Bolshevik Revolution

By 1917 total World War I was creating serious domestic problems in all of European states. Only Russia however experienced a complete collapse in that year. Out of Russia's collapse came the Russian (Bolshevik) Revolution. The impact of which would be widely felt in Europe and the world for decades to come. The Bolsheviks planned to bring about the downfall of the provisional government. Lenin who was their leader believed in Marxian methods which included violence and terrorism in the establishment of a proletarian led state. The Revolution eventually established doctrines of Marxian communism in Russia with frantic efforts to export its ideologies to neighbouring countries and Europe. This however was received with mixed reactions in Europe and divergent reactions meant the course of Europe was determined by this land mark development in Russia.

The revolution in Russia led by ordinary workers deposed the tsars monarchy and established a dictatorship of the workers thereby giving rise to pro revolutionary movements in Europe such as in Germany, leading to the drafting of the Weimar constitution. There was an overwhelming demand for the termination of the Hohenzollern monarchy and establishment of a democratic republic by a small group of German socialists called the Spartacans. In January 1919 50 000 Spartacists rebelled in Berlin led by Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht seizing power in with help of the workers councils and Bavaria was now led by a communist peoples government.1 They desired to establish a proletarian dictatorship in Germany like the Bolsheviks in Russia had done.

In connection to the rise of pro revolutionists such as the Spartacans, counter revolutionists as well arose in Germany such as the Republicans. The republicans counteracted the Spartacans wishes by coming together to elect a constituent assembly to draft a new constitution for establishing a democratic republic. The Spartacans revolted in Berlin but their revolt was suppressed in 1919.2 In addition, fresh disorders followed the death of a radical socialist leader, Kurt Eisner, who happened to be the president of Bavaria. The idea of freedom by majority socialists and the right of the ordinary people to choose who governs had been cultivated from the communist revolution in Russia. Eventually this development influenced by the Russian revolution gave birth to the Weimar republic with the Socialist Scheidermann elected chancellor, thereby ending the Hohenzollern Empire after the Revolution.

The Bolshevik revolution in Russia continued to have a spiral effect that saw the fall of many more European aristocratic empires. This was as one of the leaders of the Bolsheviks Trotsky had hoped or propagated, that the Bolshevik revolution in Russia was the first of its kind in the long chain of revolutions that were to break out all over the world, calling his theory "permanent Revolution". 3 The theory envisaged that Russia should help other countries in this process. These sentiments were heeded in some European parts as more revolutions led to the collapse of more empires and the establishment of republics.

In the same way as Bolsheviks had claimed to be Russian patriots and overthrew the Tsar, a group of Czech patriots demanded the deposing of Charles of Hapsburg as king of Bohemia and the establishment of the Czechoslovakian Republic. And while the Czechs revolted in the north, the southern Slavs of Austria-Hungary too overthrew the government and separated the kingdom of Croatia and Dalmatia from Hungary. All Slav territories were merged into one unified kingdom, the Yugoslav kingdom.4 Which was a replacement of aristocratic government by the more progressive democratic republics which were sweeping across Europe notions from the Bolshevik revolution.

The early 1920s witnessed the growth of authoritarian regimes across Europe. Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and Greece had all installed military dictatorships by 1925.5 The tendency toward authoritarian regimes was the result of the near total collapse of the European spirit following World War One. No one had expected this war to continue as long as it did. There were few soldiers on either side who had a clear idea as to why they were fighting. They did know, however, that the bureaucrats and generals had run the war with an eye to profit. By war's end, and after 9 million men died, the viability of liberal democracy was weakened.6 What had capitalism done? It had brought Europe to war. What had liberal democracy done? It had brought Europe to war? And what did all that technology do? It made the killing of men easy. The only true victor in World War One was the war itself, and it would keep on winning. On the contrary, they resorted to military repression, which was the logic of civil war. The same was true of the Bolsheviks who took repressive measures only when it was absolutely necessary and who argued, at the time, that with the spread of the revolution to Western Europe even these military measures and repression would be unnecessary.

In efforts derived from the Bolshevik revolution that ousted the Tzar family from Russia's Kremlin and established people driven governance, the poles of Austria also seceded from Austro-Hungarian Empire. They joined the poles of other states such as Germany and Russia and set up the Polish republic such that in November 1918 communist ideologies were sweeping across Europe and Austria was declared a republic by leaders of various political parties.7 Just as Marxian socialists had influenced the drawing of the Weimar constitution, democratic constitution on the lines of Weimar of Germany was drafted by a constituent assembly. Radical changes with regards to governance by the proletariats succeeded as a result of gaining courage from the Bolshevik revolution that ushered in an era of a communist state.

The Bolshevik revolution can also be regarded as one of the reasons why Turkey was reborn as a republic. During the 19th century Turkey was declining rapidly and was called the "Sick man of Europe".8 Its dissolution was eagerly awaited by some European nations, most notably Russia which had planted the seed of change that was to spread across Europe. Mustapha Kemal Pasha a dynamic leader nationalist like Lenin of the Bolsheviks deposed the monarchy of the Sultan Mohammed VI, as a result just as the Bolsheviks stood against conservative monarchies, the Ottoman Empire was converted to the National Republic of Turkey with Mustapha Kemal Pasha at its helm.

One of the most remarkable influence that the Bolshevik revolution had on Europe was in Spain during the 1930s. The Spanish monarchy witnessed the worst kind of anarchy of unrest by the radicals who had gathered strength from the Russian revolutionary movements of dismissing aristocracy for republican governance that was sweeping across Europe. However, the establishment