In 1917,
Lenin and many other
revolutionaries returned from exile when they were given permission by the
Germans to cross
Germany. The Germans hoped they would
undermine support for the
government and end
Russian involvement in
World War I. Lenin pushed the then small
Bolshevik party into action, with campaigns aimed at ending the war. The failure of Russia's all-out offensive in the war further
undermined support for the
provisional government, leading many to encourage the
soviet to seize power. The Bolsheviks took control of this movement, and despite being suppressed by the government, succeeded in gaining
popular support.
The Bolsheviks aided the provisional government in defeating a
coup attempt by General
Kornilov, leading them to eventually gain a majority in the
Petrograd Soviet. On the night of Nov. 6th (Oct. 24th in the Russian
calendar), the Bolsheviks staged a
coup d'etat, engineered by
Leon Trotsky, and affirmed the seizure of power by a vote in the soviet (after the
Mensheviks and
Socialist Revolutionaries walked out). They then formed a cabinet, known as the Council of People's
Commissars, with Lenin as chairman, Trotsky as foreign commissar,
Aleksey Rykov as interior commissar, and
Josef Stalin as commissar of nationalities. They then negotiated an end to WWI, with the humiliating
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.
See also:
Russian Civil War