1917 OCTOBER REVOLUTION

Causes of 1917 October Revolution



Causes of 1917 October Revolution

Introduction

The October Revolution, also known as the Russian Revolution, Great October Socialist Revolution, Red October or the Bolshevik Revolution was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917. It took place with an armed insurrection in Petrograd traditionally dated to 25 October 1917 Julian calendar (7 November 1917 Gregorian calendar). It was the second phase of the Russian Revolution, after the February Revolution of the same year. The October Revolution in Petrograd overthrew the Russian Provisional Government and gave the power to the local soviets dominated by Bolsheviks. As the revolution was not recognized outside of Petrograd the rest of the country was submerged into the all-national chaos of the Russian Civil War (1917-1922) and the creation of the Soviet Union in 1922 (Apresyan, 1985, 371).

The revolution was led by the Bolsheviks, who used their influence in the Petrograd Soviet to organize the armed forces. Bolshevik Red Guards forces under the Military Revolutionary Committee began the takeover of government buildings on 24 October. On 25 October (JC) the Winter Palace (the seat of the Provisional government located in Petrograd, then capital of Russia), was captured (Wildman, 1980, 77).

It appears of reasonable judgement to date the origin of the breakdown of Tsarism in Russia with the emancipation of the serfs in 1861, yet of course, such an assertion may be in fair dispute given Russia's lengthy history. The emancipation of the serfs, however, may be seen as an event which meant an unprecedented division of Tsarist power along socio-economic lines, resulting in a working class (proletariat) and a landlord class, and coinciding with an era of industrialisation and gold-standard capitalism. Thus it may be said that Tsar Alexander II's power was weakened in 1861, and as such, amounts to a cause of later events had occurred. With the development of a capitalist economy which required workers and managers and grievances within, embryonic political parties took root . and further limited Tsarist autocracy by obliging the Tsar to the need of a political ally. This ally was to be found on the side of the landlord class who were a declining class. Now the landlords had to pay for their labour. On the proletariat, with mega-sized factories there was a growing workers solidarity. These workers paid taxes to the state, and therefore, as may be expected, even in 19th century Russia, these workers wanted a say in the running of power.

Events

On 10 October JC (all dates hereafter are from the Julian calendar unless otherwise noted), the Bolsheviks' Central Committee voted 10-2 for a resolution saying that "an armed uprising is inevitable, and that the time for it is fully ripe".( Apresyan, 1985, 376)

On 23 October 1917 (November 5 by the Gregorian calendar (GC)), Bolshevik leader Jaan Anvelt led his leftist revolutionaries in an uprising in Tallinn, the capital of the Autonomous Governorate of Estonia. On 25 October (7 November GC) 1917, Bolsheviks led their forces in the ...