Explain Why The Bolsheviks Were Successful In October...
Explain why the Bolsheviks were successful in October/ November 1917:
There were a number of reasons why the Bolsheviks were successful in October/ November 1917. The main reasons were: the effects of World War One on the people and the monarchy of Russia; the weaknesses and failures of the Provisional Government and the strengths of the Bolsheviks. All of these factors contributed to the rise of the Bolsheviks, even if some were significantly more important than others.
Firstly, the effects of the First World War on Russia meant inflation and hunger, and this got worse because the war continued for so long, so the people of Russia stayed without a great deal of food and, with the lack of military victories, this led directly to the abdication of Nicholas II . The Provisional Government did not manage to end the food shortage or reduce inflation and so failed to help the people of Russia when they were most in need. This made the Provisional Government very unpopular, meaning that their opponents, the Bolsheviks, became well-liked and accepted by the Russian public. Nevertheless, this was not the only reason why the Provisional Government was disliked by the people of Russia.
To begin with, the Petrograd Soviet – a group of workers and soldiers who had formed in 1917 - was very powerful and it built-up a nationwide network of Soviets who obeyed its orders. Order Number One forbade soldiers and workers to comply with the Provisional Government unless the Soviet agreed. Also, Lenin and his plans strongly relied on the Soviets, who were rather like councils; The Petrograd Soviet had supporters in the railway service (so they could stop trains if they wished) and the banks (so they could stop the flow of money if they wished). The Soviet was made up of workers and it hated the Provisional Government as it was made up of middle class men, who the workers believed had an unfair portion of the country’s wealth. The workers in...
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