The Rise of Soviet Russia

Revolution in Russia, 1917
The March (February) Revolution, Events Leading to the 'October' (November) Revolt

 B The March (February) Revolution, 1917

  ii   A new provisional government was formed of liberal, middle class ministers.  Kerensky, who was Minister of Justice, then Minister of War finally became Prime Minister and head of the new government, which at first enjoyed considerable support.  The Petrograd Soviet made up of workers' and soldiers' deputies, elected in factories, workshops and barracks, gave it their backing.  Soviets were elected in all the large towns.  They were `popular parliaments' but they excluded the middle class and the aristocracy and as they came more under the control of the Bolsheviks led by Lenin and Trotsky they began to challenge the authority of the provisional government. 

  iii   Kerensky's government, with its headquarters in the Winter Palace of Petrograd, was made up of liberals and moderate socialists.  Though they held office and the trappings of government they were challenged by the army officers and by the aristocracy who opposed the revolution as well as by the workers who had made the revolution.  Like many middle class liberal governments, failure to set up a strong, permanent government and mistakes in policy caused their support to melt away. 

 C Events Leading to the 'October' (November) Revolt, 1917

 i   Kerensky and his government decided to continue the war with renewed vigour, but further defeats in July made the war still more unpopular.  The peasants, disappointed by Kerensky in their hunger for land, began to seize the large estates, many of whose owners had fled to the towns on the outbreak of revolution.  The 'Agrarian Terror' brought further discredit to the Provisional government which was now under strong attack from both left and right-wing forces. 

  ii   On March 12, Stalin had arrived in Petrograd to be joined by Lenin in April, and by Trotsky a month later.  A new Central Committee of the Bolshevik party was set up in April and this committee had behind it the support of 76,000 key men in industry, transport and the army.  The Bolsheviks were challenged by the Mensheviks, moderate socialists, who supported the provisional government and saw a period of democratic rule as a basic stage of the revolution.  Lenin and Trotsky wanted to jump straight into a dictatorship of the workers which would remove the middle class and their socialist supporters.  Even the Bolsheviks themselves were divided on the point as to whether another revolt should be immediately rushed through.  A rising of the rank and file, which the leaders did not really want, was crushed.  Lenin had to go into hiding but the defeat of the July rising was not a serious setback. 

  iii   In August 1917, Kerensky asked General Kornilov to send reliable troops to the capital to crush the Bolsheviks.  The General wanted to rid the country not only of Bolsheviks but of Socialists, Liberals and Kerensky's government as well.  He withdrew his allegiance from the government and ordered his troops to march on Petrograd.  Kerensky had now to ask the Bolsheviks for help.  All socialist forces united against Kornilov whose 'counter-revolution' was crushed, but the Bolsheviks came out of the affair as the real defenders of the March revolution.  They now outnumbered the moderate Mensheviks in the Petrograd and Moscow Soviets.  iv Trotsky who had been imprisoned following the July rising was released and became President of the Petrograd Soviet.  The war continued to go badly and a suggestion by Kerensky to remove the government from Petrograd to Moscow allowed the Bolsheviks to take on the role of defenders of the capital.  They set up a Military Revolutionary Committee in Petrograd and organized their supporters in military formations.  In October 1917, the Bolshevik Central Committee voted for revolution against Kerensky and his government