What lead to the birth of the USSR?

Question by Tay: What specific events lead to the birth of the USSR?
I can’t seem to find detailed descriptions of events that lead to the birth of the USSR…oh and was the USSR formed before or after or..during…. the whole Boshevik, commies, whites and reds shenanigans?

Answers and Views:

Answer by Spellbound
The Bolsheviks took power in 1917 during the October Revolution, they were communists who were opposed to Imperialism and capitalism.
This caused them a lot of problems initially, as the Russian Empire was composed of people of many different nationalities, Uzbeks, Ukrainians, Kazakhs, Tatars, Volga Germans and many others. In order to not be considered an imperialist power, they created the Soviet Socialist Republics, each with its own Communist Party, party leader and bureaucracy. In Russia itself, they set up the Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics. The political union of these republics was formally created in 1922 when the republics of Ukraine, Belarus, Transcaucasia and Russia agreed to unite as the Soviet Union, until then these republics were nominally independent.
See:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1112551.stm

The main events leading up to he seizure of power by the Bolsheviks:
The February (1917) Revolution – the Tsar is deposed, and a Provisional Government set up. The Petrograd Soviet, a council of workers’ and soldiers’ deputies, rivals the government for political authority and legitimacy.
The April these – Lenin outlines his aims and a programme for the Bolsheviks to take power.
The July Days – 3rd – 7th July. Strikes in Petrograd cripple the city. The Bolsheviks try to impose their leadership on the strikes. The strikes are brutally put down – Lenin goes into hiding, many Bolsheviks arrested.
The Kornilov Affair Late August early September – General Lavr Kornilov, the commander-in-chief of the army attempts to march an army to Petrograd. The Provisional Government release the Bolsheviks and ask Lenin and the Bolshevik Red Guards to help prevent the attempted coup; the Red Guard were given arms by the government. Kornilov is seen off as his cossacks desert him.
September & October – strikes in much of the country, especially in the important industrial areas: Petrograd, the Donbas, Moscow, Baku and the Urals. Peasant uprisings increasing, and becoming increasingly violent, with manor houses burnt and their occupants lynched.
Bolshevik agitation increases – they are leading the strikes, taking over the key posts on many soviets, and, in the army and navy, their influence is getting stronger – especially in the island fortress of Kronshstadt. By October, many garrisons issue proclamations saying that they do not recognise the authority of the Provisional Government.
October 25th 9:45pm – the Battleship Aurora, stationed in Petrograd, fires a single blank shot. This is the signal that Vladimir Antonov-Ovseenko has been waiting for – he leads his men to the Winter Palace – the home of the Provisional Government. The palace is guarded by a women’s’ battalion, some cadets and some cossacks. By 2am, with very little bloodshed they had secured the building – the Provisional Government fled – and the next day Lenin took office as the Chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars, the new, Bolshevik, head of government.

See:
The October Revolution by Roy Medvedev
The Russian Revolution by Sheila Fitzpatrick
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/RUSmarchR.htm
http://soviethistory.org/index.php?page=subject&SubjectID=1917july&Year=1917
http://soviethistory.org/index.php?page=subject&SubjectID=1917october&Year=1917

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