TWENTIETH-CENTURY EUROPE

Twentieth-century Europe

Twentieth-century Europe

Selected Question|: To what extent can the success of the Bolsheviks during 1917 be explained by the impact of the First World War on Russia?

Introduction

The year 1917 was a critical year for the people of Russia, and for the world at large. In March of that year, the last major autocratic government in Europe was overthrown, and was replaced with a republic. The new republic was controlled by two conflicting institutions, the Provincial Government and the Soviets. However, by November of that same year, the Bolsheviks had taken over control of Russia. The Bolsheviks were able to seize power because of three wrongly made decisions of the Provincial Government; their decision to stay in World War I, their decision to allow the return of Vladimir Lenin, and their decision to arm the Bolsheviks in the Kornilov revolt (Grey, 1967, 45-102).

Discussion of the Question

The fateful decision of staying in the Great War weakened the Provincial Government, and paved the road to Bolshevik takeover. In the summer of 1917, the Provincial Government launched an attack on the Germans and Austro-Hungarians at Galicia. This offensive was a total failure, and throughout the preceding months, Germany continued to take over Russian territories. The war effort cause instability in Russia, as employment and inflation plagued the society.

The soldiers themselves were becoming weary of the failure of the Russian military leadership, and an estimated two million soldiers deserted in that year. The people of Russia were disappointed with the Provincial Government, while it tried to find balance between war and internal dissents. For example, in the country side, peasants began to take over land from landlords, as they sought to divide the land equally. The Provincial Government responded by suppressing the peasants by force, which angered the peasants (Bunyan and Fisher, 1934, 45-203). In short, the Bolsheviks represented a new hope of peace and stability, which the people of Russia yearned.

The Provincial Government contributed to their eventual downfall by allowing Vladimir Lenin back in St. Petersburg. The Russian government at the time made a deal with Germany to exchange German nationals in Russia for Marxist exiles in Switzerland. The historian George Feifer stated that a more experienced and less idealistic government would never have made the deal with Germany. Unfortunately, the Provincial Government were both those things. They were a new government, based on the notion of freedom of the people, as was the basis of the February Revolution that same year. Before Lenin arrived in St. Petersburg, the socialist parties sought cooperation with all reformist parties. Upon Lenin's return, he scolded Kamenev, who was the editor of the Bolsheviks newspaper, Pravda, for advocating cooperation with other parties, or even the Provincial Government.

Most of the Bolsheviks in Russia before Lenin's arrival considered the forceful overthrowing of the Provincial Government a "foolish daydream." However, Lenin rejected all cooperation with non revolutionary groups and wanted "a republic of soviets of workers' soldiers' and peasants' deputies throughout the ...