How and why did the Bolsheviks seize power in 1917?

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How and why did the Bolsheviks seize power in 1917?

   There are many factors that help explain how and why the Bolsheviks managed to seize power in 1917. It was a combination of long and short term causes that together, created a revolution. The political system itself was long overdue for reform, but with a weak Tsar, the economic and social conditions became worse and worse. In 23 years, Nicholas II dropped from the glorious ‘Little Father of Russia’ to prisoners of his own country, hatred and despised by the majority, for the suffering and unhappiness he had helped create.

  There were many long-term causes that gradually led up to the revolution in 1917. The political system installed in Russia under the Tsar was long overdue for reform.  Russia was a vast empire rather than a single country, and as the Tsar believed in ‘divine right’ he was its supreme ruler, which even with a great, strong charactered ruler, is still a huge task.

  Nicholas believed in absolute autocracy, and by doing this he did not manage the country well. He could appoint or sack ministers or make any other decisions without consulting anyone else. Unlike most other countries that had at least given them some freedom to say how their country was run, the Tsar was dedicated with the idea of autocracy, and seemed to be obsessed with the great past of his family. This could be the cause of Nicholas’ behaviour; wanting to live up to the name of his predecessors, and keeping the way the country was run the same. Yet he took no advice, often appointing people not capable of doing their job, just because they were personal friends or family. Nicholas was a weak-charactered ruler who felt threatened by able and talented ministers such as Witte and Stolypin; he was not able, not at all forceful and tended to avoid making decisions. If Nicholas had been more responsible, and taken advice from an elected cabinet, things could have been different, but this was not the case. The Tsar’s indecisive ways meant that when situations occurred, they lasted for dramatic lengths of time or did immense damage. The poor economic and social conditions are prime examples of this, and are also a great factor in how the Bolsheviks managed to seize power.

   Russia’s population had increased by 50% from 1860 to 1897. Land was in short supply and much of it was unsuitable for farming anyway. 80% of the population were poor peasant using ancient farming techniques. Working and living conditions were dreadful, with famine and starvation common occurrences. There was no basic education in Russia, but despite all their hardships many peasants remained loyal to the Tsar. This is partly because they were religious, and they would hear the Priest telling them that the Tsar is wonderful and how they, as peasants, and loyal subjects should love and support him.

   The problem here was the huge difference between the classes. The peasant’s living conditions contrast sharply against those of the aristocracy, who led elegant lifestyles, owned town and country houses and vast estates. These people played a key part of the Tsar’s government, dominating the local assemblies and acting as local officials. They were loyal to the Tsar and wanted to keep Russia as it was, which suited them because they didn’t have to suffer the living conditions of the peasants’. The only real fear the aristocracy had was that the peasants would rise up and take their lands.

   From the later 19th Century, the Tsar’s had been keen to see Russia as an industrial power, which was successful as they quadrupled much of their production. Some peasants left working on the land for the new industrialised jobs, but conditions hardly improved. Only a short walk away from the Tsar’s glorious Winter Palace in St.Petersburg, his subjects lived in filth and squalor. There were no working conditions or regulations, meaning brutal discipline, low pay, child labour, excessively long hours, no safety and no education. Overcrowding, terrible food, disease and alcoholism were everyday happenings. Peasants began to realise that working in the factories was no better than working on the land.

  As a result of this industrialisation, a new class of people called the Capitalists began to emerge in Russia. These were the new middle class, which Russia had only seen as shopkeepers and university lecturers, but landowners, bankers, industrialists and businessmen flourished. The capitalist’s main concern was the management of the economy and controlling their workforce. The clashes between the workers and the capitalists are another huge factor that lead up to the revolution in 1917.

   Not everyone however was readily loyal to the Tsar as explained earlier. Many middle-class people wanted greater democracy in Russia and wanted, like Britain, a monarch but also a powerful parliament. These were called liberals or ‘Cadets.’

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  The two other groups were more passionately opposed to the Tsar and believed revolution was the key to Russia’s problems. The Socialist Revolutionaries were a radical movement that believed violence was the only way to revolution, and support for them was wide spread. Their aims were to divide the huge estates from the nobility and hand them over to the peasants. The socialist democratic party were another, smaller party of opponents that followed the ideas of Karl Marx, like the SR’s, they wanted revolution but wanted to bring it about peacefully. In 1903 there was a split in the ...

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