Russian Revolution of 1917

Russian Revolution of 1917. The Russian Revolution of 1917 was a pair of revolutions that dismantled the Tsarist autocracy and led to the rise of the Soviet Union. The first, the February Revolution, overthrew Emperor Nicholas II and established a provisional government. The second, the October Revolution, brought the Bolsheviks to power under Vladimir Lenin, initiating a communist state and a devastating Russian Civil War.

Background and causes

The revolution's roots lay in deep-seated discontent with the Romanov dynasty, exacerbated by Russia's disastrous involvement in World War I. Military failures at battles like Tannenberg and the Great Retreat crippled morale, while economic mismanagement led to severe food shortages and hyperinflation in urban centers like Petrograd and Moscow. The autocratic rule of Nicholas II, influenced by figures like Grigori Rasputin, was widely seen as incompetent and out of touch. Political opposition, from liberal Kadets to revolutionary Socialist-Revolutionaries and Marxists, grew increasingly radical, inspired by earlier unrest like the Revolution of 1905 and the Bloody Sunday massacre.

February Revolution

The February Revolution began spontaneously in early March 1917 (late February Old Style) with mass protests and strikes in Petrograd over bread rationing. Key units of the Petrograd garrison, such as the Volynsky Regiment, mutinied, refusing to fire on demonstrators. With authority collapsing, the State Duma formed the Russian Provisional Government under Prince Georgy Lvov, while socialist parties concurrently established the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, creating a system of dual power. Facing abandonment by his military commanders, including Mikhail Alekseyev and Nikolai Ruzsky, Nicholas II abdicated on 15 March, ending centuries of Tsarist autocracy.

Between the revolutions

The period between the revolutions was defined by the instability of the Russian Provisional Government and the growing influence of the Petrograd Soviet, which issued Order No. 1 to control the military. Alexander Kerensky, who became premier after the July Days unrest, struggled to maintain the war effort and address land reform, losing support from both the right and left. The failed Kornilov Affair, an attempted coup by General Lavr Kornilov in August, discredited moderate leaders and allowed the Bolsheviks, whose leaders like Vladimir Lenin had returned via the German-arranged sealed train, to arm themselves and gain majorities in the soviets of Petrograd and Moscow. Leon Trotsky was elected chairman of the Petrograd Soviet in September, positioning the Bolsheviks for a seizure of power.

October Revolution

The October Revolution, organized by the Military Revolutionary Committee of the Petrograd Soviet under Leon Trotsky, commenced on 25 October 1917 (O.S.). Bolshevik forces, including the Red Guards and sympathetic sailors from the Kronstadt naval base, seized key points in Petrograd with minimal resistance. The climactic event was the Storming of the Winter Palace, where the Provisional Government was arrested in the early hours of 26 October. The Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets, dominated by the Bolsheviks and their allies the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries, ratified the takeover, with Vladimir Lenin announcing the Decree on Peace and the Decree on Land.

Aftermath and consequences

The immediate aftermath saw the Bolsheviks establish the Russian Soviet Republic, signing the punitive Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with the Central Powers to exit World War I. Opposition erupted into the full-scale Russian Civil War (1917–1923), pitting the Red Army under Leon Trotsky against the White movement and allied foreign interventionists in events like the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War. The Cheka secret police, founded by Felix Dzerzhinsky, initiated the Red Terror to suppress political enemies. The revolution's long-term consequences were global, leading to the formation of the Soviet Union in 1922, inspiring Comintern-backed communist movements worldwide, and fundamentally defining the ideological conflict of the 20th century with the capitalist West.

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