Significance: October Revolution Flashcards
What events led to the October Revolution?
The Provisional government was unabkwe to continue to cope with the human cost of WW1, Kerensky’s reputation after the Kornilov affair, and the rising popularity of the Bolsheviks after the Kornilov affairs.
The general population, guided by Bolshevik agitators called for a new government and ‘All power to the Soviets’, which had recieved a rising population. The inconsistency of popwer in the dual authority led to the downfall of the Provisional Government, where the PG had ‘Authority without power’, and the Soviets had ‘power without authority’. This led to an anti-PG sentiment.
Finally, the failure to address and provide instant resolution the main issues of ‘peace, war and bread’ contributed to this sentiment, where the masses did not want to wait for elections to the Contituent Assembly.
How did the Bolsheviks play a significant role in the revolution?
The Bolsheviks were the leading counter-revolutionary force that guided the revolution. Since the October revolution was conducted by the Bolsheviks, the massess had been absent, and thus the transfer of power was swift.
- Red guard taking key locations in response to Kerensky
- Leon Trotsky and the milrevcom
- Lenin and the assault on the winter palace
How did Kerensky inadvertently cause the revolution?
He attempted to force the Bolsheviks into an ill-organised uprising, hoping for a counter-revolution to fail due to a lack of planning. By ordering bridges between militant districts to be raised (23 October 1917), with the intention of depriving the Bolsheviks forces for revolution, it had the opposite effect. Conseqently, this only accelerated the Bolsheviks’ approach to revolution, which was originally planned to wait until the All-Russian Congress of Soviets.
Consequently, Leon Trotsky, as the chairman of the milrevcom, utilised the committee’s authority over the Petrograd Soviet and the Red Guard to take control of key locations, directly leading to the revolution and events before the assault on the winter pallace on 26 October 1917.
