By early 1917, Russia faced economic hardship, rations, widespread hunger, and military defeats.
In February 1917, massive protests led by women and workers erupted in Petrograd.
The army mutinied, and the Duma supported the revolution; the Tsar abdicated.
A Provisional Government was formed, promising reforms and elections.
At the same time, Soviets (workers', peasants' and soldiers' councils) spread across Russia, representing workers, peasants, and soldiers.
This created a situation of dual power: the Duma/Provisional Government (liberal) and the Soviets (radical).
Lenin returned from exile and presented the April Theses: rejection of the Provisional Government, transfer of power to the Soviets, nationalisation of land and banks, and an end to the war.
Russian Civil War and Foreign Intervention (1918–1923)
Civil War broke out between the Red Army (Bolsheviks), the White Army (royalists, liberals, foreign allies), and minor forces such as the Greens.
The Red Army, led by Trotsky, was well-organised and disciplined.
The Cheka carried out the Red Terror against internal enemies.
Foreign powers including Britain, France, the USA, and Japan intervened, generally supporting the Whites.
Despite intervention, the Reds prevailed by 1921; some fighting continued until 1923.
Other communist revolutions (Germany, Hungary) failed in 1919.
The Polish–Soviet War (1920–21) ended hopes of an immediate international revolution.
The Soviet State and the Birth of the USSR (1922)
The war strengthened Bolshevik control: the White opposition was discredited, and the Red victory legitimised Bolshevik power.
War Communism: state control of the economy, forced labour, and requisitions caused famine and protests.
New Economic Policy (NEP) (1921–1928): allowed limited private trade, revived agriculture, led to economic recovery and the emergence of kulaks.
The USSR was formed in 1922: a federal state with centralised power in Moscow under Communist Party rule.
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) became the dominant political force.
Lenin died in 1924, leaving a divided leadership and mounting tensions between Stalin and Trotsky.
Lenin's final writings expressed concern over authoritarianism and the future of the revolution.
