Why did the Bolsheviks gain power in Russia in 1917?

From the initial seizure of power in 1917 until 1924, the Bolsheviks were confronted with a series of crises that threatened their ability to control and govern in Russia. The response and resolutions to these crises included Initial Reforms, Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Civil War, Red terror, War Communism and the NEP. Under the leadership of Lenin, the execution of these responses were made possible and the Bolsheviks were able to maintain and expand their power. The Civil War however was the direct consequence of the Bolshevik’s actions as they tried to maintain their grasp on power. The victory in the Civil War was extremely pivotal for the Bolshevik consolidation of power as it brought control and power but more importantly it eliminated

In 1917, Russia was crumbling into pieces. The World War I was draining all of Russia’s resources. There was shortage of food throughout the country, which left people starving. At the battlefront, millions of Russian soldiers were dying, they did not possess many of the powerful weapons that their opponents had. The government under Czar Nicholas II was disintegrating, and a provisional government had been set up. In November of 1917, Lenin and his communist followers known as the Bolsheviks overthrew the provisional government and set a communist government in Russia. However, in 1924, Lenin died and Josef Stalin assumed leadership of the Soviet Union, which was the name for the communist Russia. Stalin was a ruthless leader who brought

Lenin’s leadership was to a large extent an important cause of the Bolshevik’s success in the November 1917 revolution. This is because of Lenin’s great leadership skills, including his personality and timing, and his use of propaganda. Other factors to why the Bolsheviks succeeded included Trotsky’s role, which was debatably more important, and the problems with the Provisional Government, which made it unpopular, increasing support to the Bolsheviks and meant that any future revolution was inevitable.

Tsar Nicholas II, the last tsar of Russia, was overthrown in February of 1917 because he had lost the allegiance of his people. His people saw him as unfit to rule because of the disasters his reign brought about, and with the encouragement of the Bolsheviks, he was forcibly abdicated. This revolution was also trying to introduce a democratic government to Russia. After years of monarchy, the people wanted their voices heard. After Tsar Nicholas II was overthrown, a provisional government was put into place as an attempt at starting a republic. However, in October of 1917, yet another revolution overthrew this provisional government. The communist Bolshevik party took control and Russia became a dictatorship. How did this want for democracy

After hearing about the recent coup, throwing out the czar, Lenin came back to Russia from his exiled in Switzerland. Using his charisma and status, he helped kick start another revolution which knocked out the makeshift democracy. This made a place for the Bolsheviks (communists) to place themselves in a position of power in the government. (Rashid, Aatif). Lenin came to be an influential person in the Bolshevik party and used Karl Marx’s ideas to make Communism in Russia blossom. Two major things he did were make private industry and agriculture public and redistributed the land of wealthy proprietors to peasants. This went well for a few years, until the Russian Civil War ended in 1920. While they came out victorious, Russia was left in disaster. The economic productivity was insufficient and the people were starving and unhappy. Because of this, Lenin was desperate for a new change to benefit the people, so he announced the New Economic Policy. The state took control of large industries again, but people were encouraged to have private and individual businesses. Soon after this was out in place, another major change was about to occur in the Russian government. This occurred after Lenin died in 1924. Joseph Stalin took over his place and became the leader of the Communist Party. He began intimidating and doubting his rivals while also claiming to see spies everywhere. He cleared the party and general population of Russia or these so called “spies.” By executing or exiling rebels to Siberia, he struck fear into those who remained after his purging. Everyone lived in fear of Stalin’s secret police and he ruled over Russia with an iron fist from that point on until his death (Dagger,

As mentioned previously, Lenin won the civil war in 1918. This was crucial for the Bolsheviks to secure their power over Russia. However this did come with a price as well. Lenin essentially came to power through a coup d’état so it was only natural for there to be political opposition, ranging from monarchists to even foreign nations, collectively named the whites. However a

During the 1900’s the Russian Government made it extremely hard for the Bolsheviks to progress which made them revolt against the government making this a prime matter for the start of the Revolution. The Czarist government was ostracized by the common people of Russia so Tsar Nicholas II was overthrown by the Provisional Government, whom later on were overthrown by Lenin and shortly after the Bolsheviks took control over Russia. Russia was hard to develop because of the major leaders who had control; Lenin, Stalin, Trotsky. Almost overnight an entire society was destroyed and replaced with one of the most radical social experiments ever seen. Poverty, crime, privileged and class-divisions were to be eliminated, a new era of socialism

The Bolshevik triumph Stalin envisaged was a product of dedication and hard work during the February and October revolutions of 1917. Robert Service states in his book, A History of Twentieth-Century Russia, that “the February Revolution had disappointed all Bolsheviks. Against their expectations, the monarchy’s overthrow had not been followed by a ‘provisional revolutionary democratic dictatorship of the proletariat and peasantry’; and the Bolsheviks had failed to gain control over the Petrograd Soviet” (47). This loss forced the Bolshevik faction to work diligently on spreading their ideology to achieve their means, which is the overthrow of the Provisional Government. Several Mensheviks who disliked the current and official leadership party’s

The Bolsheviks had take power with little resistance and quickly instituted many changes to the system of government and social organisation of Russia. However, a large percentage of the Russian population did not believe the Bolsheviks should govern Russia. The Reds single-minded belief that they were in the right and their unity allowed them to win the Civil War and firmly entrench themselves in government.

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

The Russian Revolution of 1917 set the country on a course that few other countries took in the 20th century. The shift from the direction of a democratic, parliamentary-style government to a one party communist rule was a drastic change that many did not and could not predict. Looking back on this key moment in Russian history, many historians ask the question ‘why did the political power in Russia shift to the Bolsheviks’? Since the revolution in 1905 Russia was becoming progressively more democratic, distributing power throughout the political sphere. This came to an abrupt halt when Vladimir Lenin was put into power by the Bolshevik takeover of the Provisional Government. Many authors have had different takes on this event. Two particularly interesting ones were Arthur Mendel and John D. Basil. Their pieces On Interpreting the Fate of Imperial Russia and Russia and the Bolshevik Revolution give various perspectives on the Russian Revolution and attempt to answer the question of the power shift. This key point in Russia’s history sets the tone for the next 100 years. Russia became a superpower, an enemy of the United States, started multiple wars directly and indirectly, and started using an economic system used by various countries around the world. Today we still see the effects of the 1917 Revolution. Looking at both Mendel’s and Basil’s attempt to answer why the power shifted to the Bolsheviks. Since both historian 's account of the events is different they cannot

In 1917, Russia was in a state of transition. Its government was not built to last and its people were hungry for change. In the midst of this turmoil, Vladimir Lenin and the Bolsheviks emerged, promising a better life. Although their revolution was based on the works of Karl Marx, Lenin himself developed many ideas that would turn Marxism into a realistic, functioning system. Several such ideas were developed in The State and Revolution (1917), an important work that provided a lot of good analysis and practical solutions, but also contained a few flawed ideas that led to the problems that would plague the Soviet Union after Lenin’s death.

There goal was to gain and hold political control so they could eventually change the government to go by communist outlooks. During the November 1917 Revolution, the Bolsheviks took control over the provisional government, officers, and arrested former leaders. When the Bolsheviks took control, some of the Russians saw their effects as too much change. These Russians were known as the Mensheviks, who wanted only some change. The opposing viewpoints of how much change should be occuring led the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks into a Civil War. The Civil War ended with a victory for the Bolsheviks that proved they could not only seize power, but maintain it. Due to Russia’s population and diversity in culture the Bolsheviks decided to take Russia and split it into Soviets, many self-governing republics, that would work together. Russia was now called the U.S.S.R, United Soviet Socialist Republic. Russia and the Bolsheviks were being ruled by Lenin at the time. Lenin established the control of the communist party that was based on socialist and democratic

The Bolshevik revolution came to prominence because of the Provisional Government’s inability to gain support from the Russian population. ‘The government enjoyed little confidence amongst the masses; and many of its members were largely unknown to the new Russia that had burst upon the political scene.’[3 ] Kerensky himself comments on the problematic circumstances his government experienced, ‘the old (governmental machine) had disappeared; the new was not yet established.’ The support of the peasantry was critical in establishing popular rule, as historian Richard Abraham comments, ‘the largest social class in Russia was still the peasantry.

Account For the Success of the Bolsheviks in October 1917 At the beginning of 1917 most of the Bolsheviks were in exile but by the end of 1917 the Bolshevik party had not only consolidated control of Moscow and Petrograd, but they were also advancing on the rest of the country. This success was due to several linked factors; the Bolshevik policy of non-cooperation, weakness of the Provisional Government, division of alternative opposition, Lenin's leadership skills, the power of the Petrograd Soviet and Trotsky as its leader, failure on deliver of land reform and the oppressed, armed workers in Petrograd. Bolshevik success is dictated by whether they met their aims; these included the