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The Russian Revolution of 1917 was a series of political events in Russia , which, after the elimination of the Russian Autocracy system, and the Provisional Government ( Duma ), resulted in the establishment of the Soviet power under the control of the Bolshevik party. This eventually led to the establishment of the Soviet Union , which lasted until its Dissolution in 1991 . The Revolution can be viewed in two distinct phases:
See also " Russian History, 1892-1920 " for the general frame of events. CAUSES OF THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION 1917 saw two distinct Revolutions in Russia: the overthrow of the Tsarist regime and formation of the Provisional Government ( February Revolution ), and the October Revolution in which the Bolsheviks overthrew the Provisional Government. The causes of these two revolutions encompass Russia’s political, social, and economic situation. Politically, the people of Russia resented the Autocracy of Tsar Nicholas II. The losses that the Russians suffered during World War I further weakened Russia’s view of Nicholas II. Socially, tsarist Russia stood well behind the rest of Europe in its industry and farming, resulting in few opportunities for fair advancement on the part of peasants and industrial workers. Economically, widespread Inflation in Russia contributed to the revolution. Ultimately, a combination of these three, coupled with the development of revolutionary ideas and movements (particularly since the 1905 Bloody Sunday Massacre) led to the Russian Revolution. Economic The economic causes of the Russian Revolution largely originated in Russia's outdated economy and the Tsar's failure to modernize it. Russia's agricultural economy still resembled that of medieval Europe, with peasants bound to an inefficiently-managed village commune, and using outdated farming methods. Suffering from a naturally cold climate, Russia's growing season was only 4-6 months, compared to 8-9 in most of Western Europe, and so the rural agrarian economy struggled to produce enough food to feed the cities each year. Further hampering food production was Russia's lack of modern infrastructure or transport. Despite vast expansions under Sergei Witte to the railway system, Russia still lacked the ability to effectively transport food to the cities. During World War I , this became a massive problem as haphazard conscription removed skilled workers from the railways and food-related industries, effectively aggravating poor harvests and causing famine. Factory workers also suffered due to Russia's young industry that sought to catch up with the rest of Europe. They had to endure terrible working conditions, including twelve to fourteen hour days and low wages. Riots and strikes for better conditions and higher wages broke out. Although some factories agreed to the requests for higher wages, wartime inflation nullified the increase. There was one protest to which Nicholas responded with violence (see Causes: Political); in response, industrial workers went on strike and effectively paralyzed the railway and transportation networks. What few supplies were available could not be effectively transported. As goods became more and more scarce, prices skyrocketed. By 1917, famine threatened many of the larger cities. Nicholas's failure to solve his country's economic suffering and communism's promise to do just that comprised the core of the Revolution. Social The social causes of the Russian Revolution mainly came from centuries of oppression towards the lower classes by the Tsarist regime and Nicholas's failures in World War I. While rural agrarian peasants had been Emancipated from Serfdom in 1861, they still resented paying redemption payments to the state, and demanded communal tender of the land they worked. Increasing peasant disturbances and sometimes full revolts occurred, with the goal of securing ownership of their land. The rapid industrialization of Russia also resulted in urban overcrowding and poor conditions for urban industrial workers (as mentioned above). Between 1890 and 1910, the population of the capital of St Petersburg swelled from 1,033,600 to 1,905,600, with Moscow experiencing similar growth. In one 1904 survey, it was found that an average of sixteen people shared each apartment in St Petersburg, with six people per room. There was also no running water, and piles of human waste were a threat to the health of the workers. World War I then only added to the chaos. Conscription swept up the unwilling in all parts of Russia. The vast demand for factory production of war supplies and workers caused many more labor riots and strikes. Conscription stripped skilled workers from the cities, who had to be replaced with unskilled peasants, and then, when famine began to hit, workers abandoned the cities in droves to look for food. Finally, the soldiers themselves, who suffered from a lack of equipment and protection from the elements were discontent with Russia's poor accounting in the war. Political Politically, most areas of Russian society had reason to be dissatisfied with the existing autocratic system. They had no representation in government, and the Tsar remained out of touch with the people's problems. Dissatisfaction with Russian autocracy culminated in the Bloody Sunday massacre, in which Russian workers saw their pleas for justice rejected as thousands of unarmed protestors were shot by the Tsar's troops. The response to the massacre crippled the nation with strikes, and Nicholas released his October Manifesto , promising a democratic parliament (the State Duma ) to appease the people. However, the Tsar effectively nullified his promises of Democracy with Article 47 of the 1906 Fundamental State Laws , and then subsequently dismissed the first two Dumas when they proved uncooperative. These unfulfilled hopes of democracy fuelled revolutionary ideas and violence targeted at the Tsarist regime. It appears as though Tsar Nicholas II never really considered Russia a constitutional state and invariably held on to his strong inclination towards an Autocratic Russia. "Let it be known to all that I... shall maintain the principle of autocracy just as firmly and unflinchingly as did my unforgettable dead father" WORLD WAR I Russia's recent history catalogued successive military failures. Even before the outbreak of the First World War , Russia had engaged in a War With Japan in 1904-05, to great expense - and to no gain. While the Russian army enjoyed some initial successes against Austria-Hungary in 1914, Russia's deficiencies — particularly regarding the equipment of its soldiers and the sophistication of its weapons — became increasingly evident. In 1915, things took a critical turn for the worse when Germany began to fight the Russian forces in earnest. The better-armed German forces, armed with deadly machine guns and heavy artillery, were terrifyingly effective against the ill-equipped Russian forces. By the end of October 1916, Russia had lost between 1.6 and 1.8 million soldiers, with an additional two million prisoners of war and one million missing, which likely did little for the army's morale. Mutinies began to occur, and in 1916 reports of fraternizing with the enemy started to circulate. Soldiers went hungry and lacked shoes, munitions, and even weapons. Rampant discontent lowered morale, only to be further undermined by a series of military defeats. Faced with mounting losses and collapsing morale among the soldiers, Nicholas decided to take direct command of the army in 1915, personally overseeing Russia's main warfront and leaving his incapable wife Alexandra in charge of the government. Reports of corruption and incompetence in the Imperial government began to emerge, and the growing influence of Grigori Rasputin in the Imperial family was widely resented. Nicholas was blamed for all these crises, and what little support he had left began to crumble. As this discontent and utter hate of Nicholas grew, the State Duma issued a warning to Nicholas in November 1916 stating that disaster would overtake the country unless a constitutional form of government was put in place. In typical fashion, Nicholas ignored them. As a result, Russia's Tsarist regime collapsed a few months later during the February Revolution of 1917. A year later, the Tsar and his family were executed. Ultimately, Nicholas's inept handling of his country and the War destroyed the Tsarist regime and cost him both his rule and his life. FEBRUARY REVOLUTION See Also: February Revolution The February Revolution was the result of the acute aggravation of the economical and political crisis in Russia. It came about seemingly spontaneously when people of the Russian capital Petrograd started to rally against the War and against the food supply shortages in the city. As the protests grew, various political reformists (both liberal and radical left) started to coordinate their activities. In February the protests in Petrograd turned violent as large numbers of city residents rioted and clashed with police and soldiers, followed by the total strike. Eventually the bulk of the soldiers garrisoned in Petrograd joined the protests, and the uprised people occupied most of important places in the city. This had led to the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II in a nearly bloodless transition of power. A new Provisional Government was formed. Between February and October revolutionaries attempted to foment further change, working through the Petrograd Soviet and other organizations. The driving force behind the provisional government was a young and popular lawyer named Alexsander Kerensky. However Kerensky as minister of war decided to continue the Russian effort in World War I. He appointed new generals and began a new offensive neither of which showed any success despite his plan to shame the men into fighting by creating the women's battalion, which ended up being one of the last loyal battalians to Kerensky during the October revolution. The failure of his offensive brought about much resentment from the people leading eventually to the October Revolution. OCTOBER REVOLUTION See Also: October Revolution The October Revolution was led by Vladimir Lenin and was based upon the ideas of Karl Marx . It marked the beginning of the spread of Communism in the twentieth century. It was far less sporadic than the revolution of February and came about as the result of deliberate planning and coordinated activity to that end. The financial and logistical assistance of German intelligence via their key agent, Alexander Parvus was a key component as well. On November 7 , 1917 , Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin led his leftist revolutionaries in a nearly bloodless revolt against the ineffective Provisional Government (Russia was still using the Julian Calendar at the time, so period references show an October 25 date). The October Revolution ended the phase of the revolution instigated in February, replacing Russia's short-lived provisional government with a Soviet one. Although many Bolsheviks supported a Soviet Democracy , the 'reform from above' model gained definitive power when Lenin died and Stalin gained control of the USSR. Trotsky and his supporters, as well as a number of other democratically-minded communists, were persecuted and eventually imprisoned or killed. After October 1917, many SR's (members of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party ) and Russian Anarchists opposed the Bolsheviks through the soviets. When this failed, they revolted in a series of events calling for "a third revolution." The most notable instances were the Tambov Rebellion , 1919 - 1921, and the Kronstadt Rebellion in March 1921. These movements, which made a wide range of demands and lacked effective coordination, were eventually crushed during the Civil War . CIVIL WAR See Also: Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War, which broke out in 1918 shortly after the revolution, brought death and suffering to millions of people regardless of their political orientation. The war was fought mainly between the Red Army ("Reds"), consisting of radical communists and revolutionaries, and the "Whites" - the monarchists, conservatives, liberals and moderate socialists who opposed the drastic restructuring championed by the Bolsheviks. The Mensheviks had backing from nations such as the UK, France, USA and Japan. Also during the Civil War, Nestor Makhno led a Ukrainian Anarchist movement which generally cooperated with the Bolsheviks. However, a Bolshevik force under Mikhail Frunze destroyed the Makhnovist movement, when the Makhnovists refused to merge into the Red Army . In addition, the so-called " Green Army " (nationalists and anarchists) played a secondary role in the war, mainly in Ukraine. THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION AND THE WORLD There are some who say that the Russian revolution was intended to spread across the world. Lenin and Trotsky said that the goal of Socialism in Russia would not be realized without the success of the world Proletariat in other countries, e.g. without German Revolution . However, till this day, this issue is subject to conflicting views on the communist history by various Marxist groups and parties. Some state that it was Stalin who was the first to later reject this idea, stating that Socialism Was Possible In One Country . Others counter that this was simply an excuse for Stalin and his followers to push back democratic gains won during the revolution and consolidate his bureaucratic dictatorship. The confusion regarding Stalin's position on the issue stems from the fact that he, after Lenin's death in 1924, successfully used Lenin's argument - the argument that socialism's success needs the workers of other countries in order to happen - to defeat his competitors within the party by accusing them of betraying Lenin and, therefore, the ideals of the October Revolution. He also had many of them executed during the Great Purge . BRIEF CHRONOLOGY LEADING TO REVOLUTION OF 1917 ''Dates are correct for the Julian Calendar , which was used in Russia until 1918 . It was twelve days behind the Gregorian Calendar during the 19th century and thirteen days behind it during the 20th century.''
:January - Bloody Sunday in St. Petersburg . :June - Battleship Potemkin Uprising at Odessa on the Black Sea (see movie '' The Battleship Potemkin '') :October - general strike, St. Petersburg Soviet formed :: - October Manifesto - Imperial agreement on elections to the State Duma
Expanded chronology of Revolution of 1917 , leader of the October Bolshevik Revolution]] January :Strikes and unrest in Petrograd February : February Revolution :26th – 50 demonstrators killed in Znamenskaya Square :27th – Troops refuse to fire on demonstrators, desertions. Prison, courts, and police stations attacked and looted by angry crowds. :: Okhranka buildings set on fire. Garrison joins revolutionaries. :: Petrograd Soviet formed. March :1st – Order No.1 of the Petrograd Soviet :2nd – Nicholas II abdicates. Provisional Government formed under Prime Minister Prince Lvov April :3rd – Return of Lenin to Russia. He publishes his April Theses . :20th – Miliukov 's note published. Provisional Government falls. May :5th – New Provisional Government formed. Kerensky made minister of war and navy June :3rd – First All-Russian Congress of Soviets in Petrograd. Closed on 24th. :16th – Kerensky orders offensive against Austro-Hungarian forces. Initial success. July :2nd – Russian offensive ends. Trotsky joins Bolsheviks. :4th-7th – The " July Days "; anti-government demonstrations in Petrograd. :6th – German and Austro-Hungarian counter-attack. Russians retreat in panic, sacking the town of Tarnopol . Arrest of Bolshevik leaders ordered. :7th – Lvov resigns. Kerensky is new PM :22nd – Trotsky and Lunacharskii arrested August :26th – Second coalition government ends :27th – Right-wing General Lavr Kornilov is alleged by Kerensky to have attempted a coup. Kornilov arrested and imprisoned. September :1st – Russia declared a republic :4th – Trotsky and others freed. Trotsky becomes head of Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies. :25th – Third coalition government formed October :10th – Bolshevik Central Committee meeting approves armed uprising :11th – Congress of Soviets of the Northern Region, until 13th :20th – First meeting of the Military Revolutionary Committee (Revolutionary Soviet Committee) of the Petrograd Soviet :25th – October Revolution is launched as MRC directs armed workers and soldiers to capture key buildings in Petrograd. Winter Palace attacked at 9.40pm and captured at 2am. Kerensky flees Petrograd. Opening of the 2nd All-Russian Congress Of Soviets . :26th – Second Congress of Soviets: Mensheviks and right SR delegates walk out in protest against the previous day's events. Decree On Peace and Decree On Land . Soviet government declared - the Council Of People's Commissars (Bolshevik dominated with Lenin as chairman). CULTURAL PORTRAYAL The Russian Revolution has been portrayed in several Film s.
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