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.

Another reason why the Bolsheviks grew was due to their effective use of propaganda and ideology, targeting the people of Russia. Lenin called for “Peace, Bread and Land” attacking Russia’s involvement in the war, the problems of famine throughout Russia and the issue of Land, which as most of the population were farmers was an effective slogan. Lenin also published his April Theses which put out the main targets of the Bolshevik Party. He stated an immediate end to the war, all power to the soviets, a call for a second revolution now and asking for all banks and businesses to be taken over by the workers. Lenin opposed the war completely and he hated the way Russia continued the war defensively which he defined as “revolutionary defencism”. The Bolsheviks were the only party to have constantly opposed the war. Between February and June the Bolsheviks produced lots of propaganda through newspapers like Pravda to spread their message around.

Lenin’s inspirational character was another reason why the Bolshevik party grew. His fiery determination drove the Bolshevik party from the shadows, based on the works of Karl Marx. He had no willingness to any rival opinions within the party and nobody could sway his views this combined with his aggressive and hard working character made him a very strong leader over the dwindling Bolshevik Party. He refused to cooperate with other political parties where contrasting views could weaken the party and after securing the Bolshevik influence in the Workers Soviets and the army he planned for an armed seizure of power against the provisional government and the duma. Lenin believed that new institutions of rule must be created, rather than a mere Bolshevik takeover of existing institutions.

Another key factor to the Bolshevik success were the weaknesses of the Provisional Government and other non – Bolshevik parties. Even though the provisional government (P.G) was only meant to be temporary it faced many problems in its short lifetime. There was never any enthusiasm for the P.G and all support for it had evaporated due to economic and military incompetence. In October 1917, the Bolsheviks were pushing n an already open door. Lenin also undermined the P.G with his slogan “all power to the soviets” basically showing that he had absolutely no support for the P.G and showing that he wanted the Soviets to take all the power from the P.G, in a dual power sharing government. Other political parties were naïve and did not act when they had the chance, choosing to wait for the convening of the Constituent assembly to call an election. They were also weakened by their support for the war. Due to the collapse of Tsardom many parties seemed to be lost in a period where they could advance their views in a much freer position. However while these parties were adjusting the Bolsheviks had already taken their chance and had never lost site of their basic goal – the seizure of power.

Before the Bolsheviks finally seized power in 1917 the support for the party kept fluctuating and changing, contrasting from the claims that the support for the Bolsheviks grew consistently. Before the February Revolution 1917, the support for the Bolsheviks had steadily risen since their formation in 1903, London. However due to the failure of the February revolution support for the party had fallen as well as Lenin fleeing into exile. After the publishing of the April theses people began to notice the Bolshevik party once again after they had disappeared in the February revolution. Then in the period of the July days the P.G showed their incompetence with the ominous signs of the growth of the Soviets. This demonstrated the P.G’s lack of control and the public turned to other political parties with strong slogans such as the Bolsheviks for a way out of the countries failures. By October 1917 the support for the Bolsheviks was at its peak and that was when the Bolsheviks took their chance for the second revolution.

All these factors contributed to the growth in the Bolshevik party. The effective use of propaganda gave the public believe in supporting the party, and key relationships with the Soviets helped the party gain wider support. They were however fortunate for the mistakes of other parties and the Provisional Government, which Lenin exploited to perfection, thus increasing more support and power for the Bolsheviks. It was the ruthless Bolsheviks that hammered away at the other parties failures and gained power through their alliance with the Soviets. The growth in support for the Bolsheviks meant a growth in the power due to these factors. The growth in power then led to their takeover of Russia.