The Success Of The Bolshevik Seizure Of Power In October 1917

Embedded in Russia’s fecund history was The Bolshevik revolution which unraveled between 1917 and 1928. The revolution bore a plethora of social and political changes, which lead to the emergence of the Soviet Union. An individual of immense Significance during this period of social and governmental turbulence was Leon Trotsky whose ideologies and leadership were pivotal factors in the successful fortification of communism in Soviet Russia during 1917 to 1928. I will be keenly and succinctly assessing the contribution of Leon Trotsky to the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution and arrive at a measured conclusion whether his contributions were significant or extraneous. Leon Trotsky was a man of vast erudition and possessed keen leadership and organizational skills which greatly aided the accession of the Soviet Union.

Germany and its allies responded and when peace negotiations were finally spoken of, Trotsky turned the meeting into a propaganda forum. Between Lenin’s position and Bukharin’s call for war Trotsky proposed the formula “No war, No peace.” The Germans resumed their offensive attack in mid-February. Following this Trotsky resigned and was made commissar of war, with the task of rebuilding the Red Army from its ashes. Though his army was small it was a formidable force, however Trotsky was criticized for dropping his beliefs and recruiting previously tsarist officers and putting them to work under communist military supervision. Stalin resisted Trotsky’s policies and the two had a bloody clash over what would be Stalingrad.

He was made Commissar of War. As War Commissar he had to task of making a new Red Army. The tricky part bout that was that he had to make the red army out of the “shambles old Russian army.” His task was as stated in the article “Leon Trotsky”, “prepare them to defend the communist government against the imminent threats of civil war and foreign intervention.” His main goal was to create a small but disciplined competent force. He abandoned the revolutionary ideal of democratization and guerrilla tactics got him much criticism from other communists. Trotsky and Stalin had a disagreement over the defence of the city of Tsaritsyn.

Although many will argue that Lenin’s good leadership, that led to his exile, was the reason the Russian Revolution started, Nicholas II made so many crucial mistakes that outweigh the decisions of Lenin. Having more of a positive impact, “Lenin began skillfully growing his power within the Bolsheviks. He was so successful in doing this that the government grew afraid of him, and he was exiled two years later” (“The”). The passage shows that Lenin did more good than bad, and on the other hand Nicholas II was never headed in a good

The October Manifesto 1905 was a political reform in response to Bloody Sunday which allowed freedom of speech and creation of the Duma, a parliamentary body. The Duma gained control over laws and created hope and expectation for further reforms. However, Nicholas II, the Tsar, still referred to himself as an autocrat in the October Manifesto document. The Fundamental Laws 1906 contributed to growing grievances in Russia as the people were denied a political voice and reaffirmed the Tsar’s power with the use of ‘veto’ meaning ‘I forbid.’ Moreover, Nicholas appointed Stolypin in 1906 as Prime Minister to address protestors and peasant poverty. Stolypin’s policies addressed any opposition to the regime with the use of secret police and executions, thus known as ‘Stolypin’s necktie.’ Stolypin’s policies demonstrate a failure of the Tsar to create effective political reforms resulting in the downfall of the Romanov

4). After the October Revolution in 1917, As dictator, Lenin fought in a civil war against the White Army, an anti-Bolshevik force. Lenin appointed Trotsky as the leader of the Red Army and Leon Trotsky began to play a much greater role in the Russian society (Leon Trotsky Biography par. 9). He led the Red Army to eventually defeat the White Army in 1920, and in 1922, USSR, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was created (History.com Staff par.

This highlights the fact that it was the result of an unstable government and military, rather than force, that led to Mussolini being established as Prime Minister. These elements can also be seen in Hitler’s rise to power. The Rühr crisis of 1923 was met by the German government at the time through ‘passive resistance’. This infuriated nationalists such as Hitler, who saw this passive resistance as the sign of a weak government. This led to Hitler organising an attempted March on Munich, the Munich Beer Hall Putsch of 1923.

Leon Trotsky; the great communist “Life is not an easy matter...You cannot live throughout it without falling into frustration and cynicism unless you have before you a great idea which raises you above personal misery, above weakness, above all kinds of perfidy and baseness” (Trotsky). Leon Trotsky followed the ideas of Karl Marx and came up with a great idea to change Russian during the Revolution. Trotsky had great moral principles which is why Stalin despised him and wanted to “get rid” of him. Leon Trotsky was a great revolutionary who persuaded and inspired many people during the Revolution through Karl Marx’s ideas. Overall Trotsky was the best revolutionary during the Russian Revolution because he was able to accomplish his goals without

The incompetence of Tsar Nicholas II surrounding and leading up to the events which caused the outbreak of the 1917 Russian Revolution can be said to be the main cause of this event as all the main causes can be traced back to the Tsar’s lack of the leadership skills required to run Russia successfully through times of war and national reform. Tsar Nicholas’ failure to adapt to the changing politics of European society and command his country with the strength and skills needed led directly to the causes of the 1917 February/March revolution through his neglect during the 1905 revolution as well as contribution to the causes of those uprisings, the lack or incompletion of social and economic reforms throughout Russia at the turn of the 20th century, Russia’s involvement in World War 1 (WW1) and the Tsar’s incompetence in military leadership, and the failing of the backward thinking Romanov rule as Russian civilians became disillusioned by their Tsar by the suffering indirectly implemented on them by his mistakes. The 1905 revolution is one of the main events which led up to the revolution in 1917. This uprising was caused primarily by the Russo-Japanese war, the political policies of the Tsar, the Bloody Sunday massacre, the failure of modernisation and industrialisation, and the October manifesto. Russia’s involvement in a war with Japan in 1904 was a fatal mistake for the Tsar as he misjudged the strength of the Japanese and because of this Russia went through

The nobility rejected this plan which created hostility towards the king and opposition from the first and second estate for the reforms and anger from the third estate for appeasing the nobility and clergy. This led to the authority of Louis XVI being questioned and was a contributing factor to the downfall of the Ancien regime as it highlighted the willingness of the king’s ministers in challenging the privileges of the first and second estate. This was a recurrent problem as the privileged classes again stood against the king at the Estates-general (1789). Therefore, it is indeed convincing to suggest that the inefficient taxation system under all monarchs led to the downfall of the Ancien Regime. Furthermore, it can also suggest that the first and second estates’ unwillingness to deprive themselves of some of their privileges trapped the French economy as it did not allow for the reform.

Ukraine’s hope and will was in the hands of the dictator Joseph Stalin. Joseph Stalin instilled a totalitarian government into Ukraine’s society. Moreover, Stalin tried to cut any threats that would affect his plan in making Russia a communist utopia, by using the secret police. (document 1) But, the Ukrainians were independent, rebellious people who believed strongly in their culture and

The Russian Revolution united the socialists against the capitalists, with the USSR, a communist country, siding with the socialists. The result of the Russian Revolution was increased tension between the two groups. The Russian Revolution did nor affect the Canadian economy a lot, aside from creating tension between Russia and Canada because of their two clashing political

The failed revolution of 1905 was perhaps the most obvious example to demonstrate that the revolution of 1917 was not caused by WWI, because the desire to rebel was fully entrenched in society. The disturbance was cause by real problems and concerns, exacerbated by revolutionaries, and was unsuccessful because the real problems of the agrarian and industrial sectors did not peak at the same time. Postcards commemorating the event, particularly Bloody Sunday, represented and expressed the revolutionary ideologies of contemporaries. While a drastic increase in revolutionary mentality may have been apparent from the increased productions of seditious material after 1905, this might be misconceived because loosened censorship after the October Manifesto. Bloody Sunday pegged Nicholas II as an oppressor and “revealed his total incomprehension of the forced of change