? starter activity

1
? starter activity
These pictures all suggest reasons why the
Provisional Government was in dire straits by the
autumn of 1917. Can you guess what problems they
allude to?
2
How did the Bolsheviks manage to seize power in
October 1917?
? Aims

• Construct a timeline showing lead-up to October
  1917 Revolution
• Analyse the reasons for Bolshevik success
• Assess whether Oct 1917 was a popular uprising

3
? Your task - Countdown to Revolution

• Read Lynch p.92-96 and construct a timeline of
  events explaining how the Bolsheviks seized
  power. Use these dates to help you
• Mid-September
• 12 September
• 7 October
• 10 October
• 23 October
• 25-27 October
• 27 Oct

4
Countdown to Revolution

• Mid-September
• Bolsheviks gained majority in Petrograd Moscow
  Soviets
• 12 September
• Time was ripe for revolution History will not
  forgive us if we do not assume power
• 7 October
• Lenin returned to Petrograd in secret
• 10 October
• Central Committee pledged support for armed
  insurrection

5

• 23 October
• Bolshevik Papers Pravda Izvestiya closed down
• 25-27 October
• Support for PG collapses and members of govt flee
  abroad
• 27 Oct
• Lenin notifies Congress of Soviets that Petrograd
  Soviet (controlled by Bolsheviks) had seized
  power set up new revolutionary government,
  Sovnakom

6
? Your task

• Watch the film, Russian Revolution in Colour on
  the October Revolution and answer the questions
  your teacher gives you.

7
Play clip from 125 mins
? starter activity
Sergei Eisenstein
John Reed
Read the account of the October Revolution in
John Reeds famous book, Ten days that shook the
world. How accurate do you think Reeds account
is? Watch a clip from Eisensteins adaptation of
the book October. How useful is this film to
historians studying the October Revolution?
8
? Your task

• Read Lynch p.96-99 and list the reasons why the
  Bolshevik Revolution of October 1917 was
  successful.

9
Reasons for Bolshevik success

• Other parties co-operated with PG, e.g. promise
  of elections to Constituent Assembly allayed
  Liberals
• Bolshevik opposition to War, compared with SRs
  Mensheviks
• Menshevik adherence to Marxism Feb Rev was a
  prelude to proletariat revolution
• Bolshevik aims methods clearer than opponents

10

• Weaknesses of PG interim govt, lacked
  legitimacy
• Failure of PG to suppress Bolsheviks, e.g.
  ignored Smolny Institute
• Lenins charisma
• Growth in membership of Bolsheviks dominance of
  Soviets
• Factory committees
• Radicalisation of Russian politics

Smolny Institute
11
? Your task

• Your teacher will give you 9 cards with reasons
  why the Bolsheviks were successful in October
  1917. Arrange them in a diamond 9 formation
  with the most important factors at the top.

Diamond 9
12
? Your task

• Read the sources on p.107. How are they different
  in their interpretation of the Russian
  Revolution? Divide the class in two. One side
  must support the view of interpretation A the
  other interpretation B. Try to gather as much
  evidence as you can to support your arguments.

13
? Extension task

• Conduct some research into the part played by
  Trotsky in the Bolshevik Revolution. Note any
  evidence from commentators or contemporary
  observers of Trotskys own actions that he played
  a crucial role in the Revolution.

Trotsky