How important was the role of Lenin in ensuring the success of the Bolshevik revolution of October

1917? [24 marks]

The Bolshevik revolution in October 1917 was a surprise to many and many historians still puzzle
over the reason why the Bolsheviks managed to seize power, because although Lenin played an
important part, he wasnt the sole factor in ensuring Bolshevik take-over. The three main reasons as
two why the Bolsheviks succeeded, are the lack of defence and strength from the Provisional
Government, lead by Kerensky, Lenins leadership, and the organization of Trotsky.

Lenin was a key figure in the formation of the Bolshevik party, but it is far from the case that he
exercised dictatorial power. He could only get his way by argument and persuasion, and he was
frequently overruled by his colleagues, forced to compromise or ignored. Whats more is that Lenin
often wasnt in the country such as during the October revolution and in the July days so instead he
had to send persuasive demanding letters from abroad. However this demanding and persuasive
personality was what made him such a driving force and did contribute to Bolshevik success. Lenin
never gave up and he continually and determinedly pushed for revolution using propaganda which
would gain the Bolsheviks huge support from the peasants, through the slogan peace, bread and
war. Lenin was decisive and strong and he knew exactly what he wanted, whilst also knowing it was
sensible to not get involved with the Provisional Government to avoid being blamed for anything. In
April Lenin returned to Russia and gave a rousing speech to the people, one which became known as
the April Theses and can be considered as very important in gaining the Bolsheviks support. In the
April These, Lenin made it clear that he believed power should be placed in the hands of the working
class and poor sections of the peasants; that the war should be brought to an immediate end; and all
ruling power should go to the soviets. By the end of April Lenin had won over the majority of the
Central Committee of the Bolshevik party to his view that they had to lead the opposition to the
Provisional Government. Though Lenin does seem like a secure, strong leader, it must be
remembered that only in the autumn of 1917 had popular opinion in Petrograd begin to turn
decisively towards the Bolsheviks and even on the eve of October several significant central
committee members remained unconvinced by Lenins arguments and uncommitted to a second
revolution. The success of the revolution therefore, depended largely on luck and other factors.

One of these other factors was the weakness of the Provisional Government and its leadership by
Kerensky. The Provisional Government (PG) continually made bad decisions starting with the fact
that even from the start they didnt change enough from the Tsar, as lots of members were
traditional in their views and many people thought they still supported the Tsars beliefs and
opinions. The PG was also very much threatened by the Soviets Order No 1 which ultimately gave
the Soviets total control over the army which worried the PG as they would have no support. They
were also decreasing in support from the people because they werent pulling out of the war despite
the want of the population, as they needed the money they were receiving from the Allies war
credits, paying them to stay in the war. The PG also didnt want to annexure but to claim the land
they had lost, which further decreased support. During the Kornilov affair in August the army
determinedly sided with the Bolsheviks due to Kornilovs poor military leadership putting further
pressure on the PG and Kerensky. On the eve of Revolution Kerensky made very bad decisions which
gave the Bolsheviks an excuse to act. In desperation he tried to close down Bolshevik newspapers
and restrict the Military Revolutionary Committees power. The Bolshevik propagandists suggested
that his actions were a betrayal of the Soviet and an abandonment of the principals of the February

Beth King
Revolution this giving the Bolsheviks an excuse to act. Therefore the PGs and Kerenskys weak and
unstable incompetence helped give way to Bolshevik success.

On top of that there was excellent leadership and strength shown by Trotsky who was chairman for
the Petrograd Soviets and was also The Military Revolutionary Committee which meant he had the
army completely under Bolshevik control and influence, which was very important. His Revolution
Strategy was extremely important in ensuring Bolshevik success because by being in effect head of
the Soviets he managed to dominate the soviets with Bolsheviks so even before the October
revolution the Bolsheviks still had a large influence. Trotsky was extremely important and successful
in organising the Bolsheviks and following through with Lenins orders.

To conclude, though Lenin did play a large role ensuring success of Bolsheviks in October 1917, there
were many other factors, such as poor PG defence, great leadership from Trotsky, and luck, which
without, such success may not have been possible. Despite this, I feel that although a collapse of the
PG was perhaps imminent anyway, without Lenins constant, hammering persuasion and
determination for a revolution the Bolsheviks would have been less likely to succeed. Lenin was very
much the driving force behind the 1917 October Revolution, making the Bolshevik take-over
possible.

Beth King