October Revolution Flashcards
what was Russia like after the fall of Tsarism?
After the fall of Tsarism, Russian society was in constant flux and this did not change when the Provisional Government were in charge. This mixture of unrest and continual discontent led to an arguable second revolution in October 1917. The Bolsheviks then seized control of the government and after some time, eventually stabilised Russia.
what is the main line of thought as to why the Oct Rev happened?
However, the reasons behind their great success has been widely debated among historians. The general line of thought presents itself as being because of Lenin’s strong April thesis and power of persuasion as being the reason why the Bolsheviks gained so much support; such is the view of Read who claims Lenin was a key figure within the revolution.
what are other reasons?
Although, other reasons for their success such as the weakness of the provisional government, the weakness of the other parties within Russia and mistakes by Kerensky have been giving alternative rational behind the October Revolution but ultimately, not quite encapsulating an undeniable motive behind their party’s success.
when Lenin arrived in Petrograd, what did he present? what were the key things within this?
Lenin returned to Russia in April 1917 after spending months away in exile. Upon arrival to the Finland Station in Petrograd, he was greeted by a cheering crowd and it was here when he presented his now iconic ‘April Thesis’ where he called for a worldwide socialist revolution, an immediate end to the war, an end to co-operation with the Provisional Government, all power to the soviets and land to be given to the peasants.
what else did he hit out with? what was its impact?
He also hit out with what would be his slogan for the rest of his reign: “Bread, Peace and Land.” The impact of his speech was immense, creating undeniable support for him and the Bolsheviks
what did sukhanov say? what does this show?
Sukhanov, a Menshevik internationalist diarist of the revolution states in his diary “Suddenly, before the eyes of all of us, completely swallowed up by the routine drudgery of the Revolution, there was presented a bright beacon” this first-hand account of the speech highlights many different aspects to not only Lenin’s speech but day to day life in Russia since the revolution.It presents Russia as a grim and depressing place to live in post-revolution, giving reason to the overwhelming positive reaction to Lenin who was providing an opportunity for a better life for the Russian peoples.
what does this show?
This shows that Lenin was an extremely influential asset to the Bolshevik party as he was easily able to appeal to the workers and soldiers whose expectations and demands were becoming more radical and were moving far ahead of the Provisional Government and soviet to satisfy their needs.
were there people who disagreed with him? who and why?
However, there were many working against Lenin and many, such as the peasants who were generally apathetic, whom he could not persuade. The Mensheviks were not fans of Lenin’s and would actively slander him and his policies. While delivering this thesis at the meeting of the Social Democrats, they were faced with many boos and heckles from the Mensheviks who claimed they were abandoning the true policies of Marx.
how did the thesis differ from other ideas? what does this show?
The thesis was more radical than anything proposed before and many believed he had lived abroad for too long and was out of touch, his ideas were even opposed by members of the Bolshevik Central Committee. This displays that although Lenin could appeal to many of the working class and inspire them to join his side, he still had trouble getting those politicians he’d need to convince in order to make his Thesis a reality on board with his ideas which could have been a very large problem for Lenin if he wasn’t the kind of man he was.
did Lenin prevail regardless? what does this show?
By the end of the month, Lenin’s personality and powers of persuasion ensured that the April Thesis became part of the party policy, further inspiring those it was directed at to become more and more radicalised before eventually taking the government and beginning the October revolution. This further conveys Lenin’s crucial role with the Party and innate ability of persuasion without whom, the October revolution may not have even happened as quickly as it did.
how was it doomed from the beginning?
From the very beginning, the Provisional Government was doomed as it took control during a time of extreme hardship for Russia due to an incompetent Tsar, an unstable country and WW1 still raging on.
why did many not like or trust the PG?
Many people opposed the Provisional government outright as they were not elected by the people and filled with members of the middle class and therefore the working class and soldiers felt that it was more directed at the middle class and they were going to be left out, much like it was during the Tsar’s reign.
how did they attempt to appeal to everyone? how did this create problems?
In attempts to keep the people content, the Provisional Government decided to work with the Soviet and Alexander Kerensky acting as their buffer. This provided its own, new, set of issues as both bodies operated differently, where the Provisional government was made up of only leading figures from the Kadets and other liberal Parties, the Petrograd soviet was made up of workers and soldiers representatives and socialist intellectuals mainly Mensheviks and socialist revolutionaries resulting in hundreds of people being a part of the soviet.
how did this impact decision making?
This made decision making between the two an extremely long and difficult process proving that the new government was weak to begin with as it was disliked by the largest section of the population and in that extremely unstable and revolution prone country, that was an extremely dangerous thing.
what was the ‘honeymoon’ period?
The ‘honeymoon’ period proved fruitful however as both bodies had very little conflict and achieved much. Together they placed Tsarist ministers and officials under arrest, disbanded the secret police, granted an amnesty for political and religious prisoners, established freedom of the press and speech and abolished the death penalty.
