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The initial outbreak was the incresing number of srikes and widespread of food shortages. In Petrograd, 20,000 strikers joined by women were calling for the overthrow of the Tsar. Troops who were sent out to quell the protesters, but instead shot their own commander and joined the protesters. By the end, revolutionaries controlled Petrograd.
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Moscow had fallen and the Tsar was abdicated and placed under house arrenst in a cottage near Moscow.
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The Provisional Government was made up mostly of moderates with some radicals from the Soviet. It immediately promised 1. A Constituent Assembly with universal secret ballot 2. To legalize strikes. The main power struggle, however, was between the Liberals, who thought the revolution had gone far enough, and the Marxists, who thought the opposite.
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The weaknesses were 1. It did not recognize the catastrophic condition of Russia (poverty and land-hungry peasants) 2. The very provisional nature of this government was a strong factor working against it. 3. The leaders completely misjudged the mood of the Russian people with regard to the continuation of the war effort against Germany.
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Lenin was smuggled back into Russia and prompted the April Thesis. 1. The proletariat and peasants to bring about the communist revolution. 2. Immediate peace. 3.Seizure of the gentry land. 4. All powers to the Soviets. 5. Seizure of factories. Out of this, he was to develop the slogan of "Peace, Bread, and Land." Lenin gained recognition as the leader of the Soviets and Bolsheviks.
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Kerensky and Kornilov sent government troops to protect the government in Petrograd. Kornilov, however, betrayed Kerensky and turned the event into an attempted coup of his own. Kerensky appealed to the Red Guards and won. This showed what kind of power the Bolshekviks had. Also, because Kornilov attempted an army-led coup and lost, the influence of the army reduced.
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October 13, The Bolsheviks gained control of Petrograd. On the 23rd, Lenin returned and they took over Moscow. Together with Trotsky and the Soviets on November 7, the Bolsheviks arrested the Provisional Government and seized power. The first two initiatives of Lenin's govenment were 1. The war should be ended immediately. 2. The peasants should seize the land.
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Lenin opened peace negotiations with Germany. He felt that there was no way the young government could begin to tackle the huge problems facing Russia and continue to fight a foreign war at the same time. He was willing to give up huge amounts of land in exchange for peace.
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The nationalization of industry began shortly after the revolution. The state appropriated many of the industries, all steam mills, local utilities, and private railways together with a few minor industries. Eventually, private industries disappeared almost entirely. The nationalization of land was also proclaimed: all land became state property to be used only by those who would cultivate it themselves.
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Under pressure of the civil war & desperate need to obtain food for the Red Army, the government ordered the peasants to turn in their produce. As peasants resisted, communisim, military, and militant swung into full force.
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The Civil War was between the Reds (the Bolsheviks) and thw Whites (opposed them). The Whites often controlled the countryside, but didn't do well the Bolshevik controlled areas, such as Petrograd or Moscow. In the West, they tried to prevent Germans from seizing war materials. The interventionists supplied the Whites with equipement and protection. In the end, the Reds won due to the organizational and military genius of Leon Trotsky, the leader.
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It was clear that War Communism was not putting the U.S.S.R. on the road to economic recovery, so Lenin brought in the New Economic Policy (NEP). 1. Some private trade was permitted. 2. Peasants were allowed to sell surplus - going to benefit most from the NEP. 3. Workers in small factories were permitted to "purchase" their factory under a co-operative arrangement - some improvement in production took place under the NEP.
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This treaty was signed at the first international conference attened by the Soviet Union. In it they agreed that the U.S.S.R. would 1. manufacture illegal war material for Germany forbidden by the Treaty of Versailles and 2. recieve steel manufactoring technology from Germany. It established ecnonomic relations between the two countries and even some political ties.
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The U.S.S.R. began to participate in the affairs of the West whever she saw an opportunity to encourage collective security. It singed the Pact joining 15 nations in denouncing was as a method of solving disputes.
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The first plan, in fact, became a four year plan. The enormous cost of human suffering was justified by Stalin as a necessity if the U.S.S.R. was not to be crushed by her enemies. He believed that the industry would develop through state control. The second plan was the result of a mini-revolt amongst party officials against the harshness of the first plan. This group promoted Kirov as an alternataive to Stalin.
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In 1934, the U.S.S.R. joined the League of Nations. The main objective of the League was to preserve the peace of the world. They wanted to achieve the notion of collective sevurity, which meant that an attack on one member was an attack on all the members.
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Old heros from the Revolution were charged with treason and "tried" and executed for "plotting to overthrow the government." Stalin also carried his purge into the Red Army. He executed 1 out of 5 of the officers in the Army. "Show trials" became a future of the purges. Enemies of the state got on the stand and "confessed" their parts in plots against the state or to kill Stalin.
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In Moscow, an agreement of strict neutrality between Germany and the U.S.S.R. was signed. There were no illusions involved in this agreement, however. The Nazis and Soviets still hated each other. Hitler got a one-front war with the West and Stalin got time to prepare. A secret part of the agreement, however, was the division on Poland.
