West European Studies

After the Czar abdicated in 1917, Russia was ripe for revolution. The Provisional Government failed to fulfill its promises to the people. The Russian army was on the verge of collapse. The countryside was in total chaos after the famine of 1917. Provision for the Russian army had dwindled. In urban centers, mass unemployment was a reality. In October 1917, the countrys foreign debt tripled.

Kerenskys unpopularity with the Soviet councils triggered mass strikes. In Moscow and St. Petersburg, the workers seized control of production and distribution facilities owned by private individuals. The incompetence of the Provisional Government was manifested when it sent army units to arrest the rioting peasants. Instead of arresting the peasants, the soldiers joined them. The decision of the government to continue the war against Germany and Austria-Hungary further enraged the masses.

General Kornilov, the Chief Army Commander, initiated a military revolt and ordered troops to be deployed in Petrograd. The Bolsheviks rallied the workers to crush the revolt. The Red Guard supported by units from the navy and army defeated Kornilovs troops. With the defeat of Kornilov, the popularity of the Bolsheviks dramatically increased. On the 13th of August, the PSWSD adopted the main Bolshevik manifesto calling for the workers to takeover industrial and urban centers.

With the Bolsheviks in power, the Central Committee voted for the initiation of an uprising. The Bolsheviks led an uprising in Petrograd and subdued the Provisional Government. The Red Guards stormed the Winter Palace. By the 14th of October 1917, almost all major offices in Western Russia were on the hands of the Bolsheviks. On the 26 of October, the Second Congress of Soviets was established. The Congress decreed the arrest of the leaders of opposition parties. Members of the Menshevik faction were arrested as well as prominent army commanders.

The peasants were ordered to seize land and appoint leaders of the local Soviet councils. Vladimir Lenin established the Cheka to consolidate Bolshevik power in Western Russia. Suspected loyalists were terrorized. However, the revolution was far from complete. Fragments of the Russian Army loyal to the Czar gathered their strength and launched attacks against major Bolshevik strongholds.

The White Army was, in essence, a counter revolutionary force dedicated to the restoration of the Czar. Leaders of the White Army, however, were unwilling to yield power to a democratically elected government. Initially, the White Army was able to stale Bolshevik power in Central Russia and Siberia. However, the newly-organized Red Army was able to launch a powerful counterattack, driving the White Army eastward.

The success of the White revolution depended on the support of the Allies. General Wrangel convinced the Allies that a strike against Russias heartland was necessary in order to stall the revolution. Great Britain refused to heed the call. Following Britains lead, France also withdrew its initial support for the White Army. The Japanese Army, having occupied major parts of Siberia, also withdrew. The United States supplied the White Army with ample provisions, but after the Bolshevik victory over the White Army in Southern Russia, it stopped all shipments of provisions.

Lenin was now the absolute dictator of Russia. The Bolshevik Party, with its promises of land, bread, and peace became the slogan of the revolution. The feeble White reaction only triggered mass denunciation of the White Army. Indeed, after the October Revolution, Russia was a complete autocratic and socialist state.