Bolshevik power grows

Vladimir ilyich Lenin was an excellent speaker and a clear thinker, he held the Marxist view that communism could only come after a bourgeois revolution.
On his journey back to Russia, Lenin sent ahead the aims for the party, the April Theses

Withdraw from the war
PG is the bourgeois revolution that must happen before the workers revolution; we must work for the workers revolution
No cooperation with the PG
Work towards transferring power to the soviets
Work towards government by the people, not a parliament with no police or central bureaucracy
All land to be owned by the state and run by peasants on communal farms
All banks to become one state bank
Industry to be controlled by soviets
Party congress to be called the change the party programme, mainly concerning the war, the need to demand a ‘commune state’
A new international meeting (to agree these changes with Bolsheviks in all countries).

On his arrival he made a speech to the Petrograd soviet, outlining the theses- they were not impressed
The first PG ended, the 2nd (5th may 1917) had members from all main political groups except the Bolsheviks.
People who once regarded all revolutionary groups as similar now saw that the Bolsheviks were the only ones that supported radical change
PG introduced bread rationing in march
In June 1917, Russian generals led another offensive that failed with more loses
By Autumn 2 million soldiers had deserted
Lenin made inspiring speeches with simple slogans ‘peace bread land’ and ‘all power to the soviets’
He and Leon Trotsky gave strong leadership that united the Bolsheviks
41 Bolsheviks criticising the PG and urging revolution
They set up red guards of armed workers, by July there were 10,000 in Petrograd
Lenin was worried that workers might rise up before the Bolsheviks were ready due to the unpopularity of the PG

July days

The Third PG

After July days the PG reformed, led by Alexander Kerensky who had been in the government from the start and the only person who was a member of the Duma and Petrograd soviet. He chose Lavr Kornilov, a general known to be against the February revolution, to lead the army.

Kornilov Revolt

He pushed Kerensky to impose Martial Law and break the power of soviets.
Kerensky could not decide whether he wanted the support of the soviets or Kornilov so he told kornilov to order his troops and advance on Petrograd.
Then claiming Kornilov was leading an army coup, he armed the Red guards and sent them to stop him. Kornilov and 7,000 followers were arrested. Kerensky presented himself as the saviour
Kerensky became less popular and people saw the Bolsheviks as the saviours. They won most seats in the Petrograd soviet election (31st august). Many workers now felt the Bolsheviks who had predicted a counter-revolutionary move, were the party of the people.

	Created by daniifarrell over 10 years ago

GCSE History (Topic 1-The Collapse of the Tsarist Regime) Note on Bolshevik Power Grows, created by daniifarrell on 02/01/2014.