The Russian Revolution

This first installment in a series on the Russian Revolution explains the events and factors leading up to the 1917 uprising.

The barbarism of war and the tyranny of Tsarist rule inspired the Russian working class to rebellion in February 1917.

By late April 1917, the Bolsheviks stood out as the one major political party committed to workers' self-emancipation.

The workers' council system created in Russia in 1917 provided the platform for full democracy and liberation.

How did the 1917 Russian Revolution affect the vast empire of oppressed nations that had been subjected to Tsarist rule?

After the February Revolution, two powers existed in Russia--the Provisional Government and the workers' councils.

The period of reaction that followed the July Days was relatively short-lived, with the movement reviving in a matter of a month.

In August of 1917, the Russian Revolution faced the threat of a coup. Defeating it depended on a mass popular mobilization.

The Bolsheviks became a mass party in the course of the revolution, winning the allegiance of Russia's most militant workers.

By October 1917, the unstable situation of dual power--the workers' councils versus the Provisional Government--came to a head.

The conclusion to Socialist Worker's series on the 1917 Russian Revolution discusses the lessons for revolutionaries today.