1917 Russian Revolution
The 1917 Russian Revolution was not, as many people suppose, one
well organized event in which Tsar Nicholas II was overthrown and Lenin
and the Bolsheviks took power. It was a series of events that took place
during 1917, which entailed two separate revolutions in February and
October (with a great deal of political wranglings in between), and which
eventually plunged the country into Civil War before leading to the
founding of the Communist State.
Russian Revolution of 1917, two revolutions,
the first of which, in February (March, New Style), overthrew the
imperial government and the second of which, in October (November),
placed the Bolsheviks in power. By 1917 the bond between the tsar and most of the Russian people had been broken.
Growing Unrest
The first major event of the Russian Revolution was the February
Revolution, which was a chaotic affair and the culmination of over a
century of civil and military unrest. The causes of this unrest of the
common people towards the Tsar and aristocratic landowners are too many
and complicated to neatly summarize, but key factors to consider were
ongoing resentment at the cruel treatment of peasants by patricians,
poor working conditions experienced by city workers in the fledgling
industrial economy and a growing sense of political and social awareness
of the lower orders in general (democratic ideas were reaching Russia
from the West and being touted by political activists). Dissatisfaction
of the proletarian lot was further compounded by food shortages and
military failures. In 1905 Russia experienced humiliating losses in the
Russo-Japanese war and, during a demonstration against the war in the
same year, Tsarist troops fired upon an unarmed crowd - further dividing
Nicholas II from his people. Widespread strikes, riots and the famous
mutiny on the Battleship Potemkin ensued.
Such was the climate in 1905 in fact that Tsar Nicholas saw fit, against
his will, to cede the people their wishes. In his October Manifesto,
Nicholas created Russia's first constitution and the State Duma, an
elected parliamentary body. However Nicholas's belief in his divine
right to rule Russia meant that he spent much of the following years
fighting to undermine or strip the Duma of its powers and to retain as
much autocracy as possible. (Modern historians might note that Russian
rulers haven't come a long way in the last hundred years!).
When Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated by political activists in Serbia in 1914, the Austro-Hungarian empire
declared war on its neighbors. Serbia turned to Russia for help. Tsar
Nicholas II saw a chance to galvanism his people against a common enemy,
and to atone for the humiliations suffered in the Russo-Japanese war.
It didn't quite work out however...
World War I
In many ways Russia's disastrous participation in World War I was the
final blow to Tsarist rule. In the very first engagement with the
Germans (who had sided with the Austro-Hungarian Empire), the Battle of
Tannenberg, the Russian army was comprehensively beaten suffering
120,000 casualties to Germany's 20,000. A continuing series of losses
and setbacks meant that Nicholas left St. Peters burg in the autumn of
1915 to take personal control of the army. By this time Russia was
sending conscripts and untrained troops to the front, with little or no
equipment and fighting in an almost continual retreat. In 1916 morale
reached an all time low as the pressure of waging the war fell hardest
on proletarian families, whose sons were being slaughtered at the front
and who severe suffered food and fuel shortages at home. The Tsar and
the Imperial regime took the blame as civil unrest heated up to boiling
point.
The February Revolution (1917)
On 23rd February 1917 the International Women's Day Festival in St.
Petersburg turned into a city-wide demonstration, as exasperated women
workers left factories to protest against food shortages. Men soon
joined them, and on the following day - encouraged by political and
social activists - the crowds had swelled and virtually every industry,
shop and enterprise had ceased to function as almost the entire populace
went on strike.
Nicholas ordered the police and military to intervene, however the
military was no longer loyal to the Tsar and many mutinied or joined the
people in demonstrations. Fights broke out and the whole city was in
chaos. On October 28th over 80,000 troops mutinied from the army and
looting and rioting was widespread.
Faced with this untenable situation Tsar Nicholas abdicated his throne,
handing power to his brother Michael. However Michael would not accept
leadership unless he was elected by the Duma. He resigned the following
day, leaving Russia without a head of state.
The Provisional Government
After the abdication of the Romanovs a Provisional Government was
quickly formed by leading members of the Duma and recognized
internationally as Russia's legal government. It was to rule Russia
until elections could be held. However it's power was by no means
absolute or stable. The more radical Petrograd Soviet organization was a
trade union of workers and soldiers that wielded enormous influence. It favored full-scale Socialism over more moderate democratic reforms
generally favored by members of the Provisional Government.
After centuries of Imperial rule Russia was consumed with political fervor, but the many different factions, all touting different ideas,
meant that political stability was still a long way off directly after
February Revolution.
Lenin Returns to Russia
One person keen to take advantage of the chaotic state of affairs in St. Peters burg
was Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov - aka Lenin. Lenin had spent most of the
20th Century traveling and working and campaigning in Europe - partly
out of fear for his own safety, as he was known Socialist and enemy of
the Tsarist regime. However with the Tsar under arrest and Russian
politics in chaos, Lenin saw the opportunity to lead his party, the
Bolsheviks, to power. From his home in Switzerland he negotiated a
return to Russia with the help of German authorities. (As a proponent of
withdrawing Russia from the Great War, the Germans were willing to
facilitate Lenin's passage back via a 'sealed train'.)
Lenin's return in April of 1917 was greeted by the Russian populace, as
well as by many leading political figures, with great rapture and
applause. However, far from uniting the fractious parties, he
immediately condemned the policies and ideologies of both the
Provisional Government and the Petrograd Soviet. In his April Theses,
published in the Bolshevik newspaper Pravda, he advocated
non-co-operation with the liberals (ie. non-hardline Communists) and an
immediate end to the war.
At first his uncompromising stance served to isolate Lenin and the
Bolsheviks, however with powerful slogans like 'Peace, land and bread,'
Lenin begin to win the hearts of the Russian people - who were
increasingly unable to stomach war and poverty.
Summer of 1917
During the summer of 1917 Lenin made several attempts to invoke another
revolution the likes of which had taken place in February, with the aim
of overthrowing the Provisional Government. When the Machine Gun
Regiment refused to leave Petrograd (as St. Petersburg was then known)
for the front line Lenin sought to manoeuvre them instead into making a
putsch. However Kerensky, arguably the most important figure of the time
- a member of both the Provisional Government and Petro grad Soviet -
adeptly thwarted the coup. Experienced troops arrived in the city to
quell any dissidents and the Bolsheviks were accused of being in
collusion with the Germans. Many were arrested whilst Lenin escaped
Finland.
Despite this PR disaster Lenin continued plotting and scheming.
Meanwhile Kerensky suffered his own political setbacks and even had to
appeal to the Bolsheviks for military aid when he feared his Minister of
War, Kornilov, was aiming for a military dictatorship. By autumn the
Bolsheviks were climbing into the ascendancy, winning majority votes
within the Petrograd and Moscow Soviets. Leon Trotsky was elected as president of the former.
The October Revolution
(Nb. By the Julian Calendar used in Russia at the time, the revolution
took part in November 1917, and is therefore often referred to as the
November Revolution)
With Russian politics still in a state of constant flux Lenin realized
that now was the time to capitalize on his party's popularity. He
planned a coup d'etat that would overthrow the increasingly ineffective
Provisional Government and replace them with the Bolsheviks. On October
10th he held a famous meeting with twelve party leaders, and tried to
persuade them that a revolution was required. Despite receiving the
backing of only 10 of them plotting went ahead.
October 24th was the date decided upon, and on that day troops loyal to
the Bolsheviks took up crucial positions in the city, such as the main
telephone and telegraph offices, banks, railroad stations, post offices,
and major bridges. Guards commissioned by the Provisional Government,
who had got wind of the plot, fled or surrendered without a fight. By
the 25th October every key building in St. Peters burg was under
Bolshevik control, except the Winter Palace where Kerensky and the other Ministers were holed up with a small guard.
At 0900 of that day Kerensky fled the Palace by car, never to return to
Russia. On the 26th the Palace was taken with barely a shot fired, and
Lenin's October Revolution had been achieved with the bare minimum of
drama or bloodshed.
Aftermath and Consequences
Despite being allowed to seize power so easily Lenin soon discovered
that his support was far from absolute. His Peace Policy with the
Germans was particularly unpopular as it ceded large amounts of Russian
territory. Shortly after the October Revolution, the Russian Civil War
broke out between the 'Reds' (Communists) and the 'Whites'
(Nationalists, Conservatives, Imperialists and other anti-Bolshevik
groups). After a bloody four year struggle Lenin and the Reds won,
establishing the Soviet Union in 1922, at an estimated cost of 15
million lives and billions of rubles. In 1923 Lenin died and Stalin took over the Communist Party, which continued to rule Russia until 1991 when the USSR was dissolved.
