The Revolutions of both France and Russia had many waves and stages. In France, the election and then disappointment of the third estate led to actual bloody revolution and then a series of regimes including the infamous Napoleonic leadership. Russia endured several waves of revolution, too, beginning notably with the failed revolution of 1905. In his famous work The History of the Russian Revolution, Leon Trotsky discussed the nature of revolution itself. He said, "A Revolution takes place only when there is no other way out. And the insurrection, which rises above a revolution like a peak in the mountain's chain of events, can be no more evoked at will than the revolution as a whole. The masses advance and retreat several times before they make up their minds to the final assault" (Kreis 1). His comments about revolution are especially apt because he notes the rise of fall of the tide of revolution and the desperate state to which people are pushed before they will revolt.
The most notable leader who emerged from the Russian Revolution was Vladimir Lenin who was part of the failed 1905 Revolution and then an instigator in the 1917 revolution. He is evidence of the ebb and flow of revolution and also evidence of the need for "insurrection" as Trotsky phrased it. Lenin was not content to allow the reforms and voting promised in early 1917 by the removal of the tsar. He was the force behind the October 24, 1917, coup that quietly took over the Winter Palace and other government buildings. His passion for the revolution is part of the reason for its relative success in beginning a new government and causing the era of the Soviet Union and communist rule. Lenin took advantage of the right moment in time to call up the frustrations and passions of a dispirited people and urge them to lasting revolution. In a letter to his wife written in early October when his Bolshevik party was on the verge of seizing power, he urged the necessity of immediate action. He explained, "seizure of power is the point of the uprising; its political task will be clarified after the seizure. It would be a disaster or formalism to wait for the uncertain voting of November 7. The people have a right and a duty to decide such questions not by voting but by force [...] This has been proven by the history of all revolutions, and the crime of revolutionists would be limitless if they let go the proper moment, knowing that upon them depends the saving of the revolution [...] The government is tottering. We must deal it the death blow at any cost" (Kreis). Such revolutionary language shows the importance of strong leadership, the necessity of riling up the people, and the delicate timing that is necessary in having a successful revolution.
While Lenin was known as the man who emerged as a leader from the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 and led his party through years of conversion...
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