Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 Page 2

Politically

Bolsheviks take power of the Soviets
Factory Councils
The Bolsheviks manipulated their way into positions of leadership amongst the working classes; factory councils were a good way of doing this. These factory councils were set up by workers in order to protect their neighbourhoods from unsocial elements, and more importantly their jobs and wages. However they were infiltrated by the Bolsheviks who used them as weapons of the party, which made no secret of their intentions to seize power through violence if necessary.

The masses
By October the large amount of workers who were calling for soviet power, this was essentially translated in to support of the Bolsheviks, who were the only party that provided this translation in their political programme.
The Bolsheviks called for ‘Bread, Peace and Land’ the three basic needs the nation wanted, making the party incredibly appealing
Peace, the only party to constantly oppose the war.
Bread, the Bolsheviks promised they would deal with the problem of insufficient food, a problem the government wasn’t.
Land, many were furious with the government for not redistributing the land, especially that, that had belonged to the aristocracy.

On September 24th the Bolsheviks won 350 seats out of a possible 710 in the Moscow Municipal elections. On the 25th of September Trotsky was elected leader of the Petrograd Soviet, and a Bolshevik named Nogin was elected leader of the Moscow Soviet, the Bolsheviks now had the power of the peoples party . After this Lenin declared, “The Bolsheviks, having obtained a majority in the Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers’ deputies of both capitals, can and must take state power into their own hands”

The Failure of the Provisional Government
The provisional government was only a temporary government that would hold power until elections for a Constituent assembly were held. However the government delayed these elections because it claimed with so many men away at war it was unfair to exclude them, therefore as the war continued the Provisional government remained in power. With this delay, and the war continuing the government soon lost a lot of support.
Because it was self-appointed, and temporary it was not confident enough to impose new reforms, such as the land reforms tat the people so desperately wanted. And the inheritance of the Tsarist regimes problems such as high inflation, and food shortages continued.
The attempt of the Provisional government after the July days in suppressing their enemies was half hearted.
The arming of the Bolsheviks in the Kornilov affair allowed the Bolsheviks to gain popularity gain as they were seen as the party wiling to defend the city.

The establishment of the Soviet regime was a response to the Provisional governments failure to deal with internal domestic problems, and the external problem of war.
When Kerensky learned of the Bolshevik plans to seize power he attempted to rally support in the army however this failed.
The continuation of the war was desperately unpopular, whereas the Bolsheviks were calling for peace.
The provisional government did not have the support of the working people, and hence the Red guard. This meant it had to rely on the Petrograd soviet for military support, such as in the crisis of the Kornilov affair. Because the Bolsheviks were a powerful part of the Petrograd Soviet they were see as the defenders of the city n support soon grew.
The Provisional government had freed political prisoners and loosened its hold on the press; this made it easier for men like Lenin to carry out revolutionary activities.

The theory of permanent revolution was first formulated in the wake of the 1905 Russian Revolution as an attempt to

The other political parties
The moderate socialists of the Mensheviks were hostile to the factory committees, and their continued support for the war, led to a steady rise n support for the Bolsheviks in the factory committee, union, soviet and municipal elections.
In July 1917 the Mensheviks’ leadership denied that the Bolsheviks seizing power could counter the ‘internal chaos’ in Russia, the disruption of the economy, the imminent famine and unemployment.
The Mensheviks believed that it was essential to retain the support of the bourgeois elements, which would help them defend the revolution; this attitude drew the Mensheviks further from the people.

The reason the Bolsheviks were so successful was because other groups like the social Revolutionaries, and the Mensheviks were hesitant in leading a revolution after February. They were instead willing to work with the Provisional Government for the good of the people. The Bolsheviks eventually used this against them and they were called traitors. In addition, they supported the government in the continuation of the war, which also worked against them. All this brought support for the Bolsheviks amongst the workers and soldiers in Moscow and Petrograd.

The overthrow
On the night of the 6-7th of November 1917 the military revolutionary committee who were acting on the orders of Lenin and Trotsky used the Red Guard to occupy key parts of Petrograd. These were places like the post offices, and telephone exchanges, Kerensky fled the city to find military support. The rest of the Provisional government remained in the Winter Palace, which was soon surrounded by red guards, and within shellfire range of the cruiser ‘Aurora’. On the 8th of November the Aurora fired a shell to signal attack, and red guards stormed the palace, Kerensky arrived back but was to late. In other cities including Moscow the Bolsheviks took power with relative ease, the second revolution was over. Lenin proclaimed the revolution had been an uprising of the working class against their bourgeoisie oppressors, and the hated provisional government.

By Alan Woods and Rob Sewell http://www.newyouth.com/archives/theory/what_is_marxism.asp

http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/works/1931-tpv/

[1] Published in Pravda No. 26, for April 7, 1917, over the signature N. Lenin, this article contains Lenin's famous April Theses read by him at two meetings held at the Taurida Palace on April 4 (17), 1917 (at a meeting of Bolsheviks and at a joint meeting of Bolshevik and Menshevik delegates to the All-Russia Conference of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies).

Lenin’s April Thesis

Appignanesi, Richard and Zarate, Oscar - Lenin for Beginners – page 24

Lenin, V.I – The Bolsheviks must assume power

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