Why did the russian people support the bolsheviks when realistically little was to be gained?

Question

examples civil war, world war 2, cold war etc

Answer 1

What rubbish answers!!  

For a revolution to succeed you need 5 things

a) Social dislocation

b)  Loss of confidence by the rulers

c)  Loss of morale by the army

d)  A clear vision on the part of the revolutionaries

e)  A well organised vanguard ready to seize control.

Now, to that you need to add the fact that the war was costing millions of deaths, there was a tradition of communalism going back to the middle ages, there was no tradition of liberal democracy, there was a long tradition of revolutionary narodnik activism.. Lenin's brother was a narodnik and was executed by Alexander III.

It is really complex.  Read a few books.  How can you say there was realistically little to be gained?

Answer 2

perhaps if they had the power of foresight they wouldn't have

Answer 3

Under the Czar, Russia was a feudal society. Most of the people, the peasants, were serfs dependent upon the goodwill of the landowner for whom they worked. They really had very little to lose by supporting the bolsheviks, and believed that they would be rewarded for their labours; they'd  be working together and sharing equally.

Answer 4

Because they had even less to lose.

Answer 5

What the Bolsheviks appeared to offer was a share of the riches and good life enjoyed by the nobility. At that stage, they did not foresee what happened with the purges, WWII etc. They had suffered rationing, hunger, hardship, injustice. The Bolsheviks promised what they in fact were not actually able to deliver. At least that's my humble opinion.

Answer 6

Simply because it all seemed to be a great idea at the time. Such a good idea that it scared the life out of the British and French military that maybe every soldier will lay down their arms and return home.

The only problem with the plan was that those in charge seen themselves as more equal than others, and the whole "power corrupts" thing kicked off again!

This sort of thing is not exclusive to the Russian people, it happened to the French in 1789, the Germans' in 1933 and even today with "New Labour." Tell the people what they want to hear until you get into power, then do it your way!

Answer 7

It's amazing how persuasive a 7.62mm muzzle can be. It tends to look a lot bigger than 3/10 of an inch when it's pointed at you.

Answer 8

same as the people are doing now in zimbabwe with mugabe...total fear...........

Answer 9

You might as well ask why the American colonists in the 18th century fought the War of Independence against Britain. If they'd known what it would lead to (e.g. black slavery, Native American genocide, the Civil War, numberless Latin American invasions, the Great Depression, the Cold War, Korea, Vietnam, 9/11, Afghanistan, Iraq, George Bush I and II, Rush Limbaugh), I think they might have decided to pay George III's taxes instead and keep the tea out of Boston harbour. In hindsight, we've all got 20/20 vision. Tell you what, though; if you ask nicely, we'll think about letting you back into the British Commonwealth. You know, like Canada ...

gangsta, forgive my assumption you were American. Answer was just a little tease for the US patriots ...

Answer 10

They didn't know that! When you have nothing a share of something seems a good deal.

Answer 11

Revolution and realism do not go hand in hand. The Bolsheviks promised Peace, Land and Bread which appealed to the mass of the peasants conscripted into the Tsarist Army. One factor, often overlooked, was that the peasant soldiers wanted to be back home for the Spring planting. In a predominantly agricultural society such things are important. The Bolsheviks also promised to break up the estates of the landlords and the nobility. There isn't a peasant in the world that would miss out on such a land grab.

For the workers the promise that they would run their factories was also appealing. Prior to the 1917 Russia was in the process of industrialisation. Conditions for workers in many factories and industries were appalling. The idea of workers' control of industry was a powerful one.

While the Tsarist regime made some concessions to democratic sentiment with the establishment of the Duma after 1905, the regime remained essentially autocratic with even the middle classes and the intelligentsia resenting the Tsar's rule.

While from our perspective in 2008 it can be argued that little was to be realistically gained, for the Russian people at that time it seemed that there was a whole new and much better world to be gained.