Success of Bolsheviks in Russian Revolution, 1917
Ali Adenwala 12J Due: 5/1/15
Why did the Bolsheviks succeed in 1917 whilst other political parties failed to gain power? [2nd Draft]
The Bolshevik’s seizure of power was due, significantly, to the external environment of deterioration festering around them at the time, the most incremental and significant being the failure of other political parties to act and distance themselves from the Provisional Government. This directly heightened Lenin’s role in the revolution, allowing him to exploit these weaknesses, with the help of Trotsky, whom he appropriated successfully to achieve the parties main end: a socialist, Bolshevik government, Sovnarkom.
Lenin placed Trotsky as the leader of the Petrograd Soviet’s Military Revolutionary Committee (MRC) on September 25th 1917, to carry out a planned uprising, where Trotsky, between October 24th and 25th, ordered the Bolshevik Red Guards to seize key positions in Petrograd. This led to the taking over of railway stations, and post and telegraph offices, meaning that the PG was left totally defenseless, allowing the Bolsheviks to seize control. The most crucial factor, however, was timing, where the Bolsheviks were able to take this power behind the veneer of Soviet control, minimizing chance of opposition. It is arguable, nonetheless, that even without this planning, seizure would still be within easy reach, due to the infamy of the Provisional Government and the other political parties, such as the Kadets, Mensheviks and Social Revolutionaries, failing to act. But nevertheless, this organizational brilliance from Trotsky was an assured way for secure control, as the Bolsheviks were only relatively known in the cities, compared to most of rural Russia, where their support dwindled in the wake of more popular political parties, and especially the support of the Soviet. When compared to the haphazard attempts at power from
Why did the Bolsheviks succeed in 1917 whilst other political parties failed to gain power? [2nd Draft]
The Bolshevik’s seizure of power was due, significantly, to the external environment of deterioration festering around them at the time, the most incremental and significant being the failure of other political parties to act and distance themselves from the Provisional Government. This directly heightened Lenin’s role in the revolution, allowing him to exploit these weaknesses, with the help of Trotsky, whom he appropriated successfully to achieve the parties main end: a socialist, Bolshevik government, Sovnarkom.
Lenin placed Trotsky as the leader of the Petrograd Soviet’s Military Revolutionary Committee (MRC) on September 25th 1917, to carry out a planned uprising, where Trotsky, between October 24th and 25th, ordered the Bolshevik Red Guards to seize key positions in Petrograd. This led to the taking over of railway stations, and post and telegraph offices, meaning that the PG was left totally defenseless, allowing the Bolsheviks to seize control. The most crucial factor, however, was timing, where the Bolsheviks were able to take this power behind the veneer of Soviet control, minimizing chance of opposition. It is arguable, nonetheless, that even without this planning, seizure would still be within easy reach, due to the infamy of the Provisional Government and the other political parties, such as the Kadets, Mensheviks and Social Revolutionaries, failing to act. But nevertheless, this organizational brilliance from Trotsky was an assured way for secure control, as the Bolsheviks were only relatively known in the cities, compared to most of rural Russia, where their support dwindled in the wake of more popular political parties, and especially the support of the Soviet. When compared to the haphazard attempts at power from