The october revolution

A little info about the October Revolution.

1. The October Revolution

2. When was the October revolution? The revolution was led by the Bolsheviks, who used their influence in the Petrograd Soviet to organize the armed forces. Bolshevik Red Guards forces under the Military Revolutionary Committee began the takeover of government buildings on 24 October 1917.

3. Why did the revolution happen? The revolution happened because things weren’t working well in Russia. Since there was no Tsar to rule the country( he was forced to abdicate), a provisional government was set up to rule Russia but wasn’t very successful either in doing so. The Bolsheviks had achieved a majority of the Petrograd and Moscow Soviet and so Lenin and his Bolsheviks committee decided to start the revolution…

4. So what happened ? The Provisional government shuts down all the Bolsheviks newspapers, Bolshevik troops take over government buildings in the city. Alexander Kerensky escapes Petrograd while Bolsheviks struggle to capture Winter palace, Second Congress of Soviets convenes. The Provisional government gets arrested in the morning while Lenin issues a Lenin issues Decree on Peace and Decree on Land Congress approves Soviet of the People’s Commissars, with all-Bolshevik membership, as new provisional government.

5. Why did the Bolsheviks win? 1. Provisional Government problems The Bolsheviks succeeded because the Provisional Government was weak and unpopular so when it was attacked, nobody was prepared to defend it. 2. The Bolsheviks had good slogans such as ‘Peace, Bread, Land’ and ‘All Power to the Soviets’. Other parties claimed they could never deliver their promises, but their arguments were too complicated for people to understand. This meant that they got the public’s support. 3. Pravda The party ran its own propaganda machine, including the newspaper Pravda (‘Truth’), which got their ideas across. 4. German money The Germans financed the Bolsheviks because they knew that Lenin wanted to take Russia out of the war. This gave them the money to mount their publicity campaigns. 5. Lenin A brilliant leader – a professional revolutionary with an iron will, ruthless, brilliant speaker, a good planner with ONE aim – to overthrow the government. The Bolsheviks were well-led. 6 . Army A private Bolshevik army (the Red Guards), dedicated to the revolution, was set up and trained under Leon Trotsky. It gave the Bolsheviks the military power to win . 7 . The Bolsheviks were brilliantly organised. A central committee (controlled by Lenin and other leading Bolsheviks) sent orders to the soviets, who gave orders to the factories. Membership grew to 2 million in 3 months. Unlike the Provisional Government, the Bolsheviks demanded total obedience from their members, so they were well-disciplined (members did what the leaders wanted).