Russian Revolution: From February to October

Posted on Feb 7, 2025 in History

The Revolution: February to October

Despite its ultimate failure, the revolutionary test of 1905 was instrumental in the formation of key political forces in the Revolution of 1917.

The Revolutionary Climate

During the months before the outbreak of a new revolution, conditions were consolidated so that it would be successful:

  • The Russian army suffered a series of defeats against the German Army.
  • Some problems of the war against Japan repeated, such as the lack of supplies and old-fashioned military technology.
  • Bolshevik propaganda favored withdrawal. Mass defections occurred.
  • In the rear, the civilian population began to suffer shortages of all possible human and material resources.

The February Revolution: End of the Tsars

Strikes and protests occurred again in February 1917:

  • At the end of the month, a general strike called by the workers ended up being supported by the soldiers.
  • In this context, the Soviets of workers were extended, joined by soldiers’ assemblies. Meanwhile, the Duma established a provisional government.
  • Under pressure from the Petrograd Soviet and the Provisional Government, the Tsar decided to abdicate.
  • The Soviet and Duma agreed that Kerensky would be appointed Prime Minister.

The Provisional Government’s Failed Reforms

The interim government tried to undertake a process of modern reforms but faced many problems:

  • The war continued, and desertion and insubordination were the norm among the men and low-ranking officers.
  • Hunger grew, and land occupations were generalized.
  • In addition, some nations sought independence.
  • The Soviets spread throughout Russia.

At that time, Lenin issued his April Theses, with simple slogans: “Peace, bread, and land.” The confrontation between the Soviets and the government radicalized, and the Bolshevik leaders were persecuted. The Petrograd Soviet attempted a coup to restore the Tsar. The Petrograd Soviet’s Military Revolutionary Committee was formed, while Lenin secretly returned from exile.

The October Revolution: The Bolsheviks in Power

Lenin, upon reaching Petrograd, launched the proclamation of “All power to the Soviets.” The Bolsheviks were presented as defenders of the Revolution and as the only ones capable of meeting the aspirations of the people against the betrayal of the Provisional Government. On October 25, Bolshevik troops occupied Petrograd, and Kerensky was forced to flee. The Bolsheviks seized the Winter Palace.

The First Bolshevik Steps

The priority was to make peace at any price, satisfy the hunger for land, and end the supply problems. It was necessary to realize the slogan “Peace, bread, and land.”

Abandonment of the War

The Bolsheviks believed that the war was the result of the competing interests of the capitalist countries. Trotsky, as Commissioner for International Relations, was in charge of negotiating peace. Peace talks began on December 22 in Brest-Litovsk. Russia sealed the final peace with Germany. The Russians suffered great territorial losses as several territories were declared independent.

The Problem of Nationalities

During the first years of the revolution, Russia was to be organized as a socialist state that recognized the right to self-determination. Stalin was in charge of this policy. Lenin believed it was essential to ensure the triumph of the revolution and the international union of the proletariat. They formed a federal state of Soviet republics, as established by the Constitution of 1918. With Stalin in power, his doctrine of “socialism in one country” brought down most of the republics into the Russian central orbit.

The First Agrarian Reform

When Marx devised his revolutionary theory, he believed it would be applied in an industrialized country, but the first state where it was held was Russia. Consequently, Lenin held a different view of the peasantry. In Russia, the peasant masses played a transcendental role, and the Bolsheviks had to meet their demands. The workers showed a certain inability to undertake the reforms of the Russian countryside:

  • Provided measures such as nationalization and collectivization of land.
  • The Soviets did not succeed in operating agricultural factories.
  • The poverty of many rural families continued after the Revolution.
  • Farm workers were wary of Bolshevik measures since, in reality, they aspired to land ownership.
  • The land redistribution program conflicted with collectivization.