On the other hand, Liberal historians say that the circumstances in Russia helped the Bolsheviks and Lenin enormously. For instance, many middle class workers did not favour the system of autocracy. Democracy was the new ideology that was growing amongst the industrial classes and the liberal intelligentsia. The people were willing to go against the autocratic system of Russia. This can be why Liberals argue that the situation and period when Lenin was building the Bolshevik Party could only be advantageous to him. Not only the autocracy but also Nicholas II’s personality played a role into Lenin’s gradual success. Tsar was hugely unpopular due to his weak, hesitant, and reactionary character. He took advice from unreliable individuals such as his wife, Alexandra, and Rasputin. His legislation angered and unsatisfied thousands of workers in Petrograd that led to Bloody Sunday and other protest. Father Gapon once said, “Do not refuse to help your people. Destroy the wall between yourself and your people.” The working class was not at all pleased with the way the Tsar was ruling Russia. A weak leader is always a great opportunity for a charismatic leader like Lenin to take. The short-term effects of WWI only made things worse for the Tsarist regime. Social and economic dislocation of food shortages and rising prices of household goods devastated the lives of peasants and industrial workers. The government’s bureaucracy had a lot of difficulty ruling the country. At such times of tribulations, radicalisation of the working class and peasantry was important. Lenin grabbed this chance to organise opposition against the Tsar. Such circumstances that Russia was in, may prove to an extent, how Lenin may have been quite insignificant even with his aptitude as a great leader and theorist that formed the Bolsheviks, in the first place
Many believe that Lenin’s action of promoting the April Theses, helped lead to the October Revolution. It was so effective that “his ability to rouse a crowd was such that adversaries recorded that he could make the hairs stand”. In returning from exile in Switzerland during the summer of 1917 “Lenin was already embarking his course of action”. He did this through a series of proposals, which are known as the April Theses. In general, the Theses proclaimed that there would be “Peace, Bread, Land”, therefore after Lenin worked consistently to change the minds of other Bolsheviks, the April Theses began to be accepted by the majority. Thereby, through Lenin’s speeches about the April Theses, the transformation from the Bourgeois-Democratic to the Socialist Revolution had been accomplished. Additionally, some Mensheviks such as Leon Trotsky “joined the Bolsheviks”. This is important due to the fact that without such influential members, the main strategies for the revolution would have never come into play. Through this, Lenin was successful in gathering support of the workers, soldiers and peasants. Furthermore, the main slogan demonstrates the way in which the Bolsheviks were able to combine the demands of all their followers to maximise their appeal. Thus, Lenin is significant to the October Revolution, as he primarily convinced all the others into making the strike possible. The reason why Lenin was capable of persuading these figures was because “it is impossible to end the war by a truly democratic peace”; therefore, in order to give the people what they desired was to carry out a revolution. Overall, we can acknowledge Lenin’s importance in the October Revolution as he was responsible for the Theses, the founding principles of the revolution. His capability of gaining attention for the party should also be credited because without the support, the revolution would have never taken place. For instance, the amount of support they had in the February Revolution was 24,000 Bolsheviks, Lenin raised this figure to 400,000 by October.
Lenin’s personality and dedication were key stepping-stones to success. The revolution began on October 24th, when the Red Guard was led Trotsky and then by Lenin in Smolnyi, Russia. We can understand that Lenin’s personality is responsible for the revolution as it is clear “Lenin [was] militarily cunning”. The fact that Lenin “voted for the revolution” in the Bolshevik Central Committee highlights that Lenin was a dedicated revolutionary who wanted immediate change in the Russian political system. On the other hand, 13 other high profile Bolsheviks originally voted against Lenin. His dedication can also be witnessed as he was focused around ensuring the revolution when the time came ran like clockwork. This appears obvious since “in an effort to produce conformity he slipped back into Petrograd” therefore this shows that he was based around being ready. He came back to Petrograd in order to ensure the standards were met. In order to further this, he made the “Central Committee pledge itself to an armed insurrection” implying that when the revolution began they had to support it. This highlights that Lenin was very prepared since he was ensuring that no one would abandon the plan; and they would have to put maximum effort into the revolution. Additionally, on October 10th, a meeting was held in which he tried to persuade twelve party leaders that a revolution was necessary. Despite the fact that only 10 of them agreed, plotting went ahead. Undoubtedly, Lenin was conscientious of what the government was doing, In continuation, due to this thorough preparation he ensured that the revolution occurred as on the night of the 24th, after the government shut down the main source of Bolshevik propaganda he said “The situation is critical in the extreme. In fact, it is now absolutely clear that to delay the uprising would be fatal”. Conclusively, Lenin was confident in his preparations to position the Bolsheviks at their optimum condition. Lenin analysed his surroundings and their significance in order to ensure the revolution was heading the right way. Lenin’s significance in the leading up to the revolution is clear as he planned thoroughly to make the revolution successful unlike the July Days.
In the second revolution, Trotsky can also be considered as an important factor. Trotsky was in charge of planning the events that occurred on the night of October 24th. In addition, he was also responsible for organising the other Bolsheviks. This appears obvious, as “it was Trotsky who actually organised it”. Therefore, this shows that Trotsky was the physical driving force behind the whole event even though Lenin was the main link to the revolution’s cause. Furthermore, Trotsky was the dominant member in the “three man Military Revolutionary Committee”. Consequently, it can be disclosed that Trotsky’s significance cannot be undermined as he had the main connections with the other revolutionaries. For example, Chudnovskii, a friend of Trotsky’s, under Trotsky’s overall command and a chairmanship in the Petrograd Soviet, reveals Trotsky’s strong connections with workers desperate for change in Russia. Conclusively, due to Trotsky’s presence amongst the main contributors to the revolution, some can argue that he played a much greater role in the revolution itself than Lenin since if these connections were not established in the first placeand the plan was not developed by Trotsky, the revolution would have never occurred. Therefore some may argue that Lenin’s contribution to the second revolution was noteworthy to a certain extent. Without Trotsky nothing would have been effective.
The October Revolution succeeded due to the failure of the Provisional Government and the lack of support. The Provisional Government was put into power after the Tsar’s’ abdication in order to maintain conditions in Russia, although many were already turning against it by October. This is clear as the Provisional Government was not willing to “break [their] ties with the allies”. Consequently, we can apprehend that the Provisional Government was willing to stay in the war. Naturally, this caused many domestic issues; especially with the workers and peasants who suffered from it. Because it did not withdraw from war, the Provisional Government lost support. Many people were dying in the ongoing war, which reflects on the failure of the Provisional Government. This unsuccessful nature of the Provisional Government, many people wanted to remove leaders such as Kerensky. The people turned into revolutionaries who made promises to withdraw Russia from the war. Another failure of the Provisional Government was that “every week food became scarcer”, that would only infuriate the workers and peasants more. As the provisional government lost support, the revolutionaries gained it. This shows that the failures of the Provisional Government giving people paraphernalia to protest about could have been the main factor behind the cause of the October Revolution, which only leaves Lenin insignificant.
In general, Lenin has arguably been involved in both revolutions to a certain extent. The propaganda and theories behind the Bolshevik Party leading up to the February Revolution were all works of Lenin. However, some say that Lenin wasn’t really remarkable in the way that he wasn’t physically involved. Also, the diminishing popularity of the Provisional Government, the Tsar’s personality and the effects of WWI had helped him a lot. This is also the case in the October Revolution. His promotion of the April Theses and dedication to the Bolsheviks helped lead to a successful revolution but one must also consider Trotsky’s physical contributions and the failure of the Provisional Government as other factors leading to the Bolsheviks’ success. Many will ponder how much influence Lenin had in the Russian revolutions, one thing is clear. He will be marked down as one of the few that changed the course of Russian history.
1 Lenin’s Revolution – David R. Marples
2 April These – Vladimir Lenin
3 Russia – Robert Service (1997 Penguin)
4 The Russian Revolution – Richard Pipes
5 Reaction & Revolutions: Russia 1881 – 1924 – Michael Lynch
6 Theorist Source: Chris Corin