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The Russian Revolution of 1917 was a series of political events in Russia, which, after the elimination of the Russian autocracy system, and the Provisional Government (Duma), resulted in the establishment of the Soviet power under the control of the Bolshevik party. This eventually led to the establishment of the Soviet Union, which lasted until its dissolution in 1991.

The Revolution can be viewed in two distinct phases:

See also "Russian history, 1892-1920" for the general frame of events.

Causes of the Russian Revolution

1917 saw two distinct Revolutions in Russia: the overthrow of the Tsarist regime and formation of the Provisional Government (February Revolution), and the October Revolution in which the Bolsheviks overthrew the Provisional Government. The causes of these two revolutions encompass Russia’s political, social, and economic situation. Politically, the people of Russia resented the autocracy of Tsar Nicholas II and the corrupt and anachronistic elements in his government. Socially, Tsarist Russia stood well behind the rest of Europe in its industry and farming, resulting in few opportunities for fair advancement on the part of peasants and industrial workers. Economically, widespread inflation and food shortages in Russia contributed to the revolution. Militarily, inadequate supplies, logistics, and weaponry led to heavy losses that the Russians suffered during World War I; this further weakened Russia’s view of Nicholas II.

Ultimately, a combination of these four, coupled with the development of revolutionary ideas and movements (particularly since the 1905 Bloody Sunday Massacre) led to the Russian Revolution.

Economic

The economic causes of the Russian Revolution largely originated in Russia's outdated economy and the Tsars' failure to modernize it. Russia's agricultural economy still resembled that of medieval Europe, with peasants bound to an inefficiently-managed village commune, and using outdated farming methods. Suffering from a naturally cold climate, Russia's growing season was only 4-6 months, compared to 8-9 in most of Western Europe, and so the rural agrarian economy struggled to produce enough food to feed the cities each year.

Further hampering food production was Russia's lack of modern infrastructure or transport. Despite vast expansions under Sergei Witte to the railway system, Russia still lacked the ability to effectively transport food to the cities. During World War I, this became a massive problem as haphazard conscription removed skilled workers from the railways and food-related industries, effectively aggravating poor harvests and causing famine.

Factory workers also suffered due to Russia's young industry that sought to catch up with the rest of Europe. They had to endure terrible working conditions, including twelve to fourteen hour days and low wages. Riots and strikes for better conditions and higher wages broke out. Although some factories agreed to the requests for higher wages, wartime inflation nullified the increase. There was one protest to which Nicholas responded with violence (see Causes: Political); in response, industrial workers went on strike and effectively paralyzed the railway and transportation networks. What few supplies were available could not be effectively transported. As goods became more and more scarce, prices skyrocketed. By 1917, famine threatened many of the larger cities. Nicholas's failure to solve his country's economic suffering and communism's promise to do just that comprised the core of the Revolution.

Social

The social causes of the Russian Revolution mainly came from centuries of oppression towards the lower classes by the Tsarist regime and Nicholas's failures in World War I. While rural agrarian peasants had been emancipated from serfdom in 1861, they still resented paying redemption payments to the state, and demanded communal tender of the land they worked. Increasing peasant disturbances and sometimes full revolts occurred, with the goal of securing ownership of their land.

The rapid industrialization of Russia also resulted in urban overcrowding and poor conditions for urban industrial workers (as mentioned above). Between 1890 and 1910, the population of the capital of St Petersburg swelled from 1,033,600 to 1,905,600, with Moscow experiencing similar growth. In one 1904 survey, it was found that an average of sixteen people shared each apartment in St Petersburg, with six people per room. There was also no running water, and piles of human waste were a threat to the health of the workers.

World War I then only added to the chaos. Conscription swept up the unwilling in all parts of Russia. The vast demand for factory production of war supplies and workers caused many more labor riots and strikes. Conscription stripped skilled workers from the cities, who had to be replaced with unskilled peasants, and then, when famine began to hit, workers abandoned the cities in droves to look for food. Finally, the soldiers themselves, who suffered from a lack of equipment and protection from the elements were discontent with Russia's poor accounting in the war.

Political

Politically, most areas of Russian society had reason to be dissatisfied with the existing autocratic system. They had no representation in government, and the Tsar remained out of touch with the people's problems.

Dissatisfaction with Russian autocracy culminated in the Bloody Sunday massacre, in which Russian workers saw their pleas for justice rejected as thousands of unarmed protestors were shot by the Tsar's troops. The response to the massacre crippled the nation with strikes, and Nicholas released his October Manifesto, promising a democratic parliament (the State Duma) to appease the people. However, the Tsar effectively nullified his promises of Democracy with Article 87 of the 1906 Fundamental State Laws, and then subsequently dismissed the first two Dumas when they proved uncooperative. These unfulfilled hopes of democracy fuelled revolutionary ideas and violence targeted at the Tsarist regime.

It appears as though Tsar Nicholas II never really considered Russia a constitutional state and invariably held on to his strong inclination towards an Autocratic Russia.

"Let it be known to all that I... shall maintain the principle of autocracy just as firmly and unflinchingly as did my unforgettable dead father" - Tsar Nicholas II, 1906, in a speech to the Duma.

Military

Beside the economic and social problems plaguing the country, the Russian Empire was still recovering from a humiliating defeat at the Russo-Japanese War of 1905. One of Nicholas's reasons for going to war in 1914 was his desire to restore the prestige that Russia had lost during that war. Nicholas also wanted to galvanize the diverse people in his empire under a single banner by directing military force at a common enemy, namely Germany and the Central Powers. He believed by doing so he could also distract the people from the ongoing issues of poverty, inequality, and poor working conditions that were sources of discontent.

Instead of restoring Russia's political and military standing, World War I would lead to horrifying military casualties on the Russian side and undermined it further. From the beginning the troops were not adequately supplied with weapons, or were led by incompetent generals and officers. Logistics were also a problem, since Russia's poorly maintained roads and railroads inhibited communication and distribution of supplies. Almost everywhere Russian forces were matched against German forces who had a superior advantage in weaponry, military talent, and logistics.

World War I

Russia's recent history was a litany of military failures. Even before the outbreak of the First World War, Russia had lost a war with Japan in 1904-05. Close to their entire fleet was sunk by the Japanese in that war. While the Russian army enjoyed some initial successes against Austria-Hungary in 1914, Russia's deficiencies — particularly regarding the equipment of its soldiers and the lack of advanced technology (aeroplanes, telephones, poison gas) became increasingly evident.

In 1915, things took a critical turn for the worse when Germany shifted its focus of attack to the Eastern front. The superior German army - better led, better trained, better supplied - was terrifyingly effective against the ill-equipped Russian forces. By the end of October 1916, Russia had lost between 1.6 and 1.8 million soldiers, with an additional two million prisoners of war and one million missing for a total of nearly five million men. These were staggering losses. Mutinies began to occur, and in 1916 reports of fraternizing with the enemy started to circulate. Soldiers went hungry and lacked shoes, munitions, and even weapons. Rampant discontent lowered morale, only to be further undermined by a series of military defeats.

In the autumn of 1915, Nicholas had taken direct command of the army, personally overseeing Russia's main theater of war and leaving his ambitious though incapable wife Alexandra in charge of the government. Reports of corruption and incompetence in the Imperial government began to emerge, and the growing influence of Grigori Rasputin in the Imperial family was widely resented.

Nicholas was blamed for all these crises, and what little support he had left began to crumble. As this discontent and utter hate of Nicholas grew, the State Duma issued a warning to Nicholas in November 1916 stating that disaster would overtake the country unless a constitutional form of government was put in place. In typical fashion, Nicholas ignored them. As a result, Russia's Tsarist regime collapsed a few months later during the February Revolution of 1917. A year later, the Tsar and his family were murdered. Ultimately, Nicholas's inept handling of his country and the War destroyed the Tsarist regime and cost him both his rule and his life.

February Revolution

The February Revolution was the result of the acute aggravation of the economical and political crisis in Russia. It came about seemingly spontaneously when people of the Russian capital Petrograd started to rally against the war and against the food supply shortages in the city.

As the protests grew, various political reformists (both liberal and radical left) started to coordinate their activities. In February the protests in Petrograd turned violent as large numbers of city residents rioted and clashed with police and soldiers, followed by the total strike. Eventually the bulk of the soldiers garrisoned in Petrograd joined the protests, and the uprised people occupied most of the important places in the city. This had led to the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II in a nearly bloodless transition of power.

A new Provisional Government was formed. Between February and October revolutionaries attempted to foment further change, working through the Petrograd Soviet and other organizations. The driving force behind the provisional government was a young and popular lawyer named Alexander Kerensky. Kerensky, as minister of war, decided to continue the Russian effort in World War I despite the enormous unpopularity of the war. He appointed new generals and began a new offensive, the Kerensky Offensive, which started well and then turned into yet another defeat. Kerensky's government tried to shame the soldiers into fighting by creating a Women's Battalion, but without success. The failure of his offensive brought about much resentment from the people leading eventually to the October Revolution.

October Revolution

The October Revolution was led by Vladimir Lenin and was based upon the ideas of Karl Marx. It marked the beginning of the spread of communism in the twentieth 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, seeing as Lenin wasn't present during the actual take over of the Winter Palace, it was really Trotsky's organisation and direction that led the revolution, spurred by the motivation Lenin instigated within his party. The financial and logistical assistance of German intelligence via their key agent, Alexander Parvus was a key component as well.

On November 7, 1917, Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin led his leftist revolutionaries in a nearly bloodless revolt against the ineffective Provisional Government (Russia was still using the Julian Calendar at the time, so period references show an October 25 date). The October Revolution ended the phase of the revolution instigated in February, replacing Russia's short-lived provisional government with a Soviet one. Although many Bolsheviks supported a soviet democracy, the 'reform from above' model gained definitive power when Lenin died and Stalin gained control of the USSR. Trotsky and his supporters, as well as a number of other democratically-minded communists, were persecuted and eventually imprisoned or killed.

After October 1917, many SR's (members of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party) and Russian Anarchists opposed the Bolsheviks through the soviets. When this failed, they revolted in a series of events calling for "a third revolution." The most notable instances were 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 crushed during the Civil War.

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 radical communists and revolutionaries, and the "Whites" - the monarchists, conservatives, liberals and moderate socialists who opposed the drastic restructuring championed by the Bolsheviks. The Whites had backing from nations such as the UK, France, USA and Japan.

Also during the Civil War, Nestor Makhno led a Ukrainian anarchist movement which generally cooperated with the Bolsheviks. 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" (nationalists and anarchists) played a secondary role in the war, mainly in Ukraine.

The Russian revolution and the world

There are some who say that the Russian revolution was intended to spread across the world. Lenin and Trotsky said that the goal of socialism in Russia would not be realized without the success of the world proletariat in other countries, e.g. without German Revolution. However, till this day, this issue is subject to conflicting views on the communist history by various Marxist groups and parties.

Some state that it was Stalin who was the first to later reject this idea, stating that socialism was possible in one country.

Others counter that this was simply an excuse for Stalin and his followers to push back democratic gains won during the revolution and consolidate his bureaucratic dictatorship.

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.

Brief chronology leading to 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.

January - Bloody Sunday in St. Petersburg.
June - Battleship Potemkin uprising at Odessa on the Black Sea (see movie The Battleship Potemkin)
October - general strike, St. Petersburg Soviet formed
- October Manifesto - Imperial agreement on elections to the State Duma
  • 1907 - Second State Duma, February - June
  • 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
  • 1915 - Serious defeats, Nicholas II declares himself Commander in Chief. Progressive Bloc formed.
  • 1916 - Food and fuel shortages and high prices
  • 1917 - Strikes and riots; troops summoned to Petrograd

    • Expanded chronology of Revolution of 1917

    January

    Strikes and unrest in Petrograd

    February

    February Revolution
    26th – 50 demonstrators killed in Znamenskaya Square
    27th – Troops refuse to fire on demonstrators, desertions. Prison, courts, and police stations attacked and looted by angry crowds.
    Okhranka buildings set on fire. Garrison joins revolutionaries.
    Petrograd Soviet formed.

    March

    1st – Order No.1 of the Petrograd Soviet
    2nd – Nicholas II abdicates. Provisional Government formed under Prime Minister Prince Lvov
    April

    3rd – Return of Lenin to Russia. He publishes his April Theses.
    20th – Miliukov's note published. Provisional Government falls.

    May

    5th – New Provisional Government formed. Kerensky made minister of war and navy

    June

    3rd – First All-Russian Congress of Soviets in Petrograd. Closed on 24th.
    16th – Kerensky orders offensive against Austro-Hungarian forces. Initial success.

    July

    2nd – Russian offensive ends. Trotsky joins Bolsheviks.
    4th-7th – The "July Days"; anti-government demonstrations in Petrograd.
    6th – German and Austro-Hungarian counter-attack. Russians retreat in panic, sacking the town of Tarnopol. Arrest of Bolshevik leaders ordered.
    7th – Lvov resigns. Kerensky is new PM
    22nd – Trotsky and Lunacharskii arrested

    August

    26th – Second coalition government ends
    27th – Right-wing General Lavr Kornilov is alleged by Kerensky to have attempted a coup. Kornilov arrested and imprisoned.

    September

    1st – Russia declared a republic
    4th – Trotsky and others freed. Trotsky becomes head of Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies.
    25th – Third coalition government formed

    October

    10th – Bolshevik Central Committee meeting approves armed uprising
    11th – Congress of Soviets of the Northern Region, until 13th
    20th – First meeting of the Military Revolutionary Committee (Revolutionary Soviet Committee) of the Petrograd Soviet
    25th – 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.
    26th – Second Congress of Soviets: Mensheviks and right SR delegates walk out in protest against the previous day's events. Decree on Peace and Decree on Land. Soviet government declared - the Council of People's Commissars (Bolshevik dominated with Lenin as chairman).

    Cultural portrayal

    The Russian Revolution has been portrayed in several films.

    Bibliography

    Participants' accounts

    • Reed, John. Ten Days that Shook the World. 1919, 1st Edition, published by BONI & Liveright, Inc. for International Publishers. Transcribed and marked by David Walters for John Reed Internet Archive. Penguin Books; 1st edition. June 1, 1980. ISBN 0140182934. Retrieved May 14, 2005.
    • Serge, Victor. Year One of the Russian Revolution. L'An l de la revolution russe, 1930. Year One of the Russian Revolution, Holt, Reinhart, and Winston. Translation, editor's Introduction, and notes © 1972 by Peter Sedgwick. Reprinted on Victor Serge Internet Archive by permission. ISBN 0863161502. Retrieved May 14, 2005.
    • Trotsky, Leon. The History of the Russian Revolution. Translated by Max Eastman, 1932. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 8083994. ISBN 0913460834. Transcribed for the World Wide Web by John Gowland (Australia), Alphanos Pangas (Greece) and David Walters (United States). Pathfinder Press edition. June 1, 1980. ISBN 0873488296. Retrieved May 14, 2005.

    References

    • Malone, Richard. Analysing the Russian Revolution, : ISBN 0521541417, Melbourne, Cambridge University Press; 1st edition, 2004
    • Figes, Orlando. A People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution 1891-1924, : ISBN 014024364X (trade paperback) ISBN 0670859168 (hardcover)
    • Fitzpatrick, Sheila. The Russian Revolution. 199 pages. Oxford University Press; 2nd Reissu edition. December 1, 2001. ISBN 0192802046.
    • Lincoln, W. Bruce. " Red Victory: A History of the Russian Civil War 1918 to 1921, pp. 163-193. ISBN 0-306-80909-5 New York, Simon and Schuster, 1989.

    External links

    1917 | History of Russia | Russian Revolution | Nation timelines

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