Russian Revolution

Russian Revolution
Part of the opposition to World War I; and revolutions of 1917–1923
	Clockwise from top left: Protesters holding banners at Nevsky Prospect, February Revolution.; Crowd scattered by gunfire during the July Days in Petrograd.; Rebel troops lay down their weapons after the Kornilov affair.; The Winter Palace stormed, October Revolution.;
Native name	Революция 1917 года; (Revolution of 1917)
Date	8 March 1917 – 25 October 1922; (5 years, 3 months and 8 days)
Duration	February Revolution; (8–16 March 1917); Dual power; (16 March – 7 November 1917); October Revolution and Russian Civil War; (7 November 1917 – 25 October 1922);
Location	Russia
Participants	SRs, Kadets, Bolsheviks, Mensheviks, Provisional Govt., army, nationalists (early); Red Army, White Armies, anarchists, Greens, Allies, Central Powers, separatists, Committee of Members of the Constituent Assembly (later);
Outcome	End of the Russian monarchy; Dissolution of the Russian Empire; Failure of the short-lived Russian Republic and Russian State; End of Russia's involvement in the First World War; Establishment of Bolshevik Soviet republics in Russia proper, most of Ukraine, Belarus, Central Asia and the Southern Caucasus; Independence of Poland, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania; Establishment of the Soviet Union;

The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social change in Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government following two successive revolutions and a civil war. It can be seen as the precursor for other revolutions that occurred in the aftermath of World War I, such as the German Revolution of 1918–1919. The Russian Revolution was a key event of the 20th century.

The Russian Revolution was inaugurated with the February Revolution in 1917, in the midst of World War I. With the German Empire inflicting defeats on the front, and increasing logistical problems causing shortages of bread and grain, the Russian Army was losing morale, with large scale mutiny looming.^[1] Officials were convinced that if Tsar Nicholas II abdicated, the unrest would subside. Nicholas stepped down, ushering in a provisional government led by the Duma (parliament). During the unrest, Soviet councils were formed by locals in Petrograd that initially did not oppose the new government; however, the Soviets insisted on their influence in the government and control over militias. By March, Russia had two rival governments. The Provisional Government held state power in military and international affairs, whereas the network of Soviets held domestic power. Critically, the Soviets held the allegiance of the working class, and urban middle class. There were mutinies, protests and strikes. Socialist and other leftist political organizations competed for influence within the Provisional Government and Soviets. Factions included the Mensheviks, Social Revolutionaries, Anarchists, and the Bolsheviks, a far-left party led by Vladimir Lenin.

The Bolsheviks won popularity with their program promising peace, land, and bread: an end to the war, land for the peasantry, and ending famine.^[2] After assuming power, the Provisional Government continued fighting the war in spite of public opposition. Taking advantage, the Bolsheviks and other factions gained popular support to advance the revolution. Responding to discontent in Petrograd, the Provisional Government repressed protestors leading to the July Days. The Bolsheviks merged workers' militias loyal to them into the Red Guards.^[3] The volatile situation reached its climax with the October Revolution, a Bolshevik armed insurrection in Petrograd that overthrew the Provisional Government. The Bolsheviks established their own government and proclaimed the establishment of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR). Under pressure from German military offensives, the Bolsheviks relocated the capital to Moscow. The RSFSR began reorganizing the empire into the world's first socialist state, to practice soviet democracy on a national and international scale. Their promise to end Russia's participation in World War I was fulfilled when Bolshevik leaders signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany in March 1918. The Bolsheviks established the Cheka, a secret police and revolutionary security service working to uncover, punish, and eliminate those considered to be "enemies of the people" in campaigns called the Red Terror.

Although the Bolsheviks held large support in urban areas, they had foreign and domestic enemies that refused to recognize their government. Russia erupted into a bloody civil war, which pitted the Reds (Bolsheviks), against their enemies, which included nationalist movements, anti-Bolshevik socialist parties, anarchists, monarchists and liberals; the latter two parties strongly supported the Russian White movement which was led mainly by right-leaning officers and seen as fighting for the restoration of the imperial order. The Bolshevik commissar Leon Trotsky began organizing workers' militias loyal to the Bolsheviks into the Red Army. While key events occurred in Moscow and Petrograd, every city in the empire was convulsed, including the provinces of national minorities, and in the rural areas peasants took over and redistributed land.

As the war progressed, the RSFSR established Soviet power in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Byelorussia, Georgia, and Ukraine. Wartime cohesion and intervention from foreign powers prompted the RSFSR to begin unifying these nations under one flag and created the Soviet Union. Historians consider the end of the revolutionary period to be in 1922, when the civil war concluded with the defeat of the White Army and separatist factions, leading to mass emigration from Russia. The victorious Bolshevik Party reconstituted itself into the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) and remained in power for six decades.

^ Petrone, Karen (8 October 2017). "David R. Stone, The Russian Army in the Great War: The Eastern Front 1914–1917". The Journal of Power Institutions in Post-Soviet Societies (18). doi:10.4000/pipss.4270. ISSN 1769-7069.
^ "Food and Nutrition (Russian Empire) | International Encyclopedia of the First World War (WW1)". 1914-1918-Online. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
^ Figes 1996, p. 370.

[1] Petrone, Karen (8 October 2017). "David R. Stone, The Russian Army in the Great War: The Eastern Front 1914–1917". The Journal of Power Institutions in Post-Soviet Societies (18). doi:10.4000/pipss.4270. ISSN 1769-7069.

[2] "Food and Nutrition (Russian Empire) | International Encyclopedia of the First World War (WW1)". 1914-1918-Online. Retrieved 14 January 2022.

[FOOTNOTEFiges1996370-3] Figes 1996, p. 370.

[1]

[2]

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Part of the opposition to World War I and revolutions of 1917–1923
Clockwise from top left: Protesters holding banners at Nevsky Prospect, February Revolution. Crowd scattered by gunfire during the July Days in Petrograd. Rebel troops lay down their weapons after the Kornilov affair. The Winter Palace stormed, October Revolution.
Native name	Революция 1917 года (Revolution of 1917)
Date	8 March 1917 – 25 October 1922 (5 years, 3 months and 8 days)
Duration	February Revolution (8–16 March 1917) Dual power (16 March – 7 November 1917) October Revolution and Russian Civil War (7 November 1917 – 25 October 1922)
Location	Russia
Participants	SRs, Kadets, Bolsheviks, Mensheviks, Provisional Govt., army, nationalists (early) Red Army, White Armies, anarchists, Greens, Allies, Central Powers, separatists, Committee of Members of the Constituent Assembly (later)
Outcome	End of the Russian monarchy Dissolution of the Russian Empire Failure of the short-lived Russian Republic and Russian State End of Russia's involvement in the First World War Establishment of Bolshevik Soviet republics in Russia proper, most of Ukraine, Belarus, Central Asia and the Southern Caucasus Independence of Poland, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania Establishment of the Soviet Union