Thursday, November 12, 2009
McKeown-Bolsheviks took control by using people's desires
The October Revolution was a successful takeover by an extremist group using persuasive methods. Lenin and the Bolsheviks did take to the people's desires and needs in the beginning though. They just didn't carry them out in the end. Russia would have been fine with the provisional government(given some time) but Lenin and the Bolshviks just took control. Lenin reached out to the people with his points in his April Thesis, promising them more civil liberties, food, equality for everyone, freedom from the war, and power in the government. These things were everything the people were asking for (source 4). He also used events that occurred like the Kornolov affair, were General Kornlov and other soldiers marched against the Provisional Government who had to rely on the Bolsheviks for help, to sway the citizens of Russia against the Provisional Government(source 2). Lenin and the Bolsheviks also used slogans that were catchy to catch the attention of people. "Peace, Land, and Bread" (2) was a slogan that summed up the desires of the people and Lenin knew that. The citizens wanted the war to end or at least for Russia to pull out so that they would have peace. The promise for land was mostly directed at the lower class rather than the bourgoise, because there were more lower class so they had more power.(2) Bread was extremely important to the people, because it was a major food source back then and also a big money maker. During the February revolution there was actually one point where the people stormed the palace wanting bread.(1) So Lenin used the demands of the people to take power and when he got that power he kept it by using extremist techniques like having a secret police called the Checka and removing anything that opposed him from existence such as newspapers like the Pravada.(3) Anyone who spoke out against Lenin or the Bolsheviks vanished.(4) The Red Terror occurred on September 5th, 1918. In the Red Terror, the red army committed mass executions, arrests, and repressions.(3) In a comment by Red Army Journalist, Krasnaya Gazeta, it says Without mercy, without sparing, we will kill our enemies in scores of hundreds. Let them be thousands, let them drown themselves in their own blood. For the blood of Lenin and Uritsky… let there be floods of blood of the bourgeoisie – more blood, as much as possible." (http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Cheka) Lenin and his Bolsheviks used the people's desires to get to power then kept that power by extremist techniques so that no one could rise against him.
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I disagree that he did not fulfill his promises he made before he was in power. He told the lower class he was going to give them land, and he did. He said he was going to pull out of the war, and he did. He also didn't try to persuade the people into a false sense of what type of rule he would put Russia under. He said that it would be a dictatorship and that he would not hold elections, and once in power he followed that (4 April Thesis). I also disagree that the Russian people would have been fine with the Provisional Government. They were very sick of the Tsar and the Provisional Government for making promises they could not fulfill (especially regarding Russia's involvement in World War I), and I think Lenin actually did follow through with what he was telling them. Although he was proposing a completely different rule, wasn't he atleast giving the lower class what they wanted? He was not being fair to the bourgeoisie, but he also never said he was going to give them anything so he can not be accused of not living up to his word.
ReplyDeleteI agree with morgan in that i dont think Russia would have been fine with the provisional government. The provisional government wished to stay in the war. They wanted to stay in the war that had cost Russia shortages within the first year and which they have now been apart of for three (1). It is also the war where Russia has faced many losses and casualties (2). If Russia continued in the war for much longer, they would be left in ruin and the government situation would be even more stable with even more appealing extremist groups rising. Also, with Russia continuing to fight the war with shortages that caused people to go to the war front without weapons and proper training, they would eventually need support on their front with Germany (1). They would need support with the only other country not fighting a front of their own; The United States. That would mean that the United States would also have to split their armed forces. That would weaken their support and could cause a defeat for the allies. Then Russia, left in ruins, would be left at the mercy of Germany and the other central powers. if all of this could happen if the provisional government stayed in power, how would russia be fine?
ReplyDeleteI think he took into account more of what the people needed rather than just what they wanted. They needed food, leadership, and equality, and this is what he gave them. He did not, however, promise them more civil liberties. In fact, he states that civil liberties needed to be stamped out (4, April Theses). He initially went against what the people wanted. They supported the Provisional Government when it claimed to give the people civil liberties and elections. It was only after the people waited too long for these rights that they turned against the leadership. Lenin told the people upfront that he was not going to award them these rights. But he gave convincing reasons why they should not have them, and by doing so, manipulated them into believing in his ideals. So, before Lenin's convincing compaign, the people did not want to but under a tight control where they were awarded no rights and not allowed to elect their representatives becasue this seems to be just what they had before. Lenin just presented his methods in a convincing way that manipulated the people into believing that this is what they wanted.
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