and its Impact · Part 5

slogan of ‘All power to the Soviets’ soon won over the workers’ leaders. Devastated by war time shortages, the people were attracted by the slogan of ‘Bread, Peace and Land.’ The Provisional government made two grave mistakes. It postponed a decision on the demand for the redistribution of land apart from deciding to continue with the war. Frustrated peasant soldiers deserted their posts and joined those who had resorted to land grabbing. This intensified the rising in Petrograd led by the Bolsheviks. The government banned the newspaper Pravda and arrested all Bolsheviks except Lenin who was in hiding in Finland. Leon Trotsky was also arrested. Kerensky became prime minister, leading a new coalition of liberals and moderate Socialists. Faced with an attempted coup Kerensky tried to dismiss both the government and the Soviet. His attempts were frustrated by the Soviet and particularly by the Bolsheviks who had by then attained popularity. Pravda is a Russian word meaning “Truth”. It was the official newspaper of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from to . Takeover by the Bolshevik Party under Lenin’s leadership In October Lenin persuaded the Bolshevik Central Committee to decide on an immediate revolution. Trotsky prepared a detailed plan. On November key government buildings, including the Winter Palace and the Prime Minister’s headquarters, were seized by armed factory workers and revolutionary troops. On November a new Communist government was in office. Its head was Lenin. The Bolshevik Party was renamed the Russian Communist Party. Outcome of the Revolution Lenin thought the most important factor for the fall of the Provisional government was its failure to withdraw from the War. So Lenin immediately appealed for peace. Unmindful of the harsh terms dictated by the Central Powers, Lenin opted for withdrawing from the War to concentrate on the formation of a new government. In March the Treaty of Brest– Litovsk was signed. Treaty of Brest–Litovsk Influence of Russian Revolution The revolution fired people’s imagination across the world. In many countries, communist parties were formed. Soviet Union encouraged the colonies to fight for their freedom and