are a number of different reasons, why the Bolsheviks seized power in 1917. The Tsar took personal command of the army in the summer of 1915 and left the government in the hands of his wife, the hated Tsarina (who also had the misfortune of being German). She was called "the German woman". The offensive of 1916 had cost the Russians a million casualties and discontent was rife in the army. The soldiers lacked proper military training and the supply of arms and artillery were inadequate
Russia in World War One Against a domestic background of widespread strikes and violent government assaults on strikers, Russia entered WWI in August, 1914. with the world's largest army. Poorly trained and equipped, they quickly went from early success to catastrophic defeat. The disastrous fortunes of the Russian army undermined the authority of the government. There were conscription (draft) riots in the cities. There were food shortages. Russia lost territory. People who did not oppose
linked factors; the Bolshevik policy of non-cooperation, weakness of the Provisional Government, division of alternative opposition, Lenin's leadership skills, the power of the Petrograd Soviet and Trotsky as its leader, failure on deliver of land reform and the oppressed, armed workers in Petrograd. Bolshevik success is dictated by whether they met their aims; these included the establishment of a Socialist government over the whole of Russia, which would be ruled by a centralised democracy
Provisional Government The Provisional Government had attempted to keep its power over Russian affairs during the trouble that followed the abdication of the tsar in February 1917, and as events would show, they were largely unsuccessful in doing so. This may have been because of Kerensky's mistakes, the government's lack of political power, or its failure to solve the problems of Russia's peasant majority. The Bolsheviks were quick to take advantage of time of weakness, although whether
War resulted in growing discontent amongst the Russian population, and eventually the fall of the Tsarist government. The Provisional government had replaced the Tsar but proved to be no more capable of successfully leading Russia than he had. The October revolution was a seizure of power by the Bolshevik party, arguably, not through their own strengths but due to the weaknesses of the opposition and the inefficiencies of the interim government. In order to be able to assess the reasons as
as their leaders were released from prison to help defeat Kornilov. This links with the fact that the Provisional Government was fundamentally weak as they clearly underestimated the Bolsheviks. Secondly, and most importantly, the Red Guard (Bolshevik army) was given arms by the Provisional Government to help put down the revolt. This too links with the fact that the Provisional Government was weak as they committed yet another mistake. When the revolt was put down, the Bolsheviks received
October Revolution of 1917 was a defining event in Russian history where the Bolshevik Party came into control. Although the revolution was an overthrow of the Provisional Government established after the February Revolution, its roots lie within tensions built up from autocratic Russia which were intensified under the Provisional Government. The revolution was political, economic, and social in nature and have impacted Russia’s course through
in Switzerland. Although this revolution succeeded in conquering Tsar, the provisional government temporarily in the place of Tsar was still committed to fighting Germany in the war. It was well known by the German people that the Russians wanted to terminate their participation in the war. The German High Command made the decision to send Lenin back to Russia with the hopes that he would weaken the provisional government and disrupt the army. Lenin arrived in Germany in the spring of April 3rd
silent successful opportunity had been in the works for many years. The Bolshevik party rose to power in Russia by giving in to the needs of the people, having superb organizational skills, and their ability to take advantage of a weak provisional government, especially after the Kornilov Affair took place. The combination of all of these conditions enabled the Bolsheviks to take control of Russia and keep her in its iron fist for years to come. The Bolshevik party gained popularity and support
the official government version at the time. This essay intends to see how accurate a picture this version gave of the Kornilov affair. The Kornilov affair officially began on September 9, when Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Army, General L. C. Kornilov, brought a corps to Petrograd and disobeyed an order of dismissal by Alexander Kerensky, head of the Provisional Government[1]. On September 10 a declaration that Kornilov was a traitor and attempting to overthrow the government led to a majority
The Revolution of 1905: The First Russian Revolution We are, however, slightly ahead of our story. The short period of 1900-1906 provides an essential piece of the puzzle to make the picture of the Russian Revolution complete. Russia's Asian policy under Nicholas II took a decidedly expansionist and aggressive tone, culminating in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. A primarily naval conflict on Russia's Far Eastern frontier, this war brought back the awful memories of the Crimean defeat
monarchists and rightists of Russia, did fear of a bloody cout d?état force him into passing measures such as the restoration of the death penalty? Was Kerensky's failure inevitable after the miserable spells of Lvov and Milyukov as leaders of the Provisional government? It is too easy to state that the revolution in Russia was one man's fault, despite Kerensky's perpetual mistakes there were a lot of other factors, such as the role of Trotsky and Lenin that must be taken into account. An indelible failure
the Tsar, upholding a political system already long overdue for reform. All the events leading up to this radical uprising of the Bolsheviks, helped create the October-Novemeber revolution. This made Russia a democratic country with an elected government working for it’s people, it’s workers, it’s soldiers, and the peasants. Tsarist Russia was now history, but for Bolshevik Russia, this was just the beginning.
return to Petrograd, Russia from his exile in Switzerland. The Theses’ were mainly written toward Bolsheviks in Russia and returning to Russia from exile. Lenin denounced liberals and social democrats in the Provisional Government, he also told Bolsheviks to not cooperate with the government. He called for new communists policies and told the soviets to take power. In the next few months, the April Theses influenced the July Days and October Revolution and were identified as Leninism. The Theses
and economic problems. In the wake of the Tsarist collapse, a power vacuum was left behind. The Provisional Government, a government that was fundamentally unstable and unsure how to govern, temporarily filled this space. The Provisional Government opened the door for a seizure of power. It lacked legitimate power to justify its actions. There was no tradition of Russia being ruled by a government such as this, indeed, many people were opposed to it. It was self-appointed and therefore many
party into the leading revolutionary group in Russia, along with the luck the Bolsheviks had in the circumstances under the Provisional Government. A few historians claim Germany played a major role in the Bolshevik’s road to power. The Germans helped many previously exiled revolutionaries to get back to Russia when the Tsar abdicated and the Provisional Government came to power from March onwards, in the hope that they would end the war. This included Lenin and an accompanying group of
Lenin and the Bolsheviks Replacing the Provisional Government as Leaders of Russia by November 1917 The provisional government had dealed with the issues of war and land very ineffectively, which helped The Bolsheviks greatly in seizing power. They would not give the peasants the land which they had wanted, and expected when the Tsar was overthrown. War continued, despite the majority of Russia wanting it to end. Food and fuel shortages continued, and although no-one wanted to surrender to
The Weakening of the Provisional Government of Russia The Provisional Government, led by Prince Lvov, was the old Duma in a new form. When Milyukov, the foreign minister, read out the list of ministers in the newly-formed government, someone in the crowd called out ‘Who appointed you?’ Milyukov replied, ‘We were appointed by the revolution itself.’ In that exchange were expressed the two besetting weaknesses of the Provisional Government throughout the eight months of its existence. It
Reasons Behind the Failure of the Provisional Government The provisional government was brought about after the fall of the Tsarist government collapsed. This was done purely because of lack of support for the Tsar and being the only major party. They were in power for 8months and after making five serious errors; they were removed from power by force. Kerensky ran the provisional government and it was his lack of judgement, just like the Tsars stupidity and gullibility that let him down
The Success of the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 Part 1 Karl Marks was not Russian and he died 34 years before the Russian revolution, he was a German who spent most his life in England. He worked as a journalist but wrote books on history, religion, economics, society, and philosophy. Marx hated the system of capitalism because he thought that it was capitalism that had produced the problems of industry, poor living conditions and the social gap of the rich and poor. He thought that the