The coming to power of the Bolsheviks, the date of which coincided with the date of the Great October Socialist Revolution (November 7, 1917 in modern style), seemed in the spring of that year an impossible event for many in the Russian Empire. The fact is that this branch of the Social Democratic Labor Party, headed by V.I. Until almost the last months before the revolution, Lenin was not particularly popular with the most significant classes in the society of that time.
The roots of the political party of the Bolsheviks
The ideological basis of the party arose in the early 90s of the 19th century among former Narodniks who went to the people and saw the problems of the peasantry, who wanted to solve with the help of a radical redistribution of land plots, including landlords. These agrarian problems lasted for more than one decade and partly caused the Bolsheviks to come to power. In connection with the failures of the populist tendency and the activation of the working class, former leaders of populism (Plekhanov, Zasulich, Axelrod, etc.) adopted the experience of the Western European struggle, reviewed revolutionary strategies, got acquainted with the works of Marx and Engels, translated them into Russian and began to develop theories of arrangement life in Russia based on Marxist theories. The party itself was established in 1898, and in 1903, at the second congress, the movement broke up into Bolsheviks and Mensheviks for ideological reasons.
More than a decade dreamed of rebellion
The coming to power of the Bolsheviks was prepared by this political group for a long time. During the revolution of 1905-07. this organization gathered in London (the Mensheviks in Geneva), where a decision was made about an armed uprising. In general, the Social Democrats already at that time wanted to destroy tsarism by organizing uprisings in the troops (in the Black Sea Fleet, in Odessa) and undermining the financial system (they called for taking deposits from banks and not paying taxes). They supplied arms and explosives to Russia (Krasin's group), robbed banks (Helsingfors Bank, 1906).
They failed to enter the official authorities
The Bolsheviks came to power in Russia through “official channels” in the pre-revolutionary period failed. They boycotted the elections to the first State Duma, while in the second they got fewer seats than the Mensheviks (15 posts). In the advisory body of the country, the Bolsheviks were detained for a short time, since members of their faction were detained while trying to raise an uprising with the help of the St. Petersburg garrison. All Duma members from the Bolsheviks were arrested, and the Duma of that convocation itself was dissolved.
What did Russia promise the potential coming of the Bolsheviks to power? Briefly about this you can learn from the decisions of the London (fifth) party congress, where in 1907 the maximum and minimum programs were adopted. Minimum for Russia was a bourgeois revolution with the shortening of the working day to 8 hours, the overthrow of the autocracy, the establishment of democratic elections and freedoms, the introduction of local self-government, the granting of nations the right to self-determination, the abolition of fines and the return of land to peasants. The proletarian revolution and the transition to socialism with the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletarian masses were to take place to the maximum in the Russian Empire.
The situation in Russia after 1907 continued to remain difficult. The reasons why the Bolsheviks came to power in the future became possible were that the tsarist reforms of that time did not give significant results, the agrarian question was not resolved, the outbreak of the First World War after the defeat at Tanenberg was waged on the territory of Russia and led to hyperinflation, disruption of food supply to cities, famine in villages.
The decomposition of the army contributed to the revolution
About 2 million soldiers and almost a million civilians died in the war, a huge mobilization (15 million people) was made, the bulk of which were peasants, many of whom, along with the revolutionary workers, joined the army with sympathy for the Socialist Revolutionary ideas about getting peasants land landowners. The set was so large that many were not even sworn in, not to mention patriotic education. And opponents of the tsarist regime actively propagated their ideas, which led to the refusals of the Cossacks and soldiers to suppress popular uprisings back in 1915 - 1916.
The tsarist regime has few supporters
The reasons for the Bolsheviks or any other political forces to come to power by 1917 were that the tsarist regime was too weak economically and politically under the circumstances. Moreover, Nicholas II directly took a detached position (or was deprived of the necessary amount of information about the actual state of affairs). This made it possible, for example, in February 1917 to close the Putilov factory and “throw” about 36 thousand people into the streets of St. Petersburg, some of which were influenced by the revolutionary ideas of the Bolsheviks and began to involve workers in other factories in strikes. The emperor at that time could no longer even rely on his guard, since most of its pre-war personnel were killed on the fronts and replaced by mobilized soldiers from different classes. Against the king there were many political forces of the country, which, however, were at the same time in opposition to each other, since each party had its own plan for the development of the state.
Few expected the Bolsheviks to win
As of April 1917, it seemed to many that the Bolsheviks came to power is impossible, since the bulk of the population, peasants, to a greater extent supported the Socialist Revolutionaries, the industrialists had their own parties, the intelligentsia had their own, there were several parties that supported the monarchist system. The April theses of Lenin did not find a response among the Socialist Revolutionaries, Mensheviks and many Bolsheviks, as the leader proposed abandoning the defensive positions in the war and concluding peace (maybe for this reason Germany “did not notice” how Lenin arrived in Petrograd through its territory in sealed carriage). Therefore, the reasons for the coming to power of the Bolsheviks were, among other things, foreign policy. In addition, the theses proposed the dissolution of the Provisional Government and the transfer of power to the Soviets, along with the nationalization of the land, instead of its transfer to the ownership of peasant communities, which did not add popularity to Lenin's supporters.
Unsuccessful attempt
The coming of the Bolsheviks to power (1917) was accompanied by attempts to lead the country before November. In June of the same year, at the First Congress of Workers 'and Soldiers' Deputies (All-Russian), it became clear that the Bolsheviks in their importance were in third place among the socialists. At the congress, delegates rejected Lenin's proposal to end the war and to abolish the existing authorities. However, it should be borne in mind that by that time, under the influence of the Bolsheviks, there were already soldier regiments, including the First Machine Gun Regiment stationed in Petrograd (11, 3 thousand soldiers) and sailors of the Kronstadt Naval Base. The influence of the party of Lenin in the military environment led to the fact that an attempt to take the Tauride Palace (the headquarters of the Provisional Government) was made in July 1917. These days, the workers of the Putilov factory, soldiers, sailors arrived at the palace, but the organization of the “offensive” was so poor that the Bolshevik plan failed. This was partly due to the fact that the Minister of Justice of the Provisional Government Pereverzev managed to prepare and paste newspapers around the city where Lenin and his associates were represented as German spies.
Change of government and direct capture
What other processes were accompanied by the coming to power of the Bolsheviks? The year of the Great October Revolution was rich in various events. By the fall, it becomes obvious that the Provisional Government is not coping with anarchy, so a new body is being formed - the Pre-Parliament, in which the Bolsheviks have only 1/10 of the seats. At the same time, the party of Lenin receives a majority in the Soviets of large cities, including up to 90% in Petrograd and about 80% in Moscow. It is supported by the soldiers' committees of the Western and Northern Fronts, and in the peasant milieu it is still not very popular - in half of the Soviets there were no rural Bolshevik deputies.
What was the direct coming of the Bolsheviks to power? Briefly, the events developed as follows:
- In October, Lenin secretly came to Petrograd, where he began to promote a new uprising, he was not supported by Kamenev and Trotsky. The second at the same time offers to wait for the decisions of the Second Congress of Soviets (All-Russian), scheduled for 20 and rescheduled for October 25 (according to the old style).
- On October 18, 1917 (according to the old style), a meeting of regiments took place in the garrisons of Petrograd, where it was decided to hold an armed uprising against the current government if it was initiated by the Petrosoviet (where the Bolsheviks had 90% of the vote). Five days later, the garrison of the Peter and Paul Fortress went over to the side of the Bolsheviks. On the side of the Provisional Government were the cadets from schools and schools of military ensigns, shock female company, Cossacks.
- On October 24, the Bolshevik forces captured the telegraph, the telegraph agency, through which warships were called from Krondstat. They did not allow the junkers to part of the bridges.
- On the night of October 24-25, the Bolsheviks managed to seize the central telephone exchange, the State Bank, Warsaw Station, disconnect the central power supply of government buildings, and bring the Aurora cruiser to the Neva. By noon, the "revolutionary masses" captured the Mariinsky Palace. The storming of the Winter Palace was carried out late at night, after its preliminary shelling from the cannons of the cruiser Aurora. At 2 hours and 10 minutes on October 26, the Provisional Government surrendered.
The revolution led to an increase in the number of victims
The consequences of the coming to power of the Bolsheviks were devastating for Russia, since as a result of the victory power passed to them in Petrograd (almost in full, with the exception of the City Council of Petrograd), a new government was formed from the Bolsheviks headed by Lenin (Council of People's Commissars). But most of the country was not controlled by them, which led to a civil war, a further collapse of the economy, which led, inter alia, to hunger and numerous victims.