In Russia, on the 15th of March, 1917, there was a revolution that led to the abdication of the Tsar (which ended the Romanov dynasty, that had ruled Russia for hundreds of years) and the formation of a new republic. In November of the same year, there was another revolution. Only this time the democratic provisional government was overthrown and a communist (Bolshevik) government took over. Many historians believe that World War I was the main cause of the November revolution. I, on the other hand, disagree with them and think that World War I was only a catalyst to the revolution, speeding it up but not actually causing it.

There were many causes of the November 1917 revolution, one of the main ones being Lenins return to Petrograd. (Lenin was forced out of Russia by Kerensky during the period of the July days). Lenin was a Marxist. He believed that to change the oppresive state of Russian government, a revolution was needed. On his return to Petrograd, he made a speech which was then compiled into a document called the "April Thesis". Sections of this were used as slogans for the Bolsheviks. "Bread, Peace and Land" and "All power to the Soviets" made them very popular with the different classes. It is said that he stayed up all night persuading the Bolshevik general committee that a revolution was needed. There were three people quite important people that opposed him. Zinoviev, Kamenev and Trotsky. The latter persuaded Lenin to wait until November before they tried for power. The Bolsheviks gaining power meant that support was slipping from the now quite un-stable provisional government. This was a huge cause of the November revolution.

People can speculate about the possible outcomes of Russia had Lenin not persuaded the Bolsheviks to take power but I believe that had he not persuaded them to take power, there would never have been another revolution. The constituent assembly would have been formed and a democratic majority left-wing government would have ruled Russia. Lenin's arrival in Petrograd was a huge cause of the revolution. Probably the main reason that there was a Novermber revolution was that the povisional government was very weak. It was, as the name suggests, provisional so that most of the members were only prepared to rule Russia till a proper elected assembly would take over. The provisional government had to share power with the Soviets. This made life very difficult for the Provisional Government as it had to keep the Soviets happy or else their laws would not be passed. The Soviets had issued an order called (creatively) "Order number one." This gave them control of the army which was where the real power lay thus making the provisional government weaker still.

The provisional government also had another major problem with the majority of Russia's population (84% to be exact), the peasents. They refused to give the peasents their land. There were many reasons for the provision government to do this. First, most of the members of the Provisional Government were from the middle/upper classes and a large number of them owned their own land which they obviously didn't want to give away to the peasents. Secondly, they feared that giving land to the peasents would cause an even bigger rate of desertion from the army as soldiers would rush back home to claim their land. Thirdly, they knew they were only provisional so they though that a descision of such impact should be taken by the properly elected government. The soviets of course sat back and watched the provisional government lose support for any losses whilst they gained support. The land issue certainly made the Provisional Government very unpopular with the majority of the population.

Another event that gained the Bolsheviks a lot of support and lost the Provision government support was Kornlivos attempted takeover. Kornilov was the head of the army appointed by Kerensky. He had had enough of the revolutionaires so he decided to put an end to the Soviets grip on power. He prepared for his Cossacks to march on Petrograd with the intention of shutting down the Soviet powers. Kerensky, on hearing this set about trying to defend Petrgrad. He equipped the Bolshevik's Red Guard with rifles in exchange for them defending the city. Kornilovs troops never showed, their train had been stopped on the way to petrgrad by railway workers and then soldiers and workers persuaded them not to fight their fellow Russians. This escapade lost the provision government lots of much needed support and gained the Bolsheviks spport for being the 'Savoirs of Petrgrad' by rushing to the cities aid in a time of need.

The last cause of the November Revolution was World War One. I believe that if it had not been for this war then the provisional government might have stood a chance for staying in power longer but this was the spark that ignited the already glowing embers of revolution. The Russians were getting slaughtered. They had lost more troops in World War One than any other country fighting the war. They were on the Allies side and the provisional government felt that they needed to stay in the war to gain the support of their allies France and England (and later America). Russia's army was in a terrible state. They were badly equipped and poorly trained. They lacked discipline as a huge number of them would desert and run back home. It was said that sometimes trains would just stop halfway to the war front and turn back, simply because they were empty as all their 'passangers' (soldiers) had deserted. There was a set of events called the July days in which there were lots of Anti-War protests after huge losses by Kerensky's major attacks on the Germans. All eyes turned to the Bolsheviks. The only anti-war part. Kerensky feared that the Bolsheviks were too strong and dug up some papers that proved that Lenin was a german spy and managed to get Lenin and his Bolshevik buddies kicked out of Russia (although he later came back and made his "April Thesis). The whole of world war one was a embarrasement for the provisional government and lost them a lot of support.

As you can see from many of the reasons above. There were lots of causes of the Russia revolution, some of them greater in impact and deeper in Russian society than the war. I disagree with the title. World War One was a big cause of the Russian revolution but it was not the main cause of the revolution. It acted as a catalyst to speed up the revolution. I believe that Lenin was the sole reason that there was a revolution in November 1917. Had he not persuaded the Bolsheviks to have a revolution then, then there may have never been a revolution.

Return to Essays