In December 1916 the Workers' Section of the local War Industry Committees formed a Central Workers' Group which demanded the immediate establishment of political democracy and mass action of the workers to attain their end. On 12th February 1917 the members of the Central Workers' Group were arrested by the police, but not before they had issued a call for street demonstrations in Petrograd to coincide with the reassembling of the Duma on 27th February. The workers did not go into the street but more than 100,000 went on strike. Then during the next fortnight, with an aggravation of disturbances due to a breakdown of the food-rationing system, there were further strikes culminating in mass invasion of the central area of Petrograd from the industrial suburbs. The police proved inadequate to cope with the crowds and when soldiers of the Petrograd garrison refused to fire on them, a revolution took place. The authority of the Tsar had collapsed in his own capital, but he himself was at the front having taken over the supreme command of the army after the military reverses of 1915. He consulted his generals, who advised him to abdicate, and this he did on behalf of himself and his son, transferring the inheritance of the dynasty to his brother, the Grand Duke Michael. Neither Nicholas II nor the generals supposed that they were agreeing to the abolition of the monarchy. There had been no general uprising in the country and the army in the field was still under effective discipline. But the President of the Duma was seized with panic at the lawless behaviour of the Petrograd garrison, among whom republican sentiments were now being expressed, and persuaded the Grand Duke to abdicate as well. After centuries of dynastic autocracy, Russia was suddenly left without a monarch.
A Provisional Government was set up by the Duma, but the authority of the Duma itself was now undermined, having been elected on a restrictive franchise it could not claim to represent the whole people. A democratically legitimate government could only come into existence when new elections had been held on a basis of universal franchise.
Meanwhile a political vacuum had been created which the new Provisional Government was quite unable to fill. Composed of liberal politicians of the Duma the new government found itself confronted with a revival of the Petrograd Workers' Council or Soviets, which had been set up in the abortive revolution of 1905. Similar councils were set up in other cities, and delegates of rank-and-file conscript soldiers of the army were added. The Soviets did not yet claim exclusive possession of the state power, partly because its leaders took the hitherto accepted view that Russia was ripe only for a bourgeois and not yet for a socialist revolution, and partly because it had no sense of its own competence or preparedness to govern. Nevertheless they were dominated by the political parties of the extreme Left - SRs, Mensheviks, Bolsheviks - and were not inclined to take orders from a government formed by the parties of the bourgeoisie. Moreover, in fear that generals and army officers might attempt to restore the collapsed Tsardom, they did not hesitate to undermine the discipline of the army, which faced the German enemy on the field of battle. On March 1, even before the Tsar had abdicated, the famous Order No. 1 was issued in the name of the Petrograd Soviet. It laid down that the rank-and-file of all military and naval units should elect committees which should take control of all weapons without regard to officers' commands, and that orders coming from the Military Commission of the Duma were only to be carried out if they were in harmony with the decisions of the Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies. The writ of the Soviets was recognized by an ever-increasing number of workers and soldiers, which gave it, in spite of itself, a position of authority which could not be ignored. The Provisional Government was thus in effect excluded from control of the army.
Lenin Returned
Lenin was convinced that a second revolution would soon follow that of March 1917 in Russia. Because of this Germany arranged the return of Lenin to Russia, seeing that Lenin's return would promote in Russia activities of a disruptive and anti-belligerent political force. Whereas the Allies were unwilling to let Lenin return home because of his views on the war and his attacks on the Provisional Government as the tool of imperial powers. Lenin arrived at the Finland station in Petrograd on April 16th. Huge crowds were there to greet him, but Lenin seemed to have little time for the formal speeches of welcome, and instead began to lecture his audience on the work which lay ahead of them.
Soon he found himself at odds, not only with the Social Revolutionaries and Mensheviks, but also with many leading members of his own Bolshevik faction. Lenin was determined not to cooperate in any way with the Provisional Government and not to support in any way a continuation of the war. But now that a political democracy had been achieved and that the Soviets were in effect sharing in the state power, there was a general disposition among Russian society to reach some kind of compromise with the liberals if only to form a common front against the danger of monarchist counter-revolution and to take some responsibility for carrying on the war, if only to keep the Germans out of the new democratic Russia.
Against this tendency Lenin fought with all the polemical skill of which he was capable. Its outcome, as he saw it, would be to consolidate and stabilize the bourgeois republic with a reorganized army and it would be an insuperable barrier to a proletarian revolution. Lenin was determined to pursue his own ideas and on the day following his return to Russia his April Thesis was published.
In June 16 - July 17, there met the All-Russian Congress of Soviets with a total of over 1000 delegates (150 were Bolsheviks). The key figures at the Congress came to be Kerensky and Lenin. Kerensky was a member of the Soviet of Petrograd as well as a leading politician in the Provisional Government. In the Congress Lenin said firmly that the Bolsheviks were ready at any moment to take over the government; though very much a minority they were ready to attempt political power and force their wishes on the majority. This led Kerensky to make a powerful attack on Lenin in the course of which he painted a clear picture of Lenin's aims:
"Instead of appealing for reconstruction you clamour for destruction. Out of the fiery chaos you wish to make your will arise, like a phoenix, a dictator."
The delegates were asked to vote and Kerensky carried the great majority in support of the government.
The "July Days"
The people on the streets of Petrograd clearly did not agree with the delegates for in the factories, the workers called for "All Power to the Soviets."
There were demonstrations and attempts to persuade the soldiers in the city to back up the workers. On July 16 Petrograd was uneasy. A massive demonstration began with armed units of workers known as "Red Guards" being joined by soldiers. They marched to Bolsheviks headquarters looking to that party for instruction.
On 17 July crowds of workers and sailors appeared on the streets. The mass demonstration wished to present demands to the Provisional Government but the Bolsheviks and Soviet leaders hesitated and eventually did nothing. The great demonstration began to break up as the people clearly did not know what to do next.
For once the Provisional Government was clear in its ideas and as a result it controlled the situation. The "July Days" were soon at an end. The Bolsheviks were left a disorganized group and in the morning of July 18th their offices were wrecked by a group of armed men. All over the capital the Cossacks and police were making arrests. The government published a set of documents which seemed to prove that Lenin was a German agent and ordered the arrest of the Bolshevik leader, Lenin went into hiding in Finland (with Zinoviev, disguised as a fireman).
Hounded by the police, the Bolshevik party seemed weakened beyond recovered, and yet they were soon to be in a position to challenge the Provisional Government. For the speed of their recovery, the Bolsheviks could thank the schemes of General Kornilov.
Kerensky
On July 21, Alexander Kerensky had replaced Prince Lvov as head of the Provisional Government. A lawyer, and member of a moderate socialist group, he had been the link between the Executive Committee of the Petrograd Soviet and the Duma Committee of the days before the formation of the Provisional Government. A man of great energy and an able speaker, Kerensky seemed to the crowds on the streets in those days to be the most important politician in the discussions which ended with Prince Lvov as the figurehead of the Provisional Government. Kerensky's influence in the discussions was due to his unique position of influence in the Soviet and the Duma Committee.
To begin with, Kerensky held the post of Minister of Justice; but in May 1917 he took over the Minister of War and toured the front, haranguing the troops into preparing for another big offensive against the Austrians and Germans in Galicia. Kerensky thought a successful attack would do wonders for the morale of the army and would result in greater support for the Provisional Government. On July 1, 1917 the Russian infantry poured into Galicia. The Austrians fell back and it seemed as if the army would give Kerensky the military success he wanted, but the Germans came to the aid of their allies and in the space of a few weeks the Russian were in retreat. It was to be their last major effort in the Great War. Kerensky wrote: "The technical preparation for the offensive was insufficient on our side, principally because the soldiers refused to carry out the preparatory work."
He more or less admitted the Russian troops were against the idea of the offensive.
With the end of the "July Days" Kerensky became Prime Minister but his appointment on July 21 did not please those army officers, landowners and businessmen who wanted the Soviet brought firmly under control. Such people felt that Kerensky was the wrong man for this job because of his close ties with the Soviet, and that a much tougher line with trouble-makers in both the Soviet and the army would be taken by General Kornilov.
Kornilov was the new Supreme Commander. On assuming his new duties he presented Kerensky with a demand that he should be given wide powers for disciplining the army. He wanted to shoot deserters and mutineers, and he proposed a far more rigid control of the political commissars and soldiers committees at the front. In the rear he wanted to exercise military discipline on the railways, the arsenals, and the munitions factories: and there is no doubt he was justified in urging reforms. When Kerensky hesitated (he was suspicious of Kornilov's intention) the General went to Petrograd to have it out, and everything in the capital, even Kerensky himself, filled him with disgust and anger. On his return to his Headquarters at Mogilev on August 17th he declared that the only way to clean things up was to hang Lenin and disperse the Soviets before they could attempt another rising.
To Kornilov there was little difference between the mild socialism of Kerensky and the more extreme brand advocated by Lenin - it was simply a matter of varying doses of the same sickness. Kerensky on the other hand saw the plans of Kornilov as paving the way for a conservative military dictatorship, which would destroy any progress which Russia had made towards a democratic form of society. Kornilov found that support was forthcoming from wealthy sections in the capital and on September 7th he made his first move by demanding the resignation of Kerensky's government. He proposed to replace this by a military dictatorship. Kerensky ignored the demand and replied by denouncing him as a counter-revolutionary and sacking Kornilov. When Kornilov sent a cavalry corps to break up the Soviet, Kerensky appealed to the Soviet for help. The Soviet called on the Bolsheviks to help in the struggle against Kornilov and from hiding in Finland Lenin's message was:
"We will not fight on behalf of Kerensky, but we will fight against Kornilov."
As a result the Bolsheviks began to organize the workers into Red Guard battalions. As part of the deal Kerensky released Trotsky and other Bolshevik leaders from prison, and armed the workers. Kornilov's attempt to seize power fizzled out, as telegraph operators refused to send his orders, and railway workers controlled the vital communications. The cavalry sent against the Soviet were won over by fellow soldiers, and it was clear that Kornilov had misjudged the amount of effective support which he had. He was arrested and imprisoned.
The Army Breaks Up
The Provisional Government had been determined from the start to honour Russia's promise to her allies and continue her effort in the Great War. But the failure of the Galicia offensive was the sign for the real collapse of the Russian armies to begin. The Bolsheviks played their part in this collapse.
"The influence of Bolshevik ideas is spreading very rapidly. To this must be added a general weariness, and irritability, and a desire for peace at any price."
Troops who were to be sent to the front demanded that they be allowed to stay at home. At the front the soldiers assaulted their officers, refused to take orders, raided arms stores and took the long road home to Russia.
"Along a thousand miles of front the millions of men in Russia's armies stirred like the sea rising, pouring into the capital their hundreds upon hundreds of delegations, crying, "Peace! Peace!"
(Ten Days that Shook the World - J. Reed)
To such soldiers the Bolsheviks directed their slogan of "Peace, Bread, and Land". To the peasants in the countryside also, such Bolshevik ideas were attractive because of food shortages. Committees were formed among the peasants as revolutionary ideas caught hold. The Bolsheviks called for land to be taken from the landowners and given to the peasants. "Peasants of Magura village…influenced by propaganda, began to divide among them-selves the land and pastures of the neighbouring estates."
The workers too were restless. Transport had broken down and food was not reaching the cities. Shortage of essential raw materials caused workless days. Shortages of fuel resulted in a lack of heating in the workshops. To the discontented men in the ironworks and factories, the Bolsheviks preached workers' control of industry. It was against this background of rising discontent that Alexander Kerensky faced the new threat of the Bolsheviks.
In new elections then Bolsheviks gained a majority in the Petrograd Soviet, which was henceforth be used to endorse their actions. At a meeting of the Bolshevik Party Central Committee on 23rd October, it was decided that "an armed rising is inevitable and the time is perfectly ripe." Lenin did not get his way at this meeting without a struggle. Both Zinoviev and Kamenev opposed the proposal to stake the fortunes of the Party on an immediate seizure of power. Lenin, however, was supported by Trotsky, who after having long pursued an independent political course between the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks: had at last joined the former and had been elected to their Central Committee.
While Lenin remained in hiding Trotsky took charge of the preparations for the coupdetat. A Military Revolution Committee was set up in the name of the Petrograd Soviet and assumed control of the troops in the city. On 7th November the Winter Palace was captured after brief fighting and most of the Ministers were arrested. Kerensky escaped and the officers, bitterly reproached him for his treatment of Kornilov, did not support him; he finally fled abroad.
When the Second Congress of Soviets met it was presented with a new government of Russia, styled a Council of Peoples' Commissars with Lenin as Chairman. The Bolsheviks were now in power. Their fait accompli was endorsed by the Congress of Soviets which provided the new government a revolutionary legitimacy as representative of the Russian proletariat.
