Revolution In Russia In 1917 example essay topic

The Russian Revolution began in 1917 and ended in 1920. It was a conflict between the Bolshevik government of Russia and anti-Bolshevik forces supported by troops from several other countries including Canada. I'm not sure if any of you know who the Bolshevik people are. First of all Bolshevik means "majority" in Russian. They were members of a communist party.

The Russian revolution is a name for two events which are: the 1917 February Revolution which overthrew the Tsar and established a democratic government under Alexander Kerensky. For those of you who do not know who the Tsar was it was Nicholas II. The second event occurred Eight months later when the Bolsheviks overthrew Kerensky in the October Revolution, and set up a Communist government that became the Soviet Union. On the second of March 1917, Nicholas II, the Tsar of Russia, abdicated. His family ruled Russia for nearly 300 years, but their demise occurred in a matter of days. Why was there a revolution in Russia in 1917?

There were long term reasons for the revolution which had made people very angry: First Russia was an autocracy. Meaning that the Tsar had total power. Even though there was a parliament, called the Duma, it didn't have much influence and could only criticize the Tsar's government. Politicians wanted to make Russia more democratic.

Secondly, Nicholas was a weak and useless ruler. He allowed himself to be influenced by people who did not want any changes to take place in Russia. Thirdly, there were huge differences between the rich and the poor. There were a number of terrorist groups which used violence.

One was the Bolsheviks led by Lenin. In 1881, Tsar Alexander II, Nicholas's grandfather was murdered. In 1911 the Prime Minister, Peter Stolpin, was murdered. The Tsar's government used violence against the people as well: Stolpin had 9,000 people executed. The Short term reasons are that Tsar's wife came under the influence of Gregory Rasputin. She was already unpopular because she was German, but her connection with Rasputin made things even worse.

The Tsar kept dismissing the Duma and then changing its organization; the people felt that they could not trust him since he was making these changes. But the most important reason was that Russia became involved in the WWI. The Bolsheviks were able to seize power in 1917 because the provisional government was only meant to be temporary. It was there to govern Russia until a general election was held. The provisional government did not want to take any major decisions. The provisional government did not end war with Germany, which many Russians wanted them to do.

This was because the provisional government did not believe that it could take decisions like this as it had not been elected. It also needed the support of the Petrograd Soviet. This was a committee of Soldiers and Workers which was set up soon after the Provisional Government. It was represented the workers of Petrograd. The Bolsheviks were well organized and well led by Lenin and Trotsky. Lenin supplied the leadership and Trotsky organized the military take-over.

He became the chairman of the Military Committee of Petrograd Soviet in September of 1917. The leader of the provisional government, Alexander Kerensky, became more and more unpopular; he also did not take the threat from the Bolsheviks very seriously. The provisional government lost the support of the Army in August and this led to the Kornilov Revolt. General Kornilov believed that the new Prime Minister, Alexander Kerensky, was going to seize power himself and tried to arrest him. Kerensky had to ask the Bolsheviks to defend him.

This meant that they realized just how weak the Provisional Government really was. The Bolsheviks had tried to seize power in July, but had failed. Now Lenin was sure they could succeed. October 1917, Bolsheviks seized control of the Winter Palace in Petrograd almost without firing a shot. No one was ready to fight for the Provisional Government.

Russia was allied with France, Britain and the United States against Germany and Austria-Hungary. Popular at first, the war claimed millions of lives and quickened demands for change in Russia. After the Revolution communist Russia left the war by signing a separate peace treaty with Germany. As soon as Lenin gained power, he made it cleat what he intended to do.

A 'Land Decree' was issued which said that land now belonged to the people who farmed it. This was followed by the 'Peace Decree', which stated that the war with Germany was over. These decrees were intended to win support for the Bolsheviks, but Lenin's plans did not work. When a general election was held in November, the Bolsheviks came second to the Socialists Revolutionaries.

Lenin's response was simple. When the new Russian parliament, the constituent assembly, met in January, it was dispersed and Lenin began to rule as a dictator. Other political parties were banned, newspapers were censored and a secret police force was set up, the Check, led by Felix Dzerzhinsky. They enforced Lenin's ideas and thousands of people were murdered. The property and land of the Russian Orthodox Church was seized. All businesses and banks were taken over.

In 1918, a peace treaty with Germany was signed at Brest-Litovsk. Russia left WWI. All the loans, which the allies had given to Russia, were rejected. Lenin made many enemies and they all came together to try to overthrow the new Bolshevik government.

Britain, France and the USA, who landed troops in northern Russia in 1918, supported them. The Poles, Ukrainians and Cossacks also tried to win independence. These forces together were known as the Whites. But the Reds, as the Bolsheviks were called, were better equipped and had more men. Many Russians did not want a return to rule by the Tsar. By 1920, the White armies had all been defeated and the Bolsheviks controlled Russia.

This began the Communist dictatorship of Russia which lasted for 74 years!