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Bryan Cleaver

Mrs. Aguilar

Pre-Ap English Two

April 4, 2011

Major Actors in the Bolshevik Revolution

Russia at the turn of the century was a cataclysmic and turbulent

region of the world and had many different factions contributing to its

political instability. The main groups fueling the Russian revolution

were the Bolsheviks, the Petrograd workers, and the Russian

Anarchists.

The Bolsheviks were part of the Marxist Russian Social

Democratic Labor Party, later known simply as the Russian Communist

Party (Philips). The organization was primarily composed of Russia’s

working classes (Wade 37). It was founded by Vladimir Lenin and

would eventually replace the Tsarist regime that had ruled for

hundreds of years (Ruppert). The group’s political philosophy was

rooted in the writings of Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto (Ziegler 33).

The book argues that the working class should overthrow the tsarist

oppressors in a mass workers uprising culminating new government of

the Industrial Proletariat. “From the Bolsheviks Lenin sought to create

a revolutionary vanguard, which he forged over the long period from

the 1903 to the revolutionary year of 1917 “ (Philips).

The Petrograd workers, with the eventual support of the military,

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formed the second group that contributed to revolution in Russia. “As

1917 opened the many and wide spread discontents were caught up in

a wave of industrial strikes and demonstrations that suddenly surged

and swept away the imperial regime.” (Ziegler 29) The Petrograd

demonstrations began on January 9th, One hundred and forty thousand

workers from over a hundred factories, nearly half of the work force,

contributed to these demonstrations (Kathlyn 47). The student and

worker population was now rioting in the streets (Wade 23). The riots

were a direct effect of the government mishandling the war effort

(Barbour 58). The government had handled food supplies badly

(Philips). There was now nothing available for the workers and students

to eat, so they took to the streets demanding political change

(Ruppert). Nicholas the 2nd called in the army to quell the protesters

(Philips). But instead of following Nicholas’s orders the majority of the

so deserted their posts, went into hiding, or joined the protesters in the

streets (Barbour 38). The soldiers were reluctant to fire into the crowds

because a large amount of women took part in the protests (Wade 34).

“At about eight am on the twenty seventh when the officers arrived to

commence the day’s activities the volynsky soldiers rebelled.” (Philips)

The soldiers were not happy with the direction the war was taking and

with military discipline. These factors ultimately culminated in the

Russian army rebelling and giving up their support for the tsarist

regime they had so long defended (Wade 36).

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Anarchists, though mostly exiled when the revolution began,

played a fundamental role in its progression (Arvich 30). When news

reached the exiled Russian anarchists in the west, they responded with

much enthusiasm (Arvich 32). The two main figures of Revolutionary

Russia Anarchism were Volin and Roshin (Arvich 40). The Anarchists

were a subset of the socialists (Arvich 45). They believed that the

revolution was necessary because of the immense differences in

wealth between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie (Arvich 39). It was

the opinion of Russian anarchists that the richer classes of society

were oppressing the workers (Philips). “I felt sorrow and compassion

for the laboring proletariat who have been eternal slaves in the vice

like grip of the world wide bourgeoisie” (Ziegler 37). The Russian

anarchists like Volin and Roshchin were academics, and though they

were not physically in Russia, they at the time of the revolution

inspired the revolutionaries thought their writings on why the

revolution was necessary to over turn the social, political, and

economic conditions created by the bourgeoisie (Arvich 47).

The Russian Revolution of 1917 was successful and ultimately

led to a change in power from Tsar Nicolas the 2nd to the new Bolshevik

government. The factions of revolution that made this power transfer

possible were the Bolshevik party members, the Petrograd workers

with military backing, and the Russian anarchists who, through their

writings encouraged, the spirit of revolution.

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Works Cited

Avrich, Paul, and Petr Alekseevich Kropotkin. The Anarchists in the Russian Revolution.

Ithaca, NY: Cornell UP, 1973. Print.

Barbour, William, and Carol Wekesser. The Breakup of the Soviet Union: Opposing

Viewpoints. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven, 1994. Print.

Gay, Kathlyn. The Aftermath of the Russian Revolution. Minneapolis, MN: Twenty-First

Century, 2009. Print.

Phillips, Charles, and Alan Axelrod. "Bolshevik Revolution." Encyclopedia of Wars, Vol.

1. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2005. Modern World History Online. Facts On

File, Inc. Http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?

ItemID=WE53&iPin=EWAR0234&SingleRecord=True (accessed March 17,

2011).

Ruppert, Kathleen. "Russian Revolution and Civil War." In Ackermann, Marsha E.,
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Michael Schroeder, Janice J. Terry, Jiu-Hwa Lo Upshur, and Mark F. Whitters,

Eds. Encyclopedia of World History: Crisis and Achievement, 1900 to 1950, Vol.

5. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. Modern World History Online. Facts On

File, Inc. Http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?

ItemID=WE53&iPin=WHV249&SingleRecord=True (accessed March 17, 2011).

Wade, Rex A. The Russian Revolution, 1917. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2000. Print.

Ziegler, Charles E. The History of Russia. Westport, Conn: Greenwood, 1999. Print.