The Revolution That Changed Russia
The October Revolution in Russia in 1917 was a historical event that had a great impact on the development of Russia and the whole world.
November 7 marks the 104th anniversary of the October Revolution in Russia, which marked the birth of the Russian Soviet State. The event broke out on October 24, 1917, according to the Julian calendar, led by Vladimir Ilyich Lenin and the Bolshevik Party. The revolution succeeded on October 25, 1917, according to the Julian calendar, which is November 7, 1917, according to the Gregorian calendar used today.
Russia in the early 20th century was an absolute monarchy under the rule of Tsar Nicholas II, who pushed the country into World War I, causing many serious consequences. The Russian imperial economy was exhausted by the war, famine occurred in many places, industry and agriculture stagnated, and people's lives were miserable.
The Russian royal family was also manipulated by the priest Grigory Rasputin behind the scenes. Anti-war movements demanding the overthrow of the Tsar took place everywhere.
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| Vladimir Ilyich Lenin addresses the people in Petrograd in 1917. Photo: Britannica. |
In February 1917, the February Revolution broke out with massive anti-war demonstrations and mass strikes. The movement quickly transformed from a general political strike to an armed uprising, which led to the overthrow of the Tsarist monarchy. The February Revolution is considered a bourgeois democratic revolution.
At the call of the Bolshevik Party, workers and soldiers established Soviets of Deputies, representative bodies to lead the country, while the bourgeoisie also established a provisional government. After the February Revolution, Russia had two parallel governments led by the two forces.
The provisional government failed to address promised issues such as land reform for peasants and employment for workers. Food shortages continued and the provisional government remained determined to continue the war.
Faced with this situation, Lenin, leader of the Bolshevik party, determined that it was necessary to overthrow the provisional bourgeois government, moving from bourgeois democratic revolution to socialist revolution, with the slogans "All power to the Soviets" and "Peace, land, bread".
On October 24, 1917, the uprising began under Lenin's direct leadership. The Red Guards, a volunteer armed force of workers and peasants, concentrated their forces to capture key areas, ministry headquarters, telephone exchanges, railway stations, bridges and roads. On October 25, 1917, they attacked the Winter Palace, arresting the ministers of the provisional government.
On the night of October 25, 1917, the Soviet government headed by Lenin was established. The first decrees passed were the "Decree on Peace" condemning the war and the "Land Decree" to solve the land problem for the peasants.
The Supreme National Economic Council was established to build a socialist economy. The Council was responsible for land reform, abolishing land ownership by landlords and returning land to the peasants. Regarding industry, they nationalized a number of large factories and at the same time implemented advanced labor policies such as the 8-hour workday, prohibiting arbitrary dismissal of workers, and providing vacation leave for those doing heavy work.
The Soviet government also took measures to eliminate the remnants of the old regime such as eliminating class distinctions, church privileges, and implementing gender equality. Soviet Russia officially withdrew from World War I on March 3, 1918.
Bolshevik soldiers marching in Moscow in October 1917. Photo: TASS.
On January 10, 1918, the Third All-Russian Congress of Soviets opened, adopting the historic decision to reform the Russian Soviet Republic into the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was then established on December 30, 1922.
The October Revolution was one of the most influential events in the 20th century, marking the birth of Soviet Russia - the first worker-peasant state in the world, supporting the national liberation struggle of colonial countries. At that time, most Asian and African countries were invaded and turned into colonies by Western colonial countries. The victory of the October Revolution created an impetus for their national liberation struggles.
According to the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, the October Revolution not only shook the world by its scale, but also laid the foundation for the maintenance, stable development and progress of the world, towards ending exploitation between people, building a just society and socialism.
"The October Revolution illuminated mankind's path into the era of space exploration, paved the way for the exploitation of nuclear energy and its peaceful use, and opened for all people the way forward, towards peace and progress," the Communist Party of the Soviet Union said in a statement in 2017.
In his History of the October Revolution, historian Geoffrey Swain describes the revolution as a combination of a Bolshevik-led uprising and the anger and dissatisfaction of the Russian working class with the Tsarist regime.
"No event in the 20th century changed the course of world history or had such great consequences as the October Revolution," said Geoffrey Roberts, a history professor in Ireland.