Growth of the Bolshevik Party: Russian Revolution

Before 1917 Russia was governed by an autocratic Tsar Nicholas II who ruled over the whole of Russia with the help of ministers. The Tsar began to gain opposition to the system in the lead up to the First World War. One of the opposition groups was the Bolsheviks, led by a charismatic character called Lenin. After the war had started people had began to lose faith in the Tsar, this gave space for other parties to take their opportunity to make themselves known and even to take the chance to become leaders of the country. After the February 1917 revolution the Tsar abdicated on the 1st March 1917 and a Provisional Government was set up to control the country led by Kerensky and Lvov. This provisional government gave freedom to all political parties which made it easier for the Bolsheviks and other parties to be heard by the public. This was at a time when Russia was still continuing the war which acted as one of the weaknesses of the Provisional Government. To answer this question I will look at how the Bolsheviks used propaganda and key relationships with the Petrograd soviets and Germans to their advantage as well as their leader Lenin whose driven character made him able to exploit the failures of his enemies. The question of the fluctuating support for the Bolshevik party will also be considered as well as their claims that their support grew consistently.

One of the reasons the Bolsheviks grew was due to their relationship with the Petrograd Soviets who represented the workers of Russia. The Petrograd Soviets shared the power with the Provisional government, and after order number one the Soviets claim control of the army making them a key ally for Lenin and the Bolsheviks. Lenin in his April Theses called for a republic of peasants and workers Soviets to be set up as well as putting the Soviets in control of all economic life, showing the commitment he had for the Soviets. The support of the Petrograd Soviets was vital to the Bolsheviks for gaining power in the “dual authority” government. Because the Bolshevik party at the time was relatively unheard of, Lenin felt that he could use the Soviets to build support for his party. As most of the Russian population were workers, the idea of supporting the Soviets was a way the Bolsheviks grew. Lenin used slogans such as “all power to the soviets” instead of “all power to the Bolsheviks” to gain support from the workers of Russia and as a part of his continual opposition to the Provisional Government and the Duma. Lenin wanted a real workers revolution and not a “bourgeois” democracy.