Preview

Lenin’s leadership was the most significant factor for the Bolshevik’s successful seizure of power in October 1917. How far do you agree?

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1406 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Lenin’s leadership was the most significant factor for the Bolshevik’s successful seizure of power in October 1917. How far do you agree?
Lenin’s leadership was the most significant factor for the Bolshevik’s successful seizure of power in October 1917. How far do you agree?

Lenin’s leadership was the key factor that led to the Bolsheviks seizing power in 1917, and proved to be very important on many occasions. There were, however, other factors that also played a role in allowing the Bolsheviks to gain power at this time, such as the Provisional Government’s weaknesses, pure opportunity and luck, as well as the influence of other individuals.

The most significant factor in the Bolsheviks seizure of power is perhaps the incredible leadership of Lenin. It was through his leadership that the Bolsheviks took action against the Provisional Government, and ultimately led to them gaining control.
The first example of this would be Lenin’s April thesis, where he rewrote Karl Marx’s ideals, and effectively won support for the Bolsheviks among the Russian people, with the use of his two main slogans, “All Power to the Soviets” and “Peace, Land and Bread”. This not only won support for the Bolshevik party, but also undermined the Provisional Government by pointing out what they could not accomplish. The people of Russia were completely against the war, which had caused massive food shortages and loss of land, making them desperate to believe Lenin’s words.
Another example would be the 10th of October, when Lenin returns and convinces the Bolshevik party to act on the weakened state of the Provisional Government and take power. Lenin’s determined and oppressive personality allowed him to persuade the skeptical party to lead an armed power takeover. Without this push, the Bolsheviks would never have executed the attack, and they would not have gained control over the government. Lenin possessed a certain influencing voice that allowed him to gain support and convince the rest of his party to act. Without Lenin’s leadership, there would have been no Bolshevik Revolution to ensure their

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Lenin had a greater impact on Russia’s economy and society than any other Ruler. How far do you agree with this view of the period from 1855 to 1964?…

    • 2039 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    (a) How significant was Lenin’s leadership in the Bolshevik consolidation of power in the period to 1924?…

    • 619 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The most important individual in bringing about the change in influence is Vladimir Lenin, who brought about a sudden sharp rise in the party’s popularity. Following the 1917 October Revolution, Lenin became the leader of the Communist Party and greatly increased the party’s political influence with his ‘one party state’. Lenin’s creation of the Politburo in 1919, which was a group of eight high profile party members who influenced any decision being made, demonstrates the party’s increased political influence by showing their domination of governmental bodies. Public support of the party is obvious in the increase of RCP membership, March 1919 to March 1920, from 250,000 to 612,000. This may have been due mainly to Lenin retaining his power through the 1918 civil war. In 1921, Lenin introduced his New Economic Policy, aimed at gaining peace with the peasant class, which resulted in the ending of armed resistance to the communists. This support increased the Russian Communist Party’s (RCP) public influence greatly, backed in rural areas as well as urban working class districts. Due to all these factors, Lenin is the most important individual in changing the influence of the Russian communist party between 1905 and 1945.…

    • 680 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    crush any uprising. Lenin placed Leon Trotsky in charge of the Red Army now labelling…

    • 877 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The big issues with the struggle for power was that after Lenin’s death the following leader was not selected by Lenin in his testament, this was because of the different personalities of each of the leaders and the places within the party. The most outstanding reason why there was a struggle for power. This was between all the political positions, left winged, right wing and central, this is due to the varied beliefs of each candidate. The main candidates that was most likely to take power included; Trotsky, who was renowned for his large input in the civil war being a big leader of the red army. Stalin who was high up in the party and was a very conniving, as well as devious person. This was because of his tactical manoeuvring that had taken place during the struggle for power. Lastly there was Bukharin who was also a big contender as he was close friends with Lenin and helped seize Moscow in the civil war. Two more contenders Zinoviev and Kamenev where also large contenders, I haven’t considered them as the biggest contenders for the power of Russia due to their political positioning within the parties as they went from Right to Left winged and therefore were seen as unreliable by the public.…

    • 1418 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Russia was torn between the world war and the population was threatened as levels of starvation rose whilst industry fell. The provisional government could not do much to stop Russia plummeting as they did not have much power and the people of Russia failed to support them (1). The citizens of Russia were desperately looking for help and the Bolshevik party, created with the help of Lenin and Trotsky in the year 1917, had the answer. Slowly, they had managed to become one of the most powerful parties ever created, but many factors were to cause the consolidation of power. In this essay I will be comparing the significance of Vladimir Lenin in the Bolshevik consolidation of power with another important factor; Leon Trotsky.…

    • 1843 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lenin was important to the Bolshevik seizure of power as he was able to manipulate public opinion using slogans and propaganda. This was also shown early in the year, before Lenin's return to Russia from Switzerland. The Bolsheviks in Russia had printed in 'Pravda' (their newspaper) that their members and followers should support the Provisional Government, and also that they had given serious thought to the idea of combining with the Mensheviks. This was all very contrary to what Lenin wrote in his 'April Theses' which clearly laid out his views and beliefs on the subject. A key point of his 'April Theses' was "No Support for the Provisional Government", yet without him his party were proposing just that. Lenin as an individual was able to force the Bolsheviks to follow his beliefs and goals and without him they may never have chosen this course of action at all. Through his April thesis, particularly the slogans “Peace, Bread, Land” and “All Power to the Soviets”, he was able to harness the support of the Russian people.…

    • 1197 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Provisional Government was becoming increasingly unpopular. They had failed to end the war and were blamed for food shortages and rising prices. Also, the Russian people were unable to choose their own government as the Provisional Government had not held elections which had displeased most people of Russia. The Bolsheviks took advantage of the unpopularity of the Provisional Government and increased its support. Its slogan “Bread, Land and Peace” was a really attractive offer to the Russian people. The "Bread" issue was not being solved by the government, but the Bolsheviks promised that they would deal with it. Lenin promised to provide the people with sufficient food, and the starving population turned to him for help. Furthermore, most peasants were furious with the government and the landowners for not giving the peasants a chance to earn their own money with their own land. Lenin, in accordance with the communist ideology, promised that the landowners' property would be split up and distributed equally, naturally attracting mass support from the majority of the population. In addition, the slogan ‘Peace’ was the most appealed out of the 3 by the Russian people. Almost everybody wanted the war to stop, as it continued for so long. The devastated economy and dwindling food supplies were all caused by the war, and people wished to return to their old lives. Lenin knew this and aptly used this as a slogan for his campaign. Being the only party which constantly opposed the continuation of the war, the Bolsheviks attracted many supporters.…

    • 632 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Stalin - History

    • 885 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Even though Stalin’s victory in the power struggle was partly due to his popular policies, it was not just this that allowed Stalin also because of the mistakes made by other rivals and factors that played into his hands. For example Trotsky was a former menshevik which helped Stalin accuse him of not been a true Bolshevik.…

    • 885 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There were many reasons why the Bolsheviks gaining power in Russia, in 1917. Many were to do with how the Bolsheviks became popular in the years leading up to 1917. These long term causes started very early, this was mainly because the Russians disliked the Tsar very much because of many things, for example of the ongoing resentment and cruel treatment to peasants, and poor working conditions. The Russians were also disgruntled with the food shortages and military failures and the fact that they face humiliating losses in the Russo-Japanese war, then the Bloody Sunday and the Revolution of 1905. They were fed up of the poverty and economic crisis they were facing between themselves and their hatred was growing, and to top it off Tsarist troops fired on an unarmed troop, further dividing the Tsar from his people. At this time, Russians were waiting for their beacon of light, and there was Lenin promising ‘Peace, Bread and Land’, this was the perfect opportunity for the Bolsheviks to promote themselves. The Bolsheviks had been promoting themselves by producing, illegally, newspapers, leaflets and posters which would help support their cause. The Bolsheviks also supported the idea of communism, where everyone is treated equally including women. Many Bolsheviks also went to prison for these actions, which made them look…

    • 801 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    Karl Marx and his developed theory of Marxism played a vital role in influencing Lenin’s efforts to overthrow the Provisional Government eventually leading to the Russian Revolution of 1917.…

    • 2030 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Better Essays

    During 1917 the political system of Russia, and the political opinions of its public, began to change. The First World War was deeply taking its toll, with the casualties running into millions, and food shortages were reaching crisis levels across Russia. Presided over by the Provisional Government, who had little support and even less real power, the people of Russia became restless. In October, the animosity between Government and populace came to a head, and a revolution put Lenin’s socialist Bolshevik party in power. This essay will show that, while the Bolshevik party was dedicated and driven in the values they believed in, it was only the seizing of opportunity, and a lot of luck, that they succeeded in taking power.…

    • 1594 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Stalin was more effective than any other ruler of Russia in the period 1855 – 1964 in dealing with opposition. How far do you agree?…

    • 1007 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Russian revolution of 1917 saw the overthrow of the tsarist autocracy in February and the seizure of power by the Bolshevik party in October.The Bolsheviks proceeded to establish the world’s first Communist state on a territory covering one-sixth of the globe. A series of events and ideas led to the October revolution, each significant in its own capacity.…

    • 3563 Words
    • 15 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Bolshevik Takeover

    • 592 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In March of 1917 in Russia, The Tsar, Nicholas II had little choice. The Great War (as it was known as at that time) had turned into a disaster, conditions at home were horrible, and the Menshevik government had forced Nicholas to abdicate He did this for himself and his son and gave the power to his brother. His brother gave up the power the next day because the country was in such disarray. After that, the Provisional Government took power. By November of 1917 in Russia, the Provisional Government was in complete collapse. In the meantime, the Bolshevik party, which was helped by German money, had built up an efficient party organisation, had a brilliant propaganda machine, and a powerful private army know as the Red Guards.…

    • 592 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays