3 . Developments Between The Revolutions Of 1917 Flashcards
What was the condition of Russia by April 1917?
- Russia still involved in WWI
- dual authority of Petrograd soviet and provisional government
- “freest country on earth” but still strikes and shortages due to WWI issues
- Bolshevik party emerged on Lenin’s return
What were the different attitudes towards the war?
• Provisional government: wanted parties to work together and continue fighting; establish constituent assembly to redistribute land
• Petrograd Soviet: did not support middle class pg but prepared to agree; fight defence to end war not gain territory
• Bolsheviks: wanted to overthrow government for socialist reform; opposed war and wanted peace
When did Lenin return to Russia?
- 3 April 1917: left exile in Switzerland in a sealed train while writing the basis of his April theses
- At the time of the revolution, the Bolsheviks were only a small party of 23,000 members with major leaders in exile
- kamenev and Stalin controlled the party newspaper (Pravda) and the party accepted pg policy
- upon Lenin’s return, the Bolsheviks had their own plans to rule
2 Bolshevik slogans?
Peace, land, bread
All power to the Soviets!
Why was Lenin’s return significant?
- He had loss of radical ideas promising revolutionary change: the public was ready for this political uprising
- he was greeted by cheering crowds upon his return and gave a rousing speech of his April theses
- Lenin believed the proletariat had already assumed power (Petrograd soviet) and had to overthrow the pg
What was Lenin’s April theses?
-mapped program ‘ letters from afar’, wanted is lead a second revolution based on permanent revolution’
- demands to: end war / transfer power to all Soviets/ all land taken over by state and reallocated to peasants
What were the July days?
- Kronstadt naval base soldiers organised their own demonstration using Bolshevik slogans
- the demonstrations spread to Petrograd which Lenin could neither condemn nor fully support as a premature revolution risked defeat
- Bolsheviks turned it into a peaceful protest however the pg fired shots leading to chaos and undermining Lenin’s credibility
- although Bolsheviks helped disarm sailors with the pg, they were blamed for the bloodshed
- offices for newspaper ( Pravda) closed and Lenin’s reputation fell
What was the summer offensive?
- June 1917: major offensive in Galicia led by brusilov in hope of rallying nation → led to heavy losses and desertions
- anti-war sentient grew so kornilov reinstated as Commander in chief to enforce discipline, death penalty reinstated
Right wing landowners and businessmen preferred this militant takeover as preferable to pg socialist regime - pg had little support, wages fell as prices rose
What was the kornilov coup?
- At the end of August, kornilov sent 6 regiments of troops to March Petrograd to crush the soviet and establish a military dictatorship
- failed when kerensky (previously supported) panicked and couldn’t make kornilov stop the advance
- Therefore he released imprisioned Bolsheviks (support of working class ) and provided workers with weapons to half the advance → cutting supply lines and having leaders arrested
How did the kornilov coup benefit the Bolsheviks?
- They organised the Petrograd Red guards as a more efficient parliamentary unit, compromised of workers
- “committees to save the revolution” set up throughout country
- support grew from 23,000 in February to 200,000 by October
- by October 41 newspapers and 10,000 red guards
- Bolsheviks had won majority in Petrograd and Moscow Soviets
- 5 Oct: kerensky sent more radical army units to Petrograd out of fear for a Bolshevik uprising → inflamed the political atmosphere
- 9 Oct: Soviet adopted Trotsky’s resolution of creating a ‘military revolutionary centre’ → playing on the fear government ministers might support a right wing coup
What did Lenin do with the central committee of the Bolshevik party?
- Lenin began bombarding the 12 man central Bolshevik committee with letters demanding to prepare for revolution and seizure of power
- the 2 most prominent members kamenev and zinoviev urged restraint, thinking Russia was not get economically ready and should not act before constituent assembly elections
- Trotsky suggested to work through Petrograd Soviet and wait for Congress of Soviets, to gain support with out resorting to violence
- Lenin harangued the Bolshevik central committee all night, gaining a vote 10 to 2 for an armed rising
What were the final preparations for the revolution?
- Largely left for Trotsky to organise, sending speakers around factories to gain support
- A military revolutionary committee set up 16 October under Trotsky and Dzerzhinsky, the made up of 66 members, 48 being Bolsheviks
-Trotsky massed troops at Bolshevik HQ in the simony institute, as SRS and Mensheviks refused to cooperate, the force was made of Bolsheviks red guards, former police and soldiers - commissarssent to all Petrograd’s garrison units with 15 of 18 declaring allegiance to the soviet
- committee came to control 200,000 red guards, 60,000 Baltic sailors and 150,000 soldiers
