essay about russian revolution

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Russian Revolution

By: History.com Editors

Updated: March 27, 2024 | Original: March 12, 2024

The Russian Revolution of 1917 was one of the most explosive political events of the 20th century. The violent revolution marked the end of the Romanov dynasty and centuries of Russian Imperial rule. Economic hardship, food shortages and government corruption all contributed to disillusionment with Czar Nicholas II. During the Russian Revolution, the Bolsheviks, led by leftist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin, seized power and destroyed the tradition of czarist rule. The Bolsheviks would later become the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

When Was the Russian Revolution?

In 1917, two revolutions swept through Russia, ending centuries of imperial rule and setting into motion political and social changes that would lead to the eventual formation of the Soviet Union .

However, while the two revolutionary events took place within a few short months of 1917, social unrest in Russia had been brewing for many years prior to the events of that year.

In the early 1900s, Russia was one of the most impoverished countries in Europe with an enormous peasantry and a growing minority of poor industrial workers. Much of Western Europe viewed Russia as an undeveloped, backwards society.

The Russian Empire practiced serfdom—a form of feudalism in which landless peasants were forced to serve the land-owning nobility—well into the nineteenth century. In contrast, the practice had disappeared in most of Western Europe by the end of the Middle Ages .

In 1861, the Russian Empire finally abolished serfdom. The emancipation of serfs would influence the events leading up to the Russian Revolution by giving peasants more freedom to organize.

What Caused the Russian Revolution?

The Industrial Revolution gained a foothold in Russia much later than in Western Europe and the United States. When it finally did, around the turn of the 20th century, it brought with it immense social and political changes.

Between 1890 and 1910, for example, the population of major Russian cities such as St. Petersburg and Moscow nearly doubled, resulting in overcrowding and destitute living conditions for a new class of Russian industrial workers.

A population boom at the end of the 19th century, a harsh growing season due to Russia’s northern climate, and a series of costly wars—starting with the Crimean War —created frequent food shortages across the vast empire. Moreover, a famine in 1891-1892 is estimated to have killed up to 400,000 Russians.

The devastating Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 further weakened Russia and the position of ruler Czar Nicholas II . Russia suffered heavy losses of soldiers, ships, money and international prestige in the war, which it ultimately lost.

Many educated Russians, looking at social progress and scientific advancement in Western Europe and North America, saw how growth in Russia was being hampered by the monarchical rule of the czars and the czar’s supporters in the aristocratic class.

Russian Revolution of 1905

Soon, large protests by Russian workers against the monarchy led to the Bloody Sunday massacre of 1905 . Hundreds of unarmed protesters were killed or wounded by the czar’s troops.

The Bloody Sunday massacre sparked the Russian Revolution of 1905, during which angry workers responded with a series of crippling strikes throughout the country. Farm laborers and soldiers joined the cause, leading to the creation of worker-dominated councils called “soviets.”

In one famous incident, the crew of the battleship Potemkin staged a successful mutiny against their overbearing officers. Historians would later refer to the 1905 Russian Revolution as ‘the Great Dress Rehearsal,” as it set the stage for the upheavals to come.

Nicholas II and World War I

After the bloodshed of 1905 and Russia’s humiliating loss in the Russo-Japanese War, Nicholas II promised greater freedom of speech and the formation of a representative assembly, or Duma, to work toward reform.

Russia entered into World War I in August 1914 in support of the Serbs and their French and British allies. Their involvement in the war would soon prove disastrous for the Russian Empire.

Militarily, imperial Russia was no match for industrialized Germany, and Russian casualties were greater than those sustained by any nation in any previous war. Food and fuel shortages plagued Russia as inflation mounted. The already weak economy was hopelessly disrupted by the costly war effort.

Czar Nicholas left the Russian capital of Petrograd (St. Petersburg) in 1915 to take command of the Russian Army front. (The Russians had renamed the imperial city in 1914, because “St. Petersburg” sounded too German.)

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Rasputin and the Czarina

In her husband’s absence, Czarina Alexandra—an unpopular woman of German ancestry—began firing elected officials. During this time, her controversial advisor, Grigory Rasputin , increased his influence over Russian politics and the royal Romanov family .

Russian nobles eager to end Rasputin’s influence murdered him on December 30, 1916. By then, most Russians had lost faith in the failed leadership of the czar. Government corruption was rampant, the Russian economy remained backward and Nicholas repeatedly dissolved the Duma , the toothless Russian parliament established after the 1905 revolution, when it opposed his will.

Moderates soon joined Russian radical elements in calling for an overthrow of the hapless czar.

February Revolution

The February Revolution (known as such because of Russia’s use of the Julian calendar until February 1918) began on March 8, 1917 (February 23 on the Julian calendar).

Demonstrators clamoring for bread took to the streets of Petrograd. Supported by huge crowds of striking industrial workers, the protesters clashed with police but refused to leave the streets.

On March 11, the troops of the Petrograd army garrison were called out to quell the uprising. In some encounters, the regiments opened fire, killing demonstrators, but the protesters kept to the streets and the troops began to waver.

The Duma formed a provisional government on March 12. A few days later, Czar Nicholas abdicated the throne, ending centuries of Russian Romanov rule.

Alexander Kerensky

The leaders of the provisional government, including young Russian lawyer Alexander Kerensky, established a liberal program of rights such as freedom of speech, equality before the law, and the right of unions to organize and strike. They opposed violent social revolution.

As minister of war, Kerensky continued the Russian war effort, even though Russian involvement in World War I was enormously unpopular. This further exacerbated Russia’s food supply problems. Unrest continued to grow as peasants looted farms and food riots erupted in the cities.

Bolshevik Revolution

On November 6 and 7, 1917 (or October 24 and 25 on the Julian calendar, which is why the event is often referred to as the October Revolution ), leftist revolutionaries led by Bolshevik Party leader Vladimir Lenin launched a nearly bloodless coup d’état against the Duma’s provisional government.

The provisional government had been assembled by a group of leaders from Russia’s bourgeois capitalist class. Lenin instead called for a Soviet government that would be ruled directly by councils of soldiers, peasants and workers.

The Bolsheviks and their allies occupied government buildings and other strategic locations in Petrograd, and soon formed a new government with Lenin as its head. Lenin became the dictator of the world’s first communist state.

Russian Civil War

Civil War broke out in Russia in late 1917 after the Bolshevik Revolution. The warring factions included the Red and White Armies.

The Red Army fought for the Lenin’s Bolshevik government. The White Army represented a large group of loosely allied forces, including monarchists, capitalists and supporters of democratic socialism.

On July 16, 1918, the Romanovs were executed by the Bolsheviks. The Russian Civil War ended in 1923 with Lenin’s Red Army claiming victory and establishing the Soviet Union.

After many years of violence and political unrest, the Russian Revolution paved the way for the rise of communism as an influential political belief system around the world. It set the stage for the rise of the Soviet Union as a world power that would go head-to-head with the United States during the Cold War .

The Russian Revolutions of 1917. Anna M. Cienciala, University of Kansas . The Russian Revolution of 1917. Daniel J. Meissner, Marquette University . Russian Revolution of 1917. McGill University . Russian Revolution of 1905. Marxists.org . The Russian Revolution of 1905: What Were the Major Causes? Northeastern University . Timeline of the Russian Revolution. British Library .

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What Were the Key Causes of the Russian Revolution?

02 Nov 2020

The Russian Revolution of 1917 marked the end of the 300-year Romanov dynasty and the start of a communist system of government. Rather than being triggered by one event, the Revolution was the result of a number of different economic, military and political factors that had been developing over decades.

Changes in society

For much of the 19th century, Russia remained relatively backward, with few roads and limited industrialisation, and a wide class divide. Following the emancipation of the serfs in 1861, agriculture remained in the hands of peasants and former landowners, relying predominantly on traditional methods.

Toward the end of the century, Russia experienced a large population increase, and its late and rapid industrialisation resulted in hundreds of thousands of people moving to urban areas out of financial necessity. This led to overcrowding and poor working conditions, with low wages, unsafe practices and few rights.

Nevertheless, acquiring new skills gave them a sense of self-respect and confidence, increasing expectations and exposing them to new ideas. After 1905’s ‘Bloody Sunday’ massacre, strikes and public disorder from this new proletariat rapidly increased, no longer seeing the Tsar as their champion.

The Tsar’s incompetence

Tsar Nicholas II was a deeply conservative autocratic ruler. He believed he had been granted the power to rule by divine right and assumed this gave him the unquestioning loyalty of his people.

Detached from their plight, Nicholas refused to allow progressive reforms or accept any reduction in power. Religious faith was used as a means of political authority, exercised through the clergy and later through the Cossacks and secret police.

Tsar Nicholas II (Image Credit: Public Domain).

However, Bloody Sunday forced Nicholas to create the October Manifesto, making a number of concessions to decree limited civil rights and a democratically elected parliament, the Duma. Nevertheless, he worked to limit these to preserve his authority, dismissing the first two Dumas.

Nicholas was unprepared for the outbreak of World War One, but he was keen to restore Russia’s prestige after the Russo-Japanese War in 1904/5, and use the war to create national unity. However, he failed to choose skilled leaders, was disorganised in ensuring adequate supplies, and made poor strategic decisions throughout the war, leading to huge losses.

In Autumn 1915, Nicholas declared himself Commander in Chief of the army and departed for the Eastern Front, believing this would inspire the soldiers to fight with renewed vigour. By removing himself from a political role and now in sole command, he consequently bore more personal responsibility for any military failure. His absence also left a weakened government.

The Tsarina and the war

Nicholas’ departure left his wife, Tsarina Alexandra, in control. She wasn’t popular, and as a German princess, raised suspicions as to where her true loyalties lay.

Alexandra gained increasing influence over the appointment of ministers to the government and determined that no member should be in a strong enough position to challenge her husband’s authority. Consequently, the government tended to be filled with increasingly weak and incompetent men – leading to rumours she was a German collaborator.

Empress Alexandra Feodorovna with Rasputin, her children and a governess.

Rasputin and his influence over the Tsarina

Alexandra became strongly influenced by a Siberian monk, Rasputin , who was a mystic and self-proclaimed holy man. Although infamous for his drunkenness and womanising, Rasputin also gained a reputation as a healer who could perform amazing feats.

Nicholas and Alexandra had 4 daughters and a son, Alexei, who had haemophilia. Rasputin was summoned by Alexandra to pray for Alexei after he had an internal haemorrhage in spring 1907. After Alexei recovered, Alexandra became convinced Rasputin could control Alexei’s illness, and his influence over the Tsarina became considerable, advising her on government appointments and important decisions.

Rasputin soon became a controversial figure, bringing ridicule on the royal family. He was accused by his enemies of religious heresy and rape, and was rumoured to be having an affair with the Tsarina.

After Rasputin’s murder in December 1916 by Russian aristocrats, Alexandra’s behaviour became more erratic, and she failed to even attempt to address the challenges posed to government in Nicholas’ absence.

Impact of the First World War

Instead of restoring Russia’s prestige, the First World War led to the deaths of almost 2 million Russian soldiers and multiple military defeats.

When Russia entered the war, it was distinctly less industrialized than its allies, with a weakened navy following the 1904 Russo-Japanese War. The addition of the Ottoman Empire to the Central Powers cut off essential trade routes, contributing to munition shortages. Military defeats such as the 1914 Battle of Tannenberg sapped morale, as did the superior German army’s shift of focus to the Eastern front in 1915.

As the war progressed, many officers loyal to the Tsar were killed and replaced by discontented conscripts, with little loyalty to the Tsar. Soldiers were ill-equipped and staggering losses increasingly led to mutinies and revolts.

Tsar Nicolas II reviewing Russian troops. When Russia entered World War One, its army was the largest, but least modern of the major European powers. (Image Credit: Everett Collection / Shuttershock).

Economic problems

The vast demand for factory production of war supplies and workers resulted in labour riots and strikes, as did conscription, which took skilled workers from the cities, replacing them with unskilled peasants.

Conscripted peasants were also a large part of the Russian army. This led to a shortage of farm workers, hugely impacting production. By the end of 1915, there were signs the economy was breaking down due to wartime demand. The government attempted to address this by printing more money, but this led to high inflation. Underdeveloped railway systems led to food shortages and rising prices, with workers increasingly abandoning cities to seek food.

The Tsarina failed to address strikes and protests in late 1916 and by the time revolution hit, Russia’s economy was near collapse.

Peasant and worker discontent

The scorched earth policy during the 1915 Russian army retreat destroyed large areas of peasant farmland, ruining their livelihoods. Meanwhile living conditions deteriorated, with shortages in shops and a severe lack of food. This was made worse by peasants hoarding grain for themselves, and the railways being committed to the war effort, unavailable to transport supplies to the cities.

These shortages exacerbated social unrest, creating a powder-keg of despair and anger. Revolutionary groups continued to attract support, aided by the Bolshevik newspaper, Pravda. They believed a worker-run government should replace Tsarist rule, and the shortages provided the ideal opportunity to gain support.

In January 1917, to commemorate Bloody Sunday, thousands of workers went on strike in St Petersburg. In February, further rioting broke out, initially in response to an announcement on bread rationing. Strikers from the Putilov Engineering Plant joined the crowds at the celebration of International Women’s Day.

Meeting in the Putilov Works in Petrograd during the 1917 Russian Revolution. In February 1917 strikes at the factory contributed to the February Revolution. (Image Credit: Shuttershock).

As numbers increased, some of the Tsar’s forces opened fire. Angry protestors broke into the barracks of the city’s Pavlovsky Regiment, yet the Cossack soldiers refused orders to fire on the crowds, joining the protestors and mutinying against the Tsar.

Seize of Power

Dismissing this as short-lived, Nicholas attempted to return to St Petersburg to reclaim authority, but his train was diverted by revolutionaries to Pskov. Isolated and powerless, he was forced to abdicate.

A Provisional Government replaced Nicholas (after his brother refused the crown), but carried on fighting the war. Lenin claimed the government was imperialist in doing so, and undeserving of Socialist support. As the Provisional Government’s power waned, Bolshevik influence increased. As shortages and military defeats continued, Lenin and the Bolsheviks determined to seize power in the name of the Soviets.

Vladimir Lenin during the Russian Revolution of October 1917. (Image Credit: Alamy).

In October 1917 they stormed the Winter Palace, and arrested the Provisional Government, putting themselves in charge.

A year later the Tsar and his family were executed. Russia had changed forever.

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Causes of the Russian Revolution

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The Russian Revolution of 1917 is one of the most impactful political events of the 20th century. Lasting from March 8, 1917, to June 16, 1923, the violent revolution saw the overthrow of the tradition of czarist rulers by the Bolsheviks , led by leftist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin . Perhaps more significant to the future of international politics and security, Lenin’s Bolsheviks would go on to form the Communist Party of the Soviet Union . 

Key Takeaways: Causes of the Russian Revolution

• The Bolshevik-led Russian Revolution of 1917, in overthrowing Tsar Nicholas II, ended over 300 years of autocratic tsarist rule.
• The Russian Revolution lasted from March 8, 1917, to June 16, 1923.
• Primary causes of the Revolution included peasant, worker, and military dissatisfaction with corruption and inefficiency within the czarist regime, and government control of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Primary causes of the Russian Revolution included widespread corruption and inefficiency within the czarist imperial government, growing dissatisfaction among peasants, workers, and soldiers, the monarchy’s level of control over the Russian Orthodox Church , and the disintegration of the Imperial Russian Army during World War I .

Changes in the Working Class  

The social causes of the Russian Revolution can be traced to the oppression of both the rural peasant class and the urban industrial working class by the Tsarist regime and the costly failures of Tsar Nicholas II in World War I . The rather delayed industrialization of Russia in the early 20th century triggered immense social and political changes that resulted in interrelated dissatisfaction among both the peasants and the workers.

Peasant Dissatisfaction

Under the elementary theory of property, Russian peasants believed that land should belong to those who farmed it. While they had been emancipated from serfdom by Tsar Alexander II in 1861, rural agrarian peasants resented being forced to pay the government back for their minimal allotments of land, and they continued to press for communal ownership of the land they worked. Despite feeble attempts at land reforms in the early 20th century, Russia continued to consist mainly of poor farming peasants and a glaring inequality of land ownership, with 25% of the nation’s land being privately owned by only 1.5% of the population.

Dissatisfaction was further exacerbated by the growing numbers of rural peasant villagers moving to and from urban areas leading to the disruptive influences of city culture on pastoral village life through the introduction of previously unavailable consumer goods, newspapers , and word of mouth. 

Working Class Dissatisfaction

By the end of the 19th century, Russia’s cities grew rapidly as hundreds of thousands moved to urban areas to escape poverty . Between 1890 and 1910, for example, Russia’s capital at the time, Saint Petersburg , grew from 1,033,600 to 1,905,600, with Moscow experiencing similar growth. The resulting “proletariat”—an expanded working class possessing economically valuable skills—became more likely to go on strike and to publicly protest than the dwindling peasant class had been in the past.

The Industrial Revolution in Russia left workers facing unsafe working conditions, low wages, and few worker’s rights instead of the wealth realized by workers in Western Europe and the United States . The once well-off Russian working class was suddenly confronted with overcrowded housing often with deplorable sanitary conditions, and long work hours. Even on the eve of World War I, workers put in 10- to 12-hour workdays, six days a week. The constant risk of injury and death from unsafe and unsanitary working conditions along with harsh physical discipline and inadequate wages added to the proletariat’s growing discontent.

Despite these hardships, many workers were encouraged to expect more from life. The self-respect and confidence gained from their newly acquired essential skills served to heighten workers’ expectations and desires. Now living in cities, workers came to desire consumer products they had never seen in villages. More importantly to the looming revolution, workers living in cities were more likely to be swayed by new—often rebellious—ideas about political and social order .

No longer considering Tsar Nicholas II to be the protector of the working class, strikes and public disorder from this new proletariat increased rapidly in number and violence, especially after the “Bloody Sunday” massacre of January 22, 1905, in which hundreds of unarmed protestors were killed by Nicholas’ elite troops.

When Russia entered World War I in 1914, the vast demand for factories to produce war supplies triggered even more labor riots and strikes. Already largely opposed to the war, the Russian people supported the workers. Equally unpopular forced military service stripped cities of skilled workers, who were replaced by unskilled peasants. When the inadequate railway system combined with the diversion of resources, production, and transport to war needs caused widespread famine, droves of remaining workers fled the cities seeking food. Suffering from a lack of equipment and supplies, the Russian soldiers themselves finally turned against the Tsar. As the war progressed, many of the military officers who remained loyal to the Tsar were killed and replaced by discontented draftees with little loyalty to the Tsar.

Unpopular Government

Even before World War I, many sections of Russia had become dissatisfied with the autocratic Russian government under Czar Nicholas II , who had once declared, “One Czar, One Church, One Russia.” Like his father, Alexander III, Nicholas II applied an unpopular policy of “Russification,” a process that required non-ethnic Russian communities, such as Belarus and Finland , to give up their native culture and language in favor of Russian culture.

An extremely conservative ruler, Nicholas II maintained strict authoritarian control. Individual citizens were expected to show unquestioned devotion to their community, acquiescence to the mandated Russian social structure, and a sense of duty to the country. 

Blinded by his visions of the Romanov monarchy that had ruled Russia since 1613, Nicholas II remained unaware of the declining state of his country. Believing his power had been granted by Divine Right, Nicholas assumed the people would show him unquestioning loyalty. This belief made him unwilling to allow social and political reforms that could have relieved the suffering of the Russian people resulting from his incompetent management of the war effort. 

Even after the events of the failed Russian Revolution of 1905 had spurred Nicholas II to grant the people minimal civil rights, he proceeded to limit these liberties in order to maintain the ultimate authority of the Tsarist Monarchy . In the face of such oppression, the Russian people continued to press Nicholas II to allow democratic participation in government decisions. Russian liberals, populists, Marxists , and anarchists supported social and democratic reform.

Heritage Images / Getty Images

The people’s dissatisfaction with the autocratic Russian government peaked after the Bloody Sunday massacre of January 1905. The resulting crippling worker strikes forced Nicholas II to choose between either establishing a military dictatorship or allowing the creation of a limited constitutional government. Though both he and his advising minister had reservations about granting a constitution, they decided it would tactically be the better choice. Thus on October 17, 1905, Nicholas issued the October Manifesto promising to guarantee civil liberties and establish Russia’s first parliament —the Duma. Members of the Duma were to be popularly elected and their approval would be required before the enactment of any legislation. In 1907, however, Nicholas disbanded the first two Dumas when they failed to endorse his autocratic policies. With the loss of the Dumas, quashed hopes for democracy fueled a renewed revolutionary fervor among all classes of the Russian people as violent protests criticized the Monarchy. 

Church and Military

At the time of the Russian Revolution, the Tsar was also the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, which played an integral role in the autocratic government. Reinforcing the Tsars’ authority, Official Church doctrine declared that the Tsar had been appointed by God, thus any challenge to—the “Little Father”—was considered an insult to God.

Mostly illiterate at the time, the Russian population relied heavily on what the Church told them. Priests were often financially rewarded for delivering the Tsar’s propaganda. Eventually, the peasants began losing respect for priests, seeing them as increasingly corrupt and hypocritical. Overall, the Church and its teachings became less respected during the rule of Nicholas II.

The level to which the Church was subservient to the Tsarist state remains a topic of debate. However, the Church’s freedom to take independent activity was limited by the edicts of Nicholas II. This extent of state control over religion angered many clergy members and lay believers alike.

Feelings of Russian national unity following the outbreak of World War I in August 1914 briefly quelled the strikes and protests against the Tsar. However, as the war dragged on, these feelings of patriotism faded. Angered by staggering losses during just the first year of the war, Nicholas II took over command of the Russian Army. Personally directing Russia’s main theatre of war, Nicholas placed his largely incapable wife Alexandra in charge of the Imperial government . Reports of corruption and incompetence in the government soon began to spread as the people became increasingly critical of the influence of self-proclaimed “mystic” Grigori Rasputin over Alexandra and the Imperial family. 

Under the command of Nicholas II, Russian Army war losses grew quickly. By November 1916, more than 5 million Russian soldiers had been killed, wounded, or taken prisoner. Mutinies and desertions began to occur. Lacking food, shoes, ammunition, and even weapons, discontent and lowered morale contributed to more crippling military defeats. 

The war also had a devastating effect on the Russian people. By the end of 1915, the economy was failing due to wartime production demands. As inflation reduced income, widespread food shortages and rising prices made it difficult for individuals to sustain themselves. Strikes, protests, and crime increased steadily in the cities. As suffering people scoured the streets for food and firewood, resentment for the wealthy grew.

As the people increasingly blamed Tsar Nicholas for their suffering, the meager support he had left crumbled. In November 1916, the Duma warned Nicholas that Russia would become a failed state unless he allowed a permanent constitutional government to be put in place. Predictably, Nicholas refused and Russia’s Tsarist regime, which had endured since the reign of Ivan the Terrible in 1547, collapsed forever during the Revolution of February 1917. Less than one year later, Tsar Nicholas II and his entire family were executed.

Nationalist and Revolutionary Sentiments 

Nationalism as an expression of cultural identity and unity first arose in Russia in the early 19th century, incorporating into pan-Slavism—an anti-Western movement advocating the union of all Slavs or all Slavic peoples of eastern and east-central Europe into a single powerful political organization. Following Nicholas II’s doctrine of “Russification,” Russian Slavophiles opposed allowing the influences of Western Europe to alter Russian culture and traditions.

In 1833, Emperor Nicholas I adopted the decidedly nationalistic motto “Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationality” as the official ideology of Russia. Three components of the triad were:

• Orthodoxy : Adherence to Orthodox Christianity and protection of the Russian Orthodox Church.
• Autocracy: Unconditional loyalty to the Imperial House of Romanov in return for paternalist protection of all orders of social hierarchy in Christianity. 
• Nationality : A sense of belonging to a particular nation and sharing that nation’s common history, culture, and territory.

To a large extent, however, this brand of state-proclaimed Russian nationalism was largely intended to divert public attention from the inner tensions and contradictions of the autocratic Tsarist system after the enactment of Nicholas II’s October Manifesto. 

Expressions of Russian nationalism all but vanished during the nation’s disastrous experience in World War I but reemerged following the Bolshevik’s triumph in the 1917 Revolution and the collapse of the Tsarist Russian empire. Nationalist movements first increased among the different nationalities living in the ethically diverse country. 

In developing its policy on nationalism, the Bolshevik government largely followed Marxist-Leninist ideology. Lenin and Karl Marx advocated for a worldwide worker revolution that would result in the elimination of all nations as distinct political jurisdictions. They thus considered nationalism to be an undesirable bourgeois capitalist ideology.

However, the Bolshevik leaders considered the inherent revolutionary potential of nationalism to be a key to advancing the revolution envisioned by Lenin and Marx and supported the ideas of self-determination and the unique identity of nations. 

On November 21, 1917, just one month after the October Revolution, the Declaration of the Rights of the People of Russia promised four key principles:

• The equality and sovereignty—the principle holding that the source of governmental power lies with the people—of all peoples of the Russian empire. 
• The right of self-determination for all nations.
• The elimination of all privileges based on nationality or religion.
• Freedom of cultural preservation and development for Russian ethnic minorities.

The newly formed Communist Soviet government, however, resisted the implementation of these ideals. Of all the countries that had at least perilously coexisted in the tsarist Russian empire, only Poland , Finland , Latvia , Lithuania , and Estonia were granted independence. However, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia lost their independence when they were occupied by the Soviet Army in 1940.

Soviet leaders had hoped the 1917 Revolution would trigger what Bolshevik leader Leon Trotsky had called a “Permanent Revolution” spreading socialist ideas from country to country. As history has proven, Trotsky’s vision was not to become. By the early 1920s, even the Soviet leaders realized that most developed nations would, by their nationalistic nature, remain autonomous . 

Today, Russian extremist nationalism often refers to far-right and a few far-left ultra-nationalist movements. The earliest example of such movements dates to early 20th century Imperial Russia when the far-right Black Hundred group opposed the more popular Bolshevik revolutionary movement by staunchly supporting the House of Romanov and opposing any departure from the autocracy of the reigning Tsarist monarchy. 

• McMeekin, Sean. “The Russian Revolution: A New History.” Basic Books, March 16, 2021, ISBN-10: 1541675487.
• Trotsky, Leon. “History of the Russian Revolution.” Haymarket Books, July 1, 2008, ISBN-10: 1931859450.
• Baron, Samuel H. “Bloody Saturday in the Soviet Union.” Stanford University Press, May 22, 2001, ISBN-10:‎ 0804752311.
• Gatrell, Peter. “Russia's First World War: A Social and Economic History.” Routledge, April 7, 2005, ISBN-10: 9780582328181.
• Tuminez, Astrid. “Russian Nationalism and Vladimir Putin's Russia.” American International Group, Inc. . April 2000, https://csis-website-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/legacy_files/files/media/csis/pubs/pm_0151.pdf.
• Kolstø, Pal and Blakkisrud, Helge. “The New Russian Nationalism.” Edinburgh University Press, March 3, 2016, ISBN 9781474410434.
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Russian Revolution

Russian revolution essay questions, russia before 1905.

1. Explain the challenges and difficulties faced by the tsarist government of Russia between the mid-1800s and 1905. How did tsarism respond to these challenges?

2. Discuss the relationship between the tsarist hierarchy, the Russian nobility and the powerful land-owning class. How did the actions of these groups contribute to the development of revolutionary sentiment?

3. On what basis did tsarism claim authority to rule Russia? What people or groups both reinforced and disseminated the idea of tsarist authority?

4. According to historian Orlando Figes, tsarism was held up by “unstable pillars”. Discuss the meaning and the validity of Figes’ analogy.

5. Compare Russia’s economy in the late 1800s to the economies of Britain, France and Germany. Why did Russia’s economic development fail to match that of her powerful European neighbours?

6. To what extent did the leadership and policies of Tsar Alexander III lay the groundwork for revolutions in Russia in 1905 and 1917?

7. Discuss the ideas, composition and methods of revolutionary movements in late 19th century Russia. To what extent were these movements able to reform or moderate tsarism?

8. Many writers considered Russia’s peasantry to be the most logical source of revolutionary energy. To what extent was this true? What obstacles were there to a ‘peasant revolution’ in Russia?

9. Explain how the program of economic modernisation championed by Sergei Witte contributed to revolutionary sentiment in Russia.

10. Evaluate Nicholas II’s fitness to rule as tsar, giving close attention to his personal qualities and political and religious beliefs.

Revolutionary and reform movements

1. Describe the ideas and methods adopted by Russian revolutionary movements in the 50 years prior to 1905.

2. With reference to three specific groups, explain why 19th-century Russian revolutionary groups were unable to overthrow, reform or moderate tsarism.

3. Why did the Russian Social Democratic Party (or SDs) split in 1903? What were the short-term and long-term ramifications of this split, both for the party and for Russia?

4. According to Vladimir Ulyanov (Lenin), what were the requirements for a successful revolutionary and a successful revolutionary party?

5. Discuss how the Bolshevik and Menshevik parties each attempted to foment change between 1905 and February 1917. Which group was more successful and why?

6. Discuss the size, composition and policy platform of the Socialist Revolutionary party. What role did this party play in opposing tsarism before and during the 1905 Revolution?

7. Examine the composition and policy positions of the liberal movement in early 1900s Russia. Who belonged to liberal groups and what system of government did they desire?

8. How did the formation, expansion and treatment of Russia’s industrial workforce contribute to a growth in revolutionary sentiment?

9. Evaluate the role played by the Bolshevik party and its individual members in both the 1905 and February 1917 revolutions.

10. It is often said that the Bolsheviks were a party formed in Lenin’s own image. To what extent is this statement true?

The 1905 Revolution

1. Explain how the tsar’s commitment to a war with Japan in 1904 would eventually weaken his authority and threaten his regime.

2. Was the petition drafted by Georgi Gapon and the Putilov workers in early 1905 a simple list of grievances about working conditions? Or was it an incitement to political revolution?

3. Explain the impact of the ‘Bloody Sunday’ shootings of 1905, both on public perceptions of tsarism and on the revolutionary movement in Russia.

4. One historian described the 1905 Revolution as “a revolution with five arms but no head”. To what extent was this true and how did it affect the outcomes of the revolution?

5. Examine the tsar’s responses to the 1905 Revolution and the growing demands for an elected Duma. What do they reveal about his commitment to reform?

6. What was contained in the October Manifesto and what impact did this document have on the progress of the 1905 Revolution?

7. Compare and evaluate the contribution of the Bolsheviks, Mensheviks and the Socialist-Revolutionaries to the 1905 Revolution.

8. Leon Trotsky described the events of 1905 as a “dress rehearsal” for the revolutions of 1917. What lessons do you think were learned by the Russian revolutionaries from 1905?

9. Explain how tsarist chief minister Piotr Stolypin responded to the events of 1905. How successful were these responses in reestablishing tsarist authority?

10. Explore the activities and the role of the first three Dumas between 1906 and 1912. To what extent were these bodies effective or influential?

The February Revolution

1. Examine the effectiveness and popularity of the tsarist government between 1912 and 1914. How and why did the outbreak of World War I impact on tsarist authority?

2. Discuss the actions of Grigori Rasputin between 1905 and 1916. How did Rasputin contribute to revolutionary sentiment in the build-up to February 1917?

3. Discuss the role played by the fourth Duma and its Provisional Committee in the development of the February Revolution and the overthrow of tsarism.

4. To what extent was Russia’s entry into World War I a product of tsarist mismanagement? Did Nicholas II contribute to his own doom – or was he a victim of circumstance?

5. Evaluate the argument that the tsar’s decision to take personal command of the army in 1915 marked the beginning of the end for his regime.

6. Describe the political, economic and social impact that World War I had on Russia and its people, with a particular focus on the year 1916.

7. Explain how errors of judgement and mismanagement by the tsar and tsarina in February 1917 contributed to the overthrow of tsarism.

8. Discuss the role of propaganda and public perception in bringing down tsarism in February 1917. Refer to at least three specific pieces of propaganda.

9. The February Revolution is often described as a “leaderless” revolution. Was this really the case? Which people and groups were responsible for the revolution?

10. According to one historian, “tsarism collapsed with a whimper”. Evaluate this statement, referring specifically to the actions of the tsar and his advisors.

The Provisional Government and October Revolution

1. Discuss the composition, support and political legitimacy of the Provisional Government in March 1917. Did this government have a greater mandate to rule than the tsarist regime it replaced?

2. Examine the political career and rise to prominence of Alexander Kerensky. To what extent was Kerensky a socialist, both before 1917 and during his service in the Provisional Govechallenges3. What challenge did the formation of the Petrograd Soviet and the issuing of its Order Number One pose to the Provisional Government?

4. Explain how and why the German government backed Lenin’s return to Russia in April 1917. How was this perceived by Lenin’s opponents?

5. How did Lenin’s April 1917 speech at Finland Station and the publication of his April Thesis shortly after radically transform the situation in Russia?

6. Give reasons for the political instability of the Provisional Government through the middle of 1917. What were the eventual outcomes of this instability?

7. Referring to specific conditions, policies and events, explain Kerensky’s statement that the Provisional Government had “authority without power” while the Petrograd Soviet had “power without authority”.

8. Explain how the ‘July Days’ and the Kornilov affair each affected the Bolsheviks and their position.

9. Describe the role of the Military Revolutionary Committee in overthrowing the Provisional Government.

10. Evaluate the ideas and actions of Leon Trotsky in 1917, comparing Trotsky’s contribution to the October Revolution with that of Lenin.

11. Was the overthrow of the Provisional Government in October 1917 a Bolshevik-engineered coup or a popular revolution?

12. Why has the Bolshevik capture of the Winter Palace become an iconic moment of the Russian Revolution? Is the significance of this event justified?

The Bolsheviks in power

1. To what extent was the Bolshevik seizure of power in October 1917 supported by non-Bolshevik socialists and ordinary Russians?

2. Describe the system of government developed in the weeks following the October Revolution. To what extent did the Bolsheviks honour Lenin’s demand for “all power to the Soviets”?

3. Explain the policy of “state capitalism”, articulated by Lenin during the first months of Bolshevik rule. What was this policy intended to achieve?

4. Referring to specific Bolshevik policies from 1917 and 1918, evaluate the extent to which Lenin and his government were able to deliver “peace, bread and land” to the Russian people.

5. Discuss the formation, sitting and closure of the Constituent Assembly in December 1917 and January 1918. Why did Lenin permit elections for this body, only to close it almost immediately?

6. Was the signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk a victory or a defeat for the Bolshevik government? What were the short-term and long-term impacts of this treaty, both for the Bolshevik movement and for the Russian people>

7. Describe the Bolshevik policy of war communism. What was it intended to achieve and how successful was it?

8. Explain the conditions and causes that led to the Red Terror of 1918. Was the Terror a response to circumstances – or were the Bolsheviks destined to call on terror as a means of ruling Russia?

9. Why was Trotsky’s leadership as war commissar critical to the Bolshevik victory in the Russian Civil War? Identify and discuss five major contributions Trotsky made to the war effort.

10. Which groups or regions opposed the Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War? Compare their political objectives, as well as their success in opposing the Bolshevik regime.

Crisis and consolidation

1. To what extent was the Great Famine of 1921 caused by Bolshevik policies? How did the Bolshevik regime respond to this catastrophe?

2. Discuss reasons for the formation and activities of the Workers’ Opposition. How did Lenin and the Bolshevik hierarchy respond to factionalism in the party?

3. Explain the reasons for the outbreak of the anti-Bolshevik uprising at Kronstadt in early 1921. What impact did this rebellion have on the Bolshevik regime?

4. Was the New Economic Policy, passed by Lenin and his government in 1921, a “strategic retreat” – or a sign that their revolution had failed?

5. In 1921 Lenin called for party unity and an end to factionalism. Discuss the impact that events like Kronstadt and the NEP had on unity within the Bolshevik movement.

6. “The Bolsheviks were successful revolutionaries but failures at political leadership and economic management.” Discuss the validity of this statement.

7. Lenin once likened revolutions to locomotives that must be driven fast but kept “on the rails”. Did the Bolshevik revolution lose direction because it attempted to move too quickly?

8. How did the Bolsheviks respond to Lenin’s withdrawal from public life in 1922-23? Why was there a crisis of leadership in the party during this period?

9. Many considered Leon Trotsky to be Lenin’s natural successor as leader of the party and the Soviet Union. Discuss at least three reasons why Trotsky did not assume the party leadership.

10. Explain Joseph Stalin’s career and contribution to the revolution up to and including 1922. How did Stalin ascend to the leadership of the party?

Evaluating the revolution

1. According to some historians, in any revolution, the revolutionaries always resort to the same ideas and methods as the old regime. To what extent is this true of the Russian Revolution>

2. Discuss three reasons why a democratic government failed to take root in Russia between 1905 and 1918.

3. “War made revolution possible but made rebuilding society impossible”. Referring to three different wars, discuss the relationship between war and revolution in Russia between 1905 and 1921.

4. “Women played an essential role in both the revolutions of 1917 and the development of the new Soviet state.” To what extent is this statement true?

5. The historian Orlando Figes called one of his Russian Revolution text A People’s Tragedy . How and why was the revolution a “tragedy” for the people of Russia?

6. The Russian peasantry was an “immovable mountain” when it came to change, claimed one writer. How did Russia’s peasants respond – or fail to respond – to reform and revolution?

7. “The Russian Revolution transformed Russia from a backward agrarian empire into a modern industrial state.” To what extent is this statement correct?

8. Was the Russian Revolution evidence that communism does not work in practice? Or did the Russian context make socialism impossible to achieve? Discuss.

9. What were the implications of Stalin’s leadership for the people of Russia? How did Stalin transform the Soviet Union in the first decade of his rule?

10. How different were Stalin’s ideology and methods from those of Lenin? Did Stalin take the Communist Party down a new path – or did he continue and expand what Lenin had started?

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Home — Essay Samples — History — World History — The Russian Revolution in 1917

The Russian Revolution in 1917

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Published: Mar 1, 2019

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Works Cited:

• Ahmed, S. (2014). Understanding Pakistani Culture: A Comparison with Western Culture. Asia Pacific Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, 2(5), 1-7.
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• Choudhry, S., & Akram, S. (2018). Comparison of Pakistani and American Cultures in Light of Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions. Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, 10(1), 25-40.
• Farooq, M. (2019). A Comparative Study of Pakistani and American Culture. Global Journal of Management and Business Research, 19(2), 1-10.
• Hameed, I., & Bhatti, M. A. (2016). A Comparative Study of Pakistani and American Culture. Journal of Research in Social Sciences, 4(2), 62-74.
• Kausar, R., Mahmood, S., & Cheema, S. (2019). Cultural Differences between Pakistan and the United States: A Literature Review. Journal of Educational and Social Research, 9(4), 37-47.
• Khan, N. U. (2015). The impact of culture on Pakistani immigrants in the United States. Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 54(2), 225-237.
• Shahzadi, I. (2018). Pakistani and American Culture: A Comparison. Journal of Language and Literature, 9(2), 71-75.
• Ziauddin, A., & Hussain, M. (2017). Cultural Differences between Pakistan and the United States: A Review of Literature. Journal of Education and Practice, 8(9), 101-110.

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The February Revolution

The petrograd soviet and the provisional government, the end of the romanov dynasty and the arrest of the russian royal family, the role of the army in the russian revolution, the petrograd soviet joins the government, june offensive, the july days, kerensky and the kornilov revolt, trotsky and the second congress of soviets, the defeat of krasnov and the collapse of the provisional government, the soviet government at work, the treaty of brest-litovsk, the death of the tsar and the russian civil war.

• What caused the Russian Revolution of 1917?
• Why is it called the October Revolution if it took place in November?
• How did the revolution lead to the Russian Civil War?
• What happened to the tsar and his family?
• Who was Leon Trotsky?

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• GlobalSecurity.org - Russian Revolution
• Al Jazeera - The failed dream of a Russian revolution
• Spartacus Educational - Russian Revolution, October, 1917
• Marquette University - History Department - The Russian Revolution of 1917
• Alpha History - Russian Revolution timeline 1917
• Pressbooks Create - A Brief History of the World Since 1500 - Revolution in Russia
• Marx Memorial Library - A Brief History of the Russian Revolution
• Russian Revolution - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
• Russian Revolution - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)
• Table Of Contents

On February 23 (March 8, New Style), 1917, the revolution began, but it was neither organized nor immediately recognized as such by any of the existing parties or political groups. Strikes for higher wages at some of Petrograd’s factories had been occurring sporadically for some time, and on that day no fewer than 130,000 men were picketing. To this total must be added the considerable number of female workers who were celebrating International Women’s Day . The number of strikers and their sympathizers was large, and although several bakers’ shops were demolished by the mob , neither the leaders of the Duma on the one hand nor the imperial government and the police on the other gave the matter any particular attention. The only precaution taken by the authorities was to prevent the demonstrators from reaching the centre of the city. The next day the strikers were still more numerous and probably amounted to 30 percent of all workers in Petrograd. Some sections of the crowd succeeded in reaching the city centre, and their mood soon became threatening. On that day university students joined the movement, but the primary concern of protesters remained the food shortages that had plagued the capital. Only a few cries were raised denouncing the autocracy and the war.

The third day (February 25 [March 10, New Style]) would prove the turning point. The strike became general , and the strikers assumed an aggressive demeanour, raiding police stations in the factory districts and disarming the police. In this area of the city the police practically disappeared, and the political demonstration began to assume the character of an armed uprising. The Cossacks who had been patrolling the streets as the bulwark of the autocracy suddenly manifested neutrality and even friendliness to the strikers. Sergey Khabalov, the military governor of the capital, received a telegram from the tsar, then at the front, ordering him to suppress the strike. In another telegram Nicholas empowered Prime Minister Nikolai Golitsyn to prorogue the Duma. On February 26 (March 11, New Style), acting on the instructions he had received, Khabalov tried to disperse the demonstrators by force, employing the police as well as cadets from Imperial Guard regiments. The crowds in the centre of the city were temporarily scattered, and scores of demonstrators were shot down. This resort to force on the part of the authorities was not strong enough to crush the strikers and may well have intensified their revolutionary mood.

When the news came that several elite regiments of the Imperial Guard had revolted and joined the demonstrators, there was no longer any doubt that a revolution was underway. Khabalov tried to send a group of 1,000 handpicked troops under the command of Col. Alexander Kutepov, a well-respected officer who had just returned from the front, to arrest the mutinous soldiers. This proved to be the only serious attempt to counter the growing uprising in the capital, but it amounted to nothing. The fate of Kutepov’s force illustrated the transformed mentality of the soldiery. Whole regiments, marching with the avowed intention of obeying orders, no sooner came into contact with the demonstrators than they suddenly fraternized and shared their arms with them. The government then made no more efforts to deal directly with the situation in Petrograd but concentrated on holding out until such time as the troops from the front could arrive to crush the Petrograd garrison and the revolutionaries. Although ministers tried to entrench themselves first at the Winter Palace and then at the Admiralty, they could hold neither place. On the evening of February 27 (March 12, New Style) they went into hiding and were eventually arrested and imprisoned.

The victory of the revolution in the capital was seemingly complete, but the monarchy still survived and was in possession of sufficient forces to crush the uprising. Moreover, the revolutionaries were both intoxicated by victory and poorly organized; the dispatch of a small but disciplined body of troops could easily have reasserted the authority of the tsar. What remained an enigma , however, was the attitude toward the revolution held by the soldiers and officers at the front. Unable to read the mood of the army, Duma leaders hesitated to assert the power which the revolutionaries urged them to assume. Instead of resorting to bold measures, they made frantic efforts to induce the tsar to compromise with the revolution and to accept, at the 11th hour, their old demand for responsible government. Even after the Duma had allowed itself to be prorogued and the garrison had revolted, Mikhail Rodzianko, speaker of the Duma, attempted to salvage the old regime. He not only sent urgent telegrams to the tsar and the leading generals pointing out the necessity of saving the monarchy and the country by conceding the necessary reforms but even held consultations with the very ministers whom he had denounced as treasonable. The vision of the tsar was equally myopic. So blind was he to the facts of the situation that even at this hour he flatly rejected the appeals of the Duma and refused to believe that the strike had culminated in a revolution. When he and his advisers at last learned that the revolt of the Petrograd troops had endangered the existence of the monarchy, they immediately ordered a number of regiments from various parts of the front to proceed to the capital.

The loyalty and discipline of these troops had never been put to the test. The first detachments under Gen. Nikolai Ivanov were prevented from approaching Petrograd by railway workers. Additional regiments were never sent because, by that point, the revolution had developed such impetus and had gained such support at the front that any attempt to crush it by military force was recognized as hopeless. The army indeed could no longer be relied on, and it may plausibly be assumed that even if the troops had been dispatched, they would probably have mutinied and fraternized with the revolutionists.

While the members of the Duma were marking time and hesitating to take leadership of the revolution, representatives of the workers were taking immediate steps to organize revolutionary forces under the banner of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies . Only late in the early morning of February 28 (March 13, New Style), after prolonged discussions and with considerable reluctance, did the members of the Duma Committee make up their minds to constitute a government. Three considerations were obviously instrumental in leading them to this decision: first, a clear consciousness of the elemental force of the revolution; second, the apprehension that the Petrograd Soviet might be tempted to assume power, and third, the hope that by constituting themselves the ruling authority they might be able to cope with the increasing anarchy and save the monarchy and even the dynasty . Georgy Yevgenyevich, Prince Lvov , would serve as prime minister in what would come to be known as the Provisional Government .

Meanwhile, the Petrograd Soviet was acting with haste and purpose. Founded late on the afternoon of February 27 (March 12, New Style), it had succeeded in opening its first plenary sitting the same evening with an attendance of approximately 250 members, consisting of Socialist deputies of the Duma, a number of prominent worker leaders representing the various shades of revolutionary opinion, and members of strike committees who had been active during the few previous days. This meeting of the Petrograd Soviet was chaotic and interrupted by delegates from revolting regiments who had come to offer greetings and proffer allegiance . Nevertheless, the soviet managed to appoint a strong executive committee, which immediately took over the business of securing food supplies and the strategic defense of Petrograd against any possible attack from the autocracy. It also came to the decision to change its constitution by including army deputies along with worker deputies. In this way the soviet made a palpable bid for real power.

From this very moment, enlisting as it did the support of workers and the Petrograd garrison, the Petrograd Soviet was the depository of real power, but its members made no overt or covert attempt to constitute a revolutionary government. When the Duma decided at last to assume the responsibility of forming the new government, the decision was unanimously welcomed by leaders of the soviet. The attitude which these aspiring politicians took up with regard to the question of government is so surprising as to constitute one of the most intriguing problems of the Russian Revolution. Why the Petrograd Soviet refused immediately to proclaim itself the Government of Revolutionary Russia can only be a matter of speculation. Speaking at the first All-Russian Conference of Soviets in late March (early April, New Style) 1917, Yuri Steklov, a prominent member of its executive committee, ascribed the refusal to the uncertainty about the attitude of the army which prevailed at that time: “We were still doubtful,” he said, “whether the revolutionary outbreak would succeed in establishing even a bourgeois regime. We were in the dark not only as to the feelings of the troops at the front but even as to that of the regiments stationed at Tsarskoye Selo …”

This explanation addresses some, but certainly not all, of the soviet’s reticence. An orderly government, representing a compromise between the insurgent masses and the bourgeois classes, promised to be the strongest bulwark against counterrevolution. The desire for the establishment of such a government must undoubtedly have constituted the main factor in the unopposed assumption of power by the Duma. Still, fear of the outbreak of a counterrevolution cannot be regarded as an adequate explanation of the willingness of the soviet’s leaders to delegate power to the Duma. On the contrary, fear of counterrevolution should have induced them to keep the power in their own hands. Their decision to step aside and leave the formation of a government to the bourgeoisie , the class determined to arrest the onrush of the revolution, would be unintelligible unless it is recalled that most of the soviet’s leaders were deeply convinced that the aim of the revolution was solely to establish a democratic regime. It was believed that any attempt to associate the movement with socialist experiments or the dictatorship of the proletariat would ruin it and so repeat the disastrous failure of 1905 .

Among those on the soviet’s first executive committee were a few Bolsheviks (Russian: “One of the Majority”), members of the Russian Social-Democratic Workers’ Party who had supported Vladimir Lenin prior to the revolution of 1905. The Bolsheviks believed Lenin’s dictum that the Russian Revolution was to be the vanguard of a world socialist revolution. However, even they failed at the time to declare that the moment had come for establishing a socialist and proletarian government in Russia. So unprepared were they for taking action that when Lenin arrived in Petrograd three weeks later, he found that his most difficult task was to inspire his own party with the necessary enthusiasm for “deepening the revolution.” Whatever may have been the views held by the Bolsheviks at this time, they were in such an insignificant minority both in the Petrograd Soviet and outside that their views did not carry much weight. Moreover, their influence in the soviet, whatever it may have been, was counterbalanced by that of an equally insignificant minority on the right, which denied that the revolution had any aims other than the establishment of a democratic state and bourgeois liberties.

Members of the Duma, on the other hand, had few illusions about where the real political power was vested. They were not only willing to form a government with the consent of the soviet’s leaders, but insisted on the latter issuing an open proclamation of their support. The published program of the Provisional Government was indeed dictated by the soviet’s leaders and was accepted in full by the members of the Duma committee. The status of the government created as a result of this compromise was necessarily precarious in the extreme. Nominally invested with full powers and sovereign authority, the Provisional Government’s position was bound to be unstable because the basis of the compromise which established it was vague and uncertain. The revolutionary impetus of the masses and the constant changes in the constitution of the soviet and in the mentality of its leaders soon combined to render this basis even more untenable . Every day fresh groups joined the soviet and new leaders replaced old ones with the consequence that new adjustments constantly had to be made, and even relative stability became difficult to maintain.

While negotiations between the soviet and the Duma were still proceeding and before the Provisional Government formally took over the administration (March 1 [March 14, New Style]), the extremely delicate question of the position of the tsar and the Romanov dynasty needed to be settled. That Nicholas could no longer remain autocrat was a foregone conclusion, but conservative leaders of the Duma dreaded the idea of Russia becoming a republic and were determined to save the monarchy and perhaps even the dynasty. They accordingly dispatched Aleksandr Guchkov and Vasily Shulgin, two members of the Duma, to the tsar’s headquarters at Pskov with the mission of obtaining the tsar’s abdication in favour of the tsarevich Alexis and the appointment of the grand duke Michael as regent. A few days previously such an event would have been regarded as a fantastically successful triumph for the revolution. In those few days, however, the revolutionary movement had developed such an impetus that any attempt to save the dynasty was recognized as utterly impossible. The tsar therefore refused to risk the safety of his son and, abdicating both for himself and the tsarevich, proclaimed his brother Michael his successor.

When the terms of abdication became known on the following day, even this solution had to be promptly abandoned. The very same members of the Duma committee who had pinned their faith to the dynasty proceeded to the palace of the grand duke and strongly urged him to refuse the throne until the Constituent Assembly had drawn up a constitution. Michael declined the throne, and with that decision, three centuries of Romanov rule came to an end. A few days later the question of the dynasty came up again in a dramatic fashion, and the incident demonstrated both the strength of the soviet and its determination when necessary to use its power in defiance of the government. The tsar had requested the new ministers to arrange for the departure of himself and his family to Great Britain, a request which the leaders of the soviet learned of by mere accident. At once they decided to prevent this outcome, and they called on the government to put the tsar and his family under arrest. Even before their protest could be dealt with, they gave orders to railway operators to stop the imperial train and authorized one of their members, supported by a strong detachment of armed workers, to arrest the tsar. These steps proved unnecessary, however, for the new ministers themselves proceeded to arrest the royal family.

This and other incidents demonstrated that the members of the Provisional Government were essentially caretakers, but the soviet still felt that it could rely only on the workers of the capital and had yet to receive the all-important support of the soldiers at the front. The struggle for the soul of the army would consume the next few weeks. The battle centred on two questions: one dealing with the new status of the army and the other regarding the continuation or termination of the Russian war effort. The leaders of the soviet championed the civil rights now claimed by the soldiers, whereas the Duma appealed to them in the name of national safety. It was obvious that the semifeudal conditions which had prevailed in the barracks had to be modified, and Guchkov, the minister of war, was preparing an official declaration to this effect. Guchkov wished to expand civil liberties for soldiers within the strict limits of military discipline, but leaders of the soviet declared that these rights must be granted unconditionally.

This resolve to gain the support of the soldiery at all costs was responsible for the publication of the soviet’s Order No. 1, which directed the military, among other things, to obey only its orders and not those of the Provisional Government. It ordered that committees of soldiers were to be formed in all military and naval units in Petrograd. In their political actions, units were to be subject to their committees and to the soviet. Arms were to be under the control of the committees and on no account were to be given up if demanded by the officers. Strict discipline was to be preserved when on duty, but salutes when off duty were abolished. Special titles used in addressing officers and references to the officer’s noble birth were abolished. Officers were forbidden to use the second person singular in addressing soldiers. This practice of paying court to the army remained the settled policy of the leaders of the soviet until the outbreak of the Bolshevik revolt in November 1917, when Leon Trotsky gained unconditional allegiance of the Petrograd garrison by championing its claim to remain idle in the capital.

Despite all the privileges which the Petrograd Soviet had granted to the soldiers, the loyalty of the army at the front and even in the capital remained an open question. At first the Provisional Government seemed to have won the backing of the army. When the ministers proclaimed the necessity of a more vigorous prosecution of the war, the army rallied enthusiastically to their support. For about two weeks regiments stationed at Petrograd, as well as delegations sent by those in the provinces and at the front, marched to the Duma commanded by their officers, proclaimed their readiness to serve the revolution, and offered the government their allegiance and joyful support. The political significance of these demonstrations was considerable, but the army’s enthusiasm for prosecuting the war soon began to cool.

On March 27 (April 9, New Style) the soviet issued a manifesto to the world declaring that Russia sought no gains from the war and was ready to conclude peace on the basis of “no annexations” and “no indemnities.” From this time onward the question of peace terms became the main bone of contention between the Provisional Government and the soviet, with the government adhering to the secret treaties made by the Allies, and the soviet insisting on the denunciation of these treaties and on an agreement to continue the war only for purposes of self-defense. The pressure put on the government to identify itself with the principles laid down in the soviet’s manifesto became so strong that ministers felt compelled to make a public declaration on April 8 (April 22, New Style) in which Russia’s war aims were formulated as the establishment of a permanent peace on the basis of the self-determination of the people. This declaration was hailed as a great victory by the soviet, which thereupon demanded that the Provisional Government take “the next step” and communicate this to the Allied powers , with a view to their adopting its principles. After some hesitation Pavel Milyukov , the foreign minister, made an official announcement of the declaration. In a cover letter which he dispatched to Russian ambassadors at large, however, he asked them to reassure the governments to which they were accredited by informing them that Russia’s position regarding the war remained unchanged.

Milyukov’s note became known in Russia on May 2 (May 15, New Style), the day after Labor Day had been celebrated all over Russia. This holiday had been given official recognition by the government and saw participation from the garrisons in the towns as well as the regiments at the front. The manifestations of national unity which were the striking feature of that day were now exchanged for the ugly mood of division and party passion. For two days Russia seemed to be on the brink of civil war, the outbreak of which was finally prevented by the action of the soviet, which prohibited all meetings and demonstrations for three days and ordered the garrisons to remain in their barracks. The strength and discipline shown by the masses at this time finally convinced the soviet’s leaders that the real power was in their hands.

Discredited and disheartened, Lvov issued a proclamation in which he expressed his belief that the inclusion of soviet representatives in the government was essential to the safety of the state. The soviet at first (May 10 [May 23, New Style]) refused to entertain the idea of joining a coalition with the bourgeois parties. When Guchkov resigned as war minister and the Provisional Government seemed on the verge of collapse, the soviet reconsidered its decision and agreed to enter the government (May 18 [May 31, New Style]). In the letter of resignation which he forwarded to the prime minister, Guchkov reviewed the political situation: “Our illness,” he declared, “consists in an odd divorce of power and responsibility. Some are in full possession of power without a shadow of responsibility; while those who are visibly in full possession of responsibility possess not a shadow of power.”

Resolved now to assume its share of responsibility and having solemnly engaged to give the Provisional Government its complete support, the soviet was allotted five portfolios in the reconstructed cabinet: Justice , Agriculture, Labour, Food Supplies, and Post and Telegraphs. The last-mentioned ministry was created specifically to make room for Irakli Tsereteli, a Menshevik (Russian: “One of the Minority”—member of the non-Leninist wing of the Russian Social-Democratic Workers’ Party) from the second Duma who had been banished to Siberia and who was now the most popular and powerful member of the soviet. To this list of soviet and Socialist ministers must be added the name of Aleksandr Kerensky , who, though nominally a member of the executive committee of the soviet, had previously joined the Provisional Government on his own responsibility. He was now promoted from the Ministry of Justice to the all-important Ministry of War, and Mikhail Tereshchenko, minister of finance in the first Provisional Government, replaced Milyukov as minister for foreign affairs.

There were two main causes behind the fall of the first Provisional Government. The first was the government’s assumption of responsibility without the backing of power. The second was its equivocal foreign policy that tried to balance the war aims of the Allies, which involved an indefinite prolongation of the war, and the soviet’s policy of limiting the war to a “revolutionary defense,” which was based on the idea that an honourable peace might at once be concluded. The new government occupied a more favourable position because it represented both the bourgeoisie and the masses, but it was still confronted by formidable difficulties. Not only was the crucial question of peace or war to be settled, but also there was growing unrest in the countryside. In addition, the dissolution of the Russian Empire into separate national units called urgently for solutions which the government was totally unable to furnish. The consequence was that the coalition lasted only two months and was finally brought down by the resignation of the three Liberal ( Kadet ) ministers, who were protesting the concessions made to independence movements in Ukraine and Finland . These troubles would coincide with the greatest crisis for the revolution thus far: the disastrous failure of the offensive in Galicia and the first Bolshevik rising in the capital.

The origin of the decision to renew the offensive on the Eastern Front is obscure, but pressure exerted by the Allies was at least partly responsible for it. Many in the government were totally opposed to it, as they felt that it was likely to fail and thereby to accelerate the disintegration of the army. They pointed out that an offensive, if not strong and decisive enough, would give the Germans a much wanted excuse for counterattacking on a wider front than the Russians could hold. The plan which the Kerensky government adopted was obviously undertaken more for political than for military reasons. The attack, it was believed, would have one of two clear results. If victory were achieved, it would prove that Russia was still a legitimate threat and compel the Germans to come forward with the offer of a separate peace. In the event of defeat, the offensive might compel German Socialists to take a stand either in defense of the Russian Revolution or in support of German militarism.

Kerensky engaged in a tour of the front, where he delivered impassioned speeches to the troops and declared that the country expected them to work a miracle. The soldiers listened to Kerensky, applauded him, and even swore to fight and to die for the revolution. The moment the war minister left, however, they went back to their barracks and would not return to the trenches. Several regiments had to be disbanded for refusal to obey orders. It was in this atmosphere that the offensive was launched on June 18 (July 1, New Style), 1917. The Russian army, commanded by Gen. Aleksey A. Brusilov , attacked the Austro-German forces along a broad front in Galicia and pushed toward Lviv . At first the offensive proved remarkably successful. The Austrians were driven back and many prisoners and guns were taken. In just two weeks, however, any gains had been erased. A German counterattack shattered the Russian lines, and the army fled in disarray. As Lenin said, the Russian soldiers had “voted for peace with their legs.” Not only was the Russian army destroyed, but Russia had effectively ceased to exist as a great power .

While the army was disintegrating, the Bolsheviks were making their first bid for power in the capital. Ever since his arrival from Zurich and his inauspicious debut at the Petrograd Soviet, Lenin had been biding his time and maturing his plans. He initially showed disdain for the soviet as a petit bourgeois assembly and was determined to single-handedly organize the proletariat for a revolt against the state. After witnessing the anti-Milyukov demonstrations, however, he perceived that this assembly could easily be used as a recruiting ground and rallying point for such a revolt. With that in mind, he coined the phrase “all power to the Soviets” and disseminated it widely among the masses. When the leaders of the soviet joined the Provisional Government, he viewed the move as a betrayal of principles and began to fear that they would be unlikely to show either the courage or the zeal which would enable him to bring about the second or socialist revolution. In June, during the sittings of the first All-Russian Congress of Soviets , Lenin returned to his original plan of staging a purely Bolshevik revolt.

A plot was formed to mobilize Bolshevik adherents among the factory workers, the Petrograd garrison, and a strong detachment of Kronshtadt sailors, but news of it leaked, and Lenin, not yet prepared to break with the soviet, postponed the venture. The plan was soon revived, however, and the subsequent rising would become known as the July Days . The members of the Bolshevik central committee hesitated to identify themselves with it beforehand for fear it might prove unsuccessful. Ostensibly a demonstration in favour of the transference of power to the soviet, it was in essence an attempt to assert control of that assembly, a fact which its leaders promptly recognized. For two days (July 3–4 [July 16–17, New Style]) armed Bolsheviks occupied parts of the capital, but their lack of any clear objective or leadership paralyzed their efforts. The obvious failure of the enterprise prevented Lenin and the Bolshevik central committee from showing their hands, and they attempted to disavow any connection to the uprising, in which more than 400 people lost their lives.

Throughout the July Days the government was almost entirely quiescent , but Kerensky had perceived an opportunity within the crisis almost immediately. On the first day of the uprising he proceeded to the front, where he gathered a handpicked force. These troops arrived in the capital on the day after the movement had fizzled out. Any attempt to renew disturbances was rendered hopeless by the publication of documents (most probably forgeries) which purported to prove that Lenin was a spy and a paid agent of the German general staff . The result was the practical suppression of the Bolshevik Party and the scattering or incarceration of its leadership. Lenin and Grigory Zinovyev went into hiding, and Trotsky, Lev Kamenev , and Anatoly Lunacharsky were thrown into prison. The office of Pravda , the Bolshevik Party newspaper, was raided, and its printing presses were destroyed by a mob.

Emboldened by his success in the July Days, Kerensky now put himself forward as a candidate for the premiership. The soviet members of the government presented Prince Lvov with an ultimatum which required him to declare Russia a republic, to suppress the Duma, and to accept the soviet’s policy of forbidding any sale of land without the approval of the Constituent Assembly. The prince refused to comply with these demands, regarding them as an usurpation of the rights of the Constituent Assembly, and promptly submitted his resignation. The government was then reconstructed, with Kerensky becoming prime minister as well as minister of war and Tsereteli succeeding Lvov as minister of the interior. With the formation of the new government, the Russian Revolution entered a new phase—a phase of inaction. Kerensky failed to put new vigour into the prosecution of the war and left the question of concluding peace just as he found it. He was so indifferent to agrarian policy that he allowed the peasants to settle matters as best they could, and his attempts to unite the various political factions succeeded only in alienating them.

The only real achievements of Kerensky’s administration were the declaration of Russia as a republic and the convocation of a spectacular State Assembly in Moscow . This body was to represent all classes and all political groups in the country, and it is clear that Kerensky had hoped that the State Assembly would invest in his government the moral authority and sanction which it had hitherto lacked. Nothing remarkable came from its three meetings save a series of speeches in which Kerensky announced his determination to support the revolution and to suppress its enemies, whether they came from the right or from the left.

While Kerensky struggled to claim a political mandate , generals at the front and members of the general staff in the capital began to think that their time had come. Taking stock of the anarchy prevailing in the countryside and the disorganization of the army, they considered the establishment of a military dictatorship . Kerensky was actually in favour of such an idea, and he supported Gen. Lavr Kornilov , commander-in-chief, in the preliminary steps for establishing the dictatorship. Kerensky only balked at the plan when he realized that the general himself was aspiring to become dictator. Suspecting Kornilov’s designs, Kerensky promptly declared him a traitor and an enemy to the revolution. Kornilov responded by sending Cossack regiments under the command of Gen. Aleksandr Krymov to Petrograd with the object of intimidating Kerensky and forcibly suppressing the soviet.

Kerensky, having lost the generals, turned to the left for support. The soviet appealed to the workers to fight the threatened counterrevolution, and Bolshevik leaders, now released from prison, took up the challenge with enthusiasm. They proceeded to arm the workers in anticipation of the arrival of Krymov’s troops, but no battle for the capital took place. Deputies from the soviet went to meet the Cossacks and persuaded them that they had been sent on a false errand. Thus the plan for setting up a military dictatorship failed, with the result that Kornilov, his ally Anton Denikin , and three other generals were arrested and imprisoned. Krymov shot himself after being interrogated by the prime minister.

The Bolshevik Revolution

Just as the failure of the Bolshevik rising in July proved to be the opportunity of the right, so now the collapse of Kornilov’s attempted coup gave a chance to the extreme left. Soviet Russia was in a state of feverish activity. It was arming itself physically and morally for a fight against the counterrevolutionary movement. The first result of this revival of revolutionary fervour was a renewal of the hatred of the officer class. A new wave of massacres swept the country, and the All-Russian Executive Committee of Soviets was forced to send emissaries to stop these outrages. These representatives had to be chosen from the Bolshevik ranks, as the moderates were speedily losing their hold on the masses. Lenin’s supporters were now increasing their numbers at such a rate that, by the middle of September, both the Petrograd and the Moscow soviets had Bolshevik majorities. The moderate leaders, who had presided over these bodies since their creation, were now replaced by Leon Trotsky in Petrograd and by Viktor Nogin in Moscow.

Lenin wrote to the Executive Committee, calling upon them to break away from Kerensky and to declare themselves the government of the country. The committee rejected this overture; although they still continued unofficially to support Kerensky, they withdrew their representatives from his government. The united front of Soviet democracy , which had seemingly been reestablished by the challenge thrown out by Kornilov, was now finally broken. The Bolsheviks proceeded to declare the Executive Committee traitors to the revolution and began working openly for the overthrow Kerensky’s government.

Six months from the beginning of the revolution the new republic was in a state of rapid disintegration. The Provisional Government was formally invested with full and sovereign power and was responsible neither to the Petrograd Soviet nor to the recently convoked Council of the Republic (or “pre-parliament”). In practice, however, it possessed no real power at all. The actual authority was held by the soviets in the cities and provincial towns; they openly defied the government and exercised, each in its area, legislative as well as executive powers. In most of the soviets the Bolsheviks now counted on solid majorities, and many of the provincial soviets constituted themselves as quasi-independent republics. Various nationalities, which had long been clamouring for autonomy , now began openly to secede. They organized their own armies by withdrawing their nationals from the Russian army under the auspices of defending their newly created frontiers. The whole country was in a state of feverish unrest, which soon developed into riots and anarchy. In the towns bread riots broke out, and in the villages the demand was for land.

In the countryside, peasants began expropriating land, driving off cattle, burning down landowners’ dwellings and barns, and demolishing agricultural machinery. Many of those landowners who did not flee were captured, tortured, and murdered. Yet the ministers were inactive and helpless. They lacked the necessary military backing to put down this violence by force. Even the Cossacks refused to obey orders, remembering how they had been repudiated by Kerensky in the Kornilov episode. Reprisals would in any case have proved ineffective. The only measure which might have tranquilized the countryside would have been the speedy convocation of the Constituent Assembly and a guarantee that it would enact land reform . The government, composed as it were of landlords and capitalists, could not and would not take this step.

The peasants’ revolt was accompanied by a wave of crimes committed by bands of renegade soldiers who spread over the whole country robbing and killing. At the front the army still preserved a certain degree of cohesion, but the mutual distrust between soldiers and officers was so profound that an open clash could be expected at any time. A shortage of food and supplies became full-fledged famine in some areas, making the preservation of military discipline increasingly difficult. It was obvious that the army was likely to desert en masse before the winter had passed. The soldiers discussed this possibility openly, declaring that they cared neither for freedom nor for land but only for peace. Even leading generals, such as Vladimir Cheremisov (who held the Northern Command), advised the government that the army was unreliable and might of its own volition withdraw from the field at any time.

While the Russian state was collapsing, the war on the Eastern Front continued, and the Germans were penetrating further and further into the Baltic provinces. On September 29 (October 12, New Style), with the support of their fleet, they occupied the island of Saaremaa and so secured the command of the Baltic. Petrograd was now obviously menaced, and ministers declared their intention of transferring the seat of government to Moscow. This attempt to abandon the capital strengthened enormously the Bolshevik scheme for overthrowing the government. To dream of continuing the war after abandoning Petrograd, the biggest arsenal in the country, was denounced as sheer treason, and the Bolsheviks found it easy to rouse the workers to oppose the evacuation plan. Ministers, realizing their mistake, speedily reversed course, but not before the Bolsheviks had denounced them as usurpers and traitors.

The proposal to evacuate Petrograd furnished the Bolsheviks with an admirable lever for stirring up the masses, but a subsequent government attempt to secure Petrograd miscarried even more spectacularly. Ministers moved to replace the Petrograd garrison with more reliable troops from the front, and this action was used by the Bolsheviks as a pretext for openly organizing military forces for an attack on the government. The Petrograd Soviet, under Trotsky’s command, promptly came forward and countermanded the redeployment of troops. The leaders of the soviet constituted a revolutionary committee which declared itself the highest military authority in the capital and province of Petrograd. This step was ostensibly taken for the defense of the capital against Germany, but its true purpose was the creation of a general staff for the Bolshevik Revolution. In the weeks that followed Trotsky openly organized his forces without meeting with the slightest interference from the Provisional Government.

The Bolshevik Revolution would be inseparably connected with the convocation of the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets. The first congress, which took place in June 1917, elected a Central Executive Committee, and this body was empowered to convene a second congress no later than the end of September. Since the majority of soviets had subsequently become Bolshevik-controlled, the committee, which consisted entirely of Mensheviks and Social Revolutionaries (both supporters of Kerensky), was reluctant to convene a second congress and repeatedly postponed doing so. When the Petrograd Soviet finally threatened to convene the congress itself, the committee fixed October 25 (November 7, New Style) as the date of convocation.

It was obvious that the congress would have a Bolshevik majority and would promptly declare against the Provisional Government, and many believed that the final test of strength between the parties of Kerensky’s coalition and the Bolsheviks would take place at the congress. This assumption made it easy for Trotsky to pretend that all his preparations were being made for the establishment of a soviet government under the auspices of existing constitutional processes. Why Kerensky should have been so naive as to accept this explanation remains a mystery. The opening of the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets was preceded by a number of regional congresses, all of which declared for a termination of the coalition and the establishment of a soviet government. The immediate aims of this government would be to propose terms of peace, to give land to the peasants, to place workers in control of the factories, and to deal with food shortages by expropriating supplies from capitalists and landlords. These resolutions were broadcast all over Russia.

Government ministers waited patiently on events, believing that nothing could happen until the opening of the congress on October 25. Trotsky, however, had no intention of behaving so predictably. On October 21 (November 3, New Style) he confronted the general staff with a demand that all its orders should be countersigned by the Military Revolutionary Committee. When the general staff refused, Trotsky ordered the Petrograd garrison to take up arms in defense of the committee. On October 22 (November 4, New Style) delegates from the garrison passed a resolution refusing to obey the commands of the general staff and recognizing the committee as the sole organ of power. News of this was immediately circulated over government telephones to all the regiments in the capital.

Kerensky replied the following day with an ultimatum , demanding that the Military Revolutionary Committee withdraw the resolution. The committee ignored this demand and promptly called out elements of the Petrograd garrison and organized worker detachments (“Red Guards”) for the defense of the Smolny Palace, the headquarters of the soviet and the committee. Kerensky tried to counteract these measures by raising Petrograd’s bridges to prevent communication between the left and right banks of Neva River . He then proceeded to the Marian Palace, where the Council of the Republic was in session, and demanded that he be invested with dictatorial powers to cope with the Bolshevik revolt. The council deliberated all night before finally rejecting Kerensky’s proposal, preferring instead to set up a Committee of Public Defense. While the council debated, the Bolsheviks quietly and systematically took over—without firing a shot—the telegraph, the telephone, and all government offices with the exception of the Winter Palace and the offices of the general staff. That same night Lenin, who had been in hiding since July, appeared at a meeting of the Petrograd Soviet and in glowing language congratulated the delegates on inaugurating a new era. The new regime, which established the soviet as the embodiment of supreme power in the state, was thus created one day in advance of the meeting of the Soviet Congress, which had been proclaimed by the Bolsheviks as the sole authority able to make such a decision. This was obviously an irregularity, but no objection was raised by the soviet. Lenin announced that the first step taken by the new government would be the offer to all belligerents of a just peace.

Early in the morning of October 25 (November 7, New Style), Kerensky left for the front, in order to bring back troops to crush the revolt. The other members of the government decided to await his return at the Winter Palace. When they were informed that the guns of the cruiser Aurora and the batteries of Peter-Paul Fortress were trained on the palace, they decided to surrender and told their defenders, a detachment of cadets and a women’s battalion, that they might disperse. When the Congress of Soviets formally opened, the non-Bolshevik members and the old executive committee registered a vigorous protest against the unconstitutional methods of the Bolsheviks and withdrew from the congress to join the Committee of Public Defense. Kerensky meanwhile made frantic efforts to move troops from the front to the capital, but the response from both officers and soldiers was thoroughly discouraging. He succeeded only in persuading the Cossack general Pyotr Krasnov to move against Petrograd. On October 29 (November 11, New Style) Krasnov’s troops were reported outside Gatchina , about 28 miles (45 km) from the capital.

Encouraged by this news and definitely expecting a crushing defeat of Trotsky’s Red Guards , the Committee of Public Defense ordered military school cadets to arrest the Revolutionary Military Committee and to make a general attack on all the soviet strongholds. The attack was made in the morning, but by 3:00 pm the Bolsheviks, supported by cruisers of the Baltic Fleet at Kronshtadt, had decisively repelled it and occupied the military schools. In the report of the events of the day, which he sent to the Petrograd Soviet, Trotsky made the following declaration: “We hoped to establish a compromise without bloodshed. But now when blood has been shed there is only one way left, a ruthless fight. It would be childish to expect that victory can be achieved by other means. Now is the actual moment. We have shown that we can take the power. We must show that we are able to keep it. I summon you to a ruthless fight.” That same night Trotsky proceeded to the Gatchina front. On October 30 (November 12, New Style) he reported that Krasnov’s advanced detachments had been repulsed. At the Battle of Pulkovo (October 31 [November 13, New Style]) Krasnov’s forces were completely routed. Krasnov subsequently surrendered, Kerensky fled, and the Bolshevik regime was now for a time immune from internal military threats.

The October Revolution swept Russia. There were a few days of street fighting in Moscow and sporadic resistance elsewhere, but by the end of November 1917 the soviets held power throughout the country. In the urban centres the victory was won under the slogan “All power to the workers’ soviets.” The promise of “peace, land, and bread” gave the Bolsheviks the support of the soviets of peasants and soldiers. The soviets were the only strong political force in a social structure whose disintegration was nearly complete. They were the organs of the proletariat, upon which the Bolsheviks, adhering to the Marxist doctrine of revolution, were resolved to build their state. They challenged not only the weakened capitalism of Russia but also the capitalist system throughout the world. In the first days of success they exaggerated the effect of war-weariness upon the masses of western Europe. Their dream of a new proletarian utopia and their appeals to fellow workers of the world to throw off the burdens of capital and war prepared the way for the conflict that was soon to plunge the new state into a three-year fight for life.

In an all-night session on October 25–26 (November 7–8, New Style) the Congress of Soviets in Petrograd declared the power of government to be vested in the Council of People’s Commissars appointed mainly from the ranks of the Bolshevik Central Committee , with Lenin as premier and Trotsky as commissar of foreign affairs. The new rulers set out immediately to fulfill the promises which had won them popular support. The first act of the Soviet government on October 26 was to decree that all land belonged to those who worked it, without rent or other payment. This declaration satisfied the peasants, who had been expropriating landlords’ estates for several months, and their chief political organization, the Left Socialist Revolutionary Party , decided to collaborate with the Bolsheviks. Vigorous measures were taken to ensure a supply of food for Petrograd and other urban and industrial centres. To reinforce the victory of the industrial proletariat, a universal eight-hour day was instituted on October 29 (November 11, New Style), and the factory soviets were given control over industry by successive decrees in the next two months.

The peace campaign began on October 27 (November 9, New Style), when Trotsky sent out a wireless invitation to all the belligerent powers to conclude an immediate armistice. The Allied governments at once protested, and their representatives in Russia tried to enlist the commander-in-chief of the army, Gen. Nikolay Dukhonin , to oppose the Council of Commissars. Dukhonin was replaced by Nikolay Krylenko, a member of the Bolshevik Central Committee, by a Soviet decree of November 9 (November 22, New Style), and on November 20 (December 3, New Style) Dukhonin was murdered by a mob of soldiers. Lenin had correctly gauged the temper of the army and knew that any effort by the Allies to prolong the fighting would be fruitless. In addition to their natural hostility to a communist government, the Allied powers seemed convinced that Lenin and his associates were acting in the interests and possibly in the pay of Germany. Washington was at first more friendly, but the American ambassador in Petrograd, David Francis, soon indicated that he shared the view of his Allied colleagues. The attitude of the German government was equivocal. It accepted the armistice proposal, and after brief negotiations within the German lines, a 10-day truce was signed on November 22 (December 5, New Style). The Central Powers agreed not to transfer troops from the Eastern Front to the West, but they moved several divisions to France before the end of the year.

Meanwhile, the Soviet government was facing serious internal difficulties. The bourgeois classes, at first stunned by the success of the revolution, began to rally, using passive resistance in an attempt paralyze the Bolshevik regime. The Bolsheviks had no civil service and no personnel trained in finance, transport, and the management of industry, but the new government was suddenly called upon to undertake the administration of all of these. Lenin met the bourgeois offensive with characteristic energy. When the financial powers of Petrograd refused to cooperate, he replied with a decree nationalizing the banks. When representatives of industry tried to sabotage production, a decree nationalized their factories and created a Supreme Economic Council to manage them. Other decrees followed in rapid succession, as one branch after another of the old economic system was folded into the state. At first these measures were probably a matter of immediate necessity rather than a part of the Bolsheviks’ deliberate program, but they were harbingers of the implementation of War Communism .

Full responsibility for these steps cannot be laid upon Bolshevik shoulders, as some form of centralization was necessary to prevent economic collapse. Lenin had previously published a pamphlet demanding state control over transport and the means of production, not as a form of socialist expropriation, but to save the country from chaos . Indeed, similar measures had already been adopted by the other belligerents in World War I . The nationalization of industries was legalized in December 1917. At first it was applied haphazardly, to counter specific acts of sabotage by individual enterprises or groups. No entire industry was nationalized until May 1918, when a department of the Supreme Economic Council was organized to supervise the monopoly production of sugar. The following month oil production was centralized in the same way, and various commodities, such as yarn, matches, tobacco, tea, coffee, and spices, were declared state monopolies. It was not until June 28, 1918, that all industrial and commercial enterprises worth more than one million rubles were declared the property of the state.

While the Soviet government was trying to rebuild the economy and weld local soviets into an administrative machine, relations with Germany were still unsettled. Peace negotiations began on December 9 (December 22, New Style), 1917 (Soviet authorities had begun reckoning dates according to the “New Style” Gregorian calendar , a process that was formalized in February 1918; hereafter all dates are New Style). On behalf of the soviet, Trotsky put forward the principles of no annexation or indemnity and self-determination of subject peoples. At first the Germans seemed willing to accept, with certain reservations. On December 28 they demanded the independence from Russia of Poland , Finland , and the Baltic states , and on January 8, 1918, the independence of Ukraine . On February 10 Trotsky announced the soviet’s refusal to sign a ‘‘peace of annexation,” but declared the war between Russia and the Central Powers at an end. A week later the German general staff ordered an immediate advance. Narva , in northern Estonia , was occupied in order to threaten Petrograd, and German troops drove toward Moscow from the Polish border.

Lenin at once decided for peace, but acceptance of the German terms was not reached without a struggle in the Communist Central Committee. Lenin still believed that a general European revolution, as the result of war exhaustion, was not far distant. His prime object, therefore, was to gain time—a breathing space, as he called it. His associates argued that to yield was to betray the revolution. Trotsky remained neutral. He produced an epigrammatic phrase, “Neither peace nor war!” and proposed to allow the Germans to advance without resistance. Verbatim reports of this discussion published in Moscow showed that it was only by a threat of resignation that Lenin beat down the adverse majority in the Central Committee. Trotsky was replaced as commissar of foreign affairs by Georgy Chicherin , an experienced diplomat who renewed negotiations at Brest-Litovsk on February 28. On March 3 Chicherin accepted the German terms on behalf of the soviet government. The independent government of Ukraine had already signed a separate treaty, and this Chicherin was forced to affirm. The soviet government further agreed to pay a large indemnity or its equivalent in raw materials. Poland and the Baltic states were left in the hands of the Germans, and Gen. Carl Gustaf Mannerheim soon expelled the Bolsheviks from Finland.

Lenin had won his breathing space, and he used it to patch up the administrative and economic machine of the new Soviet state and to drill an army to defend the revolution. Adversaries of the new regime were growing bolder. Trouble was brewing in the Cossack provinces and in Manchuria, where a reactionary army was assembling on Chinese soil. The German threat against Petrograd had driven the Soviet government in flight to Moscow. The fact that the Allied ambassadors, instead of accompanying the government, had preferred residence at Vologda , a railway junction that allowed for escape eastward to Siberia and north to Arkhangelsk , was not a good omen for future relations with the powers they represented. Anti-Bolshevik forces were coalescing into “white” armies, and a legion of Czech and Slovak deserters had seized control of the Trans-Siberian Railroad . On the Pacific coast, Japanese troops had landed at Vladivostok .

These developments would bring death to Nicholas II , who, with his wife and family, had been held under guard for some months at Ekaterinburg , in the foothills of the Urals, The local soviet professed to believe that the imperial family was planning to escape to Omsk , where the “white” Adm. Aleksandr Kolchak had established a counterrevolutionary government. Without a trial, the soviet voted to execute “Citizen and Citizeness Romanov, their son and four daughters.” The sentence was carried out on July 17, when the Romanovs were shot and stabbed to death in the basement of the house where they had been confined. With the slaughter of the royal family, the last remnants of the old order had been swept away, and the revolution gave way to civil war .

Essay on Russian Revolution

Students are often asked to write an essay on Russian Revolution in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

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100 Words Essay on Russian Revolution

What was the russian revolution.

The Russian Revolution was a series of events that led to the overthrow of the Russian monarchy and the establishment of the Soviet Union. It began in 1917 with a series of strikes and protests against the government. The Tsar, Nicholas II, abdicated his throne in March 1917. A provisional government was formed, but it was soon overthrown by the Bolsheviks, a radical socialist party led by Vladimir Lenin.

The Bolsheviks seized power

Lenin and the Bolsheviks seized power in November 1917 in a coup known as the October Revolution. They established a new government, the Soviet Union, and began to implement their socialist policies. These policies included the nationalization of industry and land, the abolition of private property, and the creation of a centrally planned economy.

The Russian Civil War

The Bolsheviks’ seizure of power led to a civil war in Russia. The White Army, supported by the Western powers, fought against the Red Army, supported by the Bolsheviks. The Red Army eventually won the civil war in 1921.

The Soviet Union

The Soviet Union was a one-party state ruled by the Communist Party. It was a totalitarian state, with the government controlling all aspects of life. The Soviet Union became a major world power during the Cold War, but it eventually collapsed in 1991.

250 Words Essay on Russian Revolution

Introduction to the russian revolution, causes of the revolution.

Many people in Russia were unhappy because they were poor and life was hard. The country was also doing badly in a big war called World War I. This made even more people upset. They wanted changes, like better working conditions, more food, and a fairer system.

The Two Parts of the Revolution

The revolution had two main parts. The first part was in February 1917, when the king gave up his throne. This was because many people, including soldiers, protested in the streets. Then, in October, another group called the Bolsheviks took control. They were led by a man named Lenin who wanted to set up a government based on the ideas of a man named Karl Marx.

After the Revolution

After taking power, the Bolsheviks made big changes. They took land from rich people and gave it to the poor. They also tried to make sure everyone had enough to eat and work. But, these changes led to a civil war, which was a very hard time for Russia.

The Russian Revolution was a turning point for Russia. It led to the end of the monarchy and the start of a new type of government. This event is still important today because it shows how people can come together to try and change their country.

500 Words Essay on Russian Revolution

The spark that ignited a revolution: bloody sunday.

In 1905, a peaceful protest in St. Petersburg, Russia, turned into a bloodbath. The Tsar’s soldiers opened fire on the crowd, killing hundreds of innocent people. This event, known as Bloody Sunday, became the catalyst for the Russian Revolution.

Seeds of Discontent: Economic and Social Inequality

A call for change: lenin and the bolsheviks.

In the midst of this discontent, a revolutionary group known as the Bolsheviks emerged. Led by Vladimir Lenin, the Bolsheviks preached the overthrow of the Tsar and the establishment of a socialist state. They promised land to the peasants and control of factories to the workers.

The 1917 Revolution: Two Revolutions in One

The Russian Revolution of 1917 was not a single event, but rather a series of two interconnected revolutions. The first revolution, known as the February Revolution, led to the overthrow of the Tsar and the establishment of a provisional government. The second, the October Revolution, brought the Bolsheviks to power.

The Reign of the Bolsheviks: A New Era of Repression

Legacy of the revolution: a mixed bag.

The Russian Revolution had a profound impact on Russia and the world. It led to the creation of the Soviet Union, the first communist state in the world. The Soviet Union would become a global superpower and play a major role in the Cold War. The revolution also inspired other communist movements around the world. However, the revolution came at a great cost. Millions of people died in the violence that accompanied the revolution and the subsequent civil war. The Soviet Union, while achieving great economic and scientific advancements, also suppressed individual liberties and dissident voices. The legacy of the Russian Revolution remains a complex and debated topic, with both positive and negative aspects.

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The Russian Revolution

The Russian Revolution of 1917 was one of the most significant events of the twentieth century that ended centuries of monarchy in Russia and brought forth the first constitutionally communist state in the world.

This article will give details about the Russian Revolution for the Civil Services Examination .

Read about World History-related articles important from UPSC exam’s point of view:

Background of the Russian Revolution

The Russia of the 1900s was one of the most economically backwards and least industrialised nations in Europe with a large population of peasants and a growing number of industrial workers.

It was where the last vestiges of feudalism – serfdom – was still in practice. Serfdom was a system where landless peasants were forced to serve the land-owning nobility. Although the practice in most of Europe was ended by the time of the Renaissance in the late 16th century, it was still being carried out in Russia well into the 19th century.

It would not be until 1861 when serfdom would be abolished. The emancipation of serfs would set off a chain of events that would lead to the Russian Revolution in the coming years.

To know the key terms of the Russian Revolution , visit the linked article

1905 Russian Revolution

The Industrial Revolution came to Russia much later compared to the rest of Europe. When it did, it bought with a multitude of political and social changes.

The Industrial Revolution in Russia doubled the population in urban areas such as St Petersburg and Moscow, putting a strain on the infrastructure of the cities and leading to overcrowding and pollution. The result was a new level of destitution of the urban working class.

The population boom did not have the food supply to sustain it in the long run, as decades of economic mismanagement and costly wars lead to chronic shortages in the vast country from time to time.

In response to their present conditions the Russian people, composed mainly of workers marched to the winter palace of Tsar Nicholas II on January 22 1905. Although he was not there at the time, he had given orders not to shoot at the unarmed crowd.

However his orders, either due to miscommunication or downright inefficiency on part of the officers, were largely ignored

When the huge crowd of people finally showed up the troops were intimidated by the sheer size of the people present. Upon their refusal of the protestors to disperse when told to, the Russian troops opened fire killing and wounding hundreds of the protesters. This event was known as the Bloody Sunday massacre and would have grave consequences for the Russian monarchy in the years to come.

The massacre sparked the Russian revolution of 1905, during which angry workers responded with a series of crippling strikes throughout the country. The strikes further threatened to cripple Russia’s already fragile economy. Left with no choice, Nicholas II agreed to implement reforms, which would be known as the October manifesto . But kept delaying them in order to not lose his grip on power. To this effect, he dissolved the Russian parliament through which he had promised to implement reforms.

Although nothing significant came out of the 1905 revolution, the events of Bloody Sunday had alienated the Tsar from his people.

Read about the Russian Industrial Revolution in the linked article.

Russian Revolution: UPSC Notes – Download PDF Here

Events of World War I

Russia joined its Serbian, French and British allies in declaring war against the Central Powers of Austria, Germany and Ottoman Turkey on August 1914

Russia had not modernised its army at the pace that Germany had and as a result, the war proved disastrous for Russia. Its casualties were far more than any other nations in the war. Germany had seized key Russian territories which further caused food shortages and disrupting the economy as a result.

Hopin to rally the Russian troops and the people in the wake of the deteriorating condition of the war front, Tsar Nicholas II personally made his way to take command of the army, leaving his wife, Tsarina Alexandra in charge of the government.

Due to her German heritage, the Tsarina was hated by the Russian populace. It did not help matters when she began dismissing elected officials on the alleged advice of the controversial preacher and mystic, Rasputin. His influence and hold over the Russian imperial family were well known at the time.

Rasputin was murdered by nobles of his hold over the imperial court on December 30, 1916, but the damage was already done. Most ordinary Russian had lost faith in the Tsarist government. Soon this resentment would turn into a full-blown revolution in the coming years.

Read in detail about World War I in the linked article.

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The February Revolution

The February revolution began on March 8, 1917. Because Russia used the Julian Calendar at the time it is known as the February Revolution. The Julian calendar date of the revolution is given as February 23.

Protestors took to the streets of the capital of St. Petersburg angry over chronic food shortages. They were joined by industrial workers and clashed with the police on the streets.

On March 11, the troops garrisoning St. Petersburg were called to quell the protests but despite firing upon them, the uprising was continued unchecked.

The Russian parliament – the Duma – formed a provisional government on March 12. Nicholas II abdicated the throne ending centuries of his family rule in Russia

The new government under Alexander Kerensky established a statuette of rights such as freedom of speech and the rights of unions to organize and strike. Despite this, he continued the war with Germany contrary to the popular opposition against it.

This move worsened Russia’s food supply problems. Unrest continued to grow as peasants looted farms and food riots erupted in the cities.

To know what are the important events in world history from 3000 BC to 1950 AD , visit the linked article

The October Revolution

On November 6 and 7, 1917 (or October 24 and 25 on the Julian calendar, hence referred to as the October Revolution), communist revolutionaries led by Vladimir Lenin launched a coup against Kerensky’s government.

The new government under Lenin was composed of a council of soldiers, peasants and workers. The Bolsheviks and their allies occupied key locations across St. Petersburg and Russia as a whole soon formed a new government with Lenin as its head. Lenin became the dictator of the world’s first communist state.

Visit the linked article to get tips on how to study world history for UPSC Mains

But this was not the end of troubles for the new government

Civil War broke out in Russia in late 1917 where the Red faction, composed mainly of communists and socialists, fought against the White factions, which composed of monarchists, capitalists and democrats.

Nicholas and his entire family were executed on July 16, 1918, by the Bolsheviks.

The war would end in 1923 with Lenin’s’ red army claiming victory. It would pave the way for the formation of a communist super-state: The Soviet Union. The Soviet Union would become a formidable player during the events of the Cold war in the coming decades.

Frequently Asked Questions about the Russian Revolution

Who led the russian revolution, what is the russian revolution known for.

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The First World War and the Russian Revolution Essay

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Introduction

The Russian Revolution of October 1917 is the most important cause of change in Russia. It also the origin of the country’s modern political and socioeconomic system (Acton, Cherniaev & Rosenberg, 2007). Scholars argue that Russia’s involvement in the First World War and the economic consequences are the primary causes of the revolution.

However, a number of long-term ands short-term factors equally contributed to the revolution (Lincoln, 2003). This paper argues that although the First World War triggered the revolution in Russia, the revolution could still have taken place even without the war, but after several years.

A number of socioeconomic and political factors creates tension in Russia

According to scholars, there are four main causes of the Russian revolution. First, the country’s economy was destroyed by the involvement in the First World War. Secondly, the army experienced massive cracking morale and poor funding due to poor military handling and management (Acton, Cherniaev & Rosenberg, 2007).

Thirdly, the autocratic rule of the Tsar brought with it massive scandals and poor administration of public money. Finally, scholars argue that the collapse of the Russian old order as well as the emergence of a new order triggered the need for a change in generation and socioeconomic system.

Russia seems to have been experiencing a build-up of tension due to the scandals, the autocratic rule and the old order. The First World War triggered the revolution that could have waited years to begin. Scholars have argued that one of the indications that a revolution in the country was inevitable in the 20 th century is the fact that by as early as 1905, the country experienced the first revolution, known as the Russian Revolution of 1905.

It is evident that Russians were tired of a 300-year rule of the Tsar. They were eagerly waiting for an opportunity to change the political system (Steinberg, 2001). The events of the infamous Bloody Sunday provide an evidence that even the army was willing to take part in a revolution that would see the country change its political and economic system in order to move along with the dynamisms in the western Europe, especially in Britain and France.

Unlike the other nations in the Western Europe, Russia’s population in the vast rural areas remained predominantly poor. The majority were the poor peasants, with frequent recurrence of shortage of food. The Tsar regime and its autocratic rule were doing nothing to boost food production.

The issue of land ownership remained a big problem among the peasants (Steinberg, 2001). The poor peasants felt that land was supposed to be the possession of those who were working on it. Moreover, there was dynamism in the countryside as people moved from the farms to the industries and from industries to the farms (Lincoln, 2003).

This had been changing the peasant way of life and culture, while information flow was increasingly improving as the people between the cities and the farms were in constant move.

A growing number of peasant villagers were increasingly becoming a new phenomenon both in the industrial cities and in rural towns. These tensions, coupled with the increasing rate of poverty and poor public administration, were increasingly increasing the need for change (Figes, 2004).

In conclusion, it is worth noting that the First World War contributed much to the Russian revolution, but the actual cause of the October 1917 events were the tensions created by the previous dynamism in the social system, the autocratic rule and the increasing number of scandals (Figes, 2004). Evidently, the Russian revolution could have taken place even without the nation’s involvement in the war, but the revolution could have waited until a good opportunity prevails.

Acton, E., Cherniaev, V., & Rosenberg, W. (2007). A Critical Companion to the Russian Revolution , 1914–1921. London: Bloomington

Figes, O. (2004). A People’s Tragedy: The Russian Revolution 1891–1924 . London: Springer

Lincoln, W. B. (2003). Passage through Armageddon: The Russians in War and Revolution, 1914–1918 . New York: Cengage

Steinberg, M. (2001). Voices of Revolution, 1917 . New Haven, CT: Yale University Press

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