Russian Revolution of 1917

Russian Revolution of 1917

The Russian Revolution of 1917 was a combination of two successful revolutions, both in the year 1917, both revolutions were involved with overthrowing the current government. The first revolution overthrew the autocratic imperial monarchy in the February Revolution. The second revolution was a successful act later in the year by the Bolshevik Party to change the provisional government. The Russian Revolution was supposed to fix problems with the government, the Russian government view revolutionists as the Bolshevik Party, and later exiled to Siberia.

A Weak Government

Many peasants in Russia did not appreciate the conditions they were living in. Most of the population lived in very low economic and social conditions (Mosley, n.d.). Two unsuccessful attempt were in 1825 and 1905, both were looking to establish a constitutional monarchy. When Russia became involved in World War I, the country became even more inefficient.

Bolshevik Party

The Bolsheviks were constantly gathering workers, soldiers, and peasants that would all eventually play an important role in overthrowing the then provisional government. The Bolsheviks, helped financially by the Germans, became efficiently organized, with a working line of propaganda and what was known then as The Red Guards, as their own army. A big reason as to why it was easy for the Bolsheviks to overthrow the provisional government is because it was weak, unpopular, and not ready for an attack (Bryant, n.d.). Lenin lead the Bolsheviks and planned on bringing Russia out of the war after overthrowing the government, which is why the Germans financed the organization.

Other reasons why the Bolsheviks were more successful than the provisional government, especially when looking to overthrow the provisional government, was because the Bolsheviks demanded complete loyalty from all of their members. This allowed the central leaders to know that all of their followers would do whatever the leaders asked of them. This was an especially crucial factor, considering that Bolshevik membership had grown to two billion after only three months.

Siberia for Exile

In 1917 there had been a struggle for control of Siberia. While Siberia was controlled by the Soviet Union, it began to develop at a drastic rate, as did the use of exile within Siberia (The World Almanac for Kids, n.d.). Later Siberia was filled with forced-labor camps. The brutality of these labor camps caused millions of fatalities, have been gruesomely describes in detail by survivors. Over time the populations within these camps was greatly reduced. Even afterwards Siberia was still used as punishment for criminals until 1991, when the Soviet Union government collapsed.

The Bolsheviks aimed at overthrowing the provisional government that controlled Russia poorly at the time, anyone related to overthrowing the government were considered Bolsheviks, and during this time many people opposing the government were sent to exile in Siberia. The Bolsheviks were as told before successful in their campaign to overthrow the weak provisional government at the time. But without financial support from the Germans, the Belshoviks would not have been able to create the highly organized party they had. This is a little information about the Russian Revolution in 1917.

References

Bryant, L. (n.d.). The Bolshevik Revolution of October/November 1917. Retrieved October 30, 2008, from http://www.johndclare.net/Russ5.htm

Mosley, P. (n.d.). Russian Revolution of 1917, series of events in imperial Russia that culminated in 1917 with the establishment of the Soviet state that became known as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Retrieved October 30, 2008, from http://www.emayzine.com/lectures/russianrev.html

Siberia — The World Almanac for Kids. (n.d.). Retrieved October 30, 2008, from http://www.worldalmanacforkids.com/WAKI-ViewArticle.aspx?pin=x-si109500a&article_id=256&chapter_id=5&chapter_title=Geography&article_title=Siberia