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Poor Living and Working Conditions as the Reason for Bolsheviks' Seizure of Power in 1917

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Poor Living and Working Conditions as the Reason for Bolsheviks' Seizure of Power in 1917

Around eighty percent of Russia’s population were peasants who lived in communities. Living and working conditions for most peasants were dreadful, famine and starvation were common. People worked for long hours, their wages were low and rent was high. In factory towns people lived in overcrowded slums and there were very few sanitary facilities. Poor living and working conditions existed all the way, while other causes of the Bolshevik seizure of power came in later on. Peasants wanted change, but they were not getting it. The peasants became furious and more issues got worse for them. Everything added up …show more content…

In 1911 Stolypin was assassinated and, in the years 1911-1914, protests and strikes began to increase. Nicholas II took Russia into the First World War. The First World War had created conditions in Russia that favoured the revolution. The war worsened Russian conditions, food and fuel shortages in the town led to protests and strikes, the agricultural system crumbled due to lack of workers, the railway system began to collapse, it was increasingly difficult to get food and fuel supplies to the city. Bad leadership in the front and lack of equipment and clothing led to mutinies in the army. The war speeded up the process of change-people had soon had enough with the Tsar and of what they thought was a pointless war. Most people wanted a short victorious war, but there was a shortage of rifles and other munitions equipment, military leadership was bad. In cities like Petrograd many strikes and demonstrations took place. By 1917, the army was no longer supporting the Tsar. He now had no effective means of suppressing the revolt, so this led to the Tsar’s abdication. However this is not the most important cause for the Bolsheviks’ seizure of power in 1917 because Lenin persuaded people to join his party and go against the government by using Marxist views.

Lenin was the

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