October Revolution Essay, Research Paper

6/12/98

THE OCTOBER REVOLUTION,

THE PEOPLES REVOLUTION

? The October Revolution was no more than a well planned military putsch carried out with

out the cognition and against the wants of the people. ?

This statement is wholly false, the October Revolution was wished for and really

necessary for the people of Russia, to convey more power back to the people. The events

of 1917 were important for the Bolsheviks, they represented their rise in power and their rise

in popularity with the people. It was these events that rallied the Russian people behind

the Bolshevik party and gave them the thought that a revolution was necessary. With this

statement I will first look back at the events in Russia that lead us to the October

Revolution and their consequence on the people.

There were many events in Russian history before the October Revolution that

gave the Russian people less hope in their authorities, and made the thought of a revolution

seem ask foring. Russia under the Tsarist system gave no power or rights to the people.

The bossy system gave merely the czar rights and accordingly all the power. In fact, it

was the czar who told people what rights they had. The power in the autarchy flowed

from top to bottom, the top being the czar and the bottom being people. ? During the

system of Tsarism the peoples of Russia were consistently incited against one

another. ? ( pg.66, Daniels ) During the Time of Trouble between 1598 and 1613 society

fell and there was no czar to stand for the people, Russia was undergoverned. During this

clip, the Poles and the Swedes both invaded Russia. There is a conflict traveling on over

lands between the Lords and the provincials who constitute 95 % of Russia? s population.

With Russia being an agricultural society, the provincials first concern was lasting from

one crop to the following. By this clip society wants a dramatic alteration but the authorities

does non. The industrialisation of Russia brought about the demand for many workers, these

workers were largely provincials working portion clip, and these same provincials finally

became groups. Marxist Revolutionaries targeted these unsated workers to get down a

revolution. Even during this clip the idea of revolution was turning throughout

Russia. During the Russo-Japanese War in 1904-1905 everything went incorrect for

Russia. Russia failed to win even a individual conflict, despite the fact their ground forces was five

times the size of the Nipponese ground forces. The Russian authorities felt the war would unite

Russia and its people, but this did non go on. They besides felt the war would be a good

distraction for the people, but it was the authorities who was distracted, and the people

who lost more hope and trust in their authorities.

The Bolsheviks offered a alteration for the people of Russia and a opportunity to win

back control in their authorities. The first mark for the Russian people that a revolution

could be necessary was January 9, 1905? Bloody Sunday. ? This is when the Cossack

Cavalry shooting and killed between 1-2000 dramatic workers. As a effect of this,

labourers and proprietors unite. In mid January anti-government street presentations begin

in support of the workers work stoppage.

Leon Trotsky became a member of the Bolshevik portion in 1917, and shortly became

the party? s most articulate talker, beat uping support for the revolution and the Bolsheviks.

Leon Trotsky the Marxist Revolutionary and spokesman of the Soviet gave addresss and

got workers riled up. This led to the Great October Strike of RR workers and in bend the

October Manifesto, which was viewed as a loss for the authorities. The October

Manifesto splits the broad motion and leads in portion to the Peasant Revolts of

1905. The provincials take this clip to revolt because they felt they could acquire away with it

with the authorities in convulsion and after the October Manifesto. All of the turbulences of

1905 gave the sense that a mass Russia had awakened. Out of the revolutions came the

Social Democrats in two cabals the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks. While the

Mensheviks had a on the job category outlook, the Bolsheviks wanted worker to be unhappy

to take to revolt.

Lenin the leader of communism and the Bolsheviks led the charge to revolt and

to subvert Capitalism. The Bolsheviks were the bulk party and merely took in

members who would give their lives to the cause. In the April Theses Lenin wanted a

peaceable terminal to the war and felt that Capitalism must be done off with, as it was the

cause of the war. He besides wanted all power to switch to the Soviets, this included the

workers, the soldiers and the provincials. For this ground the people of Russia trus

ted Lenin

and the Bolsheviks and idea of them as a breath of fresh air, and as a vehicle to

needed alteration in Russia. The people of Russia knew full good the revolutionist

purposes of Lenin who? s slogan clearly mapped out their purposes, ? All power to the

Soviets through armed rebellion. ?

The events of 1917 were important in the rise of the Bolsheviks in power and in

popularity with the people. Their run motto was? Peace, Land and Bread? , which

is precisely what the Russian people needed at this clip, the soldiers wished for peace, the

provincials wished for land, and the hungry multitudes needed staff of life. The Bolsheviks already

had the support of the workers and worked to protect their rights. January 9, 1917 the

day of remembrance of Bloody Sunday, 300,000 Petrograd workers demonstrated. Between

January and February in 1917 the work stoppage motion is traveling towards revolution. Tsarist

authorization ended when the Petrograd Garrison refused the czars order to reconstruct order in

Petrograd through force if necessary. Now there is a double power, which consists of

the Petrograd Soviet and the Provincial Government. Any separation of power in Russia

was viewed as bad. During the summer, the Bolsheviks return over the Soviet from the

Mensheviks. The Petrograd Soviet saw its function as speech production for all of Russia, it

represented the workers, the provincials and the soldiers. The Petrograd Soviet now wanted

to protect the revolution and the workers. The Soviet issues Order # 1 stating that all

armed forces including the Petrograd Garrison must take their orders from the Soviet.

The Bolsheviks used their command of propaganda to derive support for their cause. The

workers were now ready for the Bolsheviks to take power, but they were non ready.

During the July Days the Bolsheviks attempt to prehend power but fail, most of the party

leading is arrested including Trotsky. After this the Bolsheviks rise seems to be dead.

However, on October 10 the Bolshevik Central Committee topographic points armed originating on the

docket. Trotsky presents his 5- point program stating the Soviet should be used to subvert

the authorities and that they should dissemble the rebellion as a defence of the Soviet. This

meant they would detain the rebellion until an alibi for a defence was found. The

Bolsheviks had the support of the bulk of workers and a good figure of soldiers.

? The mass of the soldiers support us non because of the motto of war, but because of the

motto of peace. ? ( pg. 57 Daneils ) Lenin managed to take his party into action by October

21. The Provincial Government remained inactive even while being cognizant of the

Bolshevik readyings. On October 22, 1917, the central office of the Petrograd Military

District failed to acknowledge the Military Revolutionary Committee and refused to carry on

its work in cooperation with the soldiers subdivision of the Soviet. By this act central office

interruptions with the radical fort and the Petrograd Soviet of Workers and soldiers

Deputies, which made central offices a direct instrument in counter-revolutionary forces.

An order was issued on October 24 to censor the Bolshevik party and collar its leaders.

However, this proved to be to small to late, and on October 25 the Bolsheviks rebellion had

begun under Lenin? s motto? All power to the Sovietss through armed insurrection. ? The

motto showed the people of Russia full good what Lenin and the Bolsheviks purposes

were, and the motto gained them more protagonists. The October Revolution was a

comparatively exsanguine matter with merely six casualties. The operation consisted of the ictus

of the Winter Palace and the apprehension of 13 members of the Provincial- Government.

? Party historiographers insisted that the Bolshevik victory was the inevitable effect of

Russian domestic conditions and at the same clip, an built-in section of the

international battle of the labor against the bourgeoisie. ? ( pg 87, Dziew )

In decision the October Revolution was carried out with the support of most

Russians and it was a necessary tendency in Russian History. The events taking up to the

October Revolution such as Bloody Sunday and the Peasant Revolts of 1905 and

particularly the workers work stoppages gave Russia and it? s people a sense that a rebellion was

necessary. The leading of Lenin and Trotsky whose addresss helped derive support for

the Bolsheviks along with their first-class usage of propaganda is what gave them the

support of the Russian people. Those events along with the fighting domestic

conditions in Russia led to the October Revolution. ? Harmonizing to Soviet historiography,

the October Revolution was the merchandise of a clearly discernable, resistless tendency in

Russian history. ? ( pg. 87, Dziew )