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 of co-operating with the unpopular Provisional Government.
These historians say Trotsky was the main factor in the Bolshevik’s success. They claim the vital role in the coup between 24th and 25th September was played by Trotsky who was in charge of the planning. He put forward the timing of the coup to coincide with the 1st meeting of the 2nd All Russia Congress of Soviets, instead of Lenin’s plan to perform it before the meeting. He is said to have provided the “mechanisms of the coup.” Trotsky was also chairman of the Petrograd Soviet from 25th September onwards and became president of the Military Revolutionary Committee set up on the 12th October by the Petrograd Soviet. This is because Trotsky virtually ran the Bolshevik Party between the 6th July and 7th October, as Lenin was in hiding on an island after the failure of the July Days. Trotsky was also a good charismatic speaker unlike Lenin who had a heavy German accent and bad jokes; this meant he was very active having nightly meetings in Petrograd. When he was arrested briefly after the July Days it was a sharp setback for the Bolsheviks.
Other historians disagree with this. They make the point that Trotsky only joined the Bolshevik Party in the summer, meaning that although he did play a vital role it was only short term leading up to the coup and Lenin was in charge for a lot longer. By the time Trotsky joined Lenin had already thought out his policy and strategies and Trotsky was just his tool.
Many of these historians think that Lenin’s genius was the key. Before Lenin returned the soviets were not considered as an alternative form of government to the Provisional Government, as many held positions in both the Provisional Government and the Congress of Soviets, such as Kerensky. Lenin saw the potential of the soviets as a ready made government structure, and came up with the slogan “All power to the Soviets”. This was another of Lenin’s talents; he was able to come up with slogans that attracted the attention of ordinary people, for example “Peace, Bread, Land”. Lenin never wasted time on ‘pure’ theory but adapted theories to fit in with the situation and his tactical objectives, like promising land to the peasants giving another slogan “Land to the Peasants”. Although this was not part of Marxism the problem of 80% of the country’s population could not be ignored, Lenin’s adaptations later became known as Leninism. He also gave the Bolshevik party a direction and purpose in his April Theses, stating that the only way to a successful government was through revolution and the overthrowing of the Provisional Government. Lenin was the person who persuaded that revolution was the only option when he returned to Petrograd on the 7th October. He argued all night in favour of revolution and in the end won by 10 votes to 2. This shows that if it wasn’t for Lenin revolution would never have occurred.
Some historians say that Lenin could not have done it without the planning of Trotsky, which is true but this doesn’t make Lenin any less important as Lenin was a party leader not a general. Lenin was also handicapped by the circumstances of his return because his opponents cast him as a German spy. Lenin was not a very charismatic speaker but his words did carry and he overcame his obstacles.
The same historians also say that as well as Lenin’s leadership the Bolsheviks also had a lot of luck mainly in the failings of the Provisional Government. The slogan “Peace, Bread, Land” came about to satisfy the grievances of the social groups that Lenin considered important and that the Provisional Government had not done anything about. Continuing the war was a very unpopular move but there was no choice as large injections of capital were required from foreigners and to get these Russia needed to stay in the war. The June offensive by the Russian military led by Kerensky was a disaster and made the Provisional Government very unpopular with the ordinary soldiers. The war also meant the Provisional Government neglected the social and economic status of the country and there were huge food shortages across the country creating many riots and protests. The government had little control over the armed forces, on the 2nd March the Petrograd Soviet issued “Order Number 1” declaring that any decrees made by the Provisional Government on military affairs were only binding if they were approved by the Petrograd Soviet, it also made saluting optional. It was lucky that after the failure of the July Days the government crack down on the Bolsheviks was only half-hearted with the Sixth Bolshevik Party Conference to go ahead, Kerensky could have completely shut down the Bolsheviks but chose not to. The lack of control the government had on military forces in October was probably one of the biggest factors of Bolshevik success as well as the fact that it was the government who armed the Bolsheviks in the Kornilov crisis. It was lucky that the Petrograd Soviet had gained a lot of respectability, support and authority whilst the Mensheviks and SRs held the majority. The support was shown by autumn when there were over 900 soviets in Russia and the soviets had authority with decrees such as “Order Number 1”. It was also lucky that neither the Mensheviks or SRs attempted to take power whilst they were the dominant figures in the soviets.
Most historians would agree with the evidence that it was Lenin’s leadership skills combined with the luck the Bolshevik party had in the failings of the Provisional Government and how the events out of their control went that brought the Bolsheviks to power between February and October 1917.
