Evaluate Lenins contribution to the success of the Bolshevik

Revolution in November 1917?

Lenin played a crucial role in the success of the November Revolution. He did not
create the discontent which permeated Russian society in 1917 particularly among
the workers, peasants and soldiers but he did devise slogans and strategies to win
these groups over to the Bolshevik Party in its quest for power.
By the beginning of 1917, the Tsarist regime was facing almost insurmountable
problems. The peasants were demanding land; the workers were demanding higher
wages and better working conditions; the middle class was demanding political
reforms to make Russia a true constitutional democracy; and all three social classes
were demanding an end to the war.
More than anything, it was the war which brought an end to Tsarism and set the
scene for the Bolshevik Revolution. By 1917, casualties numbered in the millions,
and the lack of food and fuel on the home front led to hunger and privation. The
Tsarist regime was unable to solve these problems, and was soon swept away in a
popular uprising.
What emerged following the March Revolution was a system of dual power, based
on the workers soviets (councils) and the Provisional Government. The soviets
represented the masses the peasants, workers and soldiers and their delegates were
elected by the people. The Provisional Government, on the other hand, represented the
elite particularly the aristocratic and middle classes.
Lenin understood that the Provisional Government would only survive if it met the
popular expectations which were unleashed by the fall of the Tsarist regime. However,
the Provisional Government saw itself as a caretaker institution only, and was
unwilling to introduce long-term policies or to break with the international
commitments of its predecessor. It was also divided on matters of policy and ideology,
and so was unable to respond to the demands being made of it.
Lenin took advantage of the its weakness, garnering support from the soldiers,
peasants and workers with his slogan End the war; Land to the Peasants; All Power
to the Soviets. At the same time, he transformed the Bolshevik Party into an
instrument for revolution. He did this in two ways. Firstly, he provided the party with
an ideological justification for revolution. In his April Theses, published in the Party
paper Pravda, he changed the Partys ideology, asserting that nations in the early
stages of capitalism were also ripe for socialist revolution; the industrialisation
process could be completed once socialism had been achieved. Secondly, Lenin
subordinated the Bolshevik Party to his own will, thereby overcoming the
conservatism which permeated the revolutionary parties at that time.
Another successful strategy he implemented was to refuse to deal with the
Provisional Government. This policy enabled the Bolsheviks to retain their political
credibility when that government collapsed following the military defeat in Galicia
and the Kornilov coup.
Of course, the Bolsheviks success was not all Lenins doing; there was also a good
deal of luck involved. In particular, General Kornilovs decision to march on St.
Petersburg in July forced the Provisional Government to rely on the Petrograd Soviet
for protection something which increased support for the Bolsheviks, since they
now controlled that body.
The final straw came in November, when the Petrograd garrison switched its
support to the soviet, leaving the Provisional Government defenceless. All the

Bolsheviks had to do was seize the key points in the city and declare themselves the
government.
To his credit, Lenin realised that such a coup could look like a naked grab for power
by a party representing only a proportion of the opposition forces. Hence, he arranged
for the uprising to coincide with the All Russian Congress of Soviets, to begin on
November 7th thereby allowing the Bolsheviks to take power in the name of the
peoples elected representatives.
Lenins contribution to the Bolsheviks seizure of power was enormous. It was he
who provided the ideological basis for the revolution, he who forged the Bolshevik
Party into an instrument for insurrection, and he who determined the political strategy
to be pursued. Without him, there would almost certainly have been no November
Revolution.