their military failures, failure to make political reforms and the role of the Tsarina and Rasputin. The Ideological appeal of Lenin and Bolshevism, and role of Lenin (appeal of radical alternative, charismatic and dynamic leader, taking advantage of crisis situation in Russia in 1917. Lenin's political ideas attracted widespread support among the Russian people. On 16th of April 1917, Lenin held a speech called the April Theses. The speech called for a World wide socialist revolution, land reform to peasants, the immediate end to WW1 and the immediate end to cooperation with Provisional Government and urged Soviets to take power. Lenin also revised Karl Marx ideas, which claimed that Russia was not ready for a revolution. The ideas in the speech were made into simple but effective and radical slogans such as "all power to the soviets" or "bread, peace and Land". These slogans attracted a lot of support for the Bolsheviks, as they appealed to the workers. They provided

Hundreds of billions of capital...bringing death, hunger, ruin, and barbarism to the peoples...There is only one way to get out of this frightful war...and that is by transferring all the state power to the...workers and poor peasants,...will be able to do effectively what the capitalists only promise, namely, end the war by concluding a lasting peace that will assure liberty to all peoples without exception.” When Lenin says, “Hundreds of millions of people...Hundreds of billions of capital” he uses two hyperboles to emphasize the difference of numbers between the “people” and the “capital” or wealth. Lenin also blames “death, hunger, ruin, and barbarism” on capitalists, effectively making the “workers and poor peasants” hate the capitalists and buy into Lenin’s agenda even more. Equality. He believed that ending the war would result in “lasting peace that will assure liberty to all peoples without exception.” This speech gained Lenin more popularity for he had a reason for the “death, hunger, ruin, and barbarism” and optimistic promises, which would eventually lead to the October Revolution. The October Revolution was when Lenin’s army, the Bolsheviks, overthrew the Soviet regime therefore manifesting the transformative events caused by

Without this course of action, the prospects of the Bolshevik's survival seemed slim. There was strong opposition to them both inside and outside the country. Lenin justified his action with the following speech: 'To hand over power to the Constituent Assembly would again be compromising with the malignant bourgeoisie. The Russian

The Russian Revolution actually has two important parts to it the February Revolution (March 1917) and the October Revolution (November 1917). The February Revolution, which took place in modern day St. Petersburg, was lethal to the royal government of Russia. It began with the bread, it was not like they did not have the supplies for the population, “the problem was the breakdown of the transport system” (Figes 68). The February Revolution was also largely caused by the ineffectiveness of the Russian military in World War One and the failure of the Russian empire throughout the last couple decades. The people of Russia were ashamed of the military throwing away their lives and having to eat sparingly to survive the winter. Peasants were so poor they could barely afford a piece of bread for a week. Mass demonstrations were held in the squares and violence took to the streets. People ambushed the royal guards in front of the palace and they were shot down by the insignificant force left to guard the capital. The revolution was largely leaderless as Russian people just wanted food

The capitalist’s main concern was the management of the economy and controlling their workforce. The clashes between the workers and the capitalists are another huge factor that lead up to the revolution in 1917. Not everyone however was readily loyal to the Tsar as explained earlier. Many middle-class people wanted greater democracy in Russia and wanted, like Britain, a monarch but also a powerful parliament.

Richard Pipes gives a detailed account of the events that led up to the July event and the Bolsheviks’ preparedness. The Bolsheviks were opportunists and used propaganda to influence and agitate, gives credit to their political strategy. The Bolsheviks saw an opportunity and used it. They also understood that their timing had to be flawless. They did not want to quell the frenzy they had created among the mutineers; however, a premature large-scale uprising would give the Provisional Government an excuse to crush them. Although the July event was a setback for the Bolsheviks, it did create a growing dissatisfaction among the soldiers. Many had no more will to fight, and lost their faith in the government. This would prove crucial when Kerensky would, with failed attempts, call on them to defend the Winter Palace against insurgents in the October Revolution.

Ten years in exile had not swayed Lenin?s determination to create and direct a powerful revolution. Lenin returned to Russia from exclusion in February 1917, believing that the time was ripe to seize power. The Russian economy was in ruin after the army was nearly defeated and the people exhausted as a result of the First World War. The country was in an unstable state, suitable for a revolution (Levinthal 119). Around October 20, Lenin, in disguise and at considerable personal risk, slipped into Petrograd and attended a secret meeting of the Bolshevik Central Committee held on the evening of October 23. Not until after a heated 10-hour debate did he finally win a majority in favour of preparing an armed takeover. Now steps to enlist the support of soldiers and sailors and to train the Red Guards, the Bolshevik-led workers' militia, for an armed takeover proceeded openly under the guise of self-defense of the Petrograd Soviet. Even at great personal risk, Lenin was adamant in spurring a successful revolution.

The long term causes lead back to the time between the end of the 1905