IN CONTEXT
REVOLUTION AND CIVIL WAR
The Russian Revolution was actually two revolutions. The first began when the last tsar, Nicholas II, was toppled in March 1917, brought down by a combination of food shortages, Russia's disastrous performance in the First World War and his personal failings. With his fall, Russia seemed set for a democratic future but, until elections could be held, the country was ruled by a Provisional Government dominated by liberals from the tsarist-era Duma (parliament).
The Provisional Government, its effectiveness hampered by a lack of legitimacy, faced a powerful rival in the shape of the socialist-led Petrograd Soviet that ruled the country's then-capital city (now called St Petersburg). The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, sought to undermine the Provisional Government, which itself made a series of missteps notably continued failures in the war against Germany and Austria-Hungary.
Capitalising on these weaknesses, the Bolsheviks under Lenin and Leon Trotsky launched a coup d'état, the so-called October Revolution, seizing power with relative ease. Consolidating that power proved far more difficult, as a combination of opponents-ranging from former tsarist generals to other leftwing political groups who distrusted the Bolsheviks - took up arms against them.
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