Vladmir Illyich Lenin and His Role in the 1917 Russian Revolution

In the year 1917, Russian society and the old Tsarist order began to subside. Shortage of food were among the many factors that caused extreme discontent throughout the nation leading to bloody riots and eventually, the abdication of Tsar Nicholas. Vladmir Illyich Lenin, leader of the Bolshevik party, and the first Head of the Soviet republic, is a significant character in Russian history. Lenin initiated the movement of Marxism, withdrew Russia from a losing war, and propelled the 1917 Russian revolution, freeing the country from Provisional Government rule and consequently, gaining rights for the majority of the population.

After the split of the Russian Social-Democratic Workers Party in 1903, Lenin became leader of the Bolsheviks party and the main advocate for communism in Russia. The abdication of the Romanov dynasty left Russia without a head of state. As a result, the Duma formed a Provisional Government, which co-existed with the Petrograd soviets, a party in which included the Mensheviks, Socaial Revolutionaries, and the Bolsheviks. However, the different factions within the government, combined with poor working conditions, military failures, and poverty lead to instability throughout Russia. Lenin took advantage of Russia's deteriorating situation and saw it as an opportunity to infiltrate the message of socialism. He returned from exile in 1917 year with a single goal - for Russia to be under Bolshevik control as quickly as possible.

Lenin's strong leadership qualities, and determination enabled him to gain gradual support for the Bolsheviks. He was seen as 'A leader purely by virtue of intellect...with the power of explaining profound ideas in simple terms" [1]. The ideas he mentioned in his speeches after his arrival was published in the newspaper 'Pravada' (the truth), and famously became known as 'the April Thesis'. He used armed insurrection and often resorted to violence to gain support for his party, yet became widely popular because of his appeal to the peasantry - who made up approximately 85.3% of the Russian population. Lenin stressed the idea of a civil war in which working class and peasants would seize the factories and land. He promised them an end to Russia's involvement in the first world war, the introduction of a radical land reform program, and as a result, initiated a propaganda campaign against the Provisional Government in favour of the Bolsheviks, using "End the War: Land to the Peasants: All Power to the Soviets" as a slogan. The success of the campaign was seen in 1917, where the Bolshevik Party membership increased by ten-fold in just seven months. The Bolsheviks also began winning majority votes within the Petrograd (St. Petersburg) and Moscow soviets, showing the gradual rise support.

On October the 10th 1917, Lenin held a meeting with twelve other party leaders, convincing them to start a revolution to overthrow the Provisional Government and replace them with the Bolsheviks. Two weeks later, on October the 24th, troops took positions in the city such as the main telephone, telegraph offices, post offices and major bridges, and by the 25th, every key building in Petrograd was under Bolshevik control, besides for the winter palace. Guards from the Provisional government either fled or surrendered, and the Winter Palace was taken with minimal violence in the following day. This "marked the beginning of a new era... the peoples of our country began the building of a new society, the first of its kind." [2] As President of the Council of People's Commissars, Lenin became the first head of state in Russia. Following the Bolshevik victory, and the establishment of the new Bolshevik government, Lenin issued the Decree on Peace and Decree on Land, withdrawing Russia out of World War one, after 4 years of humiliation and defeat. The second decree was a declaration to nationalise all and owned by the Crow, the large landowners, and the Church to be distributed out to the peasants. His fast reforms were put into action and he gained the support of people through terror, and the removal of those opposing his ideas.

As editor of the Communist newspaper Iskra it was evident Lenin's revolutionary thinking and clear vision paved the road to the success of his revolution. Lenin was the driving force behind the communist movement,