What was the Russian revolution of 1917, why did it happen and who were Trotsky and Lenin?
The Bolsheviks and Vladamir Lenin led the uprising - commonly known as Red October - which overthrew the Tsarist rule at the helm of Russia
A CENTURY ago Russia was on the brink of a revolution that would change the course of the country forever.
The Bolsheviks and Vladamir Lenin led the uprising - commonly known as Red October - which overthrew the Tsarist rule at the helm of Russia.
What was the Russian Revolution of 1917 and why did it happen?
The two revolutions of 1917 led to the dismantling of the Tsarist regime, which had governed Russia for centuries, and the formation of the Soviet Union.
But despite both revolts happening months apart, tensions and social unrest had been simmering in the country for decades.
When the country industrialised at the turn of the 20th century – which was much later than Western Europe and the US – it accelerated the huge political change which transformed Russia.
Major cities such as Moscow and St. Petersburg saw their populations double during this period, which resulted in overcrowding and immense poverty while also creating a new working urban social class.
Russia’s decision to enter WORLD WAR I effectively doomed the Tsarist monarchy and sowed the seeds of change in the troubled country.
Up to an estimated 2.5 million Russians were killed in the conflict and millions more were captured or wounded by the enemy.
Back in Russia, the country was crippled with food and fuel shortages and the economy was shattered by the war.
The Russian Revolution started on March 8, 1917, with the so-called “FEBRUARY REVOLUTION” which was named due to Russia’s use of the Julian calendar.
Hungry peasants protested on the streets of St. Petersburg along with striking workers.
The demonstrators clashed with police resulting in soldiers being called in to stop the revolt on March 11.
Some protestors were killed by troops who eventually began to turn against the Tsarist regime.
Tsar Nicholas abdicated the throne a few days after the Duma formed a provisional government on March 12.
But the new government, led by members of the aristocracy, decided to continue to fight in the Great War which further exacerbated food shortages leading to riots in Russian cities.
On November 6 and 7, communist revolutionaries led by Bolshevik Party leader Vladimir Lenin overthrew the Duma’s provisional government.
Due to Russia’s use of the Julian calendar this “Bolshevik Revolution” is sometimes referred to as the “OCTOBER REVOLUTION.”
Civil War then broke out in Russia at the end of 1917 between Lenin’s Red Army and the White Army made up of Tsarists, capitalists and socialist opponents of Bolshevism.
The Russian Civil War – which saw MILLIONS of people killed – ended in 1923 with Lenin’s army victorious leading to the formation of the Soviet Union.
Who was Vladimir Lenin?
Vladimir Lenin was a Russian communist revolutionary, politician and political theorist.
He was head of government of the Russian Republic after the revolution, which then became the Soviet Union from 1917 to 1924.
Under his administration Russia and the wider Soviet Union became a one-party communist state.
He became interested in revolutionary socialistic politics after his brother's execution in 1887.
After rising to a senior figure in the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party he was arrested for sedition and exiled for three years. He eventually returned to Russia to take a key role in the failed revolution of 1905, and the then-successful revolution of 1917.
Who was Leon Trotsky?
Leon Trotsky was a Marxist revolutionary, theorist and Soviet politician.
He joined the Bolsheviks just before the 1917 revolution and became a leader within the Communist Party.
He led a failed opposition against the rise of Joseph Stalin - Lenin's successor - in the 1920s but was removed from power.
He was eventually assassinated under orders from Stalin.
His ideas formed the basis of Trotskyism, a major school of Marxist thought that goes against Stalin's theories.