A Beginner's Guide to the Russian Revolution: Part Three

In the third and final part of A Beginner's Guide to the Russian Revolution, we will examine the Bolshevik Revolution itself. During this time, the provisional government would be ousted from power by radical communist forces, which would spur a bloody civil struggle for power based on ideology within Russia. And now, part three of A Beginner's Guide to the Russian Revolution.

We left our survey with Lenin leaving Germany with support and financial backing of the German government, which wanted to use Lenin to help stir chaos in Russia and remove that country from the fight in World War I. They certainly got their wish. Lenin set about recruiting more followers to the cause of communism when he claimed the Bolshevik leadership upon his return. He and his followers filled the streets and the war trenches with pamphlets describing the Bolshevik cause and the crimes of the provisional government and czar. Learning of Lenin's return and the subversive activity of the Bolsheviks, the provisional government of Russia issued warrants for the arrest of leaders of the movement. However, by this point the fighting in Russian cities had swelled to such a level and support cast for the Bolsheviks in such a degree that the flimsy government was largely ineffectual. In November of 1917, the Bolsheviks seize upon the discord and launched a coup d'etat of the Russian provisional government. Even soldiers in the state guard at Petrograd began to side with the Bolsheviks, thus eliminating any chance the government had at turning back the tide. The provisional government stepped down, the legislative assembly was promptly dissolved, and Lenin now had complete control of the government.

Lenin and the Bolshevik leadership realized the need to take swift action in order to preserve their shaky ascent to power in Russia. The first and most pressing order of business was to get out of the War. Lenin knew that staying in the conflict would only drain Russia past bone dry and would draw the ire of a country of people who had equated the drawn-out and costly conflict with the Czar and provisional government. Thus, in 1918 Lenin met with the German Kaiser and signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. This was a humiliating treaty for Russia, and since they had sued for peace, the German government demanded large concessions. Russia lost a large portion of its territory and nearly a third of its population to German control due to the signing of this treaty. However, the agreement effectively brought Russia out of the fighting and allowed the Bolsheviks to concentrate their efforts toward their designs for the Russian State.

Lenin and his Bolshevik Party wished to turn Russia into a communist nation. This meant abolishing private ownership of property and parceling out land, capital, and resources to the Russian people. The Russian peasants who had remained financially tied to the land they had worked for generations even after the abolition of serfdom, now received land from the government. In addition, the Bolsheviks forced the turnover of the means of industrial production from the factory owners to the workers. Now the workers themselves technically had control of factories, industrial complexes, and mining facilities.

Although Lenin had achieved success in his aspirations to uproot the provisional government and get out of the war, his troubles were far from over. There were plenty of people in Russia who loathed the idea of a Bolshevik-run state. This included royalists (people loyal to the czar and autocracy), liberal democrats who advocated reform instead of radicalism, and many moderate socialists who did not approve of the violent tactics of the Bolsheviks. These forces came to constitute what was known as the White Army. The opposing force, The Reds, was made up of the Bolsheviks and their sympathizers. They were called the Reds because red was the popular color of revolution and radicalism. The Whites, realizing they needed to garner support from Western nations, pledged to reenter the War against Germany if they wrested control of Russia from the Bolsheviks. Western nations, fearing the Bolshevik government's designs, agreed to send supplies to the Whites. Leon Trotsky, a Bolshevik leader, saw the threat and organized a Red Army to fight the Whites. Civil war had begun.

The civil war period was a dark one in Russian history. Terror tactics were used by both sides. The Whites would kill any suspected communists they came across and the Reds executed who they deemed to be "enemies of the revolution." Much like the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution, swift justice and paranoia prevailed across the country. In order to preserve their fragile hold on power, the Bolsheviks organized a secret police force called the Cheka which arrested any suspected supporter of the Whites in the cities of Russia. After three years and thousands of people dead, the Reds finally gained the upper hand. Bolshevik leadership over a new communist Russia was solidified.

The Russian Revolution had far-reaching consequences for the world. For the first time, a radical government had taken seat in one of the largest countries in Eurasia. This would upset the balance of power and eventually have consequences not only before World War II but also after it. Without the Russian Revolution there might have been no Allied Victory in World War II, might not have been a Cold War, might not have been a Space Race. It's interesting to ponder. Hope you enjoyed A Beginner's Guide to the Russian Revolution.