The Bolshevik Revolution in Russia - Essay Example

The Bolshevik Revolution in Russia The Bolshevik Revolution in Russia The Bolshevik Revolution in Russia otherwise referred to asthe Red October, or October Uprising was a politically motivated revolution, which took place in 1917. The Revolution, which occurred after the February Revolution of the same year, was led by the Bolsheviks, a splinter group of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Party, which became independent from the Menshevik group following the Second Party Congress in the early 20th Century. The Bolsheviks was founded by Vladimir Lenin and consisted mainly of workers from the autonomous internal government based on the premise of centralism along democratic lines. These Bolsheviks referred to themselves as leaders of the radical working class group in Russia, their doctrines, referred to as Bolshevism, set the Bolsheviks aside from the rest of Russia’s population. Bolsheviks, who used their power in the Petrograd Soviets to gain support from the armed forces, successfully propagated the Bolshevik Revolution. Referred to as the Red Guards, Bolsheviks armies, led by the Military Revolutionary Committee took part in the revolution that shaped the course of Russian political arena. The Bolshevik Revolution came at a time when Russia was at the brick of collapsing under its numerous problems occasioned by its leadership (Litvin 2001, 49). Reasons for the Bolsheviks revolution The Revolution emerged, as the people of Russia grew weary of the rule of Czar Nicholas II, who had compelled over ten million Russians to join the First World War The Soviets were disillusioned by the death and suffering they underwent during the war and considered Czar Nicholas II an unworthy leader. In addition, the Soviets were angered by the move by the Russian Provisional Government to launch an offensive against the German and Hungarian armies. The Russian Provisional Government emerged after overthrowing the regime led by Czar Nicholas II, the former consisted primarily of bankers, industrialist and lawyers, who had promised to end Russia’s involvement in the World War, a promised they did not fulfill. The people of Russia protested the insurgence against these armies, but the government paid little attention to them. In addition, the Provisional Government officials who continued to amass wealth through corruption and massive taxes imposed on the Russian working class disillusioned the Soviets. The political elite were impervious to the suffering of the common folk in the nation as they continued in the footsteps of Czar Nicholas II. The Bolshevik Party sort to establish a government led by the workers and peasants able to make decisions that favored the Russian proletariat and bring to an immediate end the tyranny witnessed at the hands of the Provisional Government. Demonstrations against the government on the grounds of its support for the war led to crises in the Provisional Government and the emergence of the slogan, “all power to the soviets.” Another reason for the Bolshevik Revolution was the Provisional Government’s refusal to distribute land to the Russian masses and soldiers, who had requested land ownership over long periods of time. The peasants and workers took part in several revolts against landowners and tried to forcefully acquired their land, but were defeated by the Provisional Government, which also imprisoned the Bolsheviks Party’s leader. This apprehension of the leader resulted in Lenin going into exile for fear of being captured by the government. This served to further ignite the workers’ passion for a change in governance (Service 2005, p. 88). Moreover, we note that life in Russia in 1917 had become intolerable to the peasants and workers; disarray had ensued in sectors such as transportation, political and industrial relations. Massive declines in industrial production resulted in closure of a majority of businesses in the nation’s industrial centers. Plunging production and closure of enterprises resulted in massive unemployment and loss of income for the working class. Nearly half cut down salaries and wages for the few who were able to maintain employment while the cost of living continued to escalate on a regular basis. Workers in various sectors such as mining, manufacture and oil refinery, became disillusioned by the economic hardship they were facing and organized nationwide workers strikes. This workers’ strike would later result in the workers’ acquisition of principal manufacturing and production plants across the nation during the revolution. The economic crisis in Russia did not only affect the workers, but the nation as a whole, the nation’s national debt index grew to over 50billion rubles, which constituted, in part, Russia’s debts to other foreign governments. The nation was at the brick of bankruptcy, but the current regime showed laxity in solving the economic crisis. This further enraged the peasants and workers, compounding their resolution to undertake a revolution against the government. Shortages experienced in Russia during this time enraged the workers; bread shortage was rampant in the nation leading in high prices of the commodity, which was a staple food for the Soviets. In addition, the workers and peasants took part in demonstrations against capitalistic ministers of the Provisional Government during which the government attacked the demonstrators. This angered the workers who were relentless in their revolt, soon even the soldiers joined in the revolt, demanding that the government hand over power to the masses. The government orchestrated armed attack on the soldiers and workers involved in the revolt leading to death and injury of many demonstrators (Matthews and DeWitt 1997 p. 39). The government ordered the arrest and imprisonment of Bolsheviks and termination of employment for all workers involved in the mutinies. In addition, soldiers who were sympathetic towards the Bolsheviks were sent off to participate in the war. To further compound the problem, the Provisional Government enacted into law, the provision for the death penalty to those engaged in activities that were deemed to be against the government. In addition, the Provisional Government established oppressive policies such as shutting down what they considered radical newspapers, preaching propaganda against the government. The government’s insufficient measures in instituting reforms couple with its repressive policies served to alienate the working class, who became apprehensive towards the government.     Results of the Bolsheviks Revolution The Bolshevik Revolution led to the overthrowing of Russian Provisional Government, led by Prince Georgy L’lov, which led an offensive attack against Germany. Following the attack on Germans, the Russian Provisional Government lost the support of its citizens and suffered critical weaknesses. Power was bestowed upon local Soviets led by the Bolsheviks, who had been on the struggle’s forefront. In addition, the Revolution resulted in the loss of over 14million Russians, both during the course of the struggle and the famine that followed the Revolution; many Russians died in the Revolution because they had been to engrossed in the struggle to focus on food production during the sowing season, while those who had tilled and sowed their lands suffered massive losses as their crops were destroyed in the course of the struggle. Following the Bolshevik revolution, which remained unrecognized in areas exterior to Petrograd, the Russian Civil war ensued. The Civil War saw numerous groups such as the Allied Forces and other foreigners fighting against the Bolsheviks, considered pro-revolutionary. Moreover, the Revolution led to the establishment of the Soviet Union in the year 1922. The Revolution resulted in the capture of some of the seats formerly held by the Provisional Government and major government buildings and offices. Disagreements ensued in the course of power transfer where Mensheviks asserted that the Bolsheviks and Lenin had illegally acquired power, as it was largely believed that the two had withdrawn from the revolution before it ended. Following the success of the Bolshevik Revolution, a Council of people’s Commissars was elected into office by the Congress. The government, which was formally referred to as provisional before its dissolution, enacted laws referred to as decrees on land and peace (Litvin 2001, 50). The government Council of People’s Commissars instituted oppressive measures against its opposition by apprehending its leaders and members. During the Peter and Paul Fortress, for instance, several members of the Constitutional Democratic Party, Socialist-Revolutionary Party and Mensheviks. Pursuant to the Bolshevik Revolution, Vladimir Lenin, through a decree, established the Cheka, a crucial branch of the Bolshevik government, which was tasked with handling matters regarding the nation’s military and security aspects. The Cheka had a number of sub-branches, all of which had different functions. For example, the Troops for the Internal Defense of the Republic was tasked with food appropriation, torture and execution of the government’s political opponents and squashing rebellions and uprisings against the government. The government’s law on land approved the workers’ and peasants’ seizure of land across Russia and made provisions for the redistribution of land among the government’s supporters. In addition, the Bolshevik Revolution resulted in the imprinting of the hammer and sickle symbol on Russia’s coat of arms and flag. The Bolsheviks imprinted these symbols as a memoir of their representation of the peasants and workers of Russia. Moreover, the Bolshevik Revolution resulted in the rise of a communistic system of government, which saw all banks in the nation become nationalized. This nationalization meant that the operation and control of all banks was done by the government, subsequently, all the government took possession of all privately owned bank accounts. Government seizure of all bank accounts meant that no one had access to private money, which had become the property of the state. Bank accounts, which were confiscated include those belonging to individuals, churches, companies and other institution (Matthews and DeWitt 1997 p. 45). In addition to this, the Bolshevik Government turned over the control of all factories, formerly owned by supporters of the Provisional Government, to soviet peasants and workers. In a controversial turn of events, the Bolshevik Government renounced Russia’s foreign debts, which had accumulated during the previous regime. The government took this measure in an effort to save Russia from the brick of bankruptcy. The nation’s working class whose employment had been terminated were reinstated in their work places, and the government introduced more favorable work packages; workers’ salaries and wages were set at much higher and rates which were fixed by the provisions of law. In addition, the government established eight-hour working days contrary to arbitrary hours set by oppressive industry owners in the previous regime. Once the Bolsheviks asserted their control in the Soviet Union, they sort to conquer and control other sections of the Russian Empire. They were primarily successful in mist parts apart from parts of the empire considered non-Russian, such as Rada in Ukraine, which was governed by the Ukrainian People’s Republic under the Ukrainian Congress of Soviets. The efforts of the Bolshevik Government to acquire Ukranian Rada resulted in an armed conflict in Petrograd and subsequently declaration of Ukraine as an autonomous state from Russia. Estonia also faced conflict as two separate governments surfaced; on one hand, there was the Estonian Provisional Assembly, which issued a Declaration of Independence asserting itself as the nation’s legal authority. On the other hand, there was the Estonian sympathizer of Bolshevik, Jaan Anvelt, who was acknowledged by the Lenin led Bolshevik government. This tore the nation in two as some supported the Provisional Assembly while others were for the Bolshevik sympathetic group (Matthews and DeWitt 1997 p. 16) The Bolshevik Revolution’s success resulted in the alteration of Russia’s political setup from a parliamentary one to one advocating for socialism. A group of Bolshevik opponents attempted to overthrow the government during the Russian Civil War. This resulted in the occupation of sections of the Soviet Union by the United Kingdom, Japan, France and the United States, referred to as the Allied powers, which attempted to quell the civil unrest in the country. The Allied powers occupied these parts for the duration of more than two years, after which they withdrew their forces. Due to the communistic nature of government in Russia, the U.S refused to acknowledge the Bolshevik government, whereas Europe only acknowledged and traded with it after the introduction of the New Economic Policy. The Bolshevik Revolution resulted in expulsion of war tactics against Germany and ouster of Russia from the war. The Bolshevik government approved all communistic contributions and spending; all the national income was distributed among the citizens who were also mandated to work in other government institutions (Pipe 1999, p. 51). In conclusion, The Bolshevik Revolution came about as a result of the disillusionment felt by Russia’s working class and soldiers sympathetic to the Bolsheviks over the nation’s government. These groups felt that Russia should withdraw its oppressive against the Germans and pull out of World War I immediately. The groups felt that the corruption and tyranny Russia experienced at the hands of the Provisional Government was a continuation of the oppressive regime under czar Nicholas II, therefore, sort an end to it. The Bolshevik Revolution brought about significant changes in Russia including both good and bad. While many as a positive change from the previous Provisional Government, which had oppressive land ownership, labor, media and production policies, viewed it others viewed the Bolshevik Government’s policy of communism as backward and oppressive towards the rich. The revolution led to the establishment of policies on land and peace. Russia pulled out of the war, and its troops stopped their offensive against Germany. The Bolshevik Government, however, was also involved in oppression of its opponents, thereby destroying democracy in the nation by instituting torture against the government’s opposition. The government’s policies led to the nation’s alienation from the international domain as its doctrines faced disapproval from many sections. References Matthews, R. T. and DeWitt P. 1997. The Western Humanities(3rd ed.). CA: Mayfield Publishing Co. Litvin, A. 2001. Writing History in Twentieth-Century Russia. New York: Palgrave 2001). Pipe, R.1999. The Russian Revolutions. London: Vintage Books. Service, R. 2005. A history of modern Russia from Nicholas II to Vladimir Putin. Harvard: Harvard University Press. Read More