RUSSIA'S DOOMED REVOLUTION

With the world's attention fixed firmly on the invasion of Ukraine, Antony Beevor's new history of Russia's 1917 revolutions and subsequent civil war is especially timely. He explains to Rob Attar how the fall of the last tsar launched a chain of events leading to millions of deaths and one of history's most brutal dictatorships

- Rob Attar

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.