Bolshevil Revolution | davisonhistory

HOW DID LENIN AND THE BOLSHEVIKS SEIZE POWER IN NOVEMBER 1917?

Kerensky ordered the army to prepare for an attempt by the Bolsheviks to seize power in Petrograd. He:

* cut telephone wires to Bolshevik HQ

* Blew up bridges across river Neva in Petrograd

* sent student soldiers, a women’s battalion of soldiers, a bicycle unit, 40 war invalids & light artillery (cannons) to defend the Winter Palace (Provisional Government HQ)

Trotsky planned the Bolshevik take over planning to use the Petrograd Soviet as a cover. Overnight on 6th November 1917 the Red Army/Red Guards, led by Trotsky, took control of key places in Petrograd; post offices, bridges, telegraph exchange and the State Bank. The Bolsheviks continued to take control of railway stations and other important targets. No one opposed them. Lenin arrived at Bolshevik HQ in disguise and received regular updates from Trotsky.
At 10am the next day Lenin issued a statement to the people of Russia saying that The Provisional Government had been deposed & that power was in the hands of the Petrograd Soviet. The Petrograd Soviet denied it & said this was an independent Bolshevik action. Kerensky left the Winter Palace & went to find soldiers who would fight for them. The Bolsheviks stormed the Winter Palace & ordered the Provisional Government to surrender or risk being fired at from the battleship Aurora. Only a few student soldiers and women stayed to protect the Provisional Government & Kerensky did not return. The Provisional Government members were arrested. Mobs of people entered the palace and looted it.

HOW DID LENIN ESTABLISH FULL CONTROL OVER RUSSIA?

Even though the Bolsheviks did not have the support of everyone in Russia, the Bolsheviks had the advantages of a brilliant leader in Lenin, plus the fact that most people were glad to be rid of the Provisional Government. The Bolsheviks were small, but highly disciplined and organised: they followed orders and also had key areas of support, such as the cities of Moscow and Petrograd. At least half the army supported them, as well as the sailors of the Kronstadt naval base.

Once Lenin was in power he was determined to keep it. He also knew that he would have to give the people what they wanted. Lenin set up The Council of Peoples Commissars. In November this issued decrees such as the Land decree, where all land belonging to the Tsar, Church or aristocracy was given to the peasants. He also asked for peace with Germany. The working day was limited to 8 hours and a 48 hour week. Workers were to get overtime pay, holidays and be insured against accident or illness. Factories were put under the control of workers committees (soviets). Banks were placed in Bolshevik control. A secret police, The Cheka was set up to deal with opposition to the Bolsheviks and all non-Bolshevik newspapers were banned.

Lenin had promised free elections. However the Bolsheviks did not gain the majority of votes in the new Constituent Assembly. Their rivals the Social Revolutionaries got the most votes. Lenin sent the Red Army to close down the assembly. Lenin used the Soviets to pass his laws and decrees. In December The Cadet party was banned and its leaders arrested.

Lenin believed that establishing a dictatorship was the way tom achieve true communism.

Trotsky was in charge of organising the peace negotiations with Germany, in order to pull Russia out of the First World War. He hoped that a communist revolution would happen in Germany. However by February 1918 there had been no revolution in Germany. Lenin was forced to accept the peace terms of the Germans, who had begun to advance into Russia again. The Treaty was called Brest-Litovsk and was signed in March 1918. Russia lost an enormous amount of land, which included 25% of its population, 27% of its farming land, 26% of its railways and 75% of its iron ore. They also had to pay a fine of 300 million roubles.

So the Bolsheviks had given the peasants land and they had given the workers control over the factories. They had also got Russia out of World War One, at a cost.

However Lenin had many enemies and the Bolsheviks did not have control over all of Russia. By the end of 1918 a collection of anti-Bolshevik groups had joined forces to try and crush the Bolsheviks. They became known as the Whites and included groups from inside and outside Russia. For the next 4 years Russia was caught in a bloody and bitter civil war, as the Reds (the Bolsheviks) fought against The Whites. It caused enormous suffering to the peasants of Russia. .