Assess the importance of the Soviets to the Bolshevik seizure of power in 1917.

The Soviets importance also lies in the genuine popular support they gave the Bolsheviks. The masses had many general antagonisms during the First World War, which were very slowly addressed if not ignored completely. The provisional government provided little support. It carried on the war, where increasingly there was low morale and a growing number of desertions. The provisional government didn’t help the peasants with land and workers were unhappy with wages and living conditions. There is no doubt that there was a popular want for change however we must question whether it was economic motivation or political motivation. There were many unorganised groups whom formed their own organization and were of the most radical groups but had a low level of political consciousness. This is evidence for the Liberal interpretation that there was no popular mandate for the Bolsheviks but a more general movement. However in saying this, it must be taken into account when using evidence from liberal western historians the tensions during the cold war. The tensions between communist Russia and the Capitalist west causes the Liberal historians to stress the limitations of the Bolsheviks in gaining mass popular support. Moreover, we must acknowledge that many of the workers, identified with Bolshevik party line. They agreed with the hatred of the war, bitterness to the Bourgeoisie and moreover, had a drive for local level democracy through the local soviets and factory committees. This shows a commitment to socialism and not just change. We see this commitment and popular support of the Bolsheviks from the Soviets in the November election within the urban working class where they won 70% of the vote.

The Soviets were important in allowing the Bolsheviks to takeover by giving them popular support due to their disillusionment with the provisional government and their own radical nature. However we must consider Lenin and the Bolsheviks own strengths. When the masses turned to the Bolsheviks the Bolsheviks successfully used slogans such as 'peace, land and bread', in the April Theses which naturally appealed to the peasants and the workers welcomed the Bolsheviks' slogan 'All power to the Soviets'. We see them gaining support as the member of the party increase from 10,000 in February to 200,000 in October. It is also to Lenin’s credit that during events such as the Kerensky affair, he successfully used his organised and disciplined party to exploit the situation and gain support. He also new when to take power when other party’s such as the SR’s and Mensheviks thought they should wait longer. It is also a notable achievement of the Bolsheviks that they successfully separated themselves from other party’s and allowed themselves to become the only party of opposition. However there were still many internal divisions within the Bolsheviks and the top layer had varying factions with different principles, they were not as united as is sometimes claimed. The Bolsheviks were not strong enough on their own to be able to takeover and the help of the Soviets was extremely important. Trotsky joining the Bolsheviks in October was a significant turning point as Trotsky, being the head of the Petrograd Soviet, brought the Soviets with him. Once the Bolsheviks were given control of the Soviets they were ready to revolt, which signifies the importance of the Soviets.

When assessing the importance of the Soviets to the revolution we must consider the rest of Russia as well. Evidence such as the November elections show the Bolsheviks won less then a quarter of the seats, however 70% of the Soviets from Petrograd's vote. This shows Lenin's popular mandate was almost completely distributed in Petrograd. Lenin used slogans such as ‘all power to the Soviets’ to try and mask the takeover as popular and the Bolsheviks having a majority when at no point was this the case. However the role of the Soviets can not be ignored, although the Bolsheviks had no popular mandate outside of Petrograd they still managed to takeover which shows further importance of the Soviets. The Bolsheviks managed to takeover through the Soviets giving them Petrograd and paving the way for them while having no popular mandate in the rest of Russia.

To conclude, debate whether the Soviets were important is often overestimated giving full credit to Lenin and the Bolsheviks and their popular support and often underestimated giving the Bolsheviks no popular mandate. The Bolsheviks did have some popular mandate but the Soviets radicalism was the main factor, which allowed the Bolsheviks to takeover. Without their radicalism and want for change and Bolsheviks wouldn't have been able to gain support and unite their antagonisms. Therefore the Soviets were a necessary factor and of great importance in the October revolution.