Russian Revolution
In the winter of 1916, a report from the Petrograd Okhrana warned that riots by lower classes were imminent. The warning described people scouring cities for food while working-class women spent forty hours each week standing in lines. Shops closed early or entirely due to shortages of bread, sugar, and meat. Inflation had made prices rise four times higher than they were in 1914. Farmers hoarded grain because rising costs meant little income increase. This economic breakdown fueled strikes across Russia. By January 1917, revolutionary propaganda aided by German funds led to widespread labor unrest. The State Duma issued a final warning to Tsar Nicholas II in November 1916. They stated that a terrible disaster would grip the country unless a constitutional government formed. The Tsar ignored these warnings and his regime collapsed months later.
On February 27, socialist Duma deputies took the lead in organizing a citywide council known as the Petrograd Soviet. The Soviet met in room 13 of the Tauride Palace, permitted by the Provisional Government. A provisional government was announced on March 15, chaired by liberal aristocrat Prince Georgy Yevgenievich Lvov. The Petrograd Soviet and the Provisional Government competed for power over Russia. Alexander Kerensky, a young lawyer from the Socialist Revolutionary Party, joined the cabinet and eventually took leadership. He promoted freedom of speech and released thousands of political prisoners. Yet soldiers and peasants claimed they gained nothing from the revolution. Heavy military losses continued on the front while food shortages persisted. The Bolshevik Party grew increasingly popular among workers and soldiers who demanded an end to the war. By September 1917, the Bolsheviks held a majority in both St. Petersburg and Moscow.
Vladimir Lenin arrived in Petrograd in April 1917 after traveling through Germany in a sealed train. He prepared the April Theses which outlined central Bolshevik policies including that Soviets should take all power. On October 24, Lenin secretly entered Petrograd and attended a private gathering of the Bolshevik Central Committee. The resolution passed 10, 2 to dissolve the Provisional Government in favor of the Petrograd Soviet. Lev Kamenev and Grigory Zinoviev dissented prominently. Leon Trotsky served as chairman of the Revolutionary Military Committee organizing the insurrection. The initial assault on Petrograd occurred largely without human casualties. Liberal and monarchist forces immediately went to war against the Bolshevik Red Army. The October Revolution unfolded on November 6 and 7, 1917 according to the Julian calendar used by Russia at the time. The Bolsheviks established their own government and proclaimed the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.
The Russian Civil War broke out in early 1918 with domestic anti-Bolshevik forces confronting the nascent Red Army. The war was fought mainly between the Red Army consisting of Bolshevik supporters and the White movement led by right-leaning conservative officers. Allied nations such as Britain, France, the United States, and Japan sent troops to support the Whites. Despite substantial military aid from foreign powers, the White Armies were ultimately defeated. By 1923, the Bolsheviks had controlled the last of the White Army holdouts. General Anatoly Pepelyayev capitulated in 1923 when his area in the Ayano-Maysky District fell. Several revolts initiated near the end included the Kronstadt Rebellion engineered by Soviet Baltic sailors. The Government responded with armed suppression suffering ten thousand casualties before entering Kronstadt. During the war, Nestor Makhno led a Ukrainian anarchist movement that allied with the Bolsheviks three times before being destroyed by Mikhail Frunze.
The Bolsheviks murdered Tsar Nicholas II and his family on the 16th of July 1918 in Yekaterinburg. According to Edvard Radzinsky and Dmitrii Volkogonov, the order came directly from Lenin and Yakov Sverdlov though this claim remains unconfirmed. The Bolsheviks established the Cheka, a secret police service working to eliminate enemies of the people. Revolutionary tribunals investigated upwards of 200,000 cases during the Civil War zenith. These tribunals acted under revolutionary justice rather than strict brute force but suffered inefficiencies. The Decree on Revolutionary Tribunals stated penalties should be guided by circumstances and revolutionary conscience. The RSFSR made substantial advances to women's rights including decriminalizing abortion and allowing female education. The government also decriminalized homosexuality between consenting adults which was radical for the time period. Political repression continued until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
A revolutionary wave caused by the Russian Revolution lasted until 1923. Despite initial hopes for success in the German Revolution of 1918, 1919, only the Mongolian Revolution of 1921 saw a Marxist movement keep power. Joseph Stalin later rejected the concept that socialism required global revolution stating it was possible in one country. The revolution became a rupture with imperialism for civil rights and decolonization struggles worldwide. The Soviet Union supported many anti-colonial third world movements with financial funds against European colonial powers. Communist symbolism emerged such as the debut of the iconic hammer and sickle representing the October Revolution in 1917. This symbol eventually became official for the USSR in 1924 and later represented Communism globally. The Bolsheviks portrayed their army as liberators and stewards of the poor through skillful propaganda use.
Few events in historical research have been as conditioned by political influences as the October Revolution. Historiography generally divides into three schools: the Soviet-Marxist view, the Western totalitarian view, and the revisionist view. Totalitarian historians described the Bolshevik revolution as a coup carried out by a minority turning Russia into a dictatorship. Revisionists opposed this description stressing the genuinely popular nature of the Revolution. Following the Revolutions of 1989 and dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Western-Totalitarian view again became dominant. Conservative historian Robert Service stated Lenin aided foundations of dictatorship and lawlessness while practicing terror. Trotsky traveled across the world denouncing Stalin and founded a base of operations in Mexico City. In 1937 he published The Revolution Betrayed outlining ideological contradictions with Stalin. Nikita Khrushchev delivered his Secret Speech in 1956 arguing Stalin's regime differed greatly from Lenin's leadership.
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Common questions
When did the Russian Revolution begin and what were the initial causes?
The Russian Revolution began in early 1917 following economic breakdown that caused inflation to rise four times higher than it was in 1914. Riots by lower classes became imminent in the winter of 1916 as working-class women spent forty hours each week standing in lines for food.
Who led the Provisional Government after Tsar Nicholas II collapsed his regime?
A provisional government was announced on March 15 chaired by liberal aristocrat Prince Georgy Yevgenievich Lvov. Alexander Kerensky a young lawyer from the Socialist Revolutionary Party joined the cabinet and eventually took leadership over Russia.
What dates mark the October Revolution according to the Julian calendar used by Russia at the time?
The October Revolution unfolded on November 6 and 7 1917 according to the Julian calendar used by Russia at the time. Vladimir Lenin arrived in Petrograd in April 1917 after traveling through Germany in a sealed train to prepare central Bolshevik policies.
How long did the Russian Civil War last and when did General Anatoly Pepelyayev capitulate?
The Russian Civil War broke out in early 1918 with domestic anti-Bolshevik forces confronting the nascent Red Army. By 1923 the Bolsheviks had controlled the last of the White Army holdouts when General Anatoly Pepelyayev capitulated in the Ayano-Maysky District.
When were Tsar Nicholas II and his family murdered and who issued the order for their execution?
The Bolsheviks murdered Tsar Nicholas II and his family on the 16th of July 1918 in Yekaterinburg. According to Edvard Radzinsky and Dmitrii Volkogonov the order came directly from Lenin and Yakov Sverdlov though this claim remains unconfirmed.