FREE ESSAY ON BOLSHEVIK

BOLSHEVIK

The Bolshevik Revolution
1917
The Stage Is Set
The Bolshevik Revolution in Russia in 1917 was initiated by millions of people who would
change the history of the world as we know it. When Czar Nicholas II dragged 11 million
peasants into World War I, the Russian people became discouraged with their injuries and
the loss of life they sustained. The country of Russia was in ruins, ripe for
revolution.
Provisional Government Established
During a mass demonstration of women workers in February of 1917, the czar's officials
called out the army to squelch the protesters. The women convinced the soldiers to put
their guns away and help them in their cause. Czar Nicholas II was dethroned in Russia
during this, the February Revolution. The Provisional Government was formed to replace
the void left by the deposed czar. This provisional government was made up of bankers,
lawyers, industrialists, and capitalists. The provisional government was very weak and
failed to live up to its promise of ending Russia's involvement in the war. They kept
Russia in the war and just made things worse for themselves and for Russia.
The Rise of the Bolshevik Party
The Provisional Government was opposed right away by the soviets, or councils of workers
and peasants, who wanted the right to make their own decisions. When V. I. Lenin arrived
from exile in the spring of 1917, he joined the Bolshevik Party in Russia whose goal was
to overthrow the Provisional Government and set up a government for the proletariat. The
soldiers began to ask for land, just as their fellow peasants were. When the Provisional
Government refused to distribute the land fairly, the peasants took matters into their
own hands by taking the land themselves. The Bolshevik party went on the offensive and
tried to educate the workers and soldiers, convincing them to seize power and land for
themselves. In July 1917, the workers challenged the Provisional Government and ended up
defeated, with their leader jailed and Lenin going into hiding. At the point when
everything looked very bad for the Bolsheviks, two very good things happened. First, the
Provisional Government ordered a big war offensive that ended up in ruin, with thousands
being either killed or injured. Late in August, the soldiers of the Provisional
Government began to fall away from their support of the Provisional Government and began
to support the workers. They were becoming closer and closer to being Bolsheviks
themselves. Secondly, in September, during the so-called Kornilov Affair, a pro-czar
section of the military threatened Petrograd, which was the city occupied by the
Bolsheviks and the Provisional Government. The Bolsheviks had established themselves as
the only party which stood in opposition to continuing the war effort. The Bolshevik
workers had to unite and fight as one against the military. Now that the Bolsheviks had
the support of the workers, they were able to win the important elections in early
September in important Russian industrial centers. By the middle of September, the
Bolsheviks had formally acquired a majority in the St. Petersburg Soviet.
The Revolution
In early October, Lenin convinced the Bolshevik Party to form an immediate insurrection
against the Provisional Government. The Bolshevik leaders felt it was of the utmost
importance to act quickly while they had the momentum to do so. The armed workers known
as Red Guards and the other revolutionary groups moved on the night of Nov. 6-7 under the
orders of the Soviet's Military Revolutionary Committee. These forces seized post and
telegraph offices, electric works, railroad stations, and the state bank. Once the shot
rang out from the Battleship Aurora, the thousands of people in the Red Guard stormed the
Winter Palace. The Provisional Government had officially fallen to the Bolshevik regime.
Once the word came to the rest of the people that the Winter Palace had been taken,
people from all over rose and filled it. V. I. Lenin, the leader of the Bolsheviks,
announced his attempt to construct the socialist order in Russia. This new government
made up of Soviets, and led by the Bolsheviks. By early November, there was little doubt
that the proletariats backed the Bolshevik motto: All power to the soviets!
Bibliography
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