[Video] The Bolsheviks and the War

World War One broke the 2nd International, as most of the workers' parties supported their own ruling class and the war effort. Lenin and the Bolsheviks maintained a class position, opposing the war, even after the February Revolution, when many former opponents of the war became supporters. The Bolshevik war policy became a key pillar of the party's programme as it led the working masses to victory in October 1917.

23.02.1917

The February Revolution

Strikes and protests erupt on women's day in Petrograd and develop into a mass movement involving hundreds of thousands of workers; within 5 days the workers win over the army and bring down the hated and seemingly omnipotent Tsarist Monarchy.

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16.04.1917

Lenin Returns

Lenin returns to Russia and presents his ‘April Theses’ denouncing the Bourgeois Provisional Government and calling for “All Power to the Soviets!”

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18.06.1917

The June Days

Following the First All-Russian Congress of Soviets, the reformist leaders called a demonstration to show the strength of "democracy". 400,000 people attended, the vast majority carried banners with Bolshevik slogans.

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16.07.1917

The July Days

Spontaneous, armed demonstrations against the Provisional Government erupt in Petrograd. The workers and soldiers are suppressed by force, introducing a period of reaction and making the peaceful development of the revolution impossible.

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9.09.1917

The Kornilov Affair

Following the July days, the Bolsheviks were driven underground and the forces of reaction were emboldened. This process culminated in the reactionary forces coalescing around General Kornilov, who attempt to march on Petrograd and crush the revolutionary movement in its entirety.

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26.10.1917

The October Revolution

The Provisional Government is overthrown. State power passes to the Soviets on the morningm of 26th October, after the Bolsheviks’ Military Revolutionary Committee seize the city and the cabinet surrenders.

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V. I. Lenin
"The dominating trait of his character, the feature which constituted half his make-up, was his will..."
L. Trotsky
“Astounding speeches, fanfares of orders, the unceasing electrifier of a weakening army.”

G. Plekhanov
"In the final analysis the brilliant aspects of Plekhanov’s character will endure forever."

G. O. Zinoviev
"Zinoviev has won the reputation of being one of the most remarkable orators – a difficult feat."

Y. M. Sverdlov
“He did not die on the field of battle, but we are right to see him as a man who gave his life for the cause.”
V. Volodarsky
“He was always to be seen in the front row, the on-the-spot leader. So, they killed him.”

Reading Guides

The 1917 February Revolution
The February Revolution saw a mass strike develop from below at a furious pace which posed the question of state power within a week of its inception. Workers in Petrograd took to the streets against intolerable bread shortages, the slaughter…
Lenin Returns in April
This reading guide contains some of Lenin’s most important writings and speeches made in the April period, accompanied by works which provide further details of events at that stage of the Revolution.

The June Days 1917
This reading guide informs the May-June period of the Revolution with analysis, accounts of those who were involved and important speeches and writings of the time.

The July Days 1917
This selection of texts covers the background, events and consequences of the July Days. Next, we will turn our attention to one of those consequences – the Kornilov putsch in late August.

The Kornilov affair
Kornilov’s failed coup brought the direct action of the masses into play again, and proved to them once and for all that they were the only force in society capable of transforming their own living conditions. For the first time,…
The October Insurrection 1917
The following series of articles provides in-depth analyses and first-hand accounts of the events immediately preceding, during and after the greatest event in human history: the October Revolution, in addition to reflections on its aftermath.