The Russian Revolution of 1917 led to the creation of the Soviet Union, after the overthrow of Tsar Nicholas II and the formation of a provisional government. A second revolution led by Lenin and the Bolshevik Party resulted in civil war and the establishment of a communist government. The White Army, opposing the Bolsheviks, lost the war and many emigrated. The USSR was recognized as an official government in 1922, except by the United States until 1933.
The Russian Revolution refers to a series of political upheavals that occurred in 1917 and led to the creation of the Soviet Union, which would be involved in official government affairs until 1991. It was not an easy process, and indeed it took Party Bolshevik several attempts before finally gaining control of the government.
The first step of the revolution was the overthrow of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, the exile of the family to Siberia and finally the killing of all members of the Romanov family. The Russian Revolution began in February 1917 and was a direct result of the dire socio-economic conditions in which the Russian people lived. Deplorable working conditions and overcrowding led to social unrest, and the tensions of World War I only furthered the turmoil.
In the beginning, the revolution had no specific goal. On February 23, 1917, workers simply took to the streets of Petrograd to complain about food shortages. Within days, most of the local shops and factories closed down to join the protest. Soldiers and police officers eventually joined the protest and all attempts to restore civil order were called off. In the first days of March 1917, Nicholas II abdicated and was quickly replaced by a provisional government formed by the Socialist Party of the Duma.
In October 1917, worries about the country’s future led to a second Russian Revolution. Led by Vladimir Lenin and the Bolshevik Party, this resulted in the overthrow of the Russian Provisional Government. Civil war followed, but it was clear the Bolsheviks were there to stay. However, millions of people tried to keep the revolution alive by fighting hard to overthrow the communist government.
The White Army, a mix of moderate and liberal socialists who opposed the rigid Bolshevik regime, eventually lost the civil war, and many emigrated to Berlin and Paris. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or USSR, was previously founded in 1922 and recognized as an official government by most countries except the United States, which did not accept the regime as official until 1933.
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