The Russian Revolutions

1. The Russian Revolutions Kevin J. Benoy

2. The February Revolution • The February Revolution (March new style – Gregorian calendar) was not a planned event. • In the power vacuum that followed, it was a little unclear who was governing Russia. • Workers and Soldiers’ Soviets ruled many areas. • The Duma, now termed the Provisional Government,claimed it was the true national authority.

3. The February Revolution • First headed by Prince Lvov, the Provisional Government lacked governing experience. • It also faced insurmountable problems: • Food shortages worsened. • Industrial output dropped. • Militants called for radical reforms. • The war continued.

4. The February Revolution • The Provisional Government was determined to stay in the war – honouring Russia’s commitments to its allies.

5. The February Revolution • Order #1 of the Petrograd Soviet – which also claimed authority -significantly undermined Russia’s war effort. • It abolished the salute, gave control of weapons in army units to local Soviets. • Soviets were to be elected in both the army and the navy. • Military discipline could not survive.

6. Failure of the Provisional Government • The War Minister, Alexander Kerensky, who later came to head the government, ordered a general offensive in June. • As in the past, success against the Austro-Hungarians was followed by failure when German troops were dispatched against them.

7. Failure of the Provisional Government • The failed offensive broke the Russian army. • Soldiers mutinied, sometimes killing their officers. • Others simply walked away from the front. • Blocking battalions could no longer stop them.

8. Failure of the Provisional GovernmentJuly Days • The end of the Tsar brought a return of exiles. • Lenin returned from Zurich. • In July the Bolsheviks tried to seize power – but failed. • In disguise, Lenin fled the capital to hide in Finland.

9. Failure of the Provisional GovernmentThe Kornilov Coup • Next a general tried to depose the Provisional Government. • General Kornilov marched on the capital from the Northern Front. • In desperation, the government even called on the Bolsheviks to help them defend the capital. • Socialists distributed propaganda to Kornilov’s men and the threat melted away. • However, the Bolsheviks were once again able to operate – and now they were better armed, having received weapons to fight Kornilov – and they had no loyalty to Kerensky.

10. The October Revolution • In October (November, new style), the Bolsheviks called for “All Power to the Soviets.” • By now Bolsheviks dominated the soviets of key cities, including the capital.

11. The October Revolution • Kerensky could not count on the loyalty of the Petrograd garrison and had to turn to a women’s regiment and officer cadets to guard the Winter Palace, where the Provincial Government was installed.

12. The October Revolution • Lenin not only had the Kronstadt sailors on his side, he could also count on fire support from the cruiser Aurora, anchored nearby – whose mutinying sailors ignited the October Revolution.

13. The October Revolution • In the capital, the revolution was less dramatic than might be expected. • Resistance was quickly overcome. • Kerensky and others fled. • More damage was done to the Winter Palace in the making of a 1925 film of the event (where live ammunition was used) than in the revolution itself.

14. The October Revolution • Moderates and other socialists stood on the sideline. • They lacked strong leadership. • Only the Bolsheviks were clear in their goals and tactics – allowing them to take the key national centers of Petrograd and Moscow.

15. The October Revolution • The non-Bolshevik Left and moderates negotiated while Lenin consolidated power. • Major cities tended to fall under Bolshevik control, while power vacuums and local strongmen held sway in the countryside.

16. The October Revolution • The Bolseviks ruled indirectly through the All Russian Congress of Soviets. • They quickly passed three decrees: • The Peace Decree, declaring the war over. • The Land Decree, handing land over to the peasants. • The Self-Determination Decree, allowing all ethnic groups independence if they wished it.

17. The October Revolution • These promises were made at a time of great Bolshevik insecurity. • It was not certain that they could hold onto power, so they were desperate to win popular support. • Would they suffer the same fate as the Provisional Government?

18. Peace Decree • This sounded good to all Russians, but Germany had to stop fighting when they were having great success. • What could be done? • Accept a dictated peace. • Fight on in a revolutionary war. (Bukharin supported this.) • No peace/no war was proposed by Trotsky. Wait for a German revolution. • The third option was tried, but Lenin decided to accept the first when no revolution occurred. • The Bolsheviks signed the humiliating Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, surrendering much territory to the Germans (this stiffened the resolve of Western Allies as it showed what German victory would bring).

19. Land Decree • Promising land won support from peasants since conservatives wanted to return land to landlords. • This support was lost in the winter of 1917-1918 as the problem of feeding the cities became acute. • Party enthusiasts sent to the villages to bring back food confiscated it or used worthless paper money. • Bullying angered peasants.

20. Famine • The 1919-20 famine hit hard. • Cities were affected 1st. • Party Members got rations, other starved. • People bartered possessions for food. • People abandoned cities: • Moscow lost ½ its population. • Petrograd lost 2/3. • In 1921 the Volga famine killed several million. • Diseases, like cholera and typhoid were rampant.

21. Industry • Industrial production collapsed. • Coal fell to 25% 1913 levels. • Cast iron to 3% • Copper production ceased. • There were severe shortages of materials and spare parts. • Railway rolling stock was only ½ of what was available in 1917. • Management expertise fled or refused to help as they awaited Bolshevik collapse.

22. Nationalism • Supported in theory, it was opposed in practice – even left-wing versions like that of the Ukraine and Caucasus. • In the Spring of 1918, the Bolsheviks turned on newly independent areas to grab their resources. • Only nationalities with outside help (Finland-Germany; Poland-France; Baltic states –Germany and Britain) stayed independent.

23. A Constituent Assembly • On November 25, 1917, Russians voted for a Constituent Assembly. • The Bolsheviks expected to win but did not. • The Leftist Social Revolutionaries were the big winner, with 51% of the vote, to the Bolshevik 25%. • The Assembly met in January but found the doors soon blocked by Bolshevik guards.

24. A Constituent Assembly • SRs and Mensheviks went home and plotted. • Several attempts were made on the lives of Bolshevik leaders by SRs. • Some were successful: • Uritsky and Sverdlov were killed. • Lenin suffered two gunshot wounds • The Bolsheviks unleashed a Red Terror in response. 100,000 were executed. 2 million more fled Russia.

25. Civil War • While Bolsheviks consolidated control of the political heart of the country, conservative and royalist forces organized counter-revolution. • In the South ex-Tsarist officers and landlords gathered forces, supplied by Western governments.

26. Civil War - Intervention • Churchill and other Allied leaders would have liked to stamp out Bolshevism before it could spread. • British troops landed at Murmansk and Archangelsk; Americans and Japanese landed at Vladivostok -- supposedly to protect military stores there, but really to oppose the Bolsheviks. Canadian troops in Siberia

27. Civil War - Intervention • There was little support for intervention. • In the Black Sea, French sailors mutinied. • British dock-workers refused to load ships destined for Russia. • The intervention was neither determined enough or sufficient to do more than raise expectations of White leaders.

28. Civil War – The Whites • In the South, first General Kornilov, then Generals Deniken and Wrangel led old Tsarist forces. • In Estonia General Yudenich fought under the watchful eyes of his Western protectors. • In the East Admiral Kolchak controlled Siberia (helped by Allied forces). • In the Ukraine, nationalists ruled until their German protectors withdrew.

29. Civil War – the Czechoslovak Legion • The oddest anti-Red force consisted of Czechoslovak soldiers who fought on the Allied side against Austria-Hungary. • They sought to leave Russia via the Trans Siberian Railway, to continue the war. • En-route a brawl between them and Hungarian prisoners occurred at Chelyabinsk. • Heated emotions led to conflict with local Bolshevik authorities.

30. Civil War – the Czechoslovak Legion • Soviet Red Army Chief Leon Trotsky ordered the Czechs disarmed. • Soon the Czechs seized control of many towns along the railway and they helped fight Red forces. • They were evacuated in 1920 after cutting a deal with the Reds that involved handing over White gold bullion in their possession – as well as White leader Admiral Kolchak. • Some of the Legion stayed on, fighting for both sides in the Civil War.

31. Civil War - Poland • Granted independence under the Self-Determination Decree, the Poles were determined to establish greater power. • With French support, Marshall Pilsudski’s Polish forces invaded Russia. • After initial success, they were driven back to Warsaw itself. • Finally the Russians were pushed out of (a generously sized) Poland and a rough balance of power established.

32. Civil War • On the point of collapse several times, when pressed by the Whites in 1919 and when the Poles pushed across the Curzon Line, they always rebounded.

33. Civil War – Reasons for Bolshevik Success • Control of the central region, including crucial communications centers – Petrograd and Moscow. • Troops could be transferred relatively quickly from one front to another. • White supply lines and communications were hampered by lack of connections around the periphery of Russia.

34. Civil War – Reasons for Bolshevik Success • White armies lacked political appeal. • Their goals varied from restoration of the unpopular monarchy to establishing a liberal regime. • They were united only in their opposition to Bolshevism.

35. Civil War – Reasons for Bolshevik Success • Whites did not organize well behind their lines. • Generals frequently did not understand the need for a political agenda and aggressive propaganda campaigns. • They could not compete with Bolshevik propaganda.

36. Civil War – Reasons for Bolshevik Success • Old Tsarist reliance on pogroms to divert attention from other domestic problems created hatred of white leaders behind the lines.

37. Civil War – Reasons for Bolshevik Success • White support in the West was shaky at best as weary populations did not want one war to end, only to be replaced by another.

38. Civil War – Reasons for Bolshevik Success • The Red Army, though not particularly efficient, was huge. • By 1920 it was the largest army in the world at 5.5 million men. • Trotsky overcame the problem of a lack of trained officers by forcing ex-Tsarists to serve. • A system of dual command was used, with commissars added to army units to oversee military commanders. Officer’s families were often held as hostages to ensure their loyalty.

39. Bolshevik Victory • By 1920, though in a terrible mess, Bolshevik Russia had largely triumphed. • Allied intervention collapsed. • By 1921 the Revolution was successful everywhere except in Finland, Poland and the Baltic states. • In Siberia, White resistance continued only as long as Japanese troops remained. In 1922 they pulled out ant the Far Eastern Republic fell.

40. Bolshevik Victory • Lenin and his supporters faced the daunting task of rebuilding a devastated country. • No country emerged from the war as shattered as Russia, yet it was here that Lenin sought to construct his socialist utopia.

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