Question by EDL: Who are the people involved in the Bolshevik Revolution – Russia?
I need to know the people who played some major roles in that revolution.
Thanks!
Answers and Views:
Answer by PrimarchLordCAG
the Bolshevik’s are Communist’s, Vladimir Lenin is who your looking for, just look up communist revolution in russia.
Answer by Spellbound
Lenin (born Vladimir Illych Ul’ianov): Led the Bolshevik faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party. He instigated the October Revolution and led the country afterwards.
Trotsky: He led the Military Defence Committee of the Petrograd Soviet. It was this committee that took power for Lenin in the October Revolution. He also organised and led the Red Army – guaranteeing the security of the new government.
Alexandr Kerensky: Was a Socialist Revolutionary (a party similar to the Bolsheviks, but focused on the rural, not urban population). His management of the country was poor, more like firefighting as the crises in the country went from bad to worse. He could have pulled out of WWI, perhaps saving the regime; he could have held elections to the Constituent Assembly, perhaps saving the regime; and he could have given the peasants what they wanted – ownership of the land that they farmed, perhaps saving the regime. But it was Lenin that did all these things – ensuring that many people supported his new government.
General Lars Kornilov – Commander in Chief of the Imperial Army. Led an abortive coup against the Provisional Government. Kerensky released Bolsheviks involved in the July Days abortive coup to help deal with Kornilov. Lenin from this moment was in a position of strength.
Vladimir Antonov-Ovseenko – he led the soldiers, under orders from the Milrevkom, that stormed the seat of the Provisional Government – the Winter Palace.
Stalin – there are two answers to whether he was relevant to the October Revolution. The one your teacher expects is this one: He was a minor functionary in the events of the October Revolution – he was editor of the party newspaper – Pravda and was in his office during the storming of the Winter Palace. The other version of events still has him at his desk, but his role is much more important. He was a known murderer, blackmailer, extortionist and gangster – his job was to provide Lenin, and only Lenin, with the means to get away from Petrograd if it all went wrong. He organised guns, safe-houses, false papers and and escape route to Finland. As it was his talents were not needed and the story of him doing nothing during the Revolution came to be.
The main events leading up to he seizure of power by the Bolsheviks:
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 Lars 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 Kronshtadt. 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 Soviet Union 1917 – 1991 (the best book for A-Level or 1st Year Undergraduate) – Martin McCauley
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
The Communist Party Of the Soviet Union by Leonard Shapiro
http://www.marxists.org/history/ussr/events/revolution/index.htm
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