Introduction¶
Core Argument¶
The October Revolution of 1917 demonstrated that society could be organised without bankers or capitalists. Lenin’s writings from that year trace how the Bolsheviks prepared the working class for the conquest of power, applying a dialectical Marxist method to a rapidly shifting concrete situation. The February Revolution had established a bourgeois Provisional Government alongside the Petrograd Soviet, creating ‘dual power’. Lenin immediately grasped that the old Bolshevik slogan of the democratic dictatorship of the proletariat and peasantry was obsolete; the task now was a second revolution for working-class power. He faced resistance from Kamenev and Stalin, who adopted a conciliatory line toward the Provisional Government. Lenin insisted on no confidence in the bourgeois government, arming the proletariat, and breaking with the centrists of Zimmerwald to found a new revolutionary International. After the April Conference, he won a majority for his perspective.
The July Days saw a counter-revolutionary offensive, forcing Lenin into hiding and ending hopes for peaceful development; the slogan ‘All Power to the Soviets’ was temporarily dropped. The Kornilov revolt in August produced an “unbelievably sharp” turn; Lenin argued for fighting Kornilov alongside Kerensky’s troops while offering no political support to Kerensky, exposing the latter’s vacillations. After Kornilov’s defeat, Kerensky’s authority declined and the Soviets revived. Lenin renewed the call for ‘All Power to the Soviets’, proposing a peaceful development of the revolution. In mid-September, he offered a compromise to the Mensheviks and SRs: a government responsible solely to the Soviets, which could be established peacefully, perhaps for only a week or two. Lenin argued that even a one-in-a-hundred chance made the attempt worthwhile, refuting claims he favoured violence.
New Soviet elections, especially in Petrograd and Moscow, delivered Bolshevik majorities. Lenin insisted the Soviets must now take power, representing the victory of the revolutionary masses, not a minority coup. He opposed participation in Kerensky’s Democratic Conference, viewing it as a waste of time. Trotsky, now a Bolshevik and chairman of the Petrograd Soviet, supported the boycott and led a walkout. Using the Revolutionary Military Committee, Trotsky prepared the insurrection. Lenin, in hiding, feared hesitation in the Bolshevik leadership and urged immediate action. Despite opposition from Zinoviev and Kamenev, who publicly warned of the plans, the Central Committee voted for insurrection. Trotsky’s tactics proved correct: the insurrection on 25 October (7 November) was carried out smoothly under his leadership. Stalin later acknowledged Trotsky’s key role. Lenin emerged to announce the victory at the Congress of Soviets, declaring the construction of a socialist order.