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The October Revolution was led by Vladimir Lenin and was based upon Lenin's writing on the ideas of Karl Marx, a political ideology often known as Marxism-Leninism. It marked the beginning of the spread of communism in the 20th century. It was far less sporadic than the revolution of February and came about as the result of deliberate planning and coordinated activity to that end. Though Lenin was the leader of the Bolshevik Party, it has been argued that since Lenin was not present during the actual takeover of the Winter Palace, it was really Trotsky's organization and direction that led the revolution, merely spurred by the motivation Lenin instigated within his party.[28] Critics on the Right have long argued that the financial and logistical assistance of German intelligence via their key agent, Alexander Parvus was a key component as well, though historians are divided, since there is little evidence supporting that claim. On 7 November 1917, Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin led his leftist revolutionaries in a revolt against the ineffective Provisional Government (Russia was still using the Julian Calendar at the time, so period references show a 25 October date). The October revolution ended the phase of the revolution instigated in February, replacing Russia's short-lived provisional parliamentary government with government by soviets, local councils elected by bodies of workers and peasants. Liberal and monarchist forces, loosely organized into the White Army, immediately went to war against the Bolsheviks' Red Army, in a series of battles that would become known as the Russian Civil War. Soviet membership was initially freely elected, but many members of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party, anarchists, and other leftists created opposition to the Bolsheviks through the soviets themselves. When it became clear that the Bolsheviks had little support outside of the industrialized areas of Saint Petersburg and Moscow, they simply barred non-Bolsheviks from membership in the soviets.[citation needed] Not surprisingly, this caused mass domestic tension with many individuals who called for another series of political reform, revolting, and calling for "a third Russian revolution," a movement that received a significant amount of support. The most notable instances of this anti-Bolshevik mentality were expressed in the Tambov rebellion, 1919–1921, and the Kronstadt rebellion in March 1921. These movements, which made a wide range of demands and lacked effective coordination, were eventually defeated along with the White Army during the Civil War. Civil war American, British, and Japanese Troops parade through Vladivostok in armed support to the White Army Main articles: Russian Civil War and Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War, which broke out in 1918 shortly after the revolution, brought death and suffering to millions of people regardless of their political orientation. The war was fought mainly between the Red Army ("Reds"), consisting of the uprising majority led by the Bolshevik minority, and the "Whites" – army officers and cossacks, the "bourgeoisie", and political groups ranging from the far Right to the Socialist Revolutionaries who opposed the drastic restructuring championed by the Bolsheviks following the collapse of the Provisional Government to the soviets (under clear Bolshevik dominance).[29][30] The Whites had backing from nations such as Great Britain, France, USA and Japan, while the Reds possessed internal support which proved to be much more effective. Though the Allied nations, using external interference, provided substantial military aid to the loosely knit anti-Bolshevik forces, they were ultimately defeated.[29] The Bolsheviks firstly assumed power in Petrograd, expanding their rule outwards, eventually reaching the Easterly Siberian Russian coast 4 years after the war in Vladivostok, an occupation that is believed to have ended all significant military campaigns in the nation. Less than one year later, the last area controlled by the White Army, the Ayano-Maysky District, directly to the north of the Krai containing Vladivostok, was given up when General Anatoly Pepelyayev capitulated in 1923. Several revolts were initiated against the Bolsheviks and their army near the end of the war, notably the Kronstadt Rebellion. This was a naval mutiny engineered by Soviet Baltic sailors, former Red Army soldiers, and the people of Kronstadt. This armed uprising was fought against the antagonizing Bolshevik economic policies that farmers were subjected to, including seizures of grain crops by the Communists.[31] This all amounted to large-scale discontent. When delegates representing the Kronstadt sailors arrived at Petrograd for negotiations, they raised 15 demands primarily pertaining to the Russian right to freedom[32] The Government firmly denounced the rebellions and labelled the requests as a reminder of the Social Revolutionaries, a political party that was popular among Soviets before Lenin, but refused to cooperate with the Bolshevik Army. The Government then responded with an armed suppression of these revolts and suffered 10 thousand casualties before entering the city of Kronstadt.[33] This ended the rebellions fairly quickly, causing many of the rebels to flee to political exile.[34] During the Civil War, Nestor Makhno led a Ukrainian anarchist movement, the Black Army allied to the Bolsheviks thrice, one of the powers ending the alliance each time. However, a Bolshevik force under Mikhail Frunze destroyed the Makhnovist movement, when the Makhnovists refused to merge into the Red Army. In addition, the so-called "Green Army" (peasants defending their property against the opposing forces) played a secondary role in the war, mainly in the Ukraine. Execution of the imperial family Main article: Shooting of the Romanov family The Bolsheviks executed the tsar and his family on 16 July, 1918.[35] In early March, the Provisional Government placed Nicholas and his family under house arrest in the Alexander Palace at Tsarskoe Selo, 15 miles (24 km) south of Petrograd. In August 1917 the Kerensky government evacuated the Romanovs to Tobolsk in the Urals, to protect them from the rising tide of revolution during the Red Terror. After the Bolsheviks came to power in October 1917, the conditions of their imprisonment grew stricter and talk of putting Nicholas on trial increased. As the counter revolutionary White movement gathered force, leading to full-scale civil war by the summer, the Romanovs were moved during April and May 1918 to Yekaterinburg, a militant Bolshevik stronghold. During the early morning of 16 July, Nicholas, Alexandra, their children, their physician, and several servants were taken into the basement and shot. According to Edvard Radzinsky and Dmitrii Volkogonov, the order came directly from Lenin and Sverdlov in Moscow. That the order came from the top has long been believed, although there is a lack of hard evidence. The execution may have been carried out on the initiative of local Bolshevik officials, or it may have been an option pre-approved in Moscow should White troops approach Yekaterinburg. Radzinsky noted that Lenin's bodyguard personally delivered the telegram ordering the execution and that he was ordered to destroy the evidence.[36][37] The Russian revolution and the world Main article: Revolutions of 1917–23 Leon Trotsky said that the goal of socialism in Russia would not be realized without the success of the world revolution. Indeed, a revolutionary wave caused by the Russian Revolution lasted until 1923. Despite initial hopes for success in the German Revolution of 1918–1919, in the short-lived Hungarian Soviet Republic and others like it, no other Marxist movement at the time succeeded in keeping power in its hands. This issue is subject to conflicting views on the communist history by various Marxist groups and parties. Joseph Stalin later rejected this idea, stating that socialism was possible in one country. The confusion regarding Stalin's position on the issue stems from the fact that he, after Lenin's death in 1924, successfully used Lenin's argument – the argument that socialism's success needs the workers of other countries in order to happen – to defeat his competitors within the party by accusing them of betraying Lenin and, therefore, the ideals of the October Revolution. Historiography Main article: October Revolution § Historiography Few events in historical research have been as conditioned by political influences as the October Revolution. The historiography of the Revolution generally divides into three camps: the Soviet-Marxist view, the Western-Totalitarian view, and the Revisionist view.[38] Since the fall of Communism in Russia in 1991, the Western-Totalitarian view has again become dominant and the Soviet-Marxist view has practically vanished.[39] Lenin's biographer Robert Service, says he, "laid the foundations of dictatorship and lawlessness. Lenin had consolidated the principle of state penetration of the whole society, its economy and its culture. Lenin had practised terror and advocated revolutionary amoralism."[40] Chronologies Chronology of events leading to the Revolution of 1917 Dates are correct for the Julian calendar, which was used in Russia until 1918. It was twelve days behind the Gregorian calendar during the 19th century and thirteen days behind it during the 20th century. Date(s) Event(s) 1874–81 Growing anti-government terrorist movement and government reaction. 1881 Alexander II assassinated by revolutionaries; succeeded by Alexander III. 1883 First Russian Marxist group formed. 1894 Start of reign of Nicholas II. 1898 First Congress of Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP). 1900 Foundation of Socialist Revolutionary Party (SR). 1903 Second Congress of Russian Social Democratic Labour Party. Beginning of split between Bolsheviks and Mensheviks. 1904–5 Russo-Japanese War; Russia loses war. 1905 Russian Revolution of 1905. 1905 January Bloody Sunday in Saint Petersburg. 1905 June Battleship Potemkin uprising at Odessa on the Black Sea (see movie The Battleship Potemkin). 1905 October General strike, Saint Petersburg Soviet formed; October Manifesto: Imperial agreement on elections to the State Duma. 1906 First State Duma. Prime Minister: Petr Stolypin. Agrarian reforms begin. 1907 Third State Duma, until 1912. 1911 Stolypin assassinated. 1912 Fourth State Duma, until 1917. Bolshevik/Menshevik split final. 1914 Germany declares war on Russia. 1914 30 July The All Russian Zemstvo Union for the Relief of Sick and Wounded Soldiers is created with Lvov as president. 1914 August–November Russia suffers heavy defeats and a large shortage of supplies, including food and munitions, but holds onto Austrian Galicia. 1914 3 August Germany declares war on Russia, causing a brief sense of patriotic union amongst the Russian nation and a downturn in striking. 1914 18 August St. Petersburg is renamed Petrograd as 'Germanic' names are changed to sound more Russian, and hence more patriotic. 1914 5 November Bolshevik members of the Duma are arrested; they are later tried and exiled to Siberia. 1915 Serious defeats, Nicholas II declares himself Commander in Chief. 1915 19 February Great Britain and France promise Russia Istanbul and other Turkish lands. 1915 5 June Strikers shot at in Kostromá; casualties. 1915 9 July The Great Retreat begins, as Russian forces pull back out of Galicia and Russian Poland into Russia proper. 1915 9 August The Duma's bourgeois parties form the 'Progressive bloc' to push for better government and reform; includes the Kadets, Octobrist groups and Nationalists. 1915 10 August Strikers shot at in Ivánovo-Voznesénsk; casualties. 1915 17–19 August Strikers in Petrograd protest at the deaths in Ivánovo-Voznesénsk. 1915 23 August Reacting to war failures and a hostile Duma, the Tsar takes over as Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, prorogues the Duma and moves to military headquarters at Mogilev. Central government begins to seize up. 1916 Food and fuel shortages and high prices. Progressive Bloc formed. 1916 January–December Despite successes in the Brusilov offensive, the Russian war effort is still characterised by shortages, poor command, death and desertion. Away from the front, the conflict causes starvation, inflation and a torrent of refugees. Both soldiers and civilians blame the incompetence of the Tsar and his government. 1916 6 February Duma reconvened. 1916 29 February After a month of strikes at the Putílov Factory, the government conscripts the workers and takes charge of production. Protest strikes follow. 1916 20 June Duma prorogued. 1916 October Troops from 181st Regiment help striking Russkii Renault workers fight against the Police. 1916 1 November Miliukov gives his 'Is this stupidity or treason?' speech in reconvened Duma. 1916 29 December Rasputin is killed by Prince Yusupov. 1916 30 December The Tsar is warned that his army will not support him against a revolution. 1917 Strikes, mutinies, street demonstrations lead to the fall of autocracy. Expanded chronology of events during the Revolution of 1917 Gregorian Date Julian Date Event January Strikes and unrest in Petrograd. February February Revolution. 8 March 23 February International Women's Day: strikes and demonstrations in Petrograd, growing over the next few days. 11 March 26 February 50 demonstrators killed in Znamenskaya Square Tsar Nicholas II prorogues the State Duma and orders commander of Petrograd military district to suppress disorders with force. 12 March 27 February * Troops refuse to fire on demonstrators, deserters. Prisons, courts, and police bumbs attacked and looted by angry crowds. Okhrana buildings set on fire. Garrison joins revolutionaries. Petrograd Soviet formed. Formation of Provisional Committee of the Duma by liberals from Constitutional Democratic Party (Kadets). 14 March 1 March Order No.1 of the Petrograd Soviet. 15 March 2 March Nicholas II abdicates. Provisional Government formed under Prime Minister Prince Lvov. 16 April 3 April Return of Vladimir Lenin to Russia. He publishes his April Theses. 3–4 May 20–21 April "April Days": mass demonstrations by workers, soldiers, and others in the streets of Petrograd and Moscow triggered by the publication of the Foreign Minister Pavel Miliukov's note to the allies, which was interpreted as affirming commitment to the war policies of the old government. First Provisional Government falls. 18 May 5 May First Coalition Government forms when socialists, representatives of the Soviet leadership, agree to enter the cabinet of the Provisional Government. Alexander Kerensky, the only socialist already in the government, made minister of war and navy. 16 June 3 June First All-Russian Congress of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies opens in Petrograd. Closed on 24 June. Elects Central Executive Committee of Soviets (VTsIK), headed by Mensheviks and SRs. 23 June 10 June Planned Bolshevik demonstration in Petrograd banned by the Soviet. 29 June 16 June Kerensky orders offensive against Austro-Hungarian forces. Initial success only. 1 July 18 June Official Soviet demonstration in Petrograd for unity is unexpectedly dominated by Bolshevik slogans: "Down with the Ten Capitalist Ministers", "All Power to the Soviets". 15 July 2 July Russian offensive ends. Trotsky joins Bolsheviks. 16–17 July 3–4 July The "July Days"; mass armed demonstrations in Petrograd, encouraged by the Bolsheviks, demanding "All Power to the Soviets". 19 July 6 July German and Austro-Hungarian counter-attack. Russians retreat in panic, sacking the town of Tarnopol. Arrest of Bolshevik leaders ordered. 20 July 7 July Lvov resigns and asks Kerensky to become Prime Minister and form a new government. Established 25 July. 4 August 22 July Trotsky and Lunacharskii arrested. 8 September 26 August Second coalition government ends. 8–12 September 26–30 August "Kornilov mutiny". Begins when the commander-in-chief of the Russian army, General Lavr Kornilov, demands (or is believed by Kerensky to demand) that the government give him all civil and military authority and moves troops against Petrograd. 13 September 31 August Majority of deputies of the Petrograd Soviet approve a Bolshevik resolution for an all-socialist government excluding the bourgeoisie. 14 September 1 September Russia declared a republic. 17 September 4 September Trotsky and others freed. 18 September 5 September Bolshevik resolution on the government wins majority vote in Moscow Soviet. 2 October 19 September Moscow Soviet elects executive committee and new presidium, with Bolshevik majorities, and the Bolshevik Viktor Nogin as chairman. 8 October 25 September Third coalition government formed. Bolshevik majority in Petrograd Soviet elects Bolshevik Presidium and Trotsky as chairman. 23 October 10 October Bolshevik Central Committee meeting approves armed uprising. 24 October 11 October Congress of Soviets of the Northern Region, until 13 October. 2 November 20 October First meeting of the Military Revolutionary Committee of the Petrograd Soviet. 7 November 25 October October Revolution is launched as MRC directs armed workers and soldiers to capture key buildings in Petrograd. Winter Palace attacked at 9:40pm and captured at 2am. Kerensky flees Petrograd. Opening of the 2nd All-Russian Congress of Soviets. 8 November 26 October Second Congress of Soviets: Mensheviks and right SR delegates walk out in protest against the previous day's events. Congress approves transfer of state authority into its own hands and local power into the hands of local soviets of workers', soldiers', and peasants' deputies, abolishes capital punishment, issues Decree on Peace and Decree on Land, and approves the formation of an all-Bolshevik government, the Council of People's Commissars (Sovnarkom), with Lenin as chairman. Cultural portrayal George Orwell's classic novella Animal Farm is an allegory of the Russian Revolution. It describes the dictator Stalin as a big Berkshire boar by the name of Napoleon. Trotsky is represented by a pig called Snowball who is a brilliant talker and makes magnificent speeches. However, Napoleon overthrows Snowball as Stalin overthrew Trotsky and Napoleon took over the farm on which the animals were living on. Napoleon became a tyrant and used force and propaganda to oppress the animals.[41] Film The Russian Revolution has been portrayed in several films. Arsenal ' (IMDB profile). Written and directed by Aleksandr Dovzhenko. Konets Sankt-Peterburga AKA The End of Saint Petersburg (IMDB profile). Lenin v 1918 godu AKA Lenin in 1918 (IMDB profile). Directed by Mikhail Romm and E. Aron (co-director). October: Ten Days That Shook the World (IMDB profile). Directed by Sergei Eisenstein and Grigori Aleksandrov. Runtimes: Sweden:104 min, USA:95 min. Country: Soviet Union. Black and White. Silent. 1927. The End of Saint Petersburg, directed by Vsevolod Pudovkin, USSR, 1927. Reds (IMDB profile). Directed by Warren Beatty, 1981. It is based on the book Ten Days that Shook the World. Anastasia (IMDB profile), an American animated feature, directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman, 1997. Doctor Zhivago, a drama-romance-war film directed by David Lean, 1965, filmed in Europe with a largely European cast, loosely based on the famous novel of the same name by Boris Pasternak. The White Guard, Mikhail Bulgakov, 1926. Partially autobiographical novel, portraying the life of one family torn apart by uncertainty of the Civil War times. Also, Dni Turbinykh (IMDB profile), 1976 – film based on the novel. |
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