Category Revolutions

Russia was waking up to a new dawn in its history. A new government was formed by the Bolsheviks which was led by Vladimir Lenin. The whole structure changed for the nation as well as for the society. The Bolshevik Party was now renamed as the Russian Communist Party. They did not allow any private property and nationalized all the industries and banks. Power of the nobility was gone forever, and peasants were allowed to seize land owned by noble families. Also, the rich in the cities were forced to partition their large houses as per family requirements. The aristocracy was no longer allowed to use their old titles. Russia had only a single party now, the Communist Party which had full control over the trade unions. The new government made Five Year Plans for the development of the country based on a centralized planning system.

After the Revolution, Russia also withdrew from World War I, but that did not exactly bring in peace. Disturbances were brewing up within the country. Many groups came up opposing Lenin and the Bolsheviks, like the anarchists and militarists, and this led to a brutal civil war in Russia. The Russian Civil War lasted three years, between 1918 and 1921. The main opponents were the Red Army and White Army. The Red Army was obviously formed of communists, and the White Army was anti-communist. The communists won, ultimately, but at a heavy cost of millions of lives.

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The February Revolution brought an end to the tsarist regime in Russia, but things were not to stop there. The country was now ready for a complete overhaul of the social and economic pattern – a total revolution.

As months passed, Lenin felt convinced that the people were ready for another revolution, even though many other Bolshevik leaders did not quite agree with that. A secret meeting of the Bolshevik leaders was held on October 10, 1917, in which Lenin presented his strong arguments in favour of an armed uprising. When a vote was taken the next morning, most favoured a revolution. The stage was now set for the historic October Revolution of Russia, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution.

The people were indeed ready, and the revolution started in the morning of 25th October, 1917. The telegraph, power stations, important bridges, post offices, train stations, and the state bank were all soon under the control of troops supporting the Bolshevik Party. This happened without any violence. Leaders of the Provisional Government stayed within the Winter Palace. Alexander Kerensky, who was then the prime minister, managed to escape the next day, and troops supporting the Bolsheviks entered the Winter Palace. After this coup, the Bolsheviks became the new rulers of Russia. To a cheering population, Lenin announced that they would end the war, abolish private ownership of land and bring the factories under control of the workers.

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The people in Russia were ready for something to happen, yet the way it happened took everybody by surprise. The Women’s Day was being observed in Russia, on February 23, 1917, and the suffering women of Russia decided to take matters in their hands. Women workers in Petrograd came out to the streets to protest, leaving their factories.

It was a huge procession, of about 90,000 women. The streets filled with their shouts of “Bread!” and “Down with the autocracy!” It was the voice of suffering women who were weak with hunger and angry. Their husbands and fathers were mostly away, fighting in World War I, and these poor women had to work long, miserable hours to feed their families. This daring agitation of women grew rapidly into something bigger. The next day, more than 1, 50,000 men and women came out to join the protest. The numbers kept increasing and, by February 25, no one was working in Petrograd.

Initially, the crowds had to face some incidents of firing from the police and soldiers. But the police and the soldiers soon joined the protesters, too. By March 1, it became clear that this marked the end of the tsarist regime. Tsar Nicholas II abdicated on March 2, 1917.

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It was a really disturbing period for Russia. The people, still haunted by the hurtful memories of Bloody Sunday, had to suffer many hardships. There was already unrest among the people who were fed up with the autocratic rule of the tsars. There was corruption and inefficiency everywhere. Dissatisfaction grew among the rural peasants and the industrial workers because they were oppressed by the tsarist regime. Russia’s involvement in World War I had proved disastrous to the country, as Russia’s army was no match for the industrialized Germany’s might. There were heavy casualties and the costly war efforts disrupted the economy. There was an acute shortage of food supplies, and living conditions deteriorated. Supplies could not be transported to the cities as the railways were fully engaged in the war effort. Industrial production was badly affected, too, as able-bodied men were sent to fight the war.

All this set the background for the February Revolution of 1917. The peasants finally revolted against the tsarist rule, and they were supported by the soldiers.

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