Bolshevik Revolution

Bolshevik Revolution. Also known as the October Revolution, it was the second and decisive phase of the broader Russian Revolution in 1917. Led by the Bolshevik party under Vladimir Lenin, it overthrew the Russian Provisional Government and established the world's first self-proclaimed socialist state. The event precipitated the Russian Civil War and fundamentally reshaped the 20th century geopolitical landscape, leading to the creation of the Soviet Union.

Background and causes

The revolution's roots lay in the profound social and political crises of the Russian Empire. The disastrous performance in World War I, marked by massive casualties at battles like the Battle of Tannenberg and the Brusilov Offensive, crippled the economy and eroded support for Tsar Nicholas II. Widespread famine, military desertion, and anger towards the ruling class, including figures like Grigori Rasputin, created revolutionary conditions. The ideological framework was provided by Marxism, adapted by Lenin through concepts like the vanguard party and democratic centralism, which he detailed in works like What Is To Be Done?. Rival revolutionary factions, such as the Mensheviks and the Socialist Revolutionary Party, also agitated against the Romanov dynasty.

February Revolution and the Provisional Government

In February 1917 (O.S.), mass protests and strikes in Petrograd, coupled with the mutiny of the Petrograd garrison, forced the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, ending centuries of Romanov rule. Power was assumed by a dual authority: the Russian Provisional Government, led initially by Georgy Lvov and later Alexander Kerensky, and the Petrograd Soviet, a council of workers' and soldiers' deputies. The Provisional Government, committed to continuing the war effort alongside the Allies of World War I, failed to address urgent demands for land reform, peace, and food. This period, known as the Dual Power, was characterized by increasing instability, highlighted by the July Days unrest and the Kornilov Affair, a failed coup attempt by General Lavr Kornilov that weakened Kerensky and strengthened the Bolsheviks.

October Revolution

Seizing the moment, the Bolshevik Central Committee, organized by the Military Revolutionary Committee under Leon Trotsky, launched an insurrection on the night of 7 November 1917. Key forces included the Red Guards and sympathetic units of the Petrograd garrison and Baltic Fleet. With minimal resistance, they captured crucial points in Petrograd, including the Winter Palace, the Smolny Institute, and communication hubs. The Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets, convening during the takeover, ratified the change, with the Mensheviks and right-wing SRs walking out. The new Council of People's Commissars, led by Lenin, immediately issued the Decree on Peace and the Decree on Land, and moved against the opposition Russian Constituent Assembly.

Consolidation of power and Civil War

The Bolsheviks, signing the punitive Treaty of Brest-Litovsk to exit World War I, faced immediate and widespread opposition. The Russian Civil War (1917–1922) pitted the Red Army, founded by Trotsky, against the White Armies led by generals like Anton Denikin, Alexander Kolchak, and Pyotr Wrangel, supported by foreign intervention from nations including the United Kingdom, France, United States, and Japan. The Bolsheviks instituted War Communism, characterized by grain requisitioning and the suppression of rivals like the Left SRs after the Left SR uprising. The ruthless activities of the Cheka, under Felix Dzerzhinsky, during the Red Terror were instrumental in crushing internal dissent. The war concluded with Bolshevik victory, solidifying control and leading to the 1922 formation of the Soviet Union.

Legacy and historiography

The revolution's global impact was immense, inspiring communist movements worldwide and leading to the establishment of the Comintern. It created a permanent ideological divide, shaping conflicts like the Cold War and influencing leaders from Mao Zedong to Fidel Castro. Historiography varies dramatically: the Soviet historiography portrayed it as a glorious popular uprising, while Western and totalitarian school historians, such as Richard Pipes, often emphasized a conspiratorial coup. More recent social histories examine the role of the masses, soldiers, and peasants. The revolution's legacy remains deeply contested, symbolized by the eventual dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Category:Revolutions Category:Wars of independence Category:20th-century revolutions