Friday, December 9, 2016

Bolshevik Revolution



       The Bolshevik Party, led by V. I. Lenin, overthrew the Provisional Government on the night of November 6th, 1917. The Provisional Government itself overtook the czar in February of the same year. A group of women protesters convinced the Russian army to turn on the czar, dethroning Czar Nicholas II. However, the Provisional Government was poorly managed and fragile. On top of that, it did not take Russia out of the Great War, angering the public. It did not listen to the people, especially when both the soldiers and peasants asked for shares of land, so the people rose up and tried to overthrow the government. The Bolsheviks tried to organize the masses, but the attack failed. The ringleaders were jailed and the Bolsheviks waited for a more optimal opportunity.

      They got their opportunity when the Provisional Government killed off most of its soldiers sent to fight in an offensive, and the remnants of the army slowly defected to the Bolsheviks. In September, by showing that they were the only true opposition party to the Provisional Government, the Bolsheviks won several elections, due to having a majority in St. Petersburg Soviet, a worker's council. In November, Lenin launched an overnight dethronement of the Provisional Government, commandeering post offices, electric works, railroad stations, and banks. With a cannon shot signal, the Bolsheviks overwhelmed the Winter Palace, swiftly taking over the Provisional Government. Lenin, now the leader of the Bolsheviks, advocated for socialism as the core of the new Russia. This revolution sparked a revolutionary mindset throughout the world, even resting in the socialists and radicals in America. The new soviet republic was a new superpower, spreading the ideals of Marxism-Leninism.
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Sources:
http://www.history.com/topics/russian-revolution
http://www.thenagain.info/WebChron/EastEurope/OctRev.html
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/bolsheviks-revolt-in-russia

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