Question 4 - NCERT Questions - Chapter 2 Class 9 History - Socialism in Europe & Russian Revolution - History

Make two lists: one with the main events and the effects of the February Revolution and the other with the main events and effects of the October Revolution. Write a paragraph on who was involved in each, who were the leaders and what was the impact of each on Soviet history. 

Answer:

Answer to be written

February Revolution:

• Events
  • On 22 February , a lockout took place at a factory on the right bank.
  • Next day, workers in fifty factories called a strike in sympathy. In many factories, women led the way to strikes . This came to be called International Women’s Day .
  • On Sunday , 25 February , the government suspended the Duma
  • On 26th February, demonstrators returned in force to the streets of the left bank.
  • On the 27th , the Police Headquarters was ransacked (looted).
  • The government called out the cavalry to try to control the situation but the cavalry refused to fire on the demonstrators and joined the demonstrating workers .
  • Soldiers and striking workers had gathered to form a ‘soviet’ or ‘council’. This was the Petrograd Soviet . 
  • Tsar abdicated ( quit ) on the advice of his military general on 2nd March.
  • Soviet leaders and Duma leaders formed a Provisional Government to run the country.
• Effects
  • Army officials , landowners and industrialists became influential in the Provisional Government.
  • Restrictions on public meetings and associations were removed . 
  • ‘Soviets’ , like the Petrograd Soviet, were set up everywhere, though no common system of election was followed.
  • The land was transferred to the peasants , and banks are nationalised by Lenin.
  • Trade unions grew in number.
  • Soldiers’ committees were formed in the army .

October Revolution

• Events
  • In September , Lenin began discussions for an uprising against the government .
  • Bolshevik supporters in the army , soviets and factories were brought together .
  • On 16 October 1917, Lenin persuaded the Petrograd Soviet and the Bolshevik Party to agree to a socialist seizure of power . 
  • Soviets appointed a Military Revolutionary Committee under Leon Trotskii to organise the seizure .
  • On 24 October, the uprising began.  
  • At dawn, military men loyal to the government seized the buildings of two Bolshevik newspapers . 
  • Pro-government troops were sent to take over telephone and telegraph offices and protect the Winter Palace . 
  • In a swift response, the Military Revolutionary Committee ordered its supporters to seize government offices and arrest ministers .
  • By nightfall, the city was under the committee’s control and the ministers had surrendered . 
• Effects
  • Most industries and banks were nationalised in November 1917 . This meant that the government took over ownership and management . 
  • The land was declared social property and peasants were allowed to seize the land of the nobility .
  • They banned the use of the old titles of the aristocracy . 
  • To assert the change , new uniforms were designed for the army and officials .
  • The Bolshevik Party was renamed the Russian Communist Party (Bolshevik) . 
  • In November 1917 , the Bolsheviks conducted the elections to the Constituent Assembly , but they failed to gain majority support .
  • In January 1918 , the Assembly rejected Bolshevik measures and Lenin dismissed the Assembly .