Tamer Khedr
Compare and contrast the causes and natures of the two 1917 Russian Revolutions
In 1917 Russia witnessed two revolutions that changed the future of Russia for
decades to come. The first was in February and it lead to the abdication of Tsar
Nicholas II and brought the Provisional Government in power. The second was in
October, and it led to the fall of the Provisional Government and brought the
Bolsheviks in power. This essay will compare and contrast the causes and nature of
the two Russian revolutions of 1917.
Firstly, the February Revolution was a spontaneous revolution that resulted
from the amounted discontent from the Russian people towards their government and
even the tsar himself. The grievances and dissatisfaction of the Russian people go way
back as throughout the reigns of Alexander II, Alexander III and Nicholas II, very
little political reform was granted. It is true that Alexander II attempted to grant
political reform, however, his attempts were seen as very little by the liberals, and too
much by the conservatives. While Nicholas II was not willing to grant reform and this
can be seen on Bloody Sunday of 1905, an event that increased the animosity of the
Russian people. Then the short term causes of the revolution came following Nicholas
II's decision to take over the army as the commander in chief. Nicholas II became
isolated from the problems at home yet he was determined to do what it takes to assert
his power. This is seen when Nicholas II prorogued the Duma and rejected the idea
proposed by the Progressive Bloc to form a 'National Government', thus he lost the
support of nearly all the educated classes. Secondly, rising inflation and shortages of
food and fuel resulting from the hoarding of grain by farmers and the bad railway
system led to popular discontent. By late 1916 both Petrograd and Moscow were
getting one third of their food requirements, and Petrograd was getting only half of its
fuel requirements. Meanwhile the rise in the urban population from 22 million to 28
Tamer Khedr
Compare and contrast the causes and natures of the two 1917 Russian Revolutions
million between 1914 and 1916 only made matters worse. According to Darby, the
police estimated in 1916 that wages rose by 100% but prices rose by 300%.
Conditions were only getting worse in the cities and people started loosing faith in
their tsar and blamed him for these terrible conditions.
Meanwhile, the causes of the October Revolution were similar to those of the
February Revolution, as the government failed to solve people's initial problems. A
huge gap existed between the Provisional Government and the Petrograd Soviet
regarding these issues. The government wanted to persecute the war with offensives
and annexations, but the Soviet wanted to fight the war for self defense only. Also, the
government failed to address the issue of the distribution of land, and this led to
massive dissatisfaction amongst the peasants. Also, inflation and food shortages
continued to be an issue. The government doubled the price of grain in order to
encourage peasants to sell their grain, however, all that did was ignite inflation and
lead to more food shortages. In addition, problems continued to rise with the railways.
Also, industries and factories started shutting down and workers started taking over
factories. It seemed that the same problems that ignited the previous revolution were
only getting worse and the government failed to solve these problems. So, all of these
factors contributed to the Russian people's disbelief of the government that failed to
take any critical decisions that satisfied the people. This is mainly due to the fact that
the Provisional Government saw itself as nothing but a temporary government that
was not elected by the people. Therefore, they do not have the legitimacy to make
laws.
Even though the army did not support the regime in power in both revolutions,
they were different in nature. The February revolution was spontaneous and resulted
from the discontent of the majority of the Russian people. This was a revolution of the
Tamer Khedr
Compare and contrast the causes and natures of the two 1917 Russian Revolutions
Russian people, and not just one political party. Russians took matters in their own
hand, and went out on the streets to demonstrate their anger and bitterness. The
revolution started with the Worker's Group's strike in January 9 of 140,000 men in
Petrograd in memory of the anniversary of the Bloody Sunday, then on February 14th,
90,000 went on strike. Then on February 23, 100,000 workers and women went on
strike. The following day 200,000 demonstrated in the streets, and the day after that,
the number grew to 300,000. It was clear that the people were determined to carry
their demonstrations, even though on February 26 the army opened fire on the
protesters, the masses came out again to the streets the following day. Only this time,
the garrison mutinied and refused to fire on the masses, and some of them even joined
the protestors. Demonstrations spread in many parts of Russia outside of Petrograd
and on March 2nd the masses made it clear that they wanted the Tsar to abdicate. On
the other hand, the October revolution was not spontaneous as the first revolution but
it was planned by the Bolsheviks, namely Lenin and Trotsky. Lenin and Trotsky were
determined to take over the Provisional Government by force, and replace it with a
new Bolshevik government. So the Red Guards started to seize control over important
government buildings in Petrograd such as power stations, railway stations, telephone
exchange, and the post office. On 21-22 October the Bolsheviks gained control of two
garrisons. Finally, on November 7th the Red Guards took over the Winter Palace to
put an end to this government.
In conclusion, the two revolutions of 1917 were ignited by similar reasons;
however the first revolution was spontaneous and was not led by any political parties;
yet, it had a wide support from the people. Meanwhile, the October Revolution was
not of wide support from the population, as it was planned by the Bolsheviks, and was
Tamer Khedr
Compare and contrast the causes and natures of the two 1917 Russian Revolutions
closer to a coup as force was used to overthrow the government, and the population
barely participated in the events.