- Main factors that influenced the success of the revolution
- What was the main achievement of the workers' revolution in imperial Russia in 1917?
- References
The Russian workers' revolution of 1917, also known as the Bolshevik revolution, occurred in October 1917 according to the Russian calendar of the time. This revolution was the cause of great political and economic changes in Russia. With the success of the revolution, a Bolshevik government was installed.
This government was in principle under the command of Vladimir Lenin, one of the main managers of the revolution together with Leon Trotsky. Many historians consider the workers' revolution in imperial Russia as one of the most important events in modern history.
Vladimir Lenin, leader of the Russian workers' revolution of 1917
Today, the events of this revolution continue to influence political paths throughout the world. The revolution left among many things the famous phrase "All power to the soviets." This phrase was the slogan of the Bolshevik group led by Lenin and which it intended to mean: all power for the assemblies of workers, peasants, soldiers, etc.
Before the Russian Revolution, the monarchical government seemed incapable of facing the economic and social problems that its territory suffered. This gave a boost to the revolutionary socialist party that led the revolution and had more than 800,000 members after October 1917.
Main factors that influenced the success of the revolution
There were several factors that allowed the Bolshevik October revolution to triumph. The first of these was the critical state of the Russian economy and society after the First World War.
In 1917 Russia was suffering from hyperinflation and there were no realistic alternatives to solve it. Furthermore, industrial production and agricultural production had notably decreased since the beginning of the First World War.
Another important factor for the triumph of the October revolution was the protest movement that had arisen in February of the same year.
This movement led large masses of workers and citizens to strikes and protests that left a mark of discontent with the government of imperial Russia.
What was the main achievement of the workers' revolution in imperial Russia in 1917?
Among the many changes that Russia underwent since the revolution, are the creation of collective agricultural strips, the control by the state of industrial production and the agrarian reform for the distribution of land.
However, the greatest achievement of the Russian Revolution of 1917 was the change of government in the territory. The revolution ended the reigning autocratic monarchy and installed a Bolshevik government of a socialist character.
The triumph of the Russian workers' revolution of 1917 ended almost 200 years of the so-called Russian Empire. During that time, the Russian Empire had achieved the inclusion in its territory of places like Ukraine, Finland and part of present-day Turkey, among many others.
Most of these territories would constitute the Soviet Union, created 5 years after the revolution. Russia was then ruled by the hereditary monarchy of the Tsar, until a provisional government was established declaring Russia a socialist republic.
It was this radical change in the system of government that allowed all the other achievements of the Russian workers' revolution.
References
- Chamberlin W. (1987). The Russian Revolution, Volume I 1917-1918. Princeton University press. New Jersey, United States of America.
- Leith J. (2015). History of Revolutions.International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences. 2 ed.
- Lonergan G. 'Paper Communists' - Bolshevik party membership in the Russian Civil War. Communist and Post-Communist Studies. 2013; 46: 137-146
- Read C. (1996) From Tsar to Soviets. UCL Press. London, England.
- Wade R. (2017). The Russian revolution 1917. Cambridge University Press. 3ed
- Zajda, J. (2014). The Russian Revolution. In G. Ritzer & JM Ryan (Eds.), The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Globalization Online.