October 1917 Revolution

What were the two slogans Lenin used to increase support and why were they so appropriate?

'Peace, Bread and Land' This addressed the toughest problems facing Russia (the continuing war with Germany, the chronic food shortages and the rebellion of the peasantry in the countryside), the ones that people most wanted sorted. He promised to fix them all. 'All Power to the Soviets' This showed the Bolshevik intention to replace the government ministers with the soviet representatives.

What was the Bolshevik position on land?

Because they were Marxist, the peasantry were dismissed as insignificant because they lacked 'true revolutionary initiative'. However, Lenin was pragmatic; he could not ignore the disruptive behaviour of 4/5 of the Russian population and so the Bolsheviks recognised the land seizures as legitimate. This gained them a lot of peasant support.

What was the Soviet Order № 1 and what did it signify?

Even before the Bolshevik influence became predominant in the soviets of Russia, the Petrograd Soviet had clearly made sure it could restrict the power of the Provisional Government with its Soviet Order № 1: "The orders of the military commission of the state duma are to be obeyed only in such instances that they do not contradict the orders and decrees of the soviet." This made sure that the PG would have to compromise with the soviet in all matters concerning the military, the basis for Russian power.

What were some of the early achievements of the Provisional Government?

- An amnesty for political prisoners. - The recognition of trade unions. - The introduction of and eight-hour day for workers. - The replacement of the tsarist police with the 'people's militia' (volunteer enforcement officers drawn from the people). - The granting of full civil and religious freedoms. - Preparations for the election of a constituent assembly.

What reasons are there to say that Lenin was responsible for Bolshevik success?

- He was an inspiring and charismatic speaker which helped him to gain members' support. - Many members of the party rejected Lenin's wish to revolt in October but he persuaded them; if they had waited the revolution may have failed. - Even Trotsky said: "If I had not been present in 1917 in St Petersburg, the October Revolution would still have taken place". - Lenin recognised the importance of using the Petrograd Soviet as the means to achieve revolution.

What were the weaknesses of the Provisional Government that led to its downfall?

- Its failure to rally military support when it was needed at the end. - Its lack of reformative policies that would appease the peasants that wanted their land. - It was an interim government which meant that it was easily accused of being an un-elected, self-appointed body which had no right to exercise the authority that properly belonged to the Constituent Assembly alone.

How did the Bolsheviks benefit from the Kornilov Affair?

- Many Bolsheviks were released from prison. - They were able to present themselves as defenders of Petrograd and the Revolution, diverting attention away from their failures during the July Days. - The event revealed the political weakness of the Provisional Government; it was very vulnerable to military threat.

What signs were there of initial optimism amongst the Russian people and government?

- People were elated that tsarism had ended and would greet each other in the street with a renewed sense of hope. - Everyone in government had a mutual agreement that the collapse of tsardom should not be allowed to become chaotic; there was a willingness to maintain state authority. - Both the Provisional Government and the Petrograd Soviet contained a wider range of political representation than they did later (PG moves to the right and the Soviet to the left).

Why was land such a huge problem?

- The February Revolution had led the peasants to believe that there would soon be major land redistribution from which they'd get the land from the landowners' estates. - When the Provisional Government didn't do this, many peasants seized the property of local landlords. - It had created the Land Commission to redistribute land but it made very little progress.

How was misunderstanding responsible for Bolshevik success?

- The Provisional Government made very few attempts to actually crush the Bolsheviks because they underestimated their power. - Kerensky feared an attack from the right more than one from the left because the Tsar was still alive and there were loyalists that wanted him back in power. - Lenin too was wrong in overestimating the brutality of the Provisional Government. He thought that if he was ever found he'd be shot immediately, causing him to be out of the country or in hiding for much of 1917.

What were the signs of Provisional Government failure in the summer of 1917?

- The spread of soviets. - Worker-control of the factories. - Widespread seizure of the land by the peasants. - The creation of breakaway national minority governments.

What were the weaknesses of the non-Bolshevik parties that led to Bolshevik success?

- They had all accepted the February Revolution as genuine, giving them no reason to believe that the Provisional Government should be challenged seeing as it supposedly represented the progressive forces in Russia. - The passionately revolutionary parties like the Social Revolutionaries were prepared to enter coalition with moderates like the Kadets to await the Constituent Assembly. This was used as a powerful propaganda tool by the Bolsheviks who said that the socialists had sold out to the bourgeoisie. - All of the other parties had supported the war as a worldwide revolution or Russia's duty initially and continued to do so inconsistently, something the people could no longer identify with.

What reasons are there to say that Lenin was not responsible for Bolshevik success?

- Trotsky was the Chairman of the Petrograd Soviet so he was responsible for the direction of the MRC which was a very important factor in their success. - Trotsky organised the logistics of the revolution. - Trotsky's views were often more popular. - There was always an element of luck in Lenin's success (Kornilov Affair etc). - Lenin was in exile or hiding for much of 1917 so was not in direct control constantly. - It was Kerensky's mistakes that spurred the Bolsheviks on to overthrowing the government, not Lenin's strategy.

What were the two parts of the Dual Authority?

1) The Provisional Government: essentially the old duma in a new form led by Prince Lvov. 2) The Petrograd Soviet: the workers' union of Petrograd.

How did the political shift in the Petrograd Soviet work to the Bolsheviks' advantage?

By September the Bolsheviks held the majority in the Petrograd and Moscow Soviets. This was not especially significant, but attendance went from 2000 deputies to just a few hundred. This meant that they could have a bigger influence than other groups who didn't attend regularly. The Petrograd Soviet moved to the left while the Provisional Government shifted to the right, bringing them into conflict.

What were Kerensky's first moves as prime minister?

He closed the Bolshevik newspaper (the Pravda) down and many of the Bolshevik leaders, including Trotsky and Kamenev, were arrested. Lenin fled to Finland. He also launched a propaganda campaign, branding the party as traitors and agents in the pay of high German command.

How did Lenin deal with resistance to immediate revolution within the party? Was he successful?

He returned to Petrograd and spent hours at Central Committee meetings trying to convince the reluctant members that they had to strike then. On the 10th October the Central Committee pledged itself to an armed insurrection and after Kerensky closed the Pravda and Izvestiya headquarters down, the Bolsheviks decided that they must take action immediately.

Why was the Petrograd Soviet of such interest to Lenin (other than for ideological reasons)?

He saw the Soviet as a power-base. With the Bolshevik Party having such little presence, the Petrograd Soviet offered the means by which it could obtain power in the name of the proletariat.

Why did the Provisional Government continue Russia's participation in the First World War?

If it withdrew, Russia would no longer receive the war-credits from the western allies which it relied on heavily. No government could have carried on after tsardom without such credits or huge amounts of capital from abroad.

What happened in the Ukraine that caused the July Days protests?

In late June Kadet ministers found that the Provisional Government deputation in Kiev had offered independence to the Ukraine, causing them to resign out of protest. They believed that only an all-Russian constituent assembly could legitimately decide such a thing. This event clashed with the common-place street protests, adding an edge that spoke of political discontent that would amount to a direct challenge to the PG.

What happened with the Kronstadt sailors?

In the Bay of Finland, 15 miles west of Petrograd, sailors and workers defied the central authorities by setting up their own government. This encouraged other revolutionaries in Petrograd to take action immediately to bring down the Provisional Government.`

What signs were that the Provisional Government would not have any problems cooperating?

Initially there was cooperation, with the Social Revolutionaries leader Alexander Kerensky even being part of both bodies. In the aftermath of the February revolution, soviets were set up throughout Russia and the Bolsheviks did not dominate them to begin with.

What problems arose from the 'address to the people of the whole world'

It became known that the Foreign Minister Milyukov had pledged to the Allies that Russia would see the war through. He and the War Minister Guchkov were accused of deceit (or idiocy) and resigned in May under internal and external pressures. In the reshuffled cabinet, Alexander Kerensky was appointed Minister of War and the government shifted leftwards.It was hoped this would ease tension, but the socialists became isolated form the PG as they avoided being associated with the 'bourgeoisie' Kadets in the coalition.

What were issues did the Provisional Government have with legitimacy and how did they hope to solve them?

It had little legitimacy; it had not been elected but had just assumed authority following the abdication of Tsar Nicholas. Elections would take time and money to organise and so they were scheduled for November 1917 in which they hoped to be legitimately elected into power.

What were the consequences of the July Days uprising?

It revealed that: - the opposition movement was disunited - the Bolsheviks were still far from being the dominant revolutionary party - the Provisional Government was still strong enough to crush an armed insurrection. The PG's apparent strength brought credit to Alexander Kerensky and two days after the event he became prime minister.

How successful was the July Days uprising?

It was disorderly and ineffective. Between the 3rd and 6th of July Soviet members who seemed reluctant to make a real bid for power were attacked and this disunity made it easy for the government to crush the protests.

What were the April Theses?

Lenin condemned all of the accommodationist acts of Stalin and Kamenev and set out future Bolshevik policy, saying that they must: - abandon all cooperation with other parties - work for the true revolution entirely by their own efforts - overthrow the Provisional Government - struggle to transfer power to the workers - demand that authority pass to the soviets.

What was the 'Pre-Parliament'?

Lenin was rushing the Bolsheviks to strike before the All-Russian Congress of Soviets met and the election for the Constituent Assembly took place in November. Kerensky tried to make the government less exposed by announcing plans for the 'Pre-Parliament' with the authority to advise the government, drawn from a variety of parties in a bid to be representative.

What was the 'address to the people of the whole world'?

On the 14th March 1917, the Petrograd Soviet called for 'peace without annexations or indemnities' which the government declared it had accepted.

What was Lenin's reaction on his return to Petrograd?

On the 4th April 1917, Lenin (his return aided by the German government the day before) declared that the February revolution had not been genuine and had created a 'parliamentary-bourgeois republic' - an unrepresentative, reactionary replacement for the tsarist dictator.

What was the June Offensive?

On the South-Western front, thousands of troops were sent into battle. Exacerbated by Bolshevik agitators who encouraged them to disobey orders, the soldiers' low morale was no match for the Germans who inflicted heavy losses. Whole regiments mutinied or deserted.

What was the Kornilov Affair?

The new commander-in-chief, General Kornilov declared in late August 1917 that Petrograd was on the verge of slipping into anarchy. He informed Kerensky that he was going to protect the Provisional Government with his loyal troops. It's unclear as to whether Kerensky colluded with him initially, but publicly he condemned it. He called on all loyal citizens to take up arms and released all political prisoners so they could defend the city. Kornilov eventually abandoned the advance and was arrested.

For what reasons did Lenin claim that the Provisional Government didn't want to solve the 'Peace, Bread, Land' problems?

The war brought them profits; they supposedly despised the Russian people and so had no desire to supply them with food; and they wouldn't reform the land-holding system because the current one guaranteed their property rights and privileges.

How did the Provisional Government finally come to an end?

There were surprisingly few deaths (only six) during the whole revolution. The Provisional Government had no troops left to call on, save for a unit of female soldiers known as the 'Amazons', a few loyal officer-cadets and a small group of Cossacks. Kerensky had left the city in order to raise more troops but later escaped the country dressed as a female nurse. The Red Guards simply strolled into the unguarded Winter Palace and told the few soldiers who didn't immediately surrender that it was better for them to lay down their arms than to die in a futile struggle.

What was Trotsky's role during the revolution?

Trotsky was the administrator of the revolution. As Chairman of the Petrograd Soviet, he set up the Military Revolutionary Committee (MRC) to organise the defence of Petrograd against German attack or another event resembling the Kornilov affair. Trotsky had himself appointed as one of the troika appointed to run the team, giving him control of the only effective military force in Petrograd. It was also a legitimate force because it fought on behalf of the Soviet. Trotsky was responsible for directing the Red Guards in their seizure of key vantage points.

What issues did the Provisional Government fail to address?

War: Russia's involvement was becoming a bigger burden on the Russian people and many wanted it to be over. Food: because of the war, big cities were on small food rations. Land: the peasants expected to have their land returned to them now that the Tsar had abdicated and were getting increasingly restless.