RUSSIAN REVOLUTION

AND COMMUNISM 2

It was the end of the tzars. The first elections were held for the workers’ soviet.

There had been about a hundred deaths, mostly protesters.The fall of the regime came as a surprise, and was greeted with with

enthusiasm.

The Provisional Government succeeded the Tsarism rapidly.

The working class became very political.

Laws introduced by the first Provisional Government

-Full and immediate amnesty on all issues political and religious, including: terrorist acts, military uprisings, and agrarian crimes etc.

-Freedom of word, press, unions, assemblies, and strikes with spread of political freedoms to military servicemen within the restrictions allowed by military-technical conditions.

- Abolition of all hereditary, religious, and national class restrictions.Immediate preparations for the convocation on basis of universal, equal, secret, and direct vote for the Constituent Assembly which will determine the form of government and the constitution.

-Replacement of the police with a public militsiya and its elected chairmanship subordinated to the local authorities.

-Elections to the authorities of local self-government on basis of universal, direct, equal, and secret vote.

-Non-disarmament and non-withdrawal out of Petrograd the military units participating in the revolution movement.

-Under preservation of strict discipline in ranks and performing a military service - elimination of all restrictions for soldiers in the use of public rights granted to all other citizens.

- It also said, "The provisional government feels obliged to add that it is not intended to take advantage of military circumstances for any delay in implementing the above reforms and measures.“-

The Duma elected Mijail Rodzianko,

an ex official of the Tzar of the Octobrist party, monarchic and

rich landlord.

From 15 march Gueorgui Lvov a liberal progressive of

the Democratic Consitutional party

took the reigns of government.

Rodzianko

Lvov

Eventually the Soviet of Petrograd and the

Provisional Government agreed

that Aleksandr Kérenski, social-revolucionary, should take control.

He was vice-president of the Soviet of

Petrograd and Minister of War and Justice.

The continual crises – the days of April

-The protests against and for the government caused the first battles. - The minister for External relations Miliukov resigned.

- The moderate socialists entered into government with the support of most of the workers,

- who believed they could push for an end to the war.

In the February revolution, the political parties, trade unions,

cooperatives, and soviets were rival forms

of organisation, competing for leadership in the Russian

society.

The Bolshevics, which means “majority” were in fact

in the minority

Menshevics – Pavel Axelrod, Julius Martov, Alex Martinov

Soviets or meetings of the workers, peasants, soldiers, were formed within

a week in nearly all the country, although the first ones date from 1905

Lenin was the leader of the small Bolshevic party. It became more radical under his leadership. He became spokesman of general discontent.

Lenin refused to support the Provisional Government and demanded

1 the confiscation of lands and redistribution to the peasants

2 that the workers control the factories

3 the immediate transition to a soviet republic

These ideas were not mainstream among the Bolschevics, who generally supported the government.

Their newspaper Pravda, edited by Stalin and Molotov even spoke of renewing work and normality.

Stalin

Molotov

However, when the economy collapsed and the war continued,

Lenin’s and Trotsky’s ideas started to dominate.In June the Bolshevics held the majority in the Sóviet of

Petrograd

Trotski

WORLD WAR I

He wanted to stop the Central Powers

before American forces arrived and to renew the discipline

and spirit of the Russian troops.

A last offensive led by General Kerensky

June 1917

He had some initial victories, but soon became bogged down for lack of support and discipline.

The Central Powers counter attacked, recovering lost ground reaching Tarnopol

The offensive was a military and political failure.It gave rise to the July days of protest in the capital.

It polarized the people politically favouring the extremists of both right and left.

The July days (protests)

The soldiers in Petrograd refused to go back to the war-front.

Uniting with the workers, they demanded the Soviet should

take over. The Bolshevics were against a premature uprising.

In the summer of 1917 the peasants took over the lands, without waiting for the agrarian

reform

The trade unions, where the Bolshevics were in the majority.

In spite of suffering repression, they organised a strike which was supported by the masses.

Government reaction - was directed against the Bochevics.

-Trotski was jailed - Lenin fled to Finland- The newspapaer Worker and Soldier was prohibited.

- The regiments that had supported the Revolution were dissolved,

- and sent to the war front in small detachments. - The workers were disarmed.

-90 000 men had to abandon Petrograd; -The agitators were jailed and the death penaly was re-

introduced

The union of officials of

the Army and the Marine, wanted a

miltary dictatorship.

Capitan Muraviov, member of the Social-Revolucionary party,

formed death batallions

to march on Petrograd to suppress the

Bolshevics.

Kornílov’s UprisingLavr Kornílov was appointed by Kerensky as new

commander in chief.Although the army was disbanding, Kornílov wanted to the

previous iron discipline. In April he had given orders to shoot deserters.

At the end of August 1917, Kornílov organized an uprising. sending 3 regiments of infantry by rail to Petrograd, to surpress the Soviets and workers organizations

and bring Russia back to the war.

The Provisional Government was inept for defending itself,

rather the Bolchevics organized the defense of the capital.

The workers dug trenches and the rail men sent the trains to

dead ends, leading to the dissolution of the contingents.

Red guards defended

the Winter Palace

To put down the rising, Kérensky sought the help of the revolutionary parties.

The Bolcheviques came out of hiding and the political prisoners including Trotsky

were released by the Marine of Kronstadt.. The masses rearmed,

The Revolucionary Military Committee was formen in the

Sóviet of Petrogrado,

led by por Trotski.

It was comprised of armed workers,

soldiers and marines.

They made sure of the neutrality of

the military detachment,

and methodically prepared taking strategic points

of the city.

The uprising started on the night of 24 oct

The Bolshevic Red Guard took without resistence control of the bridges,

stations, central bank, and post office and telecomuncations. Then they made an assault on the Winter Palace.

On 25–26 October Red Guard forces under the leadership of Bolshevik commanders

launched their final attack on the ineffectual Provisional Government. Most government offices were occupied and controlled by Bolshevik

soldiers on the 25th; the last holdout of the Provisional Ministers, the Tsar's Winter Palace

on the Neva River bank, was captured on the night of the 26th.

The sacking of the Winter Palace by the Red Guard

In the effort to take Moscow from 28 de octubre to 2 de noviembre there was violent resistence. The

Bolchevics occupied the Kremlin, but the local leaders doubted and signed a treaty with the

social-revolutionary authority of the city before evacuating the building.

The government troops took the opportunity to machine gun the 300 Red Guards

and unarmed workers as they left the building, following the orders of the social-revolucionario lord

mayor Rúdnev

There followed a week of

tremendous fighting, until the Bolchevics, led by

Nikolái Bukarin, finally took the

Kremlin and control of the city.

Bukarin

On 25 October, Trotski dissolved the Provisional Government

and opened the 2.º All Russian Congress of Sóviets of workers and peasants., with 562 delegates,

382 of whom were Bolchevics and 70 were of the Social-Revolucionario leftist party

.

In the II Congress, the Bolshevics now held a majority

Kerensky escaped the Winter Palace raid and fled to Pskov, where he

rallied some loyal troops for an attempt to retake the capital.

His troops managed to capture Tsarskoe Selo

but were beaten the next day at Pulkovo

.

Kerensky spent the next

few weeks in hiding before fleeing the

country.

He went into exile in France and eventually emigrated to the U.S.

The Bolsheviks then replaced

the government with their own.

The Little Council (or Underground Provisional

Government) met at the house of Sofia

Panina briefly in an attempt

to resist the Bolsheviks.

And so the Bolsheviks came to power, and formed their own government, the

Sovnarkom, which would lead to civil war in Russia