The Russian Civil War began in the wake of the collapse of the provisional government. The Russian Civil War (1917–23) was just beginning in 1918. Lenin and the Bolsheviks were seen to have taken control of Russia, and Lenin pulled Russia out of the war with the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk signed in March 1918. This was a cruel treaty which the Russians had to sign. Trotsky was given the task of negotiating with the Germans.
To understand and identify the aspects of the totalitarian system in both countries it's important to consider both countries history. On November the 11th 1918 Germany agreed to signed the Armistice. After Germany was forced to accept Versailles agreement by accepting guilt for WW 1. As a consequence the German people were demotivated and had no confidence in the new liberal democratic Weimar government and international forces. This resulted in risings such as the Spartacist rising where communists fuelled by the success of the Russian revolution almost occupied nearly every major city in Germany.
It was clear that the Tsar had to clear the newly formed alliance between the classes; but even thought they never really worked together they were still deadly as a whole. In October many revolutionaries came out of exile to set up Soviets (workers councils), they directed where to strike so this put pressure on the Tsar, which meant he had to grant concessions. So he instituted the October Manifesto which was promises that were made to cancel all redemption payments (peasants), create a duma, increase living and working conditions. He also encouraged Kulaks to buy up the strips of land from the Mir as he set up land bank, which would encourage them to produce their own grain and increase the grain industry. But even thought many peasants would now have their land many of the youths of the landlords would rise up against the peasants for killing their parents.
How far was the Provisional Government responsible for its own downfall? The Provisional Government was put in power as a temporary measure after the February Revolution of 1917, in which the Tsar abdicated his throne on behalf of himself and his son. However, the Government only lasted until October of the same year, where the Bolsheviks overthrew them. Their downfall was due to several factors, some of which the Provisional Government themselves were principally responsible for. Firstly, the most pivotal factor that led to the Provisional Government being ousted from power was the fact that, against the masses wishes, they did not withdraw from World War I.
Chapter 5: “Seizing Power” This chapter is about how Joseph rises to take power in the Communist government. A. Stalin threatened Lenin’s wife so she would not give a letter to the head of the Communist Party about how unfit he was to be General Secretary. B. He formed an alliance with Lev Kamenev and Grigory Zinovyev but betrayed them to take the power for himself. Chapter 6: “The Peasants Purges” This chapter is about how Joseph turns the country to collectivization system.
He left in 1919, having seen active front-line service in France and having narrowly escaped being killed when a German shell exploded three yards away from him and having been a victim of a gas-attack. In “An Inspector Calls”, Priestley uses a lot of his political views in the Inspectors speeches by using him as a kind of a mouthpiece for his socialism. The play was written in 1946; however it was set in 1912, just before the outbreak of WWI. This was a new era when people were no longer willing to accept the poverty or the class system that had gone before. Priestley strongly believed that everyone had some responsibility for others in society and not just their own welfare.
Others indicate that their rise to power and the overthrow of the Provisional Government was more influenced by the faults and failures of the Provisional Government. The Provisional Government was never in full control of Russia, their power was shared with the Soviets, thus when the Bolsheviks and the Soviets banded together; it shoved the Provisional Government on a rocky road downwards, while the Bolsheviks rose and seized power from them. The Soviets were a great influence in the Bolsheviks surge to power; their leader, Leon Trotsky, and the Bolshevik leader, Vladimir Lenin, began working together in 1917 after Lenin was appointed head of the Bolshevik party and together they drew the support away from Kerensky and the Mensheviks, and introduced his ideas of reform to the lower and middle classes. The class system worked to the Bolsheviks advantage because all of the lower classes needed help and Lenin's ideas for revolution all coincided with the peoples wants and needs, which in turn gained Lenin and the Bolsheviks the support of the lower classes. Trotsky worked to obtain the support by going to events and giving speeches, such as the one he gave on the 22nd of October in 1917, in which he
The people of Russia desired to leave World War I as smoothly and as quickly as possible (Wade 29). The price of supplies were growing, as well as their young men were dying in a world war; but the Russian Provisional Government denied their wishes for peace in the war, angering its citizens. The Provisional Government took power after Tsar Nicholas II gave power to his brother, but his brother refused to accept imperial power. The Provisional Government was then created to determine the structure of the next government.
The October Revolution of 1917 was the second major revolution that occurred in Russia in 1917. Due to the October Revolution, the Bolshevik Party of Russia under the leadership of Vladimir Lenin was able to come into power in Russia and brought the country under the influence of Marxism. The Bolsheviks, who were an anomaly in Russian politics even at the time of the February Revolution, were able to quickly manoeuvre themselves into power due to the use of force and because the provisional government in Russia failed to establish itself as a stable regime after the fall of the Tsar. The February Revolution that deposed the Tsar occurred spontaneously after factory workers and women protested against the rising inflation and the shortage of food in Petrograd. What the British Ambassador described at first as “nothing serious” , quickly escalated with the end result being the abdication of the Tsar, a new provisional government and around 1,315 casualties .
Tsar Alexander III’s reforms were reverse ‘reaction’ of what his father, Alexander II, did before him to improve the country he ruled over. Repressive policies under Nicholas II were continued right up until early 1905 when Bloody Sunday took place outside Winter Palace and hundreds of Russian citizens were massacred by the Cossacks. It appears that there was extremely little, if any, political reform during 1881-1905. Political reform after 1905 began to rise. A clear turning point for politics in Russia was the publishing of the October Manifesto.