How far was the transformation of Bolshevik position between February and October 1917 a result of Lenin's leadership

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How far was the transformation of Bolshevik position between February and October 1917 a result of Lenin’s leadership?

        Most historians think that the Bolshevik’s position went from playing almost no role in February 1917; they had only 150 members in the Pultilov Works which had 20,000 workers, to taking control of the country in October by a combination of luck and skill. It was said of the Bolshevik party in early 1917 that “The Communist Party existed solely in the leaders.”  Many historians think Lenin’s leadership was the joint main reason for making the party into the leading revolutionary group in Russia, along with the luck the Bolsheviks had in the circumstances under the Provisional Government.

        A few historians claim Germany played a major role in the Bolshevik’s road to power. The Germans helped many previously exiled revolutionaries to get back to Russia when the Tsar abdicated and the Provisional Government came to power from March onwards, in the hope that they would end the war. This included Lenin and an accompanying group of Bolsheviks being given passage on a train across Germany back to Russia. Between 1914 and 1917 the German Foreign Office had also given regular financial support to Lenin and the Bolsheviks. However other historians point out that by giving Lenin funds it actually hindered him, as on his return to Petrograd he was branded a spy by Politicians such as Kerensky, especially in the weeks after the July Days. It is also argued that Lenin would have been determined to get back to Russia even if Germany would not let him.

        Communist and Marxist historians claim that as well as Lenin’s leadership, popular support led the party to power. In early 1917 the Bolsheviks had little support, even from the left with only 105 seats in the 1st All Russia Congress of Soviets. The Socialist Revolutionaries had 285 delegates and the Mensheviks had 248 delegates. They argue that the Bolsheviks gained massive public support after the Kornilov Affair between the 26th August and the 1st September, in which General Kornilov attempted to advance on Petrograd. He wanted to shut down the soviets and replace the Provisional Government with military rule. Kornilov failed because of the armed resistance of the Petrograd workers led by the Bolsheviks. This showed the weakness of the government and many saw the Bolsheviks as the way to a stable government. The Bolsheviks definitely gained support with the left, shown on the 25th September when they gained a majority in the Petrograd Soviet and Trotsky was elected as chairman.

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        However other historians argue this is not the case. They say that whilst the Bolsheviks did have support amongst the left it did not spread any further, the peasants still backed the SRs and the middle and upper classes did not back them either. This was shown after the Bolsheviks came to power in the democratic elections for the Constituent Assembly in which the SRs gained 370 seats and the Bolsheviks only gained 105 seats. It is also argued that the reason the Bolsheviks did gain support from the left it is only because of the Menshevik’s and SR’s mistake ...

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