Causes of the Russian revolution in October 1917

The year is 1917. Millions of Russians had been either killed or wounded. The Russian people were angry at Tsar Nicholas II for getting Russia into the war. ...

Russian Revolution of 1917: Russian Revolution of 1917, two revolutions which overthrew the tsar and placed the Bolsheviks in power.

The Causes of the October Revolution There are many reasons attributed to the cause of the October revolution however there are two that were the main causes. The failure of the provisional government and the First World War were the main causes of the revolution. Combined with these were the long and short-term factors of the causes, which ultimately led to Russia, becoming a Communist state in 1917. The provisional government was set up in early 1917 after the February revolution that resulted in the fall of the Tsar. In February 1917 Russia was doing very badly in the war, she had lost nearly three million soldiers. The Tsar - Nicholas II - decided to take control of the war effort and also the glory that would come when they eventually won. However the war continued to go terribly wrong and so with gathering pressure from the Army and the millions of starving peasants at home he was forced to abdicate. With no one to succeed the throne a provisional government was set up in order to run the country. It was widely thought that with the loss and starvation of millions of people due to war the provisional government would end the fighting. However the justice minister at the time, Kerensky, had a 'magnificent' plan to end the war with Russia winning. During the June offensive of 1917 he tried to identify himself with Napoleon but unfortunately went the same way as him with a dramatic defeat. ...read more.

From the final years of the last tsars of Russia to the establishment of the Communist Party, learn more about the key events of the Russian Revolution.

A BBC Bitesize secondary school revision resource for Higher History on the causes of the October Revolution in Russia: Bolsheviks, Lenin's return.

This website give a description of the political parties involved in the Russian revolution