Biography russian revolution propaganda 1917

We feed you. And you work. In the autumn ofRussia began its first ever general election campaign. It was both fierce and uncompromising. Dozens of organisations took part, but the largest was the Socialist Revolutionary Party. The words on this poster read: "Comrade citizens! Prepare for demonstrations on the day of the opening of the constituent assembly!

This is a poster from the liberal Cadet Party, which uses a combination of animalistic and mythological images: the giant lizard represents anarchy and the knight on a white horse is democracy. The Socialist Revolutionary Party's election poster was simple, aimed at workers and peasants. Their victory was achieved with the slogans "Land and freedom!

When the civil war broke out in Novemberthe Bolsheviks quickly caught up and this style of poster influenced Soviet propaganda. The posters were simple and the messages were short, sharp and clear. The brand became the Soviet hallmark and eventually, a global design classic. He decided that this was not for him and went to St Petersburg to study as an agronomist.

He graduated from the Agricultural Academy in He discovered two books by anarchist Mikhail Bakunin in a provincial library and was deeply influenced by them, calling himself an anarchist from the age of He propagandised for anarchism and was active in the student movement. He was called up to the Russian Army shortly after graduation.

He made revolutionary and anti-war propaganda within its ranks. In he returned to St Petersburg and was active in the February strikes which led to the fall of the Tsar at the beginning of the Russian Revolution. In August he joined the editorial board of the anarcho-syndicalist paper Golos Truda Voice of Labour published for the first time that month.

He had severe criticisms of the anarchist communists, accusing them of being romantic visionaries, ignorant of the complex forces in modern society and dreaming of a pastoral utopia. He joined the Red Army but when the Bolsheviks used it for police work and to disarm the workers, he refused to obey orders and was sentenced to death. The solidarity actions of the metalworkers union saved his life and led to his release.

With Lenin's arrival, the popularity of the Bolsheviks increased steadily. Over the course of the spring, public dissatisfaction with the Provisional Government and the war, in particular among workers, soldiers and peasants, pushed these groups to radical parties. Despite growing support for the Bolsheviks, buoyed by maxims that called most famously for "all power to the Soviets", the party held very little real power in the moderate-dominated Petrograd Soviet.

In fact, historians such as Sheila Fitzpatrick have asserted that Lenin's exhortations for the Soviet Council to take power were intended to arouse indignation both with the Provisional Government, whose policies were viewed as conservative, and the Soviets themselves, which were viewed as subservients to the conservative government. By some other historians' accounts, Lenin and his followers were unprepared for how their groundswell of support, especially among influential worker and soldier groups, would translate into real power in the summer of On 18 June, the Provisional Government launched an attack against Germany that failed miserably.

Soon after, the government ordered soldiers to go to the front, reneging on a promise. The soldiers refused to follow the new orders. The arrival of radical Kronstadt sailors — who had tried and executed many officers, including one admiral — further fueled the growing revolutionary atmosphere. Sailors and soldiers, along with Petrograd workers, took to the streets in violent protest, calling for "all power to the Soviets".

The revolt, however, was disowned by Lenin and the Bolshevik leaders and dissipated within a few days. The July Days confirmed the popularity of the anti-war, radical Bolsheviks, but their unpreparedness at the moment of revolt was an embarrassing gaffe that lost them support among their main constituent groups: soldiers and workers. The Bolshevik failure in the July Days proved temporary.

The Bolsheviks had undergone a spectacular growth in membership. Whereas, in Februarythe Bolsheviks were limited to only 24, members, by September there weremembers of the Bolshevik faction. Petersburg and Moscow behind the Mensheviks and the Socialist Revolutionaries, by September the Bolsheviks were in the majority in both cities.

In August, poor and misleading communication led General Lavr Kornilovthe recently appointed Supreme Commander of Russian military forces, to believe that the Petrograd government had already been captured by radicals, or was in serious danger thereof. To secure his position, Kerensky had to ask for Bolshevik assistance. He also sought help from the Petrograd Soviet, which called upon armed Red Guards to "defend the revolution".

The Kornilov Affair failed largely due to the efforts of the Bolsheviks, whose influence over railroad and telegraph workers proved vital in stopping the movement of troops. With his coup failing, Kornilov surrendered and was relieved of his position. The Bolsheviks' role in stopping the attempted coup further strengthened their position.

Growing numbers of socialists and lower-class Russians viewed the government less as a force in support of their needs and interests. The Bolsheviks benefited as the only major organized opposition party that had refused to compromise with the Provisional Government, and they benefited from growing frustration and even disgust with other parties, such as the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries, who stubbornly refused to break with the idea of national unity across all classes.

In Finland, Lenin had worked on his book State and Revolution and continued to lead his party, writing newspaper articles and policy decrees. Petersburgaware that the increasingly radical city presented him no legal danger and a second opportunity for revolution. Recognising the strength of the Bolsheviks, Lenin began pressing for the immediate overthrow of the Kerensky government by the Bolsheviks.

Lenin was of the biography russian revolution propaganda 1917 that taking power should occur in both St. Petersburg and Moscow simultaneously, parenthetically stating that it made no difference which city rose up first. The resolution was passed 10—2 Lev Kamenev and Grigory Zinoviev prominently dissenting promoting the October Revolution. The October Revolution, which unfolded on Wednesday 7 November according to the Gregorian calendar and on Wednesday 25 October according to the Julian calendar in use under tsarist Russia, was organized by the Bolshevik party.

Lenin did not have any direct role in the revolution and he was hiding for his personal safety. However, in late October, Lenin secretly and at great personal risk entered Petrograd and attended a private gathering of the Bolshevik Central Committee on the evening of October An ally in the left fraction of the Revolutionary-Socialist Partywith huge support among the peasants who opposed Russia's participation in the war, supported the slogan 'All power to the Soviets'.

Liberal and monarchist forces, loosely organized into the White Armyimmediately went to war against the Bolsheviks' Red Armyin a series of battles that would become known as the Russian Civil War. This did not happen in The Civil War began in early with domestic anti-Bolshevik forces confronting the nascent Red Army. In autumn of Allied countries needed to block German access to Russian supplies.

They sent troops to support the "Whites" with supplies of weapons, ammunition and logistic equipment being sent from the main Western countries but this was not at all coordinated. Germany did not participate in the civil war as it surrendered to the Allied. The provisional government with its second and third coalition was led by a right wing fraction of the Socialist-Revolutionary party, SR.

This non-elected provisional government faced the revolutionary situation and the growing mood against the war by avoiding elections to the state Duma. However, the October revolution forced the political parties behind the newly dissolved provisional government to move and move fast for immediate elections. All happened so fast that the left SR fraction did not have time to reach out and be represented in ballots of the SR party which was part of the coalition in the provisional government.

This non-elected government supported continuation of the war on the biography russian revolution propaganda 1917 of the allied forces. The elections to the State Duma 25 November therefore did not mirror the true political situation among peasants even if we don't know how the outcome would be if the anti-war left SR fraction had a fair chance to challenge the party leaders.

After the majority of the petrograd Soviet passed into the hands of the Bolsheviks, [Trotsky] was elected its chairman and in that position organized and led the insurrection of October Lenin did not believe that a socialist revolution necessarily presupposed a fully developed capitalist economy. Though Lenin was the leader of the Bolshevik Party, it has been argued that since Lenin was not present during the actual takeover of the Winter Palace, it was really Trotsky's organization and direction that led the revolution, merely spurred by the motivation Lenin instigated within his party.

Critics on the Right have long argued that the financial and logistical assistance of German intelligence via their key agent, Alexander Parvus was a key component as well, though historians are divided, since there is little evidence supporting that claim. Soviet membership was initially freely elected, but many members of the Socialist Revolutionary Partyanarchists, and other leftists created opposition to the Bolsheviks through the Soviets themselves.

The elections to the Russian Constituent Assembly took place 25 November When it became clear that the Bolsheviks had little support outside of the industrialized areas of Saint Petersburg and Moscow, they simply barred non-Bolsheviks from membership in the Soviets. The Bolsheviks dissolved the Constituent Assembly in January The October Revolution led by the Bolsheviks was not recognized by variety of social and political groups, including army officers and cossacksthe "bourgeoisie" and the landowners, and political groups ranging from the far Right to the moderate socialists, the Socialist Revolutionaries and the Mensheviks, who opposed the drastic restructuring championed by the Bolsheviks following the collapse of the Provisional Government.

Biography russian revolution propaganda 1917: The Russian Revolution was a

The Russian Civil Warwhich broke out in the months following the revolution, resulted in the deaths and suffering of millions of people regardless of their political orientation. The war was fought mainly between the Red Army "Reds"consisting of the Bolsheviks and the supporters of the Soviets, and the White movement "Whites"and their loosely allied " White Armies " [ 50 ] led mainly by the right-leaning and conservative [ 51 ] officers of the Russian Empire and the Cossacks and supported by the classes which lost their power and privileges with the Bolshevik revolution; the Civil War also included armed conflicts with nationalist movements for independencearmed struggle and terrorism by anti-Bolshevik socialists and anarchists, and uprisings of the peasants who organized themselves into the " Green armies ".

Although the views within the Russian Whites ranged from from monarchism to socialism, [ 50 ] the Whites generally preferred the Russian Empire to the revolution, [ 52 ] and they were commonly seen as restorers of the old order as they fought the movements of the non-Russian nationalities in favour of "indivisible Russia" and opposed the land reform and defended the property rights of the upper classes; the socialists who opposed both factions saw the rule of the Whites a military dictatorship headed by Alexander Kolchak [ 53 ] [ 54 ] [ 55 ] and by the commanders of the White forces as a right-wing dictatorship.

The Russian Whites had backing from other countries such as the United KingdomFrancethe United Statesand Japanwhile the Reds possessed internal support, proving to be much more effective. Though the Allied nations, using external interference, provided substantial military aid to the Whites, they were ultimately defeated. The Bolsheviks firstly assumed power in Petrograd, expanding their rule outwards.

They eventually reached the Easterly Siberian Russian coast in Vladivostokfour years after the war began, an occupation that is believed to have ended all significant military campaigns in the nation. Less than one year later, the last area controlled by the White Army, the Ayano-Maysky Districtdirectly to the north of the Krai containing Vladivostok, was given up when General Anatoly Pepelyayev capitulated in Several revolts were initiated against the Bolsheviks and their army near the end of the war, notably the Kronstadt Rebellion.

Biography russian revolution propaganda 1917: These political propaganda posters displayed carefully

This was a naval mutiny engineered by Soviet Baltic sailors, former Red Army soldiers, and the people of Kronstadt. This armed uprising was fought against the antagonizing Bolshevik economic policies that farmers were subjected to, including seizures of grain crops by the Communists. When delegates representing the Kronstadt sailors arrived at Petrograd for negotiations, they raised 15 demands primarily pertaining to the Russian right to freedom.

The Government then responded with an armed suppression of these revolts and suffered ten thousand casualties before entering the city of Kronstadt. Makhno's Insurgent Army allied to the Bolsheviks thrice, with one of the powers ending the alliance each time. However, a Bolshevik force under Mikhail Frunze destroyed the Makhnovshchinawhen the Makhnovists refused to merge into the Red Army.

In addition, the so-called " Green Army " peasants defending their property against the opposing forces played a secondary role in the war, mainly in Ukraine. Revolutionary tribunals were present during both the Revolution and the Civil War, intended for the purpose of combatting forces of counter-revolution. At the Civil War's zenith, it is reported that upwards ofcases were investigated by approximately tribunals.

However, these tribunals did come with their own set of inefficiencies, such as responding to cases in a matter of months and not having a concrete definition of " counter-revolution " that was determined on a case-by-case basis. This, in part, triggered the political transition of the October Revolution and the Civil War that followed in its aftermath.

The Bolsheviks murdered the Tsar and his family on 16 July But in Augustthey evacuated the Romanovs to Tobolsk in the Urals to protect them from the rising tide of revolution. After the Bolsheviks came to power in Octoberthe conditions of their imprisonment grew stricter and talk of putting Nicholas on trial increased. In April and Maythe looming civil war led the Bolsheviks to move the family to the stronghold of Yekaterinburg.

During the early biography russian revolution propaganda 1917 of 16 July, Nicholas, Alexandra, their children, their physician, and several servants were taken into the basement and shot. However, this claim has never been confirmed. The murder may have been carried out on the initiative of local Bolshevik officials, or it may have been an option pre-approved in Moscow as White troops were rapidly approaching Yekaterinburg.

Radzinsky noted that Lenin's bodyguard personally delivered the telegram ordering the killing and that he was ordered to destroy the evidence. The Russian Revolution became the site for many instances of symbolismboth physical and non-physical. Communist symbolism is perhaps the most notable of this time period, such as the debut of the iconic hammer and sickle as a representation of the October Revolution ineventually becoming the official symbol of the USSR inand later the symbol of Communism as a whole.

Although the Bolsheviks did not have extensive political experience, their portrayal of the revolution itself as both a "biography russian revolution propaganda 1917" and symbolic order resulted in Communism's portrayal as a messianic faith, formally known as communist messianism. The revolution ultimately led to the establishment of the future Soviet Union as an ideocracy ; however, the establishment of such a state came as an ideological paradoxas Marx's ideals of how a socialist state ought to be created were based on the formation being natural and not artificially incited i.

A revolutionary wave caused by the Russian Revolution lasted untilbut despite initial hopes for success in the German Revolution of —19the short-lived Hungarian Soviet Republicand others like it, only the Mongolian Revolution of saw a Marxist movement at the time succeed in keeping power in its hands. This issue is subject to conflicting views on communist history by various Marxist groups and parties.

Joseph Stalin later rejected this concept, stating that socialism was possible in one country. The confusion regarding Stalin's position on the issue stems from the fact that, after Lenin's death inhe successfully used Lenin's argument — the argument that socialism's success needs the support of workers of other countries in order to happen — to defeat his competitors within the party by accusing them of betraying Lenin and, therefore, the ideals of the October Revolution.

The Russian Revolution was perceived as a rupture with imperialism for various civil rights and decolonization struggles and providing a space for oppressed groups across the world. This was given further credence with the Soviet Union supporting many anti-colonial third world movements with financial funds against European colonial powers.

Few events in historical research have been as conditioned by political influences as the October Revolution. The historiography of the Revolution generally divides into three schools of thought: the Soviet-Marxist view, the Western Totalitarian view, and the Revisionist Trotskyist view. Following the death of Vladimir Lenin, the Bolshevik government was thrown into a crisis.

Lenin failed to designate who his successor would be or how they would be chosen. A power struggle broke out in the party between Leon Trotsky and his enemies. Trotsky was defeated by the anti-Trotsky bloc by the mids and his hopes for party leadership were dashed. Among Trotsky's opponents, Joseph Stalin would rise to assume unchallenged party leadership by InTrotsky was expelled from the party and in he lost his citizenship and was sent into exile.

While in exile he began honing his own interpretation of Marxism called Trotskyism. The schism between Trotsky and Stalin is the focal point where the Revisionist view comes into existence. Trotsky traveled across the world denouncing Stalin and the Soviet Union under his leadership. He specifically focused his criticism on Stalin's doctrine, Socialism in One Countryclaiming that it was incongruent with the ideology of the revolution.

He continued to vocally criticize Stalin and Stalinism until his assassination in on Stalin's orders. The Soviet-Marxist interpretation is the belief that the Russian Revolution under the Bolsheviks was a proud and glorious effort of the working class which saw the removal of the Tsar, nobility, and capitalists from positions of power.

The Bolsheviks and later the Communist Party took the first steps in liberating the proletariat and building a workers' state that practiced equality. Outside of Eastern Europe this view was heavily criticized as following the death of Lenin the Soviet Union became more authoritarian. Even though the Soviet Union no longer exists, the Soviet-Marxist view is still interpreted [ clarification needed ] in academia today.

Both academics and Soviet supporters argue this view is supported by several events. It was the first country to decriminalize abortion and allowed women to be educated, which was forbidden under the Tsar. BritainFrancethe United StatesJapanand other countries sent aid to the White Army and expedition forces against the Bolsheviks. In spite of this, the Red Army prevailed.

The Red Army unlike many White factions maintained a high morale among their troops and civilians throughout the duration of the civil war. Bolshevik propaganda portrayed the Red Army as liberators and stewards of the poor and downtrodden. During the civil war, the Bolsheviks were able to raise an army numbering around five million active soldiers.

Domestic support and patriotism played a decisive role in the Russian Civil War. By the Bolsheviks had controlled the last of the White Army holdouts and the Russian Civil War concluded with a Bolshevik victory. This victory ultimately influenced how the Soviet Union interpreted its own ideology and the October Revolution itself. Starting inthe Soviets would commemorate the event with a military parade and a public holiday.

This tradition lasted up until the collapse of the Soviet Union. As time went on the Soviet-Marxist interpretation evolved with an " anti-Stalinist " version of it. This subsection attempts to draw a distinction between the "Lenin period" —24 and the "Stalin period" — Nikita KhrushchevStalin's successor, argued that Stalin's regime differed greatly from the leadership of Lenin in his " Secret Speech ", delivered in He was critical of the cult of the individual which was constructed around Stalin whereas Lenin stressed "the role of the people as the creator of history".

Khrushchev contrasted this with the "despotism" of Stalin which require absolute submission to his position and also highlighted that many of the people who were later annihilated as "enemies of the party", "had worked with Lenin during his life".

Biography russian revolution propaganda 1917: As events take place to

Views from the west were mixed. Socialists and labor organizations tended to support the October Revolution and the Bolshevik seizure of power. On the other hand, western governments were mortified. Upon seizing state power, they organized a parliament, the Russian Constituent Assembly. On November 25, an election was held. Despite the Bolsheviks being the party that overthrew the Provisional Government and organizing the assembly, they lost the election.

Rather than govern as a coalition, the Bolsheviks banned all political opposition. Historians point to this as the start of communist authoritarianism. He had consolidated the principle of state penetration of the whole society, its economy and its culture. Lenin had practiced terror and advocated revolutionary amoralism. Trotskyist theoreticians have disputed the view that a one-party state was a natural outgrowth of the Bolsheviks' actions.

They cited the outdated voter-rolls which did not acknowledge the split among the Socialist Revolutionary party and the assemblies conflict with the Congress of the Soviets as an alternative democratic structure. Rogovin also argued that the Left Oppositionled by Leon Trotsky, was a political movement "which offered a real alternative to Stalinism, and that to crush this movement was the primary function of the Stalinist terror".

The Russian Revolution has been portrayed in or served as backdrop for many films. Among them, in order of release date: [ 91 ]. In the autumn ofRussia began its first ever general election campaign. It was both fierce and uncompromising. Dozens of organisations took part, but the largest was the Socialist Revolutionary Party. The words on this poster read: "Comrade citizens!

Prepare for demonstrations on the day of the opening of the constituent assembly! This is a poster from the liberal Cadet Party, which uses a combination of animalistic and mythological images: the giant lizard represents anarchy and the knight on a white horse is democracy. The Socialist Revolutionary Party's election poster was simple, aimed at workers and peasants.

Their victory was achieved with the slogans "Land and freedom! When the civil war broke out in Novemberthe Bolsheviks quickly caught up and this style of poster influenced Soviet propaganda. The posters were simple and the messages were short, sharp and clear. The brand became the Soviet hallmark and eventually, a global design classic. Skip to content.

Russian Revolution: Ten propaganda posters from