This proves that the Bolsheviks were brutal because they used force to keep themselves in power. For example, the cheka would execute or exile villagers who were against the government and this would prevent opposition because people would be too scared of what would happen to them if they openly critical of the government. This supports my line of argument because a fear of the government, provided by the cheka, would cause very few people to openly oppose the government, creating a very weak, broken opposition. Trotsky created and introduced the red army at the beginning of the civil war to fight again the various white armies. He decided to recruit ex-tsarist army soldiers so that he would have
Whilst in exile the Bolshevik party struggled and did not push for an uprising with the same vigour. Lenin also did not care for the temporary leader allowing his members to join the P.G, but with his return he started planning an armed uprising once again and his personal presence in Petrograd, along with his reputation, allowed him to sway the opinion of other Bolsheviks that were not too confident to join the uprising, and to put an end to the Bolshevik support for the P.G. What this highlights is Lenin's ability to force others to see things his way, and without him the other leaders may not have chosen this course and the whole aim of the party may have been unsuccessful. However Lenin was not the only reason for the success of the party as there were other factors such as the war with the Austro-German allies. As Russia was having economical pressure extended unto it by France and Briton to continue its war effort the P.G was put in a paradoxical situation where to survive it had to continue fighting, but it could not survive if it stayed in the war.
So many divisions and factions within the opponents all wanting different things for Russia shows responsibility for the survival of the Tsar as they were too busy against each other, than to unite against the Tsar. Divisions amongst the opposition further disagreed on the methods to overthrow the Tsar. The Liberals preferred reform rather than violence, and peaceful propaganda such as articles in newspapers, meetings and reform banquets. Mensheviks were in favour of alliance with all other revolutionary and bourgeois liberal parties, and supported trade unions in pursuing better wages and conditions for workers. Whereas the Bolsheviks rejected cooperation with other parties, and aimed to turn workers into revolutionaries as soon as possible.
This petition was a kind approach taken by the working seeking “truth, justice and protection from [the Tsar]” because they were “treated as slaves… not recognized as people…. & oppressed”. The Tsar denied their desperate and pleading approach, which soon lead to other rebellions including strikes and Bloody Sunday. There
The war caused a great deal of problems for the government, originally they had announced that their involvement would be entirely defensive but were pressured into an offensive battle by the Allies. This greatly angered the already the de-moralised soldiers, due to conscription the army was made up of mainly peasants who weren’t trained to fight and wanted to return home and gain more land for themselves. The June Offensive, which was put in place with the hope that a victory would strengthen moral, did the exact opposite. Far from strengthening Russian army morale, this offensive proved that Russian army morale no longer existed. No Russian general could now count on the soldiers under his command actually doing what they had been ordered to do.
During the revolution, members of the imperial parliament gained control of the country.The army leadership felt they did not have the means to suppress the revolution and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. It is argued that the social and economic factors were the most important catalyst and the main cause of the revolution. Others may argue that the military factors were the downfall and breaking point of the country. Although the military factors were important and did play a huge role, the social and economic factors were perhaps the more important reason. The military issues perhaps would not have escalated the way they did if it was not for existing social and economic problems at home.
However, opposition to the Tsar became even more divided when Lenin and Martov split the Social Democrats party as Martov accused Lenin of becoming a dictator. This division lead to the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks groups who both held marxist views to different degrees. All these groups threatened the stability of the Tsarist State but other factors such as the church, the belief of the divine right, the army and the Okhrana contributed to keeping the Tsar State in power. The isolation of each political group made them vulnerable; not only were they distracted by each other (especially rivalry between Bolsheviks and Mensheviks) but they were also easy to be ‘picked off’ separately by the Tsar. None of the groups were willing to change; had they been more lenient and considered changing their tactics they may have succeeded.
Snowball also saw that Animal Farm would always be under siege, due to the fact that it was the only farm run by animals. Hence, he advocated spreading revolution to other farms as the best means of defence; this is supported by the quote ‘If rebellions happened everywhere they would have no need to defend themselves’, found on page 53 of the novel. This proves that Snowball has foresight as he planned ahead for the future of all the animals and that he puts the benefits of the farm before his own. However, Napoleon is more pragmatic and more interested in safeguarding immediate gains. Napoleon objected to the building of the windmill in the beginning due to the fact that the food rations would be cut and Napoleon did not want that to happen.
The Yorkshire rebellion, Cornish rebellion, the amicable rebellion, western and pilgrimage of grace, all didn’t aim to dispose the monarch and were rebellions mainly based on social and economic issues. This shows that rebellions before 1536 were not a threat to the Tudors as they didn’t want to take over the thrown. It can also be argued that some rebellions did not have enough support from England or any foreign support. No rebellions managed to gain support around all areas of England, and most rebellions only gained support around one region. For example the Yorkshire rebellion only gained support in York and Northumberland.
The consequences of the Russo Japanese war caused problems with the working class conditions, which were the main grounds of a revolution in 1905, and also the main aim of the opposition groups, which further triggered a revolution. The effects that the loss of the Russo-Japanese war had on the Government lead people to feel negatively towards the government and encouraged them to start a revolution. The Russo-Japanese war was not the most important factor, but was an important factor which leads to the revolution. The Russo-Japanese war also affected the Russian citizens’ attitudes towards the