The Growth of the Bolsheviks

The Kornilov Revolt

After the failed June Offensive resulted in 200,000 Russian casualties, General Kornilov tried to seize power himself. He took an army to Petrograd, but workers went on strike and troops deserted. His attempts to seize power failed.

General Kornilov

Kerensky made General Kornilov Commander-in-Chief in an attempt to restore discipline in Russia.
Kornilov was more conservative than the Petrograd Soviet. He wanted to restore order and overthrow the revolutionary forces in Petrograd.
Kerensky gave weapons to protesters in order to defend against the coup. These armed workers would turn on him in October.

The revolt

Kerensky seemed to know about the plans for a coup, but did not act until the coup was underway.
Kornilov's coup failed.
In August 1917, Kornilov ordered the Petrograd garrison to clamp down on protests but the soldiers had stopped following orders. The workers also wanted to defend the revolution in Petrograd and went on strike.
The combination of opposition from workers and soldiers caused too much disruption and Kornilov's coup failed.

The effect on the Provisional Government and Bolsheviks

This coup weakened the Provisional Government. People thought that Kerensky supported and even helped Kornilov.
Support for the Bolsheviks increased. The Bolsheviks were seen as being the only defenders of the revolution and the Soviet.
- This radical party had never supported the Provisional Government and was seen as the best representative of the workers' wishes in Petrograd.

Red Guards

Workers formed units of ‘Red Guards’, who were armed to defend against Kornilov and to stop any takeover of the Soviet.
The Red Guards contained many Bolsheviks which meant that the revolution was now armed against the Provisional Government.

The July Days

A protest that was not organised by the Soviets demanded a takeover by the Petrograd Soviet.

The Red Guards

The Red Guards were particularly supportive of the Bolsheviks.
Germany gave Russian protestors funds to cause unrest in Russia. Using these funds, the Bolsheviks had 41 different newspapers in circulation by June.
- As the war situation worsened, the Bolsheviks became more and more popular.

The July Days

Protesting the summer offensive, soldiers from the Petrograd garrison refused to fight for Russia in the war.
The soldiers combined with workers and sailors from the nearby Kronstadt naval base, to march to the Tauride Palace on 3 July in a demonstration which became known as the July Days.
- They demanded a takeover by the Petrograd Soviet.
But this protest was not organized by the Soviets.

Soviet reaction

If anything the July Days had taken the Soviets by surprise, and they had been divided at first about how to react.
Yet they were able to present themselves as the organisers, and were certainly blamed for it.
- Lenin was charged as a spy by the government and had to return to Finland for a short period of time.
- Trotsky and Kamenev were arrested, having joined the Bolsheviks from the Mensheviks, and the Bolshevik party was weakened.

1The End of Tsardom

1.1Russia's Economy & Society

1.1.1Industrialisation

1.1.2Living & Working Conditions

1.2Nicholas II's Autocracy & the Court

1.2.1Growth of Revolutionary Opposition

1.2.2The 1905 Revolution & the October Manifesto

1.2.3Reforming Russia Before 1914 - Stolypin

1.2.4The Duma & Political Stalemate

1.3The First World War

1.3.1The Impact of Military Defeats

1.3.2Social & Economic Effects of WW1

1.3.3Romanov Unpopularity

1.3.4The Tsar's Abdication

1.3.5Top Grade AO2/3 - The End of Tsardom

2Lenin's New Society

2.1The Provisional Government

2.1.1The Failure of the Government

2.1.2Social & Economic Problems

2.1.3Lenin & Trotsky

2.1.4The Growth of the Bolsheviks

2.1.5The October / November Revolution

2.1.6Top Grade AO2/3 - The Provisional Government

2.2The Impact of Lenin's Dictatorship

2.2.1The End of the First World War

2.2.2The Cheka

2.2.3Red Terror & Centralisation

2.2.4The Civil War & The Red Army

2.2.5Propaganda

2.2.6Top Grade AO2/3 - Early Bolshevism & the Civil War

2.3Social & Economic Developments

2.3.1War Communism

2.3.2The Kronstadt Rising

2.3.3The New Economic Policy (NEP)

2.3.4The Achievements of Lenin & Trotsky

2.3.5Top Grade AO2/3 - Social & Economic Developments

3Stalin's USSR

3.1Stalin the Dictator

3.1.1The Power Struggle to Succeed Lenin

3.1.2The Communist Party & Government

3.1.3The Terror & the Purges

3.1.4The Secret Police

3.1.5Cult of Personality

3.1.6Propaganda & Censorship under Stalin

3.1.7Top Grade AO2/3 - Stalin's Dictatorship

3.2Stalin's Modernisation of the USSR

3.2.1Collectivisation

3.2.2Five Year Plans

3.2.3Social & Economic Consequences

3.2.4Social & Economic Consequences 2

3.2.5The Extent of Modernisation

3.3Impact of the Second World War

3.3.1Stalin's Wartime Leadership

3.3.2Political, Economic & Social Consequences of War

3.3.3Top Grade AO2/3 - Modernisation of the USSR

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