October 1917

The Bolshevik Takeover

The Provisional Government

• February 1917, The Respectable Revolution – Mainly Liberals and Conservatives

• Some Socialists– Kerensky

– International Support• Britain and France don’t mind change of government

– AS LONG AS THEY CONTINUE TO WAGE WAR!

– Eases path of USA into World War.– Tried to undo injustices of the past

• Frees all political prisoners– Including many Bolsheviks!

» Stalin

Missed the Boat

• Bolsheviks had been caught by surprise by February Revolution

• Lenin in Switzerland– He needs to return

• How does he do it?

The Sealed Train?

• By train through Germany to Sweden

• He must avoid being tainted with collaborating with the Germans!

• They transported Lenin in a Sealed Train like a plague bacillus from Switzerland to Russia.—WINSTON CHURCHILL, World Crisis

• Not as sealed as he claimed!– Accepted money from

Germans in Sweden

Lenin Shakes things up!

• Arrives in Petrograd, April 1917– Immediately attacks Bolsheviks for their

timidity (includes Stalin!)• Questions why they have not planned to

overthrow the provisional government• Why were the Bolsheviks working with other

Socialists and Revolutionaries “Parliamentary-Bourgeois Republic”

– Issues “April Theses”

April Theses1. Will stop Capitalist War

1. Only Revolutionary War permissible2. February events were just a coup

1. Not a Revolution - A stepping stone to the Proletariat Revolution3. No support for the Provisional Government whatsoever4. Work through the Soviets

1. “All power to the Soviets”5. Will smash all existing institutions

1. Army, Police and bureaucracy6. Land Reform

1. Nationalisation - Give to Peasants and workers7. Close all banks –

1. One national bank8. Change name

1. From Social Democrats to Communist Party

The Provisional Government Staggers On

• Dyarchy fatally weakening government– Soviet countermanding Duma’s laws

• Eg soldiers do not have to obey officer’s orders– Just those of soldier’s councils

• Government shifts leftward to try and gain some support of Soviets– Kerensky appointed War Minister

Kerensky’s June Offensive• Honours pledge to Allies• Low morale of troops

– Bolshevik agitation• Promising to end war

– Democratic nature of new army• Did not have to obey orders you did not agree with

• Germans easily repulse– Widespread Mutinies

• Kronstadt Naval Base set up own government

• Lvov government falls– Kerensky PM– Kornilov new CinC of Army

Kerensky’s Unpalatable Options• Page 47 of Red book

– Summarise problems facing Kerensky in 1917 then complete table below:

Course of Action Mark out of 10 How this might help

Risks or Problems involved

Negotiate immediate peace

treaty with Germany

Find a General to restore law and

order

Suppress Bolsheviks

Hold elections to Constituent Assembly

July Days• Bolsheviks take advantage of poor condition of

Army (and Russia)– At Lenin’s Insistence

• July 3rd to 6th

– Bolsheviks claiming to come to aid of Kronstadt Mutineers

– Attempt a Coup– Provisional Troops rushed back from Front

• Crush Bolsheviks easily– Bolsheviks blame Mensheviks and SRs for starting it

• Soviet and Provisional Government Censure Bolsheviks– Lenin runs to Finland– Soviet and Kerensky do not fully punish Bolsheviks

Is the Threat from the Left or Right?

• Kerensky (and most revolutionaries) were experts in the French Revolution– What happened to that Revolution?

Is the Threat from the Left or Right?

• Kerensky (and most revolutionaries) were experts in the French Revolution– What happened to that Revolution?

• The Counter Revolution– Napoleon hijacked the revolution

• The Soviet was more forgiving of coups from the Left than from the Right– They thought that the Bolsheviks were wild and enthusiastic but they

meant to preserve the socialist revolution– However the Soviet was hostile to any right wing counterrevolution

• Most liberals in Provisional Government happy to try and rule alone

• Some Conservatives already becoming disillusioned and wanted to return to the sureties of the Monarchy

• However in late August/September an event happens that forces Kerensky to choose between the left and right

The Kornilov Affair

• What was it?

• Why was it important?

• Who was involved?

• What were the consequences?

• Pages 53 - 54

Kerensky relies on the Left

• Kerensky’s decision to rely on the Soviet rather than the Russian Army will have profound effects in October– Why?

• The down and out Bolsheviks recovered from their disastrous July Days episode– They were back in the game

The Bolsheviks are Back• Time becomes their enemy

– Why?

The Bolsheviks are Back

• Time becomes their enemy– They do not want elections to Constituent

Assembly (scheduled for Nov 12th)– They do not want world war one to end– They were popular– The Provisional Government had lost the trust of

the army

• They prepare for a Coup D’etat– At Lenin’s insistence

• Kamenev and Zinoviev against• Trotsky and Stalin were non-committal

Kerensky’s Authority ebbs away

• Kerensky heard rumours that Bolsheviks were going to seize power– He sent away the least reliable troops

from Petrograd• To try and prevent another February situation• However, many thought he was abandoning

the capital to the Germans!

Trotsky takes the Initiative

• Bolsheviks set up a Military Revolution Committee (Milrevkom) to defend Petrograd– From internal and external threats!– Germans are closing in on capital

• They ask permission of the Soviet (not of the Provisional Government)– Permission granted

• Bolsheviks had recently proved that they were willing to defend the revolution from Kornilov

• Why did the Bolsheviks volunteer for this onerous duty?

Trotsky takes the Initiative

• He arranges for the Second Congress of Soviets for the end of October– However, he only invites delegations

from Bolshevik dominated Soviets

• Lenin liked this idea– Why?

Trotsky takes the Initiative

• He arranges for the Second Congress of Soviets for the end of October (25th)– However, he only invites delegations

from Bolshevik dominated Soviets

• Lenin liked this idea– It would allow them to legitimise the coup

• If it was successful

Kerensky accidentally starts the Bolshevik Revolution

• Worried about his position he orders:– The closure of Bolshevik Newspapers– The raising of the bridges linking the

central district to the working class areas

Kerensky accidentally starts the Bolshevik Revolution

• Worried about his position he orders:– The closure of Bolshevik Newspapers– The raising of the bridges linking the

central district to the working class areas• This gives the Bolsheviks the excuse that

Kerensky was starting a coup against the Soviet

– Trotsky’s plan falls into place during the night of October 24th/25th

A Classic Coup

• The Milrevkom activates to save the revolution (from Kerensky)– They seize all the bridges, telephone

exchange, railway stations and power stations

• Peacefully– Sometimes they just relieve the government

forces as if changing the guard

• Next morning seems to be a normal work day– Trams running, shops open etc…

A Classic Coup

• Kerensky appeals for help from the army– Army ignores requests by radio– He escapes Petrograd in a US embassy car.– He drives to Pskov to try and get army support

• Irony of ironies the only unit in range of Petrograd was Kornilov’s old unit.

– They tell Kerensky to get stuffed

• Eventually he convinces General Krasnov to advance towards Petrograd– Too little, too late– Troop morale was undermined by Bolshevik

agitators

The Winter Palace

• The remaining Provisional government members were holed up in the Winter Palace– With a functioning telephone line

• Bolsheviks had not realised that they used a different exchange

• It was not stormed– Famous Bolshevik Propaganda film

• Eisenstein

Winter Palace• Guarded by a small collection of Cossacks, Cadets

(Junkers) and the woman’s battalion• The Red army was repulsed 3 times

– Usually after just a few shots fired– Some Red guards were captured by defenders

• Duma members realised that help was not on its way– The telephone line

• Battleship Aurora Fires– Blanks

• Cossacks drifted away• Eventually the Duma members requested their own

soldiers to lay down their arms.– 2am 26th October

• The Bolsheviks had seized control of Petrograd

Second Congress of Soviets• Conveniently in session from October 25th • Trotsky had made sure that there was significant

Bolshevik presence• Some dissent from SRs, Mensheviks etc..,

– i.e. they would cause a counterrevolutionary backlash– Or that they did not represent the working and peasant classes

• SRs and Mensheviks stormed out• Remaining Bolsheviks and Left SRs voted the

following:– The formation of a Bolshevik Government (Sovnarkom)– Immediate moves to end the war– Transferring all land to the Peasants

• They could claim that they were taking power on behalf of the Soviets!

Why were the Bolsheviks successful in October 1917?• Weaknesses of

Provisional Government– Page 65

• Strengths of Bolsheviks– Page 66

.

Why were the Bolsheviks successful in October 1917?• Weaknesses of

Provisional Government– Page 65

• Strengths of Bolsheviks– Page 66

.

Essay Title:It was the weakness of the Provisional

Government that brought the October Revolution about rather than the strengths of the Bolsheviks