The October 1917 Revolution Flashcards
Recall a mnemonic for why the Bolsheviks managed seize power in October 1917.
‘Lemons usually taste sour, however in France nobody keeps vicious whales’
L-Lenin's persuasion U-Un-elected provisional government T- Trotsky's speeches S- Slow elections H- High expectations I- Inflation N- Not-representative PG F-Failure to judge public mood K- Kornilov affair VW- Vulnerable Winter Palace
What did Trotsky say about the nature of the October 1917 revolution?
“If Lenin and I had not been in St Petersburg there would have been no October revolution.”
What did Lenin say about the nature of The October revolution?
“Revolution in October was as easy as picking up a feather.”
Why did Lenin want to sieze power as quickly as possible?
In August, The PG announced that it would hold elections to a new constituent assembly in November. Lenin realised that The Bolsheviks would not do as well as The SRs in these elections and so planned to achieve power before then.
When did The Bolsheviks storm the Winter Palace?
24th October 1917
Why was arresting The PG easy?
The winter palace was poorly protected by female troops and trainee cadets.
By how much did membership of the Bolshevik party increase from February to April 1917?
25,000 to 75,000
Name 4 of Lenin’s key policies outlined in The April Theses.
- “Peace, bread and land.”
- “All power to The Soviets.”
- He also advocated nationalization of industry.
- Re-balancing wages so that the wages of an official would not exceed the wages of an ordinary worker
Why were the April Theses a change in strategy for Lenin?
- Most leading Bolsheviks, including Stalin had previously agreed to support The PG
- He also proclaimed “all land to the peasantry”, when in actual fact, as a socialist, he rejected the idea of private ownership of land.
Describe the events of The June Offensive and The July Days.
Along with it’s allies, Russia agreed to launch a major offensive on The Eastern front to relieve pressure on Britain and France on The Western Front, despite shortages of ammunition, low morale and war weariness amongst civilians.
They initially succeeded, but soon, German troops were advancing on Petrograd. The PG ordered the troops of The Petrograd Garrison to go and relieve their comrades at the front, but they refused to be deployed.
Soon, the Petrograd garrisson was re-enforced by 20,000 Kronstadt sailors and striking factory workers.
Lenin had a perfect opportunity to seize power but hesitated at the crucial moment.
Many leading Bolsheviks were arrested.
How does historian Richard Pipes describe The July Days?
‘Lenin’s biggest blunder’
What was The Kornilov affair and why was it significant?
General Kornilov was appointed by Alexander Kerensky as Commander-In-Chief of the armed forces. He demanded sweeping new powers, which would effectively have turned him into a military dictator. Kerensky refused, and when talks broke down, Kornilov ordered his army to advance on Petrograd.
Fearing a coup d’ e’tat, The Bolsheviks were re-armed by The PG to prevent Kornilov. It had 3 main political consequences.
- The Bolsheviks were re-armed
- Kerensky’s reputation collasped as he was accused of being a counter-revolutionary
- The Bolsheviks portrayed themselves as the saviours of the revolution, leading to a MAJORITY in The Petrograd Soviet.
