Russian Revolution: Bolshevik Revolution (November 1917)

Figure 1.--This peasant boy and girl and presumably their father stand outside a log home somewhere in Russia during 1918. The family here would be probably aulak (sucesful peasant) who the Bolshevik's under Lenin began targeting from their earliest days in power and were destroyed as a class by Stalin. Lenin's and the Bolshevik slogan was 'Peace, land, and bread'. Instead the Soviet Union would join NAZI Germany in lunching World War II. Most peasants at the time of the Revolution owned some land, but the Soviet Government under Stalin would take the land from them. And becaue the besr peasabts farmrs were murdered in the process, food would be a problem tghrougout the history of the Soviet Inion. Millions of Soviet citizens because of Bolshevik economic poliies owe their lives to food aid provided by the United States.

The first Communist state was of course the Soviet Union. The Revolution was a reaction to the huge losses, government incompetence, and privations of World War I (1914-18), in which the Russian people, suffered greviously. The Bolsheviks emerged victorious against a democratic Provisional Government (1917). The Russian Revolution is often described as a result of social forces that had been developing for centuries. A strong case can be made for the Revolution as a coupd'état that may have never occurred without the leadership of Vladamir Lenin. [Pipes] The Germans ptovided Lenin who was in Switzerland with money and allowed him to cross their territory in a sealed railway car. Ludendorf and Hindenburg did not do this of course because they had any sympathy for the Bolsheviks, but to help bring down the Provisional Goverment and knock Russia out of the war. This would allow them to transfer forces to the Western Front and defeat Britain and France. Then they could move forces east and deal with the Bolsheviks. Lenin arrived at the Finland Station in Petrograd (April 1917). His demands for 'peace, land, and bread' resonated with the Russian people. Histpry would show that the Russian people got neither peace, land, or bread. But deception was a part of Lenin's tactics from the very beginning. Lenin's slogans especially appealed to the Petrograd Soviet with was not favorably disposed toward the liberal Duma and Kerensky Government. Lenin and his allies demanded "all power to the Soviets". As the situation in Petrograd deteriorated, General Kornilov attempted to seize power. This backfired when his troops mutinied. The Bolsheviks then moved on the Provisional Government (November 7). They arrested members of the Provisional Government that they could find and seized power in the name of the Soviets. The Bolshevik Revolution was very different than the basically spotanenous revolution which oerthrew the Tsar and resulted in the establishment of the Provisional Government. The Bolshevik, was a carefully planned and orchestrated event. The Bolsheviks were a minority even within the Socialists. Other members of the Dunma saw them as extremists. They also had only limited popular support throughout the country. They had only limited sypport when Lenin arrived (April). They were the best organized group, in part because of Lenin's leadership, and came to dominate the all important Petrograd Soviet.

Living Conditions

The first Communist state was of course the Soviet Union. The Revolution was a reaction to the huge losses, government incompetence, and privations of World War I (1914-18), in which the Russian people, suffered greviously. The Bolsheviks emerged victorious against a democratic Provisional Government (1917).

Coup d'Etat

The Russian Revolution is often described as a result of social forces that had been developing for centuries. A strong case can be made for the Revolution as a coup d'état that may have never occurred without the leadership of Vladamir Lenin. [Pipes]

Vladamir Lenin (1870-1924)

'Lenin' was a revoluionary pseudonym. His real name is Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. He was born in the Simbirsk (1870). After Lenin’s death the city was renamed Ulyanovsk in his honor. Lenin came from a family of six children. He was the chitd child. He was baptized in the Russian Orthodox tradition. Lenin’s father, Ilya Nikolayevich Ulyanov, was a highly regarded school teacher. He received numerous awards for his teaching and was even awarded a special order that made him a nobleman. Lenin's mother, Maria Aleksandrovna, was the daughter of a Jewish doctor who was baptized into the Orthodox faith. Lenin’s family was a mix of cultures and nationalities as was the Tsarist Empire. The fanily included Russians, Jews, Kalmyks, Swedes, Volgan Germans, and psurely others depending on how far you went back. As aouth he was impressed by the writings of Karl Marx and the dream of a Communist utopian future. He became the founder and the guiding spirit of the Soviet Union and leader of the Bolshevik Party. He would mastermine of the November Revolution. Historical assessmnts of Lenin vary widely. Nikita Khrushchev in his Secret Speech to the 20th Party Congress casigates Stalin, but holds up Lenin as a paragon of revolutionary virtue. [Khrushchev] what is clear, however, is many of the aspects of Stalin's rule such as deception and terror were begin under Lenin, although on a much smaller scale. What is undenibl, however, is that Lenin played a huge role in the history of the 20th century. He began the Revolution nd reshaping of Russia which would bend millions of [eople in Russia and beyond to his will. Lenin intgroduced applied communist ideas for the first time to real life. His Soviet experiment had a huge impact on world history.

German Plot

German The Germans ptovided Lenin who was in Switzerland with money and allowed him to cross their territory in a sealed railway car. Ludendorf and Hindenburg did not do this of course because they had any sympathy for the Bolsheviks, but to help bring down the Provisional Goverment and knock Russia out of the war. This would allow them to transfer forces to the Western Front and defeat Britain and France. Then they could move forces east and deal with the Bolsheviks. Lenin arrived at the Finland Station in Petrograd (April 1917).

Lenin's Strategy

His demands for "peace, land, and bread" resonated with the Russian people. Histpry would show that the Russian people got neither peace, land, or bread. But deception was a part of Lenin's tactics from the very beginning.

Petrogard Soviet

Soviet is the Russian term for miniciple council. The Petrograd Soviet was the city council. Lenin's slogans especially appealed to the Petrograd Soviet with was not favorably disposed toward the liberal Duma and Kerensky Government. Lenin and his allies demanded 'all power to the Soviets'. The Petrograd Soviet of Workers and Soldiers Deputies played a crucialeole in the Bolshevik seizure of power. The origins of the Petrograd Soviet lay in 1905 Revolution. It at the time, howevr, did not play s im[ortant role as it did in 1917. The idea of a Soviet or representative council was a new development in Russian history. Municipal goverments intil the Revolution, were appointd officials. Few revolutions organized representative councils. Strikes speed throughout Russi in 1905 an the Tsaerist Regime almost collapsed at the time. The Petrograd Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies came to life February 27 (March 12). The first session was held in the Tauride Palace. The delegted elected the Menshevik faction leader in the State Duma, N. S. Chkheidze, to be the chairman of the Executive Committee of the Petrograd soviet. Alexander F. Kerensky (a member of the Socialist Revolutionary [SR] Party) and the Menshevik M. I. Skobelev were elected colleagues of the chairman (deputy chairmen). A. G. Shliapnikov and P. A. Zalutskii represented the Bolsheviks on the 15-member Executive Committee. The soldiers and sailors elected 10 representatives to the committee, including two Bolsheviks (A. N. Paderin and A. D. Sadovskii) (March 1 --14). The representatives of the workers merged with the representatives of the soldiers, forming a single, unified soviet.

Kornilov Affair (September 1917)

General Lavr Kornilov was the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army under the Provisional Government which had kept Russia in the war. The Kornilov Affair was an alleged attempted coup d'état by Gen. Kornilov to seize power from the Porvisional Government headed by Alexander Kerensky. With the situation deteriorating in Petrograd General Kornilov attempted to seize power (September 10-13). This backfired when his troops mutinied against him. And most imprtantly, it meant the Provisional Government no longerr had effective control of the Army to back it.

Bolshevik Seizure of Power (November 1917)

The Bolsheviks with Kornilov failed coup moved on the Provisional Government (November 7). This began in St. Petersburg. They arrested members of the Provisional Government they could find and seized power in the name of the Soviets. The Bolshevik Revolution was very different than the basically spotanenous revolution which oerthrew the Tsar and resulted in the establishment of the Provisional Government. The Bolshevik seizure of power, was a carefully planned and orchestrated event. The Bolsheviks were a minority even among the Socialists. Other members of the Dunma saw them as extremists. They also had only limited popular support throughout the country. They had only limited sypport when Lenin arrived (April). They were, however, the best organized group, in part because of Lenin's leadership, and came to dominate the all important Petrograd Soviet. They also had support in other mprtant Soviets such a in Moscow.

Bolshevik Heros

In the United States, the men who made the American Revolution, the Founding Fathers, are remembered as great heroes and honored throughout our history. A very different fate awaited the Old Bolsheviks who created the Soviet Union. Lenin was assassinated and later died (1924). Stalin who dominated the Communist Party machinery had already began to dominate the country and in a few years was in complete control (1928). He immediately began attacking his fellow Bolshevik leaders who had made the Revolution. Some were arrested and shot with no accounting. Others met unexplained accidents. Then once Stalin was the absolute master of the country, the Great Terror and Purges began. The most illustrious of the Old Bolsheviks were arrested by the NKVD and beaten until they confessed to unimaginable crimes such as conspiring with foreign agents, both British and German. After the Great Purges of the 1930s, virtually none of the men who made the Revolution, many playing much more important roles than Stalin, were left alive and their names were erased from history. [Khrushchev] To seize power they had to move against the rule of law and had no compunction with eliminated those they disagreed with. Lenin and his colleagues from the very beginner would show very little regard for the rule of law or basic civil rights--commonly seen as bourgeois pretensions. Ten of millions of Soviet citizens would pay the consequences, but the Old Bolsheviks themselves would pay the consequences. After Lenin's death (1924), Stalin would gain control of the Party and State. He then began a methodical, merciless campaign of arresting and executing the Old Bolsheviks who has created the Soviet Union, most of whom had supported him. As they has destroyed the rule of law and basic civil rights, they had no protection from the totalitarian state and fearsome secret police force that they had created. Stalin's priority target was Leon Trotsky who created the Red Army, second in importance to the success of the Revolution only to Lenin. It took some time for Stalin to get Trotsky as he wisely fled the Soviet Union. Trotsky was finally dispatched with an ice pick to the head in Mexico City (1940). By this time the other Old Bolsheviks had long since been eliminated.

Sources

Khrushchev, Nikita. Edward Crankshaw, intro, commentary, and notes. Strobe Talbott, trans. and ed. Khrushchev Remembers (Little Brown: Boston, 1970), 639p.

Pipes, Richard. VIXI: Memoirs of a Non-Belonger (Yale University Press: 2003), 264p. ("VIXI is Latin for "I lived." His parents managed to excape fom NAZI-occupied Poland. Most of their family perished in the gas chambers. Some describe him as the intelectual archetct of America's victory in the Cold War.)

Created: 3:31 AM 9/28/2014
Last updated: 11:41 PM 3/1/2025