Month: June 2014

The Russian revolution of 1917 was practically bloodless, and, to a large extent, swift and effortless. Motivated by capitalism’s inherent greed that had spread across the globe, it ignited a monumental change, not just across Europe, but across the world. In many ways, the 1917 revolution of Russia was inevitable. Karl Marx had a few years earlier spoken of the self-destructive nature of capitalism; he said that it would undo itself, and would be tipped over the edge by the working man. Russia, like many European nations at the time, was deemed sick. Indeed, the German artist Franz Marc claimed that all of Europe was suffering from a sickness that only war could cleanse. Russia’s sickness seemed greater than all the others; more immediate, more damaging, and more terminal. It was certainly a sickness that would take more than war to cure. For centuries Russia had been ruled by the House of Romanov, and had all the while been split between urbanity and peasantry; between the government and its subjects; between the capital and the provinces; between the upper-middle classes, and the working class. Added to these volatile divisions was the sheer size of the empire; by the end of the 19th century, Russia covered a sixth of the world’s surface. The size and scale made managing it difficult, yet Russia was an empire without a parliament. Nicholas II was stubborn, impractical and unwilling to listen to the advice of others. State Dumas (parliaments) were created sporadically, only to be shut down almost immediately. There was a total ban on the creation of political parties, but this only encouraged rebellious, illegal ones to spring up, such as the illegal Labour Party movement. Once political parties were legalised the Social Democratic Labour Party was created, which was a party of Marxists who felt that the working class should overcome the regime and take the reigns. The Social Democrats were ridden by disagreements and factionalism. They broke into two halves; the Mensheviks, who were led by the charismatic Kerensky, felt that Russia was not immediately ready for the transition into socialism. They felt that capitalism needed to continue along its trajectory until the complete industrialisation of Russia was finished. The Bolsheviks, led by the intransigent Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, wanted Russia’s conversion to socialism to be immediate. Lenin advocated a ‘dictatorship of the Proletarian’, and the use of terrorism. Such strong, foreboding words were alien to the basic precepts of socialism according to the Mensheviks. To them, Lenin wasn’t too far from being a madman. He was uncompromising, a man to be feared; he was the embodiment of the terrifying Bolshevik spirit. Coinciding with the rise of Petrograd’s political parties was social and economic turmoil throughout Russia and its subjects. By and large, the Russian industry was doing well (although it was largely financed by German bankers), but the workers were poorly paid in comparison to workers in other European nations. The living conditions were sometimes atrocious, and resentment was growing. Everything came to a brief, but pointed head in 1905, when restless civilians who demonstrated against the regime were brutally put down in an act which became monikered as ‘Bloody Sunday.’ Out of this rose the first State Duma, which Nicholas II allowed only reluctantly and dissolved soon afterwards once it became clear that it was too radical and too contradictory to his own designs. A second was established only to also be hastily dissolved. A few years passed with only a few murmurings of discontent until The Great War arrived in 1914. In some ways it had its advantages to Nicholas and the ruling power; it promoted togetherness and patriotism, as everybody fought as one against the Central Powers. The production of armaments meant that the industry didn’t suffer as much as people had expected. As an overall effect, though, the Great War only served to weaken Nicholas II’s position, and accelerate a revolution. The Great War, as inevitable as it was throughout Europe, was the worst thing that could have happened to all the ruling powers, despite their own actions instigating it. The war was mishandled in a few ways by Nicholas II. For him, it was as much about expansion as it was about defence. The socialists decried the war as an ‘imperial conflict’, claiming it was a wretched result of several capitalist nations competing with one another to gobble up the globe. The war, for the socialists as it was for many, presented an opportunity to put a stop to the expansive mindsets of the great powers. It was a chance for revolution, and for the working class to cure capitalism’s innate sickness. Had the fourth State Duma discovered the tsars secretive plans to continue expansion even during the conflict, they would never have thrown their weighty support behind the war effort. The economy suffered as a result of mismanagement during the war. The government printed off roubles in a bid to sustain the economy, but this only resulted in rapid inflation, with wages not being able to keep pace. Sanitation and housing fell into ruin, with soldiers complaining about harsh, unjust military treatment that was damaging morale on the front. Unemployment rose sharply. By February 26th 1917, virtually all of Petrograd was on strike. The Bolsheviks and Mensheviks were sniffing around the political and social debris, imbued with the idea that the monarchy could be overthrown. On March 2nd, Nicholas II abdicated suddenly. A Provisional Government, led by the Kadets, was formed a day later, but even they continued the monarchy’s expansionist aims. The Mensheviks, who wanted Russia to only defend her borderlands, soon found this out and a new cabinet was set up, with the previous members resigning in shame. The Provisional Government made promises that elections would be held for a Constituent Assembly, and that all adults over 21 could vote. Ruling wasn’t easy; the economy and society continued to suffer, war continued to ravage, people were still miserable, which meant that a change in the guard was hardly felt. The Provisional Government, made up of a few parties, was also divided on numerous issues, including the right of national self-determination. The Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries wanted nations like Ukraine to establish their own government, but the Kadets disagreed. Kerenski eventually took charge, but he soon resorted to heavy cocaine use after finding it an arduous, virtually impossible task. Unemployment was escalating, with no state welfare to protect those out of work. The war was still raging. People feared that bread and potatoes would soon be unavailable. There was so much for Kerensky and his government to think about that the Bolsheviks, the most individual, troublesome, and confrontational of all socialist parties, had practically been forgotten about. The Bolsheviks were there, watching and waiting. The Bolsheviks were a different animal to any other socialist party. Led by Lenin, they were uncompromising, refusing to cooperate with any other party. They didn’t want to share power with the Mensheviks, the Socialist Revolutionaries, or the Kadets. Their principles, thoughts and methods were fearsome, with virtually all their leading members former criminals who had served time in Siberia for political agitation. They watched the Provisional Government’s struggles, with Lenin directing constant sniping at the clearly fallible and increasingly flustered Kerenski. Workers began to revolt, taking their bosses captive in some quarters, and a third coalition was formed in September to help quell the unrest. This coalition comprised just 7 socialists, with the rest made up of liberals. This meant that the radical social and economic reforms that had once been at the forefront of the Provisional Government dissipated. Lenin, who was holed up in Finland, declared that the Mensheviks and Socialist-Revolutionaries had, by conspiring with liberals, become agents of capitalism. The Provisional Government was to him little different to the monarchy. He returned to Petrograd and convinced his party that they could seize power in light of the fragility of the Provisional Government. He wanted the Bolsheviks alone to be in control, and, as impatient as he was, he wanted the takeover to be swift, fearing that other socialists might seize power first. The Provisional Government was overthrown by the Bolsheviks on 25 October 1917. It was rapid, smooth and happened under the noses of the Petrograd civilians, who went about their business like any other day. The insurgents were met with little resistance as they took Winter Palace, with Lenin barely believing his own luck as he took power. The Red Guards, following Trotsky’s orders, trapped Kerenski and his ministers in Winter Palace; they seized the railway stations and took the post offices. Lenin’s plan was to take power before the Congress of Soviets, as he sensed his party would not gain a clear majority. As it happened, the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries were so incensed by this ploy that they denounced the days events as a coup d’etat and walked out of the Congress. This walkout left the Bolsheviks as the clear winners. There were still a few teething snags; the Railwaymen’s Union threatened to go on strike, and a few party members were prepared to leave unless the Bolsheviks formed a coalition with the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries; but these two parties refused to have anything to do with the Bolsheviks, which meant there was nothing left but for the Bolsheviks to assume complete power. As revolutions go, the Russian revolution was bloodless, but that was certainly not a sign for the bloodletting and violence that was to follow over the next few years.]]>