Posted: March 3rd, 2020

Why were the Bolsheviks able to take power in October 1917

There are many factors that allowed to Bolsheviks to take power in October 1917 such as the growing unpopularity of the Provisional Government at the time. Moreover, events such as the July days and the return of Lenin and Trotsky. The Bolshevik slogans “Bread, Land and Peace” and “All Power to the Soviets” also sum up the other major factors to their rise. The Provisional Government was becoming increasingly unpopular.
They had failed to end the war and were blamed for food shortages and rising prices. Also, the Russian people were unable to choose their own government as the Provisional Government had not held elections which had displeased most people of Russia. The Bolsheviks took advantage of the unpopularity of the Provisional Government and increased its support. Its slogan “Bread, Land and Peace” was a really attractive offer to the Russian people. The “Bread” issue was not being solved by the government, but the Bolsheviks promised that they would deal with it.
Lenin promised to provide the people with sufficient food, and the starving population turned to him for help. Furthermore, most peasants were furious with the government and the landowners for not giving the peasants a chance to earn their own money with their own land. Lenin, in accordance with the communist ideology, promised that the landowners’ property would be split up and distributed equally, naturally attracting mass support from the majority of the population. In addition, the slogan ‘Peace’ was the most ppealed out of the 3 by the Russian people.

Almost everybody wanted the war to stop, as it continued for so long. The devastated economy and dwindling food supplies were all caused by the war, and people wished to return to their old lives. Lenin knew this and aptly used this as a slogan for his campaign. Being the only party which constantly opposed the continuation of the war, the Bolsheviks attracted many supporters. Additionally, the leadership of Lenin was another factor that allowed the Bolsheviks to take power. Lenin was a dedicated, determined and skilled leader.
He motivated his party and, through agitation and propaganda, the Bolsheviks became very popular in the army and in the factories. The leadership of the party was loyal to Lenin, and they followed his orders with conviction. The party had a proficient propaganda machine, producing newspapers, banners, posters and setting up recruitment drives in the army and factories. Lenin promised to bring an end to the war, to give land to peasants, to give workers control of factories, to take control of he banks and to give power to soviets of workers and soldiers set up throughout Russia.
During the July Days, a political crisis erupted as soldiers in Petrograd refused to go to the front and sailors Joined the workers in anti-government demonstrations. These people were mostly Bolshevik supporters, and these riots were no doubt sparked off by party instigators. However, they were delivered a crushing defeat when the government managed to suppress the demonstrations and arrested a few leading Bolsheviks. Lenin himself was shot twice in the chest from close range, but urvived to escape to Finland.
However, this event emphasises that the Bolsheviks Bolsheviks were able to take power in October 1917 because of Lenin’s outstanding speaking skills and use of propaganda. Equally because of the state Russia was in during 1917 with shortage of food, and the need to end the war. The Bolsheviks were the only party that opposed the continuation of the war – which the majority of the Russian population wanted – promising to give the people of Russia what they urgently needed at the time, “Bread, Land and Peace”.

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