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Greate October Revolution or "Red
October"
The Russian Revolution is the collective term
for a series of revolutions in Russia in 1917, which dismantled the
Tsarist autocracy and led to the creation of the Russian SFSR. The
Emperor was forced to abdicate and the old regime was replaced by a
provisional government during the first revolution of February 1917
(March in the Gregorian calendar; the older Julian calendar was in
use in Russia at the time). In the second revolution, during
October, the Provisional Government was removed and replaced with a
Bolshevik (Communist) government.
The February Revolution (March 1917) was a
revolution focused around Petrograd (now Saint Petersburg). In the
chaos, members of the Imperial parliament or Duma assumed control
of the country, forming the Russian Provisional Government. The
army leadership felt they did not have the means to suppress the
revolution and Nicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia, abdicated.
The Soviets (workers´ councils), which were led by more radical
socialist factions, initially permitted the Provisional Government
to rule, but insisted on a prerogative to influence the government
and control various militias. The February Revolution took place in
the context of heavy military setbacks during the First World War
(1914–18), which left much of the Russian army in a state of
mutiny.
A period of dual power ensued, during which the
Provisional Government held state power while the national network
of Soviets, led by socialists, had the allegiance of the lower
classes and the political left. During this chaotic period there
were frequent mutinies, protests and many strikes. When the
Provisional Government chose to continue fighting the war with
Germany, the Bolsheviks and other socialist factions campaigned for
stopping the conflict. The Bolsheviks turned workers militias under
their control into the Red Guards (later the Red Army) over which
they exerted substantial control.
In the October Revolution (November in the
Gregorian calendar), the Bolshevik party, led by Vladimir Lenin,
and the workers´ Soviets, overthrew the Provisional Government in
Petrograd. The Bolsheviks appointed themselves as leaders of
various government ministries and seized control of the
countryside, establishing the Cheka to quash dissent. To end
Russia’s participation in the First World War, the Bolshevik
leaders signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany in March
1918.
Civil war erupted between the "Red" (Bolshevik)
and "White" (anti-Bolshevik) factions, which was to continue for
several years, with the Bolsheviks ultimately victorious. In this
way, the Revolution paved the way for the creation of the Union of
Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in 1922. While many notable
historical events occurred in Moscow and Petrograd, there was also
a visible movement in cities throughout the state, among national
minorities throughout the empire and in the rural areas, where
peasants took over and redistributed land.
October Revolution
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.
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