Bolshevik Revolutionary Forces march in Moscow's Red Square
The Russian Revolution of 1917 was not the only one, but there were two: the February Revolution and the October Revolution. The reasons for this revolution came from both Russia's domestic politics and World War I.
As of 1917, Russia was a vast territory extending from Poland to the Pacific coast, with a population of over 180 million people of mixed religions, languages, and cultures. Complicated in management. Moreover, most Russians were peasants and poor workers and were dissatisfied with the economic policies and dictatorial style of King Nicholas II.
In addition to the existing problems, World War I was another important factor that intensified the anti-Tsarist movement. The war made Russia's economy worse. At least 2 million young people have been killed and 3 million to 4 million injured by the government. Most Russians have blamed the Tsar for leading Russia into the flames of this catastrophic war.
Anti-Tsarist movements began to erupt, especially with the rise of the communist movement among the workers.
In early 1917, workers at factories in the capital, Petrograd (now Saint Petersbourg), went on strike and demonstration, and on March 8, 1917 (according to the Russian calendar, February 23), a rally was held. To celebrate International Women's Day, there have been demonstrations against the Tsar.
The demonstration was suppressed by the police, but did not diminish the opposition movement, but instead escalated into a larger insurgency with the participation of Masses from all walks of life, including teachers and students.
In the face of the insurgency, on March 11, King Tsar ordered the army to operate on behalf of the police to quell the protests. Some soldiers went out to crack down on the protesters, but most of them disobeyed and defected to the rebels.
Demonstration against King Nicholas II in the Russian Revolution of February 1917
On March 12, the army and workers re-established a council called the "Soviet Petrograd" (Soviet in Russian means council), and a few days later the Russian government was forced to Dissolved and replaced by an interim government willing to share power with Soviet Petrograd, which represented the opposition movement.
Three days later, on March 15, 1917, Tsar Nicholas II abdicated, leading to the complete overthrow of the Russian monarchy.
After the February Revolution (actually March according to the calendar year of the Global Year), power in Russia came under the joint control of the Provisional Government and the Soviet Petrograd, which was then in the form of a Socialist Party.
But a few months later, in October 1917 (according to the Russian calendar), another revolution took place: the Leninist communist revolution.
Vladimir Lenin, who lived in exile in Switzerland, returned to Russia about a month after the February Revolution. Upon his arrival in Russia, Lenin immediately began to speak out against the caretaker government that emerged from the February Revolution. Lenin criticized the interim government as a government led by the feudal class and demanded the formation of a new government led directly by an army of workers and peasants.
On October 10 (according to the Russian calendar), the Central Committee of the Communist Party, then known as the Bolchevique Party, led by Lenin, decided to form an armed resistance movement to overthrow the government.
On the night of the 24th to the 25th of October, the Bolshevik Armed Forces, led by Léon Trotsky, stormed the Government House in Petrograd with almost no gunfire. But at that time, the government forces withdrew and did not fight.
The caretaker government must collapse. A new government was formed, and Vladimir Lenin became the first communist leader in the history of the world.
The events of October 25, 1917 were considered by the Soviet Communist Party to be a revolution (October Revolution), but others, especially those opposed to the Bolsheviks, considered the coup an illegal coup. The movement against Lenin's communist government also erupted into civil war. The civil war, which left more than a million people dead, was partly due to the death of armed forces on the battlefield and partly by ordinary people arrested and tortured by communist secret police. Interrogated and killed, accusing him of being an "enemy."
In 1922, the civil war ended. Lenin's Bolsheviks were victorious and the Soviet Union was formed.
