War, state collapse, competing revolutions and Bolshevik victory between 1917 and 1922.
Russia experienced two revolutions in 1917: the February Revolution overthrew the Romanov monarchy, and the Bolshevik-led October Revolution displaced the Provisional Government.
War, food supply, land, nationality and state authority drove the crisis. Civil war then shaped the coercive institutions of the new Soviet state.
Military losses, inflation and transport breakdown undermined the monarchy. Strikes and demonstrations in Petrograd drew soldiers into revolt.
The Provisional Government claimed formal authority while soviets represented workers and soldiers. Continuing the war and delaying land reform weakened moderate leaders.
Lenin argued for soviet power and an end to war. Bolsheviks won support in key cities and organised the October insurrection, though authority outside the capitals remained contested.
Red victory depended on central territory, military organisation and divisions among opponents. Requisition, terror and political suppression transformed revolutionary promises.
Economic collapse prompted the New Economic Policy in 1921. Lenin's illness opened a struggle in which Stalin eventually defeated rivals.
War and protest forced a Duma and limited reforms.
The tsar abdicated after unrest and military mutiny.
Lenin rejected support for the Provisional Government.
Bolshevik forces seized key points in Petrograd.
Russia left the First World War at great territorial cost.
Red forces defeated multiple enemies.
Limited market exchange replaced War Communism.
Why did the Provisional Government continue the war?
Was October a coup, a revolution or both?
How did civil war shape Soviet rule?
Begin with the foundations, then move into the events, people and debates that add detail and complexity.
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