Bolshevik Revolution
The Bolshevik Revolution and World War I
Abstract: The purpose of this essay is to analyze the causes of the Bolshevik Revolution in October 1917 using academic sources. Through social, economic, and political factors, one can guarantee that the Great War was a major cause of the revolution.
The Bolshevik revolution was one of the most pivotal events of contemporary European history in the 20th century. The ousting of the Tsarist regime, which also became known as Red October as a part of the greater Russian Revolution of 1917, took place on October 25th 1917 with an armed revolt. The First World War was still actively being fought as the coup d’état took place. Initially, Russia under Tsar Nicholas II had sided with the United Kingdom and France in the Triple Entente. However, the war played an incremental role in Russian affairs, giving the people an incentive to seek vast changes in their government. After the country’s establishment of the short-lived Provisional Government, it was overthrown by the Bolsheviks in Petrograd. World War I was the key factor that ignited the Bolshevik revolution, because it gave momentum to Lenin’s movement, it partly caused an economic calamity in Russia, and the downturn of the war pushed the Russians into revolution.
Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the Bolshevik party during the revolution and possibly the most prominent communist visionaries of the 20th century, had gained support for his ideology through World War I. In 1916, Lenin wrote Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism, which was a theoretical work outlining capitalism as a world system. Lenin suggested that in order to pursue a greater profit than what domestic resources permit, a global financial system would be created by capitalist nations. This would cause the division of labour to spread internationally through imperialism and colonialism, as Lenin wrote, “Imperialism emerged as the development and direct continuation of the fundamental characteristics
Abstract: The purpose of this essay is to analyze the causes of the Bolshevik Revolution in October 1917 using academic sources. Through social, economic, and political factors, one can guarantee that the Great War was a major cause of the revolution.
The Bolshevik revolution was one of the most pivotal events of contemporary European history in the 20th century. The ousting of the Tsarist regime, which also became known as Red October as a part of the greater Russian Revolution of 1917, took place on October 25th 1917 with an armed revolt. The First World War was still actively being fought as the coup d’état took place. Initially, Russia under Tsar Nicholas II had sided with the United Kingdom and France in the Triple Entente. However, the war played an incremental role in Russian affairs, giving the people an incentive to seek vast changes in their government. After the country’s establishment of the short-lived Provisional Government, it was overthrown by the Bolsheviks in Petrograd. World War I was the key factor that ignited the Bolshevik revolution, because it gave momentum to Lenin’s movement, it partly caused an economic calamity in Russia, and the downturn of the war pushed the Russians into revolution.
Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the Bolshevik party during the revolution and possibly the most prominent communist visionaries of the 20th century, had gained support for his ideology through World War I. In 1916, Lenin wrote Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism, which was a theoretical work outlining capitalism as a world system. Lenin suggested that in order to pursue a greater profit than what domestic resources permit, a global financial system would be created by capitalist nations. This would cause the division of labour to spread internationally through imperialism and colonialism, as Lenin wrote, “Imperialism emerged as the development and direct continuation of the fundamental characteristics
Cited: 3. Edger, Christopher, The Imperial Russian Army of 1914, (2006): http://militaryhistory.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_imperial_russian_army_of_1914 4 5. Lenin, Vladimir, Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism, New Delhi: LeftWord Books (2000) 6 7. Smele, Jonathan, War and Revolution in Russia, (2009): http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwone/eastern_front_01.shtml 8 9. Woods, Alan, Bolshevism: The Road to Revolution, Wellred Publications (1999) -------------------------------------------- [ 1 ]. V. L. Lenin, Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism, 1916, pp. 34 [ 2 ] [ 5 ]. Allan Wildman, The End of the Russian Imperial Army, vol. 1 (1980): pp 76–80 [ 6 ] [ 7 ]. William G. Rosenberg, Slavic Review, Russian Labor and Bolshevik Power After October (1985) pp. 215 [ 8 ] [ 9 ]. Alan Woods, Bolshevism: The Road to Revolution, Part 6: The Year of Revolution (2007): http://www.marxist.com/bolshevism-old/part6-1.html [ 10 ] [ 13 ]. Dr. Jonathan Smele, War and Revolution in Russia (2009): http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwone/eastern_front_01.shtml [ 14 ] [ 15 ]. Christopher Edger, The Imperial Russian Army of 1914, (2006): http://militaryhistory.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_imperial_russian_army_of_1914 [ 16 ] [ 17 ]. G.D.H. Cole, Soviet Studies (1952), pp. 142