How and why did the Bolsheviks gain power in 1917?

While the February Revolution of 1914-17 had succeeded in overthrowing the Tsar, the battle for a
Russian Soviet Government had not yet concluded. There were many factors that led to the ultimate
victory of the Bolsheviks, including the disarrangement of the army, siding with the majority – the
peasants; with promises of greater standards of living, and more importantly; land and equality.
Another key aspect of the Bolsheviks would have been their intelligentsia-based party population,
arguably one of the strong points which made them so successful. Thus, it can be said that the
“Bolsheviki”, through the careful manipulation of the country’s political and social unrest at the time,
seized power of Russia in October, 1917 under the leadership of Vladamir Ilyich Ulyanov – otherwise
known as Lenin.

Vladamir Ilyich Ulyanov – Lenin, was one of the most significant intellectual driving forces behind the
Bolshevik movement. As far as revolutionary plans were concerned, Lenin believed that he knew the
best way to deal with it, and quite expectantly of someone of such an arrogant manner; believed that
anyone who disagreed with him should not be allowed to express themselves at all if there was a
“way to silence them”. After creating the very split in the Social Democratic Party, he incited
speculation as to who should be made party members – with Lenin of course putting forth a motion
for an intelligentsia-based party.

The Bolsheviks (meaning “the majority”), were established in 1903, as the minority of the split Social
Democratic Labor Party. The Mensheviks (meaning “the minority”), were the remainder, being made
up of the lower and middle classes; recruiting many for their cause, believing anyone should be able
to join if they support them. Unlike the Mensheviks, the Bolsheviks, including Lenin, believed that to
succeed as a political party, they would have to recruit a small and reclusive group of intelligentsia. It
would be logically explained that this theory was aimed at having “men follow orders without question,
rather than to have men who discuss and debate on them”. Policy-wise, the Bolsheviks believed, like
the writings of Marx had implied, that a revolution and complete power-seizure could only be
achieved if started within the workforce of a country. As Lenin believed strongly in the ideals of the
Bolsheviks, he used it as a basis of his political rallying, seeking to gain, through promises of land,
equality and peace; the support of the working class (or peasants) – the majority.

On the 22nd of January, 1905, a lone Priest of the Russian Orthodox Church led an organized march
of workers and their families towards the Winter Palace. This peaceful protest was aimed at gaining
the Tsar’s attention to the deteriorated conditions within Russia. Unfortunately, the Tsar was not at
the Winter Palace, and the protestors arrived to a hostile reception. This day would become known as
“Bloody Sunday” and the beginning of the end for the Royal Family of Russia. This event had now
allowed both the Social Revolutionaries (practically anarchists) and the Bolsheviks to seize
advantage of the rejection to the Tsar by the people and cause mass-disorder throughout the city and
country. As Lenin had once predicted, the elements within the workforce for a complete revolution
had emerged, and the Bolsheviks were nearing their chance to put plans, into action.

Following the events of the 1905 revolution, the resulting achievement by the Russian revolutionaries
was the October Manifesto, which allowed for greater civil rights for citizens, and for a national
parliament; the Duma. The achievement of the Dumas themselves was quite an accomplishment and
important advance of the nation. This ‘manifesto’, was, however, a mere appeasement by the Tsar
and the Duma carried with it no real legislative power, as such powers were maintained as the Tsar’s.
Whenever a Duma was close to gaining too much influence, Nicholas II would just sack it for a few
months, before allowing another; quite effectively giving ammunition to the Bolsheviks to fuel their
campaign against the Tsar. Then, using the Tsar’s inability to provide for the increasing demand for a
democratic socialist state, Lenin and the Bolsheviks again, with renewed vigor, continued their strong
revolutionary tactics. Government officials were attacked, mass-disorder was once again provoked
where possible, and the Bolsheviks were once again seen to be a force to be reckoned with. Their
influence over the people and actions they take was reinforced as one of their primary reasons for
success; their promises containing great power to control by manipulating the political and social
unrest of the country.

Having realised the truth behind the October Manifesto, the Bolsheviks campaigned even harder for a
Soviet Government, gaining the support of discontented citizens, whom also understood the
underlying flaws in the Duma and new laws. Nicholas II was either ignorant or unworried of the
situation, taking no measures to prevent a large scale uprising – as his control had diminished over
his own people, this was most likely impossible anyway. The Dumas administered by Witte and
Stolypin saw new economic policies emerge, which were of overall a benefit to the nation of Russia.
The Tsarist government’s attitude, despite the Dumas willingness for reform, rejected any form of
change to the system; and refused to establish a democratic state, keeping with the autocratic
system. The Bolsheviks saw, and it can be agreed on that, while standing his ground on his autocratic
rule; the Tsar Nicholas II created the very catalyst which would lead to his family’s demise.

In one of Rodzyanko’s warnings to the Tsar, he stated that “very serious outbreaks of unrest” were, in
fact, imminent. This preluded the inevitable Revolution of February, 1917. From the 18 th of February
to the 4th of March, a full-scale strike was initiated by the employees of the Putilov steelworks (in fact
one of the most politically active factories in Petrograd). These workers were joined days later by
numerous amounts of citizens concerned about rumours of a lack of food and basic supplies; these
rumours were later speculated to have been as powerful as fact, inciting the strongest of responses.
Bolshevik supporters joined the protest, and soon an extensive range of revolutionaries were in
numbers within the city.

The Bolshevik plans were unfolding as their ideals would have predicted – the working class was
becoming even more agitated, putting into a motion a movement which would eventually overthrow
the Tsar. With these growing protests mounting into a spiral in which strong support surmounted each
previous day, the movements then continued throughout the days following February 18. By
coincidence, further support to the revolution came in a just fashion; the 23 rd of February was
International Women’s Day, adding thousands of women to the protest movement. By the 25 th of
February, Petrograd was completely crippled by what was a normal strike, developed to a now
insurmountable movement of proportions beyond control. Despite the fact that revolutions before had
been planned – the February revolution HAD NOT been planned. It was a total spontaneous
manifestation of the people’s irritation and an accumulation of social and political unrest, attributed to
the Bolshevik party and their insistent manipulation of the flaws and wrongs of the government.
This revolution had reached its peak, and from over 400 miles away, in a military base in Mogilev,
Nicholas II listened to reports of his city in chaos. He ordered for his military commanders – mainly
General Khabalov; to restore order to the city. The time for such an action was long past, with any
efforts to enforce martial law impossible, as not only had the amount of protestors increased far
above any controllable levels. Bolshevik tactics had led to some 150,000 garrison troops had
deserted or mutinied by the 26th of February. This left a mere few thousand loyal troops left and even
a detachment of a battalion of General Ivanov’s troops had deserted long before it reached
Petrograd. Through the destabilizing of the army by means of scrutinizing the Tsarist cause, and
creating revolutionary thoughts among the masses, the revolution, although not planned, had become
an organized success in the end. These promises of much greater freedoms and conditions under a
socialist state had showed, and reinforced that the Bolsheviks carried such a great influence over the
people that they succeeded in completely crippling Nicholas II’s control over his city, and people.

Due to the overwhelming scale of the February revolution, Nicholas II was forced to abdicate and
Russia finally became a republic under control of the provisional liberal government. The Mensheviks
believed the revolution to have gone far enough, and the achievement was great enough to crush all
further thoughts of revolution and to build on the new parliament. The Bolsheviks, however, greatly
differed and the results of February-March only marked only a partial victory, for a party whom would
never be satisfied until a completely Socialist Democratic state had been created for Russia. The
October Revolution of 1917 would soon become a reality and a complete Soviet Democratic state
would emerge amid the bloodshed of a further revolution.

In early May, June and July, Lenin had returned to Russian after being in exile, bringing with him his
renewed thoughts of seizing power for the Bolsheviks – and them alone. A large series of riots upon
his return showed the Bolshevik’s continued efforts being reflected as Soldiers protested about the
unpopular “prosecution of the war” by the provisional government. These riots continued, and more
riots were seen in June, and July – which saw the worst of all of the protest actions so far. Armed
mobsters (soldiers of the garrison) led marches through the capital, with much devastation being laid
upon infrastructure and government buildings. These actions were seen as being the Bolshevik’s
actions, but as Lenin wasn’t even in the capital when they began, he seemingly couldn’t have
orchestrated such an event. These events all played to Lenin’s ultimate goal, showing him to take
advantage of it as he reviewed his party’s plans. There were minor setbacks as the provisional
government suspected Lenin to be a German spy soon after the riots, with many leading Bolsheviks
being arrested and their paper, the “Pravda” being shut-down for a short while. These problems
showed no issue to Lenin, as the Bolsheviks doubled their efforts, taking advantage of further
instability and faith in the provisional government.

Being appointed Commander-in-Chief by Kerensky, General Lavr Kornilov soon had within his power
the ability to cause great problems for the provisional government. Just before a conference to be
held in Moscow between 12-15 August, General Kornilov ordered his troops to be within 200 miles of
Petrograd, to the south. This would have been seen as without purpose, but it allowed Kornilov to
march against Petrograd or Moscow. Kerensky and Kornilov discussed the problems – where
Kornilov said he wanted all of the Soviet revolutionaries killed and power for himself – however,
acting “in the good of Russia”. Kerensky wanted Kornilov to resign, but on the 27 th of August, after
being asked to resign by Kerensky, Kornilov ordered his troops to advance and seize the capital.
The Bolsheviks were at great threat of being attacked by Kornilov’s men, and began merging with the
Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries to recruit a worker’s militia – soon to be known as the Red
Guard. Within a single day, over 25,000 workers – all armed – signed up to help in the fight. Kornilov
was easily dispatched by the superior organization of the Bolsheviks and the revolutionaries. There
was, however, no bloodshed, and due to the deep social and political manipulation of the Bolsheviks,
Kornilov’s troops were unable to even make it to the capital as railway men refused to move the
troops, and telegraphists would not pass on Kornilov’s messages.

After many years and tiresome efforts by the Bolsheviks, and many revolutionary forces, In October
1917, the final revolution that would signal a beginning to the Bolshevik Socialist State had begun.
The Red Guard, an essential aspect of Bolshevik’s plan, were trained and highly utilized by the
Bolsheviks to assert their now powerful state. Finally, the Bolsheviks were gaining the much-needed
majorities in provinces and the cities, allowing them to step closer to complete control. Lenin and his
party would have been viewed as quite capable of now seizing the government with literally no
resistance and without bloodshed. This, however, was not Lenin’s wish. Unlike the majority of Lenin’s
party members, he preferred revolutionary action by armed force and crush all opposition so he could
remain in power.

On the 10th of October, 1917, being “spurred on” by their leader’s insistence of a “bloody revolution”,
the Central Committee agreed to seize power by force. Trotsky was now in Petrograd, preparing the
Bolshevik’s revolution, with Trotsky capturing key military facilities and taking command of more
troops to assist in their cause. As like in February, troop morale was incredibly low – much due to the
Bolshevik’s own work at instilling these feelings of hopelessness with the provisional government.
The establishment of a Military Revolutionary Committee had later assisted Trotsky in gaining the
support of the Garrison in Petrograd, further fueling their armaments. By the time Kerensky had made
the decision to crush all Bolshevik troops by force, there were nearly no loyal soldiers left for him to
command. The Bolsheviks had succeeded in using their manipulation of social unrest to remove
Kerensky’s means of restoring order.

Following the night of the 23rd of October, Kerensky moved to shut down all Bolshevik media; closing
down two newspapers and calling in troops from out of Petrograd to come to the city and arrest
members of the Bolsheviks. Loyal men to the provisional government were sent to raise drawbridges
and prevent the working class Bolshevik supporters over the river Neva from reaching the capital’s
inner areas. The cruiser, Aurora was left in close proximity to the city, with a ship-load of sailors who
would most likely mutiny and join the Bolsheviks – unknown to Kerensky though. Absolutely none of
these preventative actions succeeded, as Bolshevik superiority in both practical capacity and
intelligence level anticipated and actually prevented the measures from working – as supporters
stopped the raising of drawbridges and the entering of external troops into the city.

On the 24th-25th of October, the Bolshevik’s plans were falling into place. Supporters had won over the
sailors on the Aurora, seizing control of the ship, and further moving throughout the capital. Bolshevik
forces seized major infrastructure – railway stations, telephone exchanges, post offices and many of
the areas designated by Kerensky to be protected, were seized. Kerensky’s very own preventative
methods became his own undoing, as superior Bolshevik planning had demonstrated their ability to
manipulate the actions of others.
Lenin, not wanting to wait any longer, returned to Petrograd to oversee the final elements of the
Bolshevik plan. There, on the 25th of October, the “Day of the Bolsevik” became a reality. Kerensky’s
supporters and he being isolated in the Winter Palace, there was little resistance to be had to the final
acts of the revolution. Kerensky did escape, however, and left the city, heading for the front hoping to
gain support. Nothing discouraged the Bolsheviks, and the storming of the Winter Palace began at
around 7pm, with the Aurora aiming her guns at the Palace. An Ultimatum was issued by the
Bolsheviks, ordering for the provisional government to surrender completely – the obvious power
behind their ultimatum was obvious, but not entirely effective. The provisional government, typically,
ignored them, resulting in a breaching of the Palace and a slow clearing of the guards and ministers
inside. The Aurora opened up her guns, firing blanks at the Winter Palace as the night continued, but
minimal violence actually occurred within the Palace. The Bolsheviks has once again exercised their
extreme power and ability to manipulate the city – and finally engage the provisional government to
bring about their own ascension.

A meeting of the Second All-Russian Congress had occurred, and the Bolsheviks stood forward, with
support of the Left Socialist Revolutionaries. Lenin issued a proclamation for complete seizure of
power for his party, proposing the ruling of the Bolseviks over Russia. Later, around the 26 th-27th of
October, it was finally the end of the Bolsevik’s revolution, with the result being that of Lenin
dominating the assembly of the Congress of Soviets. Lenin issued two decrees; that of a treaty of
peace with Germany and Austria, and the seizure of private ownership of land and the distribution of
that land to the peasants whom wishes to use it to cultivate. This final measure had resulted in Lenin
taking complete control, and the first Soviet Government had now been formed.

It can be seen, that through the Bolshevik’s own careful establishment of an intelligentsia-based
party, and the control maintained on their actions, they essentially sought to manipulate the country to
their own means, and thus throw the Tsar regime out, and the provisional government to seize power
for themselves. From the 1905 revolution, to the February revolution, the Bolsheviks demonstrated
that their absolute resolve to manipulate the social unrest of the citizens to turn them against their
government never ceased in its potency. The Kornilov revolt ended in complete success for the
Bolsheviks as their careful planning and extreme influence – only achieved through turning those
oppressed to their side – and as such, they became a force to be reckoned with. The Bolsheviks can
then be concluded to have gained power by an accumulation of their manipulative tactics, and their
actions within revolutions leading up to the October Revolution. The final forced-seizure of the capital,
due to their immense supporters within the Russian nation, was only a mere exercise of the
Bolshevik’s unwavering ability to transmute the very fabric of Russian society to overturn their own
leaders. It can then be said that the Bolsheviks had indeed demonstrated that their ideals and plans
had overturned that of all others in the end. Due to their intelligentsia party, manipulation of the
population, and their ability to take advantage of political and social unrest of the nation of Russia, the
Bolsheviks were able to gain power in the Revolution of October, 1917.