October Revolution 1917: Bolsheviks Seize Power in Russia

**The October Revolution of 1917**

The Days of October

Kerensky sought to carry out the conversion of the Tsarist state into a parliamentary republic. For that purpose, a meeting of the board called the Republic was held to take over the situation until the opening of a new assembly. Trotsky became the center of opposition to the Republican regime. On October 25th, the sea rose following Lenin's call. Soon, groups of armed workers joined and managed to take key locations.

The Construction of the Soviet State

The revolution was finally consummated by the rapid action of the armed masses and the support of the Soviets, Bolsheviks, and Mensheviks. Lenin then became the undisputed leader, although within the Bolshevik Party, problems persisted on the path the revolution should take. The new government of Soviet Russia was formed by a council of commissioners, chaired by Lenin. The Bolshevik party was the center of supreme power and its direction was entrusted to a committee called the Politburo. State institutions were established in a congress formed by Soviets, where two chambers exercised legislative power:

• The Soviet of Nationalities
• The Soviet Union

Its members voted for the presidium, the highest body of the Supreme Soviet, which acted as the state leadership. The executive council was formed by commissioners or ministers. The first large revolutionary measures related mainly to land and nationalities:

• Expropriation of crown lands, and those of the noble church.
• Declaration of the desire that the peoples who made up the empire be associated, as republics, with the Russian government.
• Establishment of workers' control over companies employing more than five workers.
• Nationalization of banks.

Other Bolshevik decrees were:

• Withdrawal of the country from the First World War.
• Establishment of Peace: A Soviet delegation headed by Trotsky.

The Civil War and War Communism

The Revolution had triumphed over large areas of the country, but its success was uncertain. The Bolsheviks faced resistance led by:

• A fraction of the old Tsarist army.
• Members of the old privileged classes.
• The landowning peasantry.
• Certain ethnicities, such as the Cossacks.

These opponents ended up forming the White Army, in opposition to the Red Army.