AN ANALYSIS OF FACTORS IN THE ---- RUSSIAN REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT By Rev . Paul OtBrien, S. C. J. A Theaia submitted to the Pacultyot the Graduate Sohool, Marquette University, in Partial Fulfillment ot the Re­ quirements tor the Degree of Master of Arts .. · Milwauke., Wisconsin ay, 1948 O(Jl:ltents n.:.1"\9 ~ l1:'efQoe ••••• ~4o ............... jO .. .. .. ', ......... .... " ....... .. 1 lhapter I 'A'he Hist,orioal Ba ok~round , . 'l'he Husstan Intel116eIl1a~:ta ............. ~ ....., ••• ,......... .. 6 The i. r:l t:tngs ot ilJ.exander He r zen ••, ' • .,., ... it ....... ., ..... a ,ahernyehevs1:cl nnd his ldeas, l?ete"r LavrOV ...... jO ..... 10 Bel:1:n.sky end Ba ~~unl n .... I. ;0 '••••••••• ;0 ....., .................11 Tt:;.aohev and Plekhanov f theori ate or revolution ... II •• la tater Russian Ll terature • •••••• '••••• ' ••••' .......... " .la rxinm (lna lta influence ... ....... ...................16 'he Poll tioal. Phaae 11 at'O'noal Qb j eO' tl 'ICS of '1'ea r i ,slG..., it •••' .......... 20 The l:leoembl'i,sts .............. .. ... .. .............. ,.... 23 'rhe re:tr!n of' Mi ollOlu.s II ........................... ... 26 Chapter II 'J.1he lnf,luenoe of .Pe).'~ona11 ties p - l The T·ger Nl chalas II ........ .... '. '... .. ..... II! II! .......... 34 The ..c;mp l,,~ s 9 end Has put111 • •, ••••• , .... .... '" • "'. "' ••• "' .. 39 cn1n •• • '. "". •• Ie !•• •• • " ••• 0 • ~ ••••• • .•• Ct ................, . 44 '.i:rotsk y ........' .,Ii. II ••••••• :0 •••• ;0 .. '" '" w' .... '" '" '. '.... '" ••• ",. 47 Ohapter III The Influ ~ nl3e_ of the fiar The ~. ar and 1 ts effeots •••••• '" . .... ............... 5., 1sta1:;es i ntbe \'lo r e ttort and the! r effeot. "' •••• 5 he Vlar years of Ni aholas II . ........... '0., ••• "' ••• • 57 he lIar and i ts effcot on Huss1an eoonolay ......... 59 The f all of the uonorohy ••••••••••••••••••••••••• G2 Chapter IV Pase The Soviets Strussl. for Power The origino! the Soviet ••.••••••••••• . ••••• . ..••••••• 68 The Sovlets'polley toward the Provisional Government •• 71 The polioiesof the ProvIsional Government •••••••.••• • 72 The Government and the Soviets struggle for control ot the Petrograd garrison •.• • " ••.•.•••• . • . • • ••.• . •.•.• 77 Economi0 factors durIng the administration ot the Pro.. visional Govel"nment •••••••••••.•••.••••.•••.• .•••• . •.• 79 Lenin and Trotsky return to Russia •••. ••• ••• • • .. ••.•.• 80 The Kornilov afta1r ••••••.• . •••••••• . ••., . • • . • • • • . • • •• 84 Bolshevik control ot the Petrograd Soviet •• •••..•• . .•• 86 The events ot October 1917 and the tall ot theProvls- tonal Government •••••••••••••••.•• . ••••••.•• .• ••••• · .. .. 87 Conclusion •••••••••••••.• . ••••••.••••••••.•••••..••. • 89 Annotated Bibliography.... • • . •• . • • • • • •• .' •••., ........ 95 1 Preface The present paper is pr1mIU"11y conoerned with the elements at work, within the RUssian r evolutionary mo vement, which brought about the collapse of the Romanov dy.nasty, and the fao­ tors whi ch led t o the acquisition of power by the present Sovi­ et regime . The i nterest which attends t he trends in modern worl d events in which the Soviet Government plays such an im- ~ portant role, has been reflected in a corresponding interest In the history of' Russ1a o The present theme has been selected a.s a. subjeot of research beoause of its timeliness . It forms t he historical antecedent f or many of the event s of worl d- wide im­ portance which ha ve their origin i n the Soviet Union's pursuit of its ob jectives and wl11, it 1s hoped, contribute something to the understanding of the present by a study of the past. The Husst s n Revolution of 1917 and its background has heen the sub ject ,of .an abundance of writ ings, a factor which pre­ sents the historical investigator wi th problems of compressi­ b1l1ty and selectlvlty of an unusual natur e. That t he subject of the HU9sian Revolution should interest so many writers 1s not unusual wh en, viewing it in t he present light of histor1cal perspective, 1t stands out as the most fundamental social up­ heaval of mod err') times . Apar t from historians, write r s on world polItIcs , economists. sociologists, sta tesmen, and philo­ sopher s have all viewed the event from their particul a.r fields of int erest and have reoorded their impressions. The problem faCing the 1nvestigator in this subject 01.' arriving at obJeotlve truth 1s not eas,., for, added to the inherent dIfficulties of the main problem, are the complexIti es arising from oppos ing 2 subjective viewpoInts among various writers . In an art icle evaluating the bIbliography on the HU 88ian Revolution proper, Professor Ke.rpovl ch points out some diffi­ cult ies whlch the investIgator should have in mind . F1rst of all, he says, the field is crowded with an abundance of per­ sonal memoi rs masquerading as his tory. Seoondly, such origi­ nal documents as are now extant are 1n the hands of a govern­ ment whioh 1s not amiss to using them for propaganda purposes. 'Thirdly, the writings of many of the revolutionary leaders have to be used with caution because they have been used by their authors as a means of politi cal pamphleteering . The writer goes on to evalua te some works with whi oh he 1s personal ly ac­ quainted but does not, by any means, attempt to cover the en­ tire field , 1 1 M. M. Karpovich, "The RUssian Revolution of 1917", The Journ­ al of Modern H1story, 1930, 21258-280. In undertaking the present paper I will endeavor to limit the use of numerous direot Quotations believing t hat, in the empl oyment of t he narrative style, reader interest is increased. Howeve r , 80me wi ll necessarily have to be included to i llustrate or suppor t particular statement s, or because t he pertinency of the remark is such that the idea is best oonveyed in the lang­ uage of the orig1na1 writer. The ava1labi1ity of source mater­ ial w111 alao be taken into oonsideration in the use of quota­ t ions . The general 'plan of the thesis will be best' developed if the causal relationships ar e kept within the groups in whioh 3 men find themselves assooiated in modern socIety: the politi­ cal, social, and eoonomi c. Some overlapping will occur be­ cause these factors nre so interrelated as not to be always oapable of sharp distinction. The writer w1l1 endeavour to give some attention to those intangibles which so often elude the historian such as the temper of the people, group psychology, etc., but which play such vital roles in t he history of na­ tions. It 1s the belief of the writer that the Russian Revo­ lution throws new lIght on Russi an history. To understand the soclal upheaval of 1917 one must become acquainted not only with the Tsarist regime but even more with t he Russian Revolu­ tionary movement. While the events of 1917 represent a complete break wlth the past, they do, on the other hand, present a se­ quel to the previous history of the r evoluti onary movement. Proper historical perspeotive will best be served 11' previous developments ar e g1ven t~elr share of attention proportionate to their relative 1mportance. Each of the following chapters could be elab o~ ted upon and made a special study. For the sake of historical interest, it has been deemed more advisable to array 1n general all the components rather than to treat isolated phases 1n detail . The dating of the Julian calendar, which was i n force in Russia during the time period covered by the present paper will be kept. Conversion to the Gregorian Calendar can be made by adding thirteen days . For the sake of uniformity, a single spelling of Ru s sian names has been maintai ned even though , SOUrces contain vari a t1ons . The writer wishes t o acknowledge with gratitude the numer- 4 OUB suggestions and comments prof f ered by t he professor ial staff of the history department at Marquette. Likewise, a ~im1.lar debt of gratitude 1$ due to lIbrar i a ns and others who want beyond the ordinary obli ga tions of their offi ce i n their coope ration. '. 5 Chapter I The Historical Background A neoessary prelude to the understanding of the sign1f1 .. oant historioal events which took place in Russ1a in 1917 re­ quires a study of earlier events together wIth an exposItion of the'ir causal relationship with the broade,r aspecta of the revolutionary movement as a whole. lienee, this i nitial sur­ vey chapter will consider two aspects of the Russian revolu­ tionary movement. The fIrst part w111 highlight the influenoe of ideas, under which I shall 1nolude the writings whioh had the greatest infiuence on the movement., Seoondly, I shall t reat of the polItical aspeots of the struggle against Teardom. This tr.eatment represents, not an exhaustive ooverage of every faotor, but a 8urvey of the more remote oauses which are ohro­ nolog1cally antecedent to the proximate causes whioh are treat­ ed in later ohapters. Supplement1ng this, 1t will be neoessary to inclUde oertain other 'aspeotswhieh l1e outside this range but whioh l'orm part, of the baokground, 8uch, for example, aa Russia's peouliar histor10al development. The l'aot that ldeas, expressed through the vooal or writ­ ten medium, have and had a potent influenoe on sooial movements is quite obvious. Tli.. precede and glve form and direotion to oonor ete actions. In the Russian revolutionary movement, the serv1ce rendered by wr1ters, praotically all of whom lived dur- 1ng the n1neteenth oentury, bears a striking resemblanoe to the Influenoe exercised by Voltalre, Rousseau, Condorcet, and others 6 on the Frenoh Revolution. In Russia, most or the literary efforts originated from, and oirculated within, that special class whioh we know as the intelligentsia. This t erm is used to designate that social oaste, which had m.embers from differ­ ent economio layers of the populati on, and whose manners, cus­ toms, and mutual int erest in soclal problems, made it a dls­ t1nct group within the RUssian population.