The February revolution of 1917 and the events that followed
were major causes of political change in Russia at the beginning of the 20th
century. From the 4th to the 12th of
March there were strikes in Petrograd in places such as factories were their
families demanded a wage increase because they could not afford food. In this
situation the employers refused to pay the employees so the workers went on
strike. On the 8th of March people were locked out from the factories they
needed to work, this meant they could not afford to live. The people demanded
change and this lead to many strikes. The Petrograd (They changed the city’s
name from St Petersburg to Petrograd in 1914) workers started ripping down
statues of the Tsar. Then the Tsar demands his army to kill the protestors but
the army refuses and joins the protestors. The Romanovs are now in house
arrest. The Duma which was created in the October Manifesto in 1905 to share
power with the Tsar is now in complete control. From February 1917 to October
1917 the Duma (provisional government) was in charge of Russia. And then you
have the corresponding soviets. These groups put influence on the provisional government
to help the workers survive during these tough times. There were various types of socialists; the main
ones were the Mensheviks and the Bolsheviks. The Bolsheviks do not want to work
with the provisional government. The leader of the Bolsheviks was Vladimir
Lenin. The leader of the provisional government was Alexander Kerensky.
Kerensky was a past member of the socialist group, the Mensheviks. The people
of Russia are frustrated and are angry at the provisional government because
there is still conscription and they’re still losing World War One. They have a
terrible economy, the people of Russia are starving there are humongous strikes
and riots taking place.
Lenin who was exiled to Switzerland after the social
democrats doesn’t fund the Bolsheviks, comes back in April 1917.The German’s
fund him and get him back to Russia on a train. Initially the Germans love the
idea of Bolshevism and Lenin because he represents the idea that Russia will
get out of the war. In July, the workers of Petrograd took to the streets and
demanded all power to the soviets. This was the chance for the Bolsheviks to
take over but Lenin did not support it right away. He didn’t want a revolution.
Lenin was then exiled to Finland and Trotsky was arrested. The first Bolshevik
revolution was crushed. Then in August the military tries to take over the
provisional government. Kerensky, the provisional leader falls back and gets
the Bolsheviks to defend him. Many of the Bolsheviks were the soldiers, the
navy officers, the workers. These people were called up to defend to city of
Petrograd. Kerensky now owes the provisional government’s life to the
Bolsheviks. So he releases Trotsky out of jail and then Lenin comes back from
Finland. And then by September to near October the Bolsheviks see their chance.
The October Revolution of 1917 was a major cause for
political change in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. Leon
Trotsky and Lenin planned this revolution. They took control of the soviets
which were the majority in the major cities. They did this to overthrow the
provisional government. At the end of
October 1917 the Soviet Union is created and the provisional government is
overthrown and Lenin is the leader of the Soviet Union.
