The military defeats of the Russian Army, the food shortages and rising prices, destroyed the support that the Czar had enjoyed in 1914. Growing unrest appeared once more, not only in the army, but in the towns as well. Demonstrations, strikes and the call for reform developed once again. In 1915 amidst the growing unrest, Czar Nicholas made himself the Commander – in – Chief of the Armed forces. This was a vital mistake as the Czar was not a military general and could not improve the military situation. In the eyes of the people, it was the Czar, and not his generals, that were responsible for the military defeats. With the Czar at the Front, the government fell into the hands of Czarina Alexandra. She was incapable of making wise decisions, and being half German, was thought to be untrustworthy by the Russian people. To add to this, she was under the influence of the monk, Rasputin. Rasputin was often drunk and blasphemous and had many affairs with the Russian nobility. When Nicholas was at the Front, Rasputin was largely responsible for appointing ministers and running the government. This lowered the prestige of the government to the people. A German and an adulterous monk were running the country. This lost the government great support.
Military defeats, food shortages, mistrust of the government and general economic strain all contributed to putting Russia in a dangerous position. In the big cities, people were starving and queued for food. Hostility towards the government continued to grow and police forces were beginning to loose control. Revolution looked very likely.
The revolution began on March 8, 1917. It was a spontaneous uprising by the people directly due to food shortages and the lack of confidence in the government. It was not a planned uprising, organised by a political group, the people just took to the streets and demanded food and an end to the system of autocracy. Nicholas was unwilling to back down and ordered the Petrograd Garrison to shoot the strikers and demonstrators. On March 12 the soldiers refused to fire on the demonstrators and mutinied. Troops were sent from the Front to put down the disorder, but they never reached the capital because of a railway strike. Nicholas no longer had any authority in Petrograd. A simple bread riot had turned into a revolution.
There was now, in effect, no government in Russia. The leaders of the Duma, who had been urging the Czar to form a more representative government, were alarmed at the prospect of a breakdown in law and order. They formed a Provisional Government, whose aim was to restore order until fee elections could be held to elect a free Russian Parliament. Prince Lvov, with Alexandor Kerensky as Minister for Justice, led the Provisional Government. Nicholas had no prestige or authority left and was advised to abdicate his throne and all his power. He abdicated on March 15th 1917, Russia no longer had a king, and Czardom had collapsed in Russia.
After the abdication of Czar Nicholas, a Provisional Government took over power. The country was still at war and law and order had to be preserved, as no government existed. A rival organisation to the Provisional government was created; the Petrograd Soviet. The Soviet (Workers Council) was much more representative of the people because it had been elected by ordinary workers in the factories. The Petrograd Soviet undermined the Provisional Government by issuing Army Order Number One. This told the Petrograd Militia (local army unit) to refuse to carry out the orders of the Provisional Government unless they had been approved by the Soviet. The Soviet was dominated by Mensheviks as many of the Bolsheviks had been exiled abroad by the late Czarist Government. Initially the Soviet supported the Provisional Government as they had; passed popular laws, allowed political freedom and free speech, given workers the right to strike, reduced the working day to eight hours and released many political prisoners. However the Provisional Government made two vital mistakes that lost its support. They continued with the war; and, with it, the food shortages, starvation, and deaths and casualties on the Front. The Provisional Government also failed to transfer land to the peasants, which caused disorder in the countryside. Many peasants deserted the army to join in with the land grabbing.
Lenin returned from his exile in Switzerland on April 16, 1917. The German Government had allowed him to pass through their country with good reason. They hoped that his presence in Russia would undermine the war effort there. If Russia pulled out of the War, then Germany would have a better chance of winning, fighting on a single Front. Lenin arrived at Finland Station and in his first speech criticised the Provisional Government, demanding its overthrow by the Soviets. His two famous slogans were:
- All power to the soviets
- Peace, bread and land
Lenin was shrewd in that the Russian people wanted peace not war.
On July 18th 1917, Alexandor Kerensky, ordered new offensives against the Germans in Galicia. They were disastrous and thousands more Russian soldiers died. A further wave of protests and demonstrations took place. Lenin and the Bolsheviks now tried to seize power, The July Rising was put down by the Provisional Government and this defeat was a serious setback for the Bolsheviks.
For a time the Bolsheviks lost public support. It was even rumoured that Lenin was a German spy, demanding an end to the war simply to aid Germany. Many Bolsheviks were arrested but Lenin escaped to Finland. After the failure of the July Rising the Provisional Government now faced a new threat from ex-Czarist supporters. In the Army, General Kornilov thought that this was the right time to establish a Military Dictatorship and smash all the revolutionary groups. Kerensky, whose power was continuing to decline after the failure of the Galicia Offensives in July, had to rely on the remaining Bolsheviks to thwart Kornilov’s attempt to seize power. Defeated by the Soviets and Bolsheviks in Petrograd, Kornilov was forced to flee into exile. Support for the Bolsheviks increased after their successful defence of the city from Kornilov. Lenin, who had directed the Bolsheviks from abroad, returned to Russia in October 1917.
Any remaining support for the Provisional Government now disappeared. Public disorder became widespread, Army discipline had collapsed at the Front and the peasants were seizing land on a large scale. Lenin’s slogan of ‘Peace, bread and land’ had massive popular appeal, and by October the Bolsheviks dominated the Soviets. The Provisional Government had very little military support to rely on. Now the time was right for a second revolution, this time one planned by the Bolsheviks.
Lenin persuaded the Bolshevik Central Committee to adopt a policy of immediate revolution. Trotsky was given the task of organising it. Plans were drawn up to take over key points in the city such as the telephone exchange, railways, banks and bridges. The Bolsheviks moved on the night of the 6th – 7th November 1917. they easily took over key points in the city of Petrograd. During the day of November 5th the Bolsheviks took over more of the city. The Winter Palace was captured and members of the Provisional Government were captured. There was virtually no opposition to the Bolsheviks, as no authority was left. If the Provisional Government had had a handful of loyal troops then they would have foiled Trotsky’s plans. As it was, by nightfall the Provisional Government had collapsed and the Bolsheviks controlled the city. The Bolsheviks captured power in other cities, such as Moscow, without much difficulty. The November Bolshevik Revolution had succeeded and Lenin became the first leader of the first communist government in the world.
