Lenin had to have the support of the industrial and agricultural workers if he wanted to gain power, he had to explain his political views (Marxism) to them to get them on his side. Few politicians bothered with working people in Russia at this time. Although the views of krypskya, his wife, maybe biased. John Reed an American also agrees that, Lenin went out of his way to explain difficult ideas to the workers and so we can rely on the information we get in sources B5, B6 and in B8.
B1 was taken from text books, therefore it is reliable information given. B2 is a photograph of leading Bolshevik, therefore it is reliable and can’t be changed. B3 is information about Mensheviks and Bolsheviks taken from a textbook. This is factual information only, therefore is reliable. B5/B8 are views of Krupskya, Lenin’s wife and her views could be favouring Lenin. John Reed in B6 says much that is the same about Lenin. Krupskya was also an intelligent woman who shared his years in exile and what she says could well be reliable and also be very useful.
The Russian army were faced with many difficulties, only rich people could buy enough food, there were no trains to carry the food to the soldiers, if food did get to them it went bad because there was no where to store it, and many soldiers went to battle without any weapons. We know this from the photograph in source C3 that is a reliable source. I think that many of these problems did affect the out come of the war.
In C3 the Russian soldiers were advancing towards the Austrian troops that were killing them with machine gun fire in great numbers. The Russians had no weapons to use, they were told to pick up the gun from the man in front of them. They were made to go otherwise they would be shot by their superiors, also I think most of them thought that death would be a lot better. C3 is a photograph showing advancing Russian soldiers and most historians accept that this photograph has not been tampered with.
In C2 a German General tells us that Russian soldiers were killed in great numbers, this proves that they were willing to die for their country, he also admired their bravery by saying ”they were brave”. Also in C3 shows Russian soldiers advancing bravely, still knowing that they would be killed. We can rely on General Hindenbers account because he had no reasons to lie about the Russians, in fact he complimented them by saying how brave they were, he also probably knew how badly treated they were.
The Tsaritsa thinks that Rasputin of “our friend” which is what she calls him, and she also sees him as a man sent by God to advise them. She can see nothing wrong with his behaviour, she also thinks “God opens everything to him” and she “immensely admires his wonderful brain”. This shows that she will follow all of Rasputins advice, and she sees good in him”. Father Shavelski’s opinion is very different, he says that, Rasputin, he is considered to of helped to bring down the Russian royal family. I agree with father Shevelski, because he knew the royal family well and Rasputin well and his view is reliable and he is a clever man. The opinion of the priest in C5 is far more reliable than that of the empress as far as Rasputin’s abilities are concerned. It was a great mistake of the part of the Tsar to go to the front line and take command of Russians army, leaving the Tsaritsa in charge of the government in Petrograd with Rasputin as her “chief advisor”. She refused the help of the Duma or parliament and so the politicians and ordinary people came to hate her even more. The central Government of Russia was gradually collapsing.
Sources C6 and C7 tell us that conditions in Petrograd in 1917 were very bad, there was no food, no fuel and disease was common, as well as this C7 says that the winter of 1917 was very cold. In 1905 the army saved the Tsars Government by remaining loyal to him so that the demonstrators could be controlled. However in the spring in 1917 both the police and the soldiers joined the demonstrators to get rid of the Tsar. He was forced to abdicate and the provisional Government now ruled Russia.
Lenin’s “April theses” would have appealed to many of the sections of the Russian people for example, his promise to end the war would have appealed to the soldiers and his promise of all property and land would belong to the people, this defiantly would have appealed to the workers in the town and countryside. In D2 Lenin wants to appeal to Russian workers over the heads of the politicians to appeal to their fellow Germans to stop the war. The provisional Government would see this as treason. Kerensky was a patriotic Russian who wanted to continue fighting in the war until Germany was defeated, he did not want to let down his allies; Britain, France. He desired to see Russia carry on the war till a “democratic peace” had been won; while he wanted to combat to forces of disorder so that his country should not fall a prey to anarchy.
In source D1 Lenin calls for an end of the war at home that is the capitalists and members of the provisional Government. In source D2 Lenin declares that he doesn’t just want to stop the war, but to persuade the Germans from fighting. Members of the provisional Government would see these views as the views of a traitor. This is one reason why Lenin was accused of being a German spy and had to flee for his life to Finland.
Source D5 accuses Korensky of being a man of ideas and not a man of action. Every time there was a crisis he failed to deal with it, this source is written by sir George Buchanan. He was the British ambassador to Russia who might have known Korensky slightly, but he certainly would not have information about all the problems facing Korensky and his government.
All three sources illustrate how law and order was breaking down in the countryside for example, in source D6 it shows events on prince Volonsky’s estate with peasants looting the land, they seized parts of the estate for their own use. There were no police in the countryside to stop them. I think this is a reliable source because it is from Lionel Kochan, an historian. In D7 is an illustration from a textbook showing the mansion of a nobleman being looted, there is also no police in the countryside to prevent this. In D8 there are statistics showing us the number of peasants uprising during 1917 as control of the Provisional Government began to fail in the countryside, I think this is the most reliable source because it is based on facts.
Source D9 shows a packed meeting inside the DUMA building, the fact that they were inside the building means that the Bolsheviks knew precisely how Korensky were running the country. Their influence was growing in Petrograd.
In source D10 there is a photograph of the Red Guard. The Bolsheviks had their revolutionary army to support a revolt. Kerensky armed them to defeat Kornilov’s revolt, but they refused to give their weapons back. I think that this source is reliable.
D11 shows the control that Lenin had over the Bolsheviks party by insisting that November was the right time to organize the revolt. A few of his fellow Bolsheviks at the time agreed with him but they were able to carefully plan the takeover of important buildings in Petrograd to seize power.
The Russian Revolution occurred due to many reasons, here is some of the key reason why it occurred.
The Tsars lack of effective Government for example, Bloody Sunday, which I think, made the trust of the people towards the Government decrease. He tried to regain their trust by The October manifesto, three promises were made, one of them was to give all adults the vote, but the votes were fixed. The lack of fairness in Russian society, most people were very poor, a few were rich and had more rights.
The influence of Rasputin, the puppet master, especially on the Tsaritsa. The Tsaritsa was in charge of the government in Petrograd when the Tsar went to the front to be with his army. This was a big mistake. By spring of 1917, no one wanted the Tsar’s government to survive.
The mistake made by the Provisional Government to continue fighting in World War 1, especially Russia failed to win any battles, due to the reason they had no weapons. Lenin promised to end the war. This promise was supported by many and also earned the Bolsheviks many supporters, especially amongst the Russian soldiers.
The leadership of Lenin, his fanaticism, he was certain that his political beliefs were right, his determination to stage the revolt after the defeat of Kornelov despite the opposition of fellow Bolsheviks.Trotsky who was another leading Bolshevik, he organised the Red Guard which was very important, because it seized key buildings in Petrograd.
The Bolsheviks support amongst workers in Petrograd, the soldiers in the Russian army and the peasants in the countryside for a better quality of life.
