'Lenin leadership was the most important factor in the Bolshevik triumph in 1917.' Discuss

‘Lenin leadership was the most important factor in the Bolshevik triumph in 1917.’ Discuss

The country of Russia faced many problems before and after the fall of the Tsarist regime, and some of those still existed after the fall of the Tsarist Regime in Russia. The main problems that faced the Tsar Nicholas II, were extreme poverty for most of the population of Russia and the redemption payments that peasants that the peasants faced. Also there was no freedom of speech and there was a growing sense of nationalism. The effects of the First World War, added to the anxiety and suffering of the Russian people. It also brought food shortages, death and destruction, loss of arable land and there was a low morale in the army, which finally caused the collapse of Tsarist Russia.

After the Tsarist regime, a Provisional Government was set up, but it lacked support and authority, because it had not been elected and so had no right to govern. It also had an unofficial partnership with the Petrograd Soviet and therefore was limited in control of Russia.

The Provisional Government chose to continue the war against the Germans, which made them even more unpopular. However, Tsardom had left Russia virtually bankrupt and its economy needed large injections of capital from Western allies in order to function and therefore the Provisional government had no choice, but to continue the war.

This is a preview of the whole essay

The arrival of Lenin in April 1917, led to more problems for the Provisional Government, as Lenin rejected it and said that only the Petrograd Soviet had the right to govern. Lenin also encouraged the Bolsheviks not to compromise or work with, either the other parties or the Provisional Government, which they were willing to do before his arrival. Lenin also summed up the solutions to Russia’s problems in his slogan: ‘Peace, Bread, Land.’

The people of Russia wanted peace, and many soldiers deserted from the frontline, with the figure reaching as high as 2 million desertions. Many of the soldiers were returning home, because the peasants back home were seizing land, and as many of the soldiers were peasants, they were eager to get their share of the land.

The Provisional Government had set up a Land Commission, which had the objective of redistributing the land, but the Land Commission was dominated by mostly landowners, who were not particularly keen on land reform. Also Lenin had no particular policy on land and just adopted the SR’s, to gain the support of the peasants and this caused a division in the SRs. Lenin had condoned the peasantry’s seizure of land, and by doing so had gained the support of the Left SRs on all major issues.

As the military was suffering defeat after defeat at the hands of the Germans, general Kornilov wanted to topple the Provisional Government and impose martial law, and also drive back the Germans. The Provisional Government panicked and armed all loyal Russians, in order to defend Petrograd, which led to the release of the Bolsheviks from prison and the arming of their Red Guard units. However, Kornilov’s revolt didn’t last long because the people were against him and were unwilling to allow the transport of his troops to Petrograd. This had shown the weakness of the Provisional Government in the time of crisis and also showed how the Bolshevik’s position easily changed.

Lenin urged the Bolsheviks to topple the Provisional Government before the Constituent Assembly was held, and an elected authority was established. Kerensky, the head of the provisional Government, ordered all Bolshevik newspapers to be closed down. Lenin used the advantage of his small group, who were well disciplined and very loyal. The key positions were seized by the Bolshevik Red Guard units, who were under direction of the Military Revolutionary committee, which was co-ordinated by Trotsky. The Bolsheviks took Petrograd in 3 days, because they faced very little resistance.

The success of the Bolshevik Party was determined by many factors, such as the failure of the provisional Government to govern the country and its weaknesses in dealing with threats such as the Kornliov Coup. Also the Bolshevik party itself was well organised and well disciplined, due to the tactics of leader. The involvement of Trotsky in the October Revolution was crucial as he held a key position in the Petrograd Soviet.

All these factors did contribute to the Bolshevik success, but in my opinion, without Lenin’s influential leadership skills, tactics and organisation of the Bolshevik party, the Bolsheviks could not have gained power in October 1917.

By Hyder Mushtaq