Lenin and the Bolsheviks

• Lenin arrived back in Russia two months after the Tsar abdicated, promising peace, bread and land.
• Lenin saw how the Prov Gov wasn’t satisfying anyone, so he called all power to the Soviets, as they were workers, soldiers and peasants.
• March to Sept, 1917:

  • Bolsheviks remain a minority in the Soviet. By autumn though, the Prov Gov had lost most support.
  • Increasing war-weariness & the economic breakdown overtaxed the patience of workers, peasants and soldiers
  • Kerensky claimed only a free elected constituent assembly would have to power to decide Russia’s future.
  • Meanwhile, Lenin & the party demanded peace, bread and land which led to Lenin gaining support & by September, the Petrograd Soviet had a majority vote for Bolsheviks throughout the country.