Russian Revolution

Two revolutions of February and October 1917 (Julian calendar) that began with the overthrow of the Romanov dynasty and ended with the establishment of a communist soviet (council) state, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). In October Bolshevik workers and sailors, led by Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, seized government buildings and took over power.

The February Revolution (March by the Western calendar) arose because of food and fuel shortages, continuing repression by the tsarist government, and military incompetence in World War I. Riots broke out in Petrograd (as St Petersburg was known 1914–24), which led to the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II and the formation of a provisional government, made up of liberals and a few social democrats, under Prince Gyorgy Yevgenevich Lvov (1861–1925). Lvov was then replaced as head of government by Alexander Kerensky, a respected orator who was concerned to stabilize the revolution. The government had little support, however, as troops, communications, and transport were controlled by the Petrograd Soviet of Workers, Peasants, and Soldiers, which was originally formed during the failed revolution of 1905. In April Lenin returned to Russia (after having been exiled since 1905) as head of the Bolsheviks, and under his command the Bolsheviks gained control of the soviets; advocated land reform (under the slogan ‘All power to the Soviets’); and appealed for an end to Russian involvement in World War I, which Lenin characterized as an ‘Imperialist’ war.

The October Revolution was a coup on the night of 25–26 October (6–7 November by the Western calendar). Bolshevik workers and sailors seized the government buildings and the Winter Palace, Petrograd, where they arrested the ministers of the provisional government in the name of the people. The second All‐Russian Congress of Soviets, which met the following day, proclaimed itself the new government of Russia, and Lenin became leader. In his speech to the Congress he announced an immediate end to Russian involvement in the war and advocated the return of the land to the peasants. The Bolsheviks soon took control of the cities, established worker control in factories, and nationalized the banks. They also set up the Cheka (secret police) to silence the opposition, and, in 1918, concluded peace with Germany through the Treaty of Brest‐Litovsk. The Western Allies, with the exception of some leftists, were alarmed by the Russian Revolution from the beginning, seeing the threat of Russia's departure from the war. The treaty with Germany realized the Allies' fears. Germany achieved great economic gains by acquiring large amounts of Russian land and resources. Furthermore, it was also now able divert troops from Russia to the Western front, where Allied armies in France were facing exhaustion (see World War I).

In the same year the Russian civil war broke out, when anti‐Bolshevik elements within the army attempted to seize power. The war lasted until 1922, when the Red Army, organized by Leon Trotsky, finally overcame White (tsarist) opposition, but with huge losses, after which communist control was complete. Some 2 million refugees fled from Russia during these years. See also Russia: history to 1922, October Revolution.

The October Revolution was remarkable because it took place in a country which was not yet heavily industrialized; most socialists, including the Bolsheviks, had expected revolution to come first in Germany. In the years immediately following the Russian Revolution, Lenin continued to expect a revolution to occur across Europe, but, with the exception of a brief communist revolution in Hungary, the rest of the European nations remained capitalist. After Lenin's death and Trotsky's exile to Mexico, Joseph Stalin, the general secretary of the Communist Party from 1922, renounced the hope of international revolution, and endeavoured instead to create ‘socialism in one country’.