DS4 Rise of the Bolsheviks

Question 1

What was the Provisional Government?

Answer 1

• It was the government that immediately succeeded the Tsar’s abdication.
• It governed Russia from February/March to October/November 1917.
• It was not voted into power in a general election, but rose from the Duma committee, hence being ‘Provisional’.
• It ruled in dual control with the Petrograd Soviet, and was mostly powerless due to the Petrograd Soviet’s control over key industries such as the postal and telegraph industry and the railway system

Question 2

How did Lenin return to Russia in 1917?

Answer 2

• Germans helped him get a ‘sealed’ train to Russia
• He arrives at Finland station in Petrograd
• He made a speech to his supporters
• His slogan was Peace, Land, Bread

Question 3

What were Lenin’s April Theses

Answer 3

• A set of principles and demands Lenin made upon his return to Russia in April 1917
• He called for rejection of the Provisional Government
• His slogan was Peace, Land, Bread
• He called for an end to the war, making the Bolsheviks the only political group with a clear anti-war status
• He called for devolution of all political power in Russia to the soviets (this did not last)

Question 4

What was the ‘June Offensive’?

Answer 4

• In June 1917, the provisional government ordered a new attack
• The army under command of General Brusilov attacked the German and Austrian armies in Galicia (Southern Poland)
• The Petrograd Soviet only supported continuing the war in defence of Russia, but wouldn’t support advances or plans to seize enemy territory
• Russian soldiers refused to advance and the army was driven backwards as the Germans advanced into Russian-ruled Ukraine
• There were 200,000 Russian casualties
• The failure of the June Offensive led to Kerensky, who was War Minister of the Provisional Government and a member of the Petrograd Soviet, replacing Prince Lvov as leader of the Provisional Government

Question 5

What were the July Days

Answer 5

• Army units in Petrograd refused to go to the front-lines due to the failure of June Offensive
• There were demonstrations in the streets of Petrograd by soldiers, joined by factory workers and sailors from Kronstadt on 3 July.
• The Bolsheviks were not the instigators of the conflict, but were blamed for it by the Provisional Government
• As a result, many Bolshevik leaders were arrested, and Lenin was sent back into exile
• This was the Provisional Government’s first and last success

Question 6

What was the Kornilov Revolt?

Answer 6

• General Kornilov attempted to seize power in August 1917.
• His aims were to create a strong government, and to defeat the revolutionary groups in Petrograd.
• The Kornilov Revolt failed because soldiers and workers did not support the revolt and did not follow his orders.
• Kerensky armed the Red Guards of the Petrograd Soviet, and Trotsky, a former Menshevik turned Bolshevik, led the Red Guards to defeat the revolt
• This made the Petrograd Soviet and the Bolsheviks a greater threat to the Provisional Government

Question 7

What happened in September 1917?

Answer 7

• The Kornilov Revolt had severely weakened the Provisional Government
• Support for Bolshevik’s was rising in the factories, army, navy, and among workers’ Red Guards
• On 31 August, the Bolsheviks gained a majority in the Petrograd Soviet, and did the same in Moscow on 5 September
• Trotsky became Chairman of the Petrograd Soviet on 25 September
• Discipline had collapsed in the Russian Army
• Peasants were seizing land and resented any attempt by Provisional Government to stop them
• Rumours began to spread that Kerensky would abandon Petrograd to an advancing German army

Answer 8

• He was skilful in appealing to the mood of the people
• While hiding in Finland after the July Days, he wrote a booklet called ‘State and Revolution’
• The booklet appealed to ordinary citizens who were wanting freedom from being controlled
• It promised freedom but said little about the Bolshevik party
• Lenin made it seem that the Bolsheviks would start the revolution in order for the Soviets to rule
• From exile in Finland, Lenin sent messages to Petrograd during September demanding action
• Some Bolsheviks were not convinced that they could successfully seize power and make a communist state work in an under-developed country
• Lenin was convinced that a Russian revolution would ignite other revolutions across Europe
• On 10 October, Lenin secretly returned to Petrograd for a meeting
• He was opposed by two leading Bolsheviks, Kamenev and Zinoviev

Question 9

What was Trotsky’s role in the Bolshevik takeover of Russia?

Answer 9

• Lenin wanted the Red Guards to seize power immediately
• Trotsky, who was the main planner of the revolution, thought it would be better to seize power just before the All-Russian Congress of Soviets met later in October
• This would force the Congress to accept what had been done
• Trotsky had been elected as chairman of the Petrograd Soviet, and was able to use its Military Revolutionary Committee (MRC) to seize power
• By the time Lenin had returned to Petrograd on the night of 24-25 October, he had found that revolution had already started
• Later, propaganda made Lenin the hero of the revolution, even though Trotsky was in charge

Question 10

How did the Bolsheviks seize power?

Answer 10

• On the night of 24-25 October, Red Guards occupied key positions in the city
• As the 2nd All-Russian Congress of Soviets gathered on the afternoon of 25 October, fighting was still going on across the city
• Mensheviks and many SRs protested that the Bolsheviks were seizing power without the agreement of other revolutionary groups: they were ignored and so walked out in protest
• On the evening of 25 October, Red Guards and sailors from Kronstadt advanced on the Winter Palace, which was the Provisional Government’s Headquarters
• The palace was defended by officer cadets and a women’s battalion, as Kerensky couldn’t persuade other experienced troops anymore
• The palace fell to the Bolsheviks without much of a fight
• Some ministers of the Provisional Government were arrested, but Kerensky escaped and eventually fled from Russia
• By the early hours of 26 October, all was finished
• It was declared at the Congress of Soviets that the Bolsheviks had taken power across Russia
• Fighting went on for several days in Moscow, and news of the events in Petrograd took many days to spread to the rest of the country