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In October 1917,
the world changed forever.
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00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:12,500
Three men led the takeover
of the largest country on Earth.
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00:00:12,500 --> 00:00:16,260
Russia became the world's first
communist state.
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00:00:16,260 --> 00:00:21,540
It took everyone by surprise,
including its own leaders.
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Revolution might not happen
in our lifetime.
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00:00:24,660 --> 00:00:28,140
Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky
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00:00:28,140 --> 00:00:33,620
and Joseph Stalin had to struggle,
plot and force their way into power
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through the most unlikely series
of events.
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'Lenin was moving around in secret,
being hunted by the police.'
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'For me, this is the real turning
point of 20th-century history.'
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00:00:47,740 --> 00:00:51,500
This is the moment when one man
makes all the difference.
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00:00:51,500 --> 00:00:56,580
The insurrection Lenin led
still inspires fierce debate.
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00:00:56,580 --> 00:01:01,100
'Did they want a Bolshevik
government led by Vladimir Lenin?'
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Miserable BLEEP traitors!
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I don't think so.
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00:01:05,500 --> 00:01:09,020
The masses are tired of words
and resolutions!
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How the hell is that a coup d'etat?
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'He is motivated by a vision
of an alternative world.'
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These people should be shot
for their incompetence!
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His object was not to convince
or persuade anyone,
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it was to destroy them.
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The system Lenin, Trotsky and Stalin
created a century ago
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shapes the world we live in today.
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Putin really understands
the October Revolution.
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In many ways, he's one
of the results of it.
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This is the countdown
of the 245 days
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that brought three men from
obscurity to supreme power,
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forging a brave and bloody
new world.
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February 1917.
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Russia is ready to explode.
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Its royalty, the Tsars,
have ruled with an iron fist
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for four centuries.
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EXPLOSION
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00:02:13,020 --> 00:02:16,460
Its men are dying in the millions
in World War I.
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Its women and children are starving.
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But the Tsar rejects any change.
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JEERING AND SHOUTING
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On February 23rd, Russia erupts.
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The masses of Petrograd
take over the capital
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and force the Tsar to abdicate.
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Here, dramatized in October,
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Sergei Eisenstein's propaganda film
made ten years after the revolution.
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Yet the men we most associate
with the Russian Revolution
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aren't even in the country.
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Lenin, Trotsky and Stalin
miss the February Revolution.
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Lenin is in Zurich, having been
exiled for nearly 17 years
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as a dangerous revolutionary.
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KNOCKING
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Haven't you heard?
There's been a revolution!
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I've heard this sort of rumour
before.
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It's probably German propaganda.
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00:03:29,420 --> 00:03:34,460
Just days before the February
Revolution, Lenin had confessed...
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Revolution might not happen
in our lifetime.
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We must go home.
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The one thing Lenin couldn't bear
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was that the revolution,
now it's come,
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is going to happen without him.
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00:04:04,220 --> 00:04:09,140
He was absolutely tormented
about getting back
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and seizing control
before someone else did.
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00:04:15,500 --> 00:04:20,180
Lenin's drive for power may have
its origins in a family trauma.
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Until 1889,
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Lenin is really a fairly
average schoolboy
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from a provincial town, Simbirsk.
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00:04:32,220 --> 00:04:34,220
But his brother, Aleksandr,
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00:04:34,220 --> 00:04:39,700
has been a activist in the main
terrorist revolutionary group,
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00:04:39,700 --> 00:04:44,420
the People's Will, involved in an
attempt to assassinate the Tsar,
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00:04:44,420 --> 00:04:46,580
arrested and executed.
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00:04:48,620 --> 00:04:53,460
And I think it's partly in revenge
for that family tragedy
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that he is so bent on destruction.
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Lenin becomes an ardent Marxist.
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00:05:00,980 --> 00:05:06,100
By 1903, he's head of his own
radical party, the Bolsheviks.
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00:05:10,700 --> 00:05:15,020
Soon after, Leon Trotsky hears
about the February Revolution
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00:05:15,020 --> 00:05:18,340
while avoiding the Russian
authorities in New York.
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00:05:19,420 --> 00:05:24,580
'Trotsky was very much
the showman, the orator,'
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00:05:24,580 --> 00:05:27,420
the real firebrand
of the revolution.
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00:05:28,980 --> 00:05:31,420
He was a very glamorous figure.
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He was a terrific speaker, real
rabble-rouser, and he knew it.
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CHEERING
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Born Lev Bronstein, Trotsky has
been a Marxist rebel from youth.
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He had an interesting background.
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He came from the Black Sea coast,
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he was the son of a very rich
Jewish farmer.
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He'd had a wonderful education,
he was highly cultured,
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00:05:57,020 --> 00:05:59,980
he was an internationalist,
he'd been all over the world,
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00:05:59,980 --> 00:06:02,540
he's been in New York
and round Europe and Vienna.
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00:06:04,420 --> 00:06:09,020
He's known to be a difficult man,
abrasive, extremely charismatic,
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00:06:09,020 --> 00:06:13,380
sometimes hard to love but
absolutely impossible not to admire.
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00:06:14,580 --> 00:06:19,660
This independent revolutionary
has rivalled Lenin for 20 years.
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Soon, they'll have to work together.
90
00:06:27,220 --> 00:06:31,460
Days later, Joseph Stalin learns
of the February Revolution
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00:06:31,460 --> 00:06:35,660
while exiled for robbery
3,500 kilometres away
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00:06:35,660 --> 00:06:37,900
in Achinsky, Siberia.
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00:06:41,700 --> 00:06:44,220
'Just look at how attractive
Stalin was
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00:06:44,220 --> 00:06:46,620
'in the time leading up
to the revolution.'
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HE LAUGHS
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'Not only a published poet'
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but an anthologised poet,
very handsome,
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with a marvellous head of hair.
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00:06:57,380 --> 00:07:00,020
A great one for women.
100
00:07:01,300 --> 00:07:05,420
He's escaped six times
from Siberian exile
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and wanted what?
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Universal equality and justice.
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A completely attractive figure.
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Until he was in power.
105
00:07:19,780 --> 00:07:22,020
Stalin was the ultimate
man of action
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00:07:22,020 --> 00:07:25,580
and he became Lenin's chosen
favourite man of action.
107
00:07:27,940 --> 00:07:30,900
He was the master of assassinations,
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protection rackets, heists.
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Every revolutionary leader
needs a Stalin.
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Stalin...
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..Trotsky
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and Lenin.
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Three comrades in revolution
who now have barely 230 days
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to change the world.
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CHEERING
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They return to a country in turmoil.
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The overthrow of the Tsar
in the February Revolution
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has unleashed wild euphoria.
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00:08:07,660 --> 00:08:09,940
People were partying in the streets,
120
00:08:09,940 --> 00:08:12,540
soldiers were, sort of,
driving around in cars,
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00:08:12,540 --> 00:08:15,620
tooting their horns with, sort of,
half undressed girls.
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00:08:15,620 --> 00:08:18,300
People were having sex
in the street.
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00:08:18,300 --> 00:08:21,340
There were a multitude of political
factions and parties
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00:08:21,340 --> 00:08:23,940
and everyone was having meetings
about everything.
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00:08:23,940 --> 00:08:25,620
So, it was total anarchy.
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00:08:27,180 --> 00:08:29,020
It was an explosion,
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which meant all rules were destroyed
and it was a chance to start again.
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We're talking about,
in aspiration, you know,
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00:08:36,740 --> 00:08:41,580
a fundamental reconfiguring of the
way human beings live in the world.
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00:08:43,260 --> 00:08:48,340
Lenin arrives at a time when there
is an enormous amount of hope
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00:08:48,340 --> 00:08:51,620
and a sense that this
is still a new Russia.
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April 4th,
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the Bolsheviks' few thousand
supporters await Lenin in Petrograd,
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00:08:59,500 --> 00:09:01,340
now St Petersburg.
135
00:09:01,340 --> 00:09:04,980
It was Easter Monday and so
the factories weren't working
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00:09:04,980 --> 00:09:07,620
so they did manage to get
a big crowd in,
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00:09:07,620 --> 00:09:09,700
partly by the promise of free beer,
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00:09:09,700 --> 00:09:13,140
which, actually, sadly
didn't arrive for any of them.
139
00:09:14,140 --> 00:09:18,780
They've got fantastic arc lighting
and it made it look terrific.
140
00:09:21,420 --> 00:09:24,700
The converted, the supporters,
the acolytes, the underground,
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00:09:24,700 --> 00:09:27,700
the revolutionaries
were there to meet him.
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00:09:27,700 --> 00:09:29,460
But the vast majority of people
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00:09:29,460 --> 00:09:31,900
didn't even really know
who Lenin was.
144
00:09:33,420 --> 00:09:37,180
After two decades of studying
the theory of revolution,
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00:09:37,180 --> 00:09:41,940
Lenin arrives with radical ideas
on what Russia should do now.
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He had an idea of the revolution
in his head
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00:09:47,180 --> 00:09:49,260
before he'd even got back to Russia
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00:09:49,260 --> 00:09:51,860
to see what the real
possibilities were.
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00:09:55,460 --> 00:09:59,420
Lenin is ready to test his theories
on real people.
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00:09:59,420 --> 00:10:02,140
He has no time
for other politicians.
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'A delegation greet him
rather nervously.
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'He doesn't even answer them.'
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00:10:13,020 --> 00:10:15,860
Instead, he gives a speech
to the crowds.
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Sailors...
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00:10:17,660 --> 00:10:20,660
soldiers, comrades...
156
00:10:21,780 --> 00:10:25,180
..this is no time for compromise
or diplomatic phrases.
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00:10:26,220 --> 00:10:30,460
This is the time to move towards
building a socialist state.
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00:10:30,460 --> 00:10:32,740
CHEERING
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00:10:32,740 --> 00:10:34,980
As soon as he arrives
back in Russia,
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00:10:34,980 --> 00:10:40,420
he calls for his party to agitate
for a new revolution.
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The piratical, imperialist war...
162
00:10:42,700 --> 00:10:45,980
Even Lenin's own party,
the Bolsheviks, were shocked.
163
00:10:45,980 --> 00:10:50,380
..and the hour is not far distant
when the people will turn their arms
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00:10:50,380 --> 00:10:53,020
against their capitalist exploiters.
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00:10:53,020 --> 00:10:57,940
'The political conversation was all
about a bourgeois democracy.'
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It was all about elections
that were going to happen.
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'It was all about coalitions
of groups.'
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Lenin didn't want any of that.
169
00:11:06,060 --> 00:11:09,900
Lenin wants a second revolution to
overthrow the provisional government
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that has been set up.
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00:11:11,940 --> 00:11:15,820
He calls instead for the country
to be run by Soviets -
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00:11:15,820 --> 00:11:19,020
committees of workers,
soldiers and peasants.
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00:11:20,060 --> 00:11:24,100
He was suggesting that they should
seize power pretty much immediately.
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The worldwide revolution
has already dawned.
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'The party was absolutely confused,'
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00:11:29,500 --> 00:11:32,420
bewildered and amazed
by what Lenin said.
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00:11:32,420 --> 00:11:34,460
And a lot of them thought
he'd gone mad.
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The people want peace.
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00:11:36,700 --> 00:11:39,140
They want bread and land.
180
00:11:40,140 --> 00:11:43,220
They give you war and hunger.
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00:11:43,220 --> 00:11:47,060
And the landowners still have
all the land.
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He coins the first big slogan -
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land for the peasants,
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00:11:52,700 --> 00:11:54,660
peace, an end to war
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and bread.
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00:11:56,380 --> 00:11:58,260
Feed the poor.
187
00:11:58,260 --> 00:12:02,780
Simple words, but behind each
lies a whole set of policies.
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The same way that the entire...
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00:12:04,740 --> 00:12:06,420
The crowd love it.
190
00:12:06,420 --> 00:12:09,060
Those in power just laugh.
191
00:12:10,180 --> 00:12:13,300
A lot of liberal politicians were
saying, "Forget it, don't worry,
192
00:12:13,300 --> 00:12:16,940
"Lenin is a busted flush, he's lost
his mind, basically an anarchist,
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00:12:16,940 --> 00:12:19,180
"we don't need to worry about him."
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00:12:19,180 --> 00:12:23,740
Scant months later, this is the most
powerful single person in Russia.
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00:12:24,740 --> 00:12:27,700
Sailors, comrades...
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00:12:27,700 --> 00:12:31,420
we have to fight
for a socialist revolution.
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00:12:31,420 --> 00:12:33,180
Fight to the end!
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00:12:35,020 --> 00:12:38,460
Long live the worldwide
socialist revolution!
199
00:12:38,460 --> 00:12:40,460
CHEERING
200
00:12:41,540 --> 00:12:46,820
'People would recognise Lenin as a
very modern political phenomenon.'
201
00:12:46,820 --> 00:12:50,020
He believed totally that the ends
justify the means.
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That winning is all, that power
is all that really matters.
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00:12:53,100 --> 00:12:55,020
APPLAUSE
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00:12:55,020 --> 00:12:58,780
There was still huge disagreement
about Lenin's motives.
205
00:12:59,820 --> 00:13:02,420
Power on its own for him
was nothing.
206
00:13:02,420 --> 00:13:04,980
He really wasn't interested in that.
207
00:13:04,980 --> 00:13:10,380
It was power to make big changes
in society.
208
00:13:11,500 --> 00:13:17,260
'He is motivated by a vision
of an alternative world.'
209
00:13:17,260 --> 00:13:20,500
The end of a society dominated
by profit.
210
00:13:20,500 --> 00:13:23,260
What motivates Lenin is power.
211
00:13:23,260 --> 00:13:26,220
Power is all that matters
in a revolution.
212
00:13:26,220 --> 00:13:29,020
That is how Lenin understands
revolution.
213
00:13:29,020 --> 00:13:32,500
You have to have power
before you can do anything.
214
00:13:32,500 --> 00:13:35,900
So principle goes out the window
in the struggle for power,
215
00:13:35,900 --> 00:13:37,980
as far as Lenin is concerned.
216
00:13:44,500 --> 00:13:47,980
Spring turns to summer,
but the provisional government
217
00:13:47,980 --> 00:13:50,980
is unable to solve
the country's problems.
218
00:13:50,980 --> 00:13:54,660
Yet most Russians still have faith
in this man -
219
00:13:54,660 --> 00:13:58,020
Minister of War Alexander Kerensky.
220
00:13:58,020 --> 00:14:02,180
'Alexander Kerensky was really
the first love of the revolution.'
221
00:14:02,180 --> 00:14:04,380
The intelligentsia adored him.
222
00:14:05,540 --> 00:14:08,100
I don't care, General.
The men will manage.
223
00:14:08,100 --> 00:14:10,460
'What became known as
the Kerensky cult'
224
00:14:10,460 --> 00:14:12,740
becomes absolutely out of control.
225
00:14:12,740 --> 00:14:16,220
So you have pamphlet after pamphlet
describing him literally
226
00:14:16,220 --> 00:14:17,980
as a divine figure.
227
00:14:17,980 --> 00:14:19,380
Immediately.
228
00:14:22,460 --> 00:14:25,500
'He is convinced of his own
historical mission'
229
00:14:25,500 --> 00:14:29,020
and part of his historical mission
is to turn the war around.
230
00:14:32,020 --> 00:14:34,900
Despite the popular opposition
to the war,
231
00:14:34,900 --> 00:14:37,380
Kerensky orders a new offensive.
232
00:14:39,020 --> 00:14:41,580
So the offensive is launched
on the 16th of June.
233
00:14:41,580 --> 00:14:45,020
It goes forward for a couple of
days, the Germans counterattack,
234
00:14:45,020 --> 00:14:47,420
the Russians run back.
There's chaos.
235
00:14:49,060 --> 00:14:52,020
They lost hundreds of thousands
of men within a week
236
00:14:52,020 --> 00:14:54,620
and this played totally
into the hands of Lenin.
237
00:14:57,020 --> 00:14:59,740
Lenin, who'd been saying
that war is a bad thing,
238
00:14:59,740 --> 00:15:03,460
that he would provide instant peace,
suddenly became incredibly popular.
239
00:15:03,460 --> 00:15:05,700
And so did the Bolshevik Party.
240
00:15:08,260 --> 00:15:12,700
When Kerensky orders more soldiers
to leave Petrograd for the front,
241
00:15:12,700 --> 00:15:14,700
they refuse to obey.
242
00:15:15,700 --> 00:15:19,940
Their determined resistance
spreads to front-line troops.
243
00:15:26,460 --> 00:15:28,420
By July the 4th,
244
00:15:28,420 --> 00:15:31,900
thousands of deserters join
anti-government demonstrations
245
00:15:31,900 --> 00:15:33,620
in Petrograd.
246
00:15:34,980 --> 00:15:38,620
It looks like Lenin's second
revolution has arrived.
247
00:15:39,980 --> 00:15:43,940
But are Lenin and the Bolsheviks
ready to take power?
248
00:15:44,980 --> 00:15:48,780
The front-page editorial
in the party paper, Pravda,
249
00:15:48,780 --> 00:15:52,100
had meant to tell the crowds
to stay home.
250
00:15:52,100 --> 00:15:55,020
You should all be thrashed for this.
251
00:15:55,020 --> 00:15:58,340
'When it becomes clear that
this will simply look ridiculous
252
00:15:58,340 --> 00:16:00,780
'with this enormous
mass demonstration,
253
00:16:00,780 --> 00:16:04,900
'it is too late for the Bolsheviks
to come up with another line.'
254
00:16:06,900 --> 00:16:10,020
They just pull it and they
have no time to replace it,
255
00:16:10,020 --> 00:16:14,580
so it comes out with a rather
pregnant blank right at its front.
256
00:16:16,740 --> 00:16:20,060
The Bolsheviks look utterly
confused.
257
00:16:20,060 --> 00:16:23,020
Lenin had been calling for
the provisional government
258
00:16:23,020 --> 00:16:26,620
to be thrown out and replaced
by the more radical Soviets.
259
00:16:28,740 --> 00:16:31,980
Now, thousands are ready
to do just that...
260
00:16:31,980 --> 00:16:33,740
is he?
261
00:16:36,260 --> 00:16:37,980
'They were screaming,
262
00:16:37,980 --> 00:16:40,980
'"Show us leadership.
Seize power right now, Lenin."
263
00:16:40,980 --> 00:16:42,740
'And Lenin was hedging.
264
00:16:42,740 --> 00:16:45,820
'He was wondering what the hell
to do, how to manage this.'
265
00:16:45,820 --> 00:16:49,700
Because he realised that if this
went wrong he could be destroyed.
266
00:16:51,980 --> 00:16:54,780
'When Lenin steps out
onto that balcony,'
267
00:16:54,780 --> 00:16:57,020
perhaps he loses his nerve.
268
00:16:57,020 --> 00:17:00,260
He doesn't really know what to say.
269
00:17:02,980 --> 00:17:05,340
We always wanted this
to be peaceful.
270
00:17:06,380 --> 00:17:08,180
With no violence.
271
00:17:12,500 --> 00:17:17,340
The Bolshevik call to give power
to the Soviets will win one day.
272
00:17:19,460 --> 00:17:22,700
Despite the zigzags of history.
273
00:17:25,060 --> 00:17:28,500
But maybe not today.
274
00:17:34,380 --> 00:17:36,620
Why did Lenin hesitate?
275
00:17:37,660 --> 00:17:40,220
'Perhaps he's slightly intimidated.'
276
00:17:41,140 --> 00:17:43,980
This is a man who lived
in books and libraries,
277
00:17:43,980 --> 00:17:47,220
a man who'd been abroad
for 15 years,
278
00:17:47,220 --> 00:17:49,500
who'd never really confronted
279
00:17:49,500 --> 00:17:52,020
angry workers like that before.
280
00:17:52,020 --> 00:17:56,980
And perhaps also an element
of cowardice creeps in here.
281
00:17:56,980 --> 00:18:00,460
He was not one for mounting
the barricades.
282
00:18:00,460 --> 00:18:03,420
He was, often it was remarked,
the first to run
283
00:18:03,420 --> 00:18:06,060
when the going got dangerous.
284
00:18:08,420 --> 00:18:11,580
'He was not intimidated at all.'
285
00:18:11,580 --> 00:18:14,740
To be able to say to a whirling mass
286
00:18:14,740 --> 00:18:18,900
of 20,000, to 30,000,
to 40,000 workers, no.
287
00:18:20,020 --> 00:18:25,380
There is a time to strike and there
is a time to bite our lips.
288
00:18:27,740 --> 00:18:31,860
'That, to me,
is a sign of greatness.'
289
00:18:39,220 --> 00:18:43,420
One wrong move on our part
could wreck everything.
290
00:18:45,260 --> 00:18:48,540
'He just knew that...'
291
00:18:48,540 --> 00:18:52,380
this would be used as a provocation
by the counterrevolution
292
00:18:52,380 --> 00:18:54,060
to crush them.
293
00:18:54,060 --> 00:18:58,060
That the movement wasn't strong
enough to take power.
294
00:18:59,460 --> 00:19:03,620
We are still an insignificant
minority.
295
00:19:07,020 --> 00:19:09,660
Time is on our side.
296
00:19:22,100 --> 00:19:25,620
It was a little more
than a demonstration.
297
00:19:27,420 --> 00:19:29,940
A lot less than a revolution.
298
00:19:31,380 --> 00:19:36,580
Perhaps the fact that he bottles it,
essentially, on the 4th of July,
299
00:19:36,580 --> 00:19:39,540
is because in the back of his head
he's thinking,
300
00:19:39,540 --> 00:19:42,980
"Crikey, this could fail
and then they'll come for me."
301
00:19:42,980 --> 00:19:44,980
GUNFIRE
302
00:19:47,660 --> 00:19:50,460
For Lenin, timing is everything,
303
00:19:50,460 --> 00:19:52,420
and he proves correct.
304
00:19:52,420 --> 00:19:54,780
The revolt collapses the next day
305
00:19:54,780 --> 00:19:57,900
amidst a hail of bullets
from government snipers.
306
00:19:59,860 --> 00:20:03,020
Kerensky then goes after
the Bolshevik Party.
307
00:20:03,020 --> 00:20:07,140
He ordered the arrest of 800
party members, including Lenin,
308
00:20:07,140 --> 00:20:08,780
for high treason.
309
00:20:10,220 --> 00:20:13,460
The July days left Lenin isolated.
310
00:20:13,460 --> 00:20:18,460
To stay in Petrograd, he'd face
arrest and possibly being shot,
311
00:20:18,460 --> 00:20:21,620
and he knew he had to escape
somewhere.
312
00:20:22,980 --> 00:20:26,060
He felt all chance had gone.
313
00:20:28,980 --> 00:20:33,220
With the Bolsheviks in ruins,
Lenin goes into hiding.
314
00:20:33,220 --> 00:20:37,180
There is a 200,000 rouble bounty
on his head.
315
00:20:38,260 --> 00:20:41,660
He must now rely on his Lieutenant,
Joseph Stalin,
316
00:20:41,660 --> 00:20:43,980
to mastermind his escape.
317
00:20:43,980 --> 00:20:46,220
'Now they were going underground
again.
318
00:20:46,220 --> 00:20:50,220
'Stalin, the master of the black
arts, was essential to Lenin.'
319
00:20:52,260 --> 00:20:56,460
'Stalin was the boy in the back room
who watched what was happening'
320
00:20:56,460 --> 00:21:01,060
and made himself useful as
and when the moment came.
321
00:21:02,220 --> 00:21:06,900
'There he was, helps Lenin shave off
his very distinctive little goatee.
322
00:21:08,100 --> 00:21:10,540
'They give him a dreadful wig
and a worker's cap,'
323
00:21:10,540 --> 00:21:13,620
and smuggle him out
across into Finland.
324
00:21:15,420 --> 00:21:18,500
With Lenin gone
and Trotsky arrested,
325
00:21:18,500 --> 00:21:21,700
Stalin finds himself
the unlikely leader
326
00:21:21,700 --> 00:21:23,940
of the shattered Bolshevik Party.
327
00:21:24,980 --> 00:21:27,180
'Lenin trusted Stalin.'
328
00:21:28,420 --> 00:21:31,460
He carried secret messages,
he set up by the machinery
329
00:21:31,460 --> 00:21:35,460
whereby Lenin could communicate
from a barn out in Finland
330
00:21:35,460 --> 00:21:39,180
with the Bolshevik machine
inside Petrograd.
331
00:21:39,180 --> 00:21:41,740
All of these things, Stalin managed.
332
00:21:41,740 --> 00:21:45,020
And it was now that Stalin
became the key person
333
00:21:45,020 --> 00:21:47,900
behind Lenin in the revolution.
334
00:21:48,900 --> 00:21:50,980
The interesting thing about Stalin,
335
00:21:50,980 --> 00:21:54,220
he played this incredibly subtle
waiting game.
336
00:21:54,220 --> 00:21:56,940
He was very much there
in the shadows,
337
00:21:56,940 --> 00:22:00,100
watching, waiting, learning.
338
00:22:03,700 --> 00:22:08,420
While the Bolsheviks rot in jail,
flee or go underground,
339
00:22:08,420 --> 00:22:11,660
things are looking up
for Alexander Kerensky.
340
00:22:11,660 --> 00:22:14,140
He is now Prime Minister.
341
00:22:15,260 --> 00:22:17,980
After the aborted
Bolshevik uprising,
342
00:22:17,980 --> 00:22:21,700
he appoints Siberian General
Lavr Kornilov
343
00:22:21,700 --> 00:22:24,140
to restore order in Petrograd.
344
00:22:26,020 --> 00:22:29,180
'Kornilov could see that the
Bolsheviks were gearing up
345
00:22:29,180 --> 00:22:31,220
'to try and take over.
346
00:22:31,220 --> 00:22:34,700
'He desperately wanted to round up
the belligerent revolutionaries,
347
00:22:34,700 --> 00:22:37,060
'the Bolsheviks, slam them in jail
348
00:22:37,060 --> 00:22:41,140
'and impose almost a military
government on the city'
349
00:22:41,140 --> 00:22:45,380
because he saw that as the only way
of saving the situation.
350
00:22:46,700 --> 00:22:49,060
'The right-wing, the conservatives,
351
00:22:49,060 --> 00:22:51,980
'are beginning to rally around
Kornilov quite explicitly
352
00:22:51,980 --> 00:22:54,340
'as a figure who can bring order
to Russia.'
353
00:22:55,460 --> 00:22:58,420
Kerensky worries the General
wants to rule Russia
354
00:22:58,420 --> 00:23:00,420
as a military dictator.
355
00:23:01,460 --> 00:23:04,500
'There's no question that Kerensky
was quite paranoid,'
356
00:23:04,500 --> 00:23:07,940
but there's also not much question
that people were out to get him.
357
00:23:08,980 --> 00:23:11,740
Just days after appointing
the General,
358
00:23:11,740 --> 00:23:14,860
Kerensky dismisses him
in a telegram.
359
00:23:17,740 --> 00:23:21,260
But the General's troops
advance on Petrograd.
360
00:23:21,260 --> 00:23:25,900
Ironically, it takes Bolshevik
activists to save the city.
361
00:23:29,620 --> 00:23:33,580
Bolshevik agitators from within
the army, soldiers,
362
00:23:33,580 --> 00:23:36,780
went and spoke to the Kornilov
soldiers and said,
363
00:23:36,780 --> 00:23:39,460
"Do you know why you're being
brought to Petrograd?
364
00:23:39,460 --> 00:23:42,660
"To attack us, to kill
your brothers and sisters.
365
00:23:42,660 --> 00:23:44,900
"Is this what you're coming to do?"
366
00:23:47,780 --> 00:23:52,140
And the descriptions of this event
are that Kornilov's army
367
00:23:52,140 --> 00:23:54,940
melted away
in front of his very eyes.
368
00:24:00,020 --> 00:24:03,020
In an extraordinary reversal
of fortune,
369
00:24:03,020 --> 00:24:07,060
the Bolsheviks are now seen
as the saviours of Petrograd.
370
00:24:07,060 --> 00:24:08,940
MUSIC
371
00:24:17,140 --> 00:24:20,260
Kerensky's credibility
lies in tatters.
372
00:24:20,260 --> 00:24:24,620
He's reduced to keeping himself
going with cocaine and morphine.
373
00:24:29,220 --> 00:24:33,060
'So, rather than buttress
his power base, in fact,
374
00:24:33,060 --> 00:24:37,900
'the defeat of Kornilov only played
into the hands of the left.'
375
00:24:39,700 --> 00:24:41,380
It's hard for me.
376
00:24:42,460 --> 00:24:45,260
I struggle with the left
and with the right.
377
00:24:45,260 --> 00:24:48,300
The people demand that I lean
on one and then the other.
378
00:24:49,300 --> 00:24:52,620
I want to take a middle road
but nobody will help me.
379
00:24:53,980 --> 00:24:59,060
'How could you roll out democracy
in a country like that?'
380
00:24:59,060 --> 00:25:03,260
So I think it was always inevitable
that this anarchic force
381
00:25:03,260 --> 00:25:05,780
which splintered the country
into revolution
382
00:25:05,780 --> 00:25:09,420
was never going to quickly shuffle
the pieces and put them back
383
00:25:09,420 --> 00:25:12,660
into a neat jigsaw puzzle
which was a proper democracy.
384
00:25:12,660 --> 00:25:14,500
That wasn't going to happen.
385
00:25:14,500 --> 00:25:16,980
The Kornilov coup created
the situation
386
00:25:16,980 --> 00:25:20,740
where you had a government
with no real power.
387
00:25:20,740 --> 00:25:22,420
With power ebbing away.
388
00:25:22,420 --> 00:25:25,780
A leader with no real prestige.
389
00:25:25,780 --> 00:25:30,940
And the opportunity, the vacuum,
into which someone, somewhere,
390
00:25:30,940 --> 00:25:33,020
could seize power.
391
00:25:33,020 --> 00:25:37,260
And that someone, Lenin was
determined, would be the Bolsheviks.
392
00:25:47,740 --> 00:25:52,500
The Bolshevik resurgence begins when
Kerensky releases them from jail.
393
00:25:52,500 --> 00:25:57,220
While locked up, Leon Trotsky has
finally joined Lenin's party.
394
00:25:58,300 --> 00:26:00,580
Crowds flock to hear him speak.
395
00:26:02,220 --> 00:26:05,100
Trotsky was the great celebrity
of the revolution.
396
00:26:05,100 --> 00:26:07,900
He was much more famous than Lenin,
not to speak of Stalin.
397
00:26:08,980 --> 00:26:14,420
'Trotsky was probably the most
brilliant intellectual mind'
398
00:26:14,420 --> 00:26:18,220
produced in tsarist Russia,
399
00:26:18,220 --> 00:26:19,900
including Lenin.
400
00:26:21,260 --> 00:26:25,020
'Lenin knew that Stalin and Trotsky
were his two chief supporters
401
00:26:25,020 --> 00:26:27,460
'in pushing for
the October Revolution,
402
00:26:27,460 --> 00:26:31,300
'so Stalin and Trotsky had actually
had a lot in common politically.'
403
00:26:31,300 --> 00:26:34,820
But it was personally that they
absolutely loathed each other.
404
00:26:36,780 --> 00:26:41,020
Their animosity only grows when
Trotsky replaces Stalin
405
00:26:41,020 --> 00:26:43,300
as interim leader.
406
00:26:43,300 --> 00:26:46,140
Stalin was very valuable
behind the scenes.
407
00:26:47,260 --> 00:26:51,660
He did have a knack of convincing
the average run of leaders,
408
00:26:51,660 --> 00:26:54,180
especially the provincials.
409
00:26:54,180 --> 00:26:56,140
APPLAUSE
410
00:26:58,260 --> 00:27:01,380
The time for words has passed.
411
00:27:02,980 --> 00:27:05,900
The country stands on the edge
of ruin.
412
00:27:06,940 --> 00:27:09,540
The Army demand peace.
413
00:27:10,460 --> 00:27:12,900
The peasants demand land.
414
00:27:13,940 --> 00:27:16,540
The workers demand work and food.
415
00:27:17,620 --> 00:27:20,900
The coalition government
is against the people.
416
00:27:22,700 --> 00:27:26,940
The government is a tool in the
hands of the enemies of the people.
417
00:27:26,940 --> 00:27:29,140
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
418
00:27:29,140 --> 00:27:32,500
The time for words has passed!
419
00:27:34,260 --> 00:27:39,660
Trotsky's individualism and panache
is not always trusted by Lenin.
420
00:27:40,940 --> 00:27:43,300
'Trotsky writes,
"Lenin was worried,'
421
00:27:43,300 --> 00:27:46,060
"suspicious of
my non-Bolshevik past,'
422
00:27:46,060 --> 00:27:49,100
"wondering, have I got
the capacity to do it,
423
00:27:49,100 --> 00:27:53,380
"and I had to constantly reassure
him, do not worry, Comrade Lenin,
424
00:27:53,380 --> 00:27:56,260
"it's going to happen.
We are doing it."
425
00:27:57,460 --> 00:28:00,220
All power to the Soviets!
426
00:28:00,220 --> 00:28:02,260
CHEERING
427
00:28:02,260 --> 00:28:05,340
Immediate Armistice on all fronts!
428
00:28:06,940 --> 00:28:09,780
Land to the peasants!
429
00:28:09,780 --> 00:28:11,660
CHEERING
430
00:28:15,340 --> 00:28:18,980
He's sort of arrogant
and that's his Achilles heel
431
00:28:18,980 --> 00:28:22,220
because people don't like arrogance
in the party.
432
00:28:22,220 --> 00:28:25,220
Trotsky felt it should all
be delivered to him
433
00:28:25,220 --> 00:28:27,700
because of that brilliance.
434
00:28:27,700 --> 00:28:32,940
And he would read...
ostentatiously read French novels
435
00:28:32,940 --> 00:28:36,860
during meetings of the politburo,
436
00:28:36,860 --> 00:28:41,140
to show how, erm,
above all this he was.
437
00:28:43,140 --> 00:28:47,660
When Lenin was asked what had kept
he and Trotsky apart for so long,
438
00:28:47,660 --> 00:28:49,380
he answered...
439
00:28:49,380 --> 00:28:50,980
Don't you know?
440
00:28:50,980 --> 00:28:52,420
Ambition.
441
00:28:53,540 --> 00:28:54,860
Ambition.
442
00:28:56,460 --> 00:28:58,100
Ambition.
443
00:29:01,020 --> 00:29:04,020
Now they share an ambition -
real power.
444
00:29:05,140 --> 00:29:10,220
While hiding in Finland, Lenin makes
the biggest decision of his life.
445
00:29:10,220 --> 00:29:13,340
The time is ripe for his revolution.
446
00:29:14,500 --> 00:29:17,260
'By then, everyone was sick
of the war.'
447
00:29:17,260 --> 00:29:19,700
They were sick
of the food shortages.
448
00:29:19,700 --> 00:29:22,020
People were openly saying
on the streets,
449
00:29:22,020 --> 00:29:24,780
"Do you know what,
we don't care who's in power.
450
00:29:24,780 --> 00:29:27,780
"If they like, the Germans
can come and take Petrograd."
451
00:29:30,020 --> 00:29:31,700
From mid-September,
452
00:29:31,700 --> 00:29:36,740
Lenin bombards the Bolsheviks with
letters insisting they seize power.
453
00:29:36,740 --> 00:29:42,460
"The present task must be an armed
uprising in Petrograd and Moscow,
454
00:29:42,460 --> 00:29:46,980
"the seizing of power and the
overthrow of the government."
455
00:29:49,940 --> 00:29:52,980
'Lenin was a complete monomaniac.'
456
00:29:52,980 --> 00:29:55,020
He's like a boiling pot.
457
00:29:55,020 --> 00:29:57,460
All the time, you can hear
the lid rattling.
458
00:29:57,460 --> 00:30:01,020
He gets more and more furious
and the bubbles are bubbling up.
459
00:30:01,020 --> 00:30:05,740
"It would be naive to wait for a
formal majority for Bolsheviks.
460
00:30:05,740 --> 00:30:09,060
"No, revolution ever waits
for that."
461
00:30:09,060 --> 00:30:11,660
He brewed himself up
extraordinarily
462
00:30:11,660 --> 00:30:14,740
and twisted himself up into anger
463
00:30:14,740 --> 00:30:18,180
and his flashes of anger
were terrifying.
464
00:30:18,180 --> 00:30:25,060
"History will not forgive us
if we do not assume power now.
465
00:30:25,060 --> 00:30:28,740
'Lenin is raging
that we are about to lose'
466
00:30:28,740 --> 00:30:33,300
the one-off opportunity to seize
power, to seize Russia.
467
00:30:33,300 --> 00:30:35,900
"To wait would be utter idiocy."
468
00:30:37,580 --> 00:30:41,260
'The Bolshevik leadership
doesn't know what to do with these.
469
00:30:41,260 --> 00:30:43,980
'It thinks that they might be
inflammatory
470
00:30:43,980 --> 00:30:47,220
'and provoke an uprising
prematurely,'
471
00:30:47,220 --> 00:30:50,300
so they go as far as to destroying
these letters if they can.
472
00:30:58,700 --> 00:31:02,260
BLEEP traitors
to the proletarian cause!
473
00:31:03,460 --> 00:31:05,540
'When you read the letters,'
474
00:31:05,540 --> 00:31:08,500
my God, he could swear like
a trooper when he wanted to.
475
00:31:08,500 --> 00:31:10,100
He had a vicious tongue.
476
00:31:13,860 --> 00:31:17,700
Lenin realises that writing these
letters from his hiding place
477
00:31:17,700 --> 00:31:21,180
'is not enough. He's going to have
to face the central committee
478
00:31:21,180 --> 00:31:24,220
'to argue for this properly
and to win the argument.
479
00:31:24,220 --> 00:31:27,020
'And then he's going to have to
seize power immediately.'
480
00:31:28,100 --> 00:31:30,900
Suddenly we're in a state
of high drama here.
481
00:31:30,900 --> 00:31:33,260
You know, something has got to give.
482
00:31:33,260 --> 00:31:37,180
If the Bolsheviks don't seize power
now, somebody else might.
483
00:31:40,700 --> 00:31:45,300
By the beginning of October, Lenin
is beside himself with impatience.
484
00:31:46,340 --> 00:31:49,060
INDISTINCT CHATTER
485
00:31:56,980 --> 00:31:58,900
Comrade Lenin?
486
00:32:01,500 --> 00:32:06,060
On the night of October the 10th,
Lenin suddenly reappears,
487
00:32:06,060 --> 00:32:10,380
disguised as a Lutheran minister to
avoid capture by the authorities.
488
00:32:15,580 --> 00:32:18,540
The significance of the meeting
is world historical.
489
00:32:18,540 --> 00:32:21,020
History isn't always made
on battlefields.
490
00:32:21,020 --> 00:32:23,820
They're made in small meeting rooms.
491
00:32:23,820 --> 00:32:26,940
Since the beginning of September,
there has been a certain...
492
00:32:27,980 --> 00:32:31,900
..indifference to the idea
of seizing power.
493
00:32:33,460 --> 00:32:36,300
We must seize power now
494
00:32:36,300 --> 00:32:38,900
and not wait for the Soviets
or any congresses.
495
00:32:38,900 --> 00:32:40,940
The time is right now.
496
00:32:40,940 --> 00:32:43,900
The moment of decision has arrived.
497
00:32:47,060 --> 00:32:50,500
The masses are tired of words
and resolutions.
498
00:32:50,500 --> 00:32:52,980
The majority are behind us.
499
00:32:52,980 --> 00:32:55,740
The success of Russian
and worldwide revolution
500
00:32:55,740 --> 00:32:58,220
depends on two or three
days' struggle.
501
00:32:58,220 --> 00:33:00,500
If I may, Comrade Lenin.
502
00:33:00,500 --> 00:33:03,740
Trotsky wants to wait
to launch the uprising
503
00:33:03,740 --> 00:33:07,540
until after the upcoming
Congress of Soviets.
504
00:33:07,540 --> 00:33:11,260
This way, socialist delegates
from all over the country
505
00:33:11,260 --> 00:33:13,060
can back the insurrection.
506
00:33:14,060 --> 00:33:15,900
But Lenin disagrees.
507
00:33:16,980 --> 00:33:19,980
It's difficult for a large,
organised body of men
508
00:33:19,980 --> 00:33:22,420
to take swift, decisive action.
509
00:33:22,420 --> 00:33:26,500
We must act on the 25th,
the day that Congress sits,
510
00:33:26,500 --> 00:33:29,900
so that we may say to it,
"Here is our power.
511
00:33:31,180 --> 00:33:33,620
"What are you going to do with it?"
512
00:33:35,460 --> 00:33:38,700
'He hammers and hammers
and hammers the point
513
00:33:38,700 --> 00:33:41,700
'that if we don't act now
we'll lose our moment,'
514
00:33:41,700 --> 00:33:43,980
we'll never have a chance again.
515
00:33:43,980 --> 00:33:47,620
This is the only time
we will succeed.
516
00:33:47,620 --> 00:33:50,260
I don't think Lenin
was browbeating anyone.
517
00:33:50,260 --> 00:33:53,020
He was just arguing
that this is the time.
518
00:33:53,020 --> 00:33:56,140
Of course, they were vigorous
arguments.
519
00:33:57,340 --> 00:33:59,380
The argument is essential.
520
00:33:59,380 --> 00:34:04,980
Whether to seize power
or to form democratic alliances.
521
00:34:04,980 --> 00:34:08,140
'At this very moment,
the top Bolsheviks'
522
00:34:08,140 --> 00:34:11,380
start to say,
we should negotiate a coalition
523
00:34:11,380 --> 00:34:15,900
with other parties like the
Mensheviks, other rival factions.
524
00:34:15,900 --> 00:34:18,300
'This isn't the time to seize power,
525
00:34:18,300 --> 00:34:20,900
'we might lose everything
we have already.'
526
00:34:24,420 --> 00:34:26,540
I say we put it to the vote.
527
00:34:31,060 --> 00:34:34,300
When they began, at least half
the central committee
528
00:34:34,300 --> 00:34:36,420
was against armed insurrection.
529
00:34:37,980 --> 00:34:40,620
After ten hours arguing,
530
00:34:40,620 --> 00:34:44,420
the result goes 10-2
in Lenin's favour.
531
00:34:50,780 --> 00:34:53,140
'This is just the moment
when you realise'
532
00:34:53,140 --> 00:34:56,260
the absolute paramount power
of the individual in history,
533
00:34:56,260 --> 00:34:58,700
because, you know,
half the central committee,
534
00:34:58,700 --> 00:35:02,260
or even a majority of the central
committee of the Bolshevik Party
535
00:35:02,260 --> 00:35:04,940
doesn't want to seize power
in October 1917.
536
00:35:06,020 --> 00:35:10,020
'The fact that Lenin got the vote
and won the permission to go ahead
537
00:35:10,020 --> 00:35:12,460
'was entirely decisive.
538
00:35:12,460 --> 00:35:16,860
'This was indeed the cocking
of the pistol of revolution.'
539
00:35:20,460 --> 00:35:25,300
By October the 24th, Kerensky
is expecting an uprising,
540
00:35:25,300 --> 00:35:28,340
but he's still confident
he will prevail.
541
00:35:28,340 --> 00:35:30,180
It'll be like July again.
542
00:35:31,500 --> 00:35:34,620
I'll be prepared to offer prayers
to produce this uprising.
543
00:35:35,700 --> 00:35:38,140
I'll have greater forces
than necessary.
544
00:35:39,980 --> 00:35:42,140
They will be utterly crushed.
545
00:35:49,060 --> 00:35:50,900
LOUD THUD
546
00:36:04,260 --> 00:36:08,980
Kerensky's overconfidence
plays right into Lenin's hands.
547
00:36:08,980 --> 00:36:12,740
With Stalin in charge
of the Bolshevik press,
548
00:36:12,740 --> 00:36:16,380
Kerensky orders two
of the newspapers closed.
549
00:36:21,980 --> 00:36:25,980
Within hours, Stalin is free to get
the newspapers running again...
550
00:36:27,060 --> 00:36:29,300
..announcing Kerensky's censorship
551
00:36:29,300 --> 00:36:32,740
as the start of a full-blown
counterrevolution.
552
00:36:33,780 --> 00:36:36,860
Now, the Bolsheviks can start
their uprising
553
00:36:36,860 --> 00:36:40,380
under the pretext
of defending freedom.
554
00:36:40,380 --> 00:36:44,660
A lie always has a stronger effect
than the truth.
555
00:36:45,740 --> 00:36:48,580
The main thing is to obtain
one's objective.
556
00:36:53,660 --> 00:36:55,580
You've come a long way, comrades.
557
00:36:55,580 --> 00:36:57,820
As head of the Petrograd Soviet,
558
00:36:57,820 --> 00:37:00,420
Trotsky plays his part
in the deception.
559
00:37:00,420 --> 00:37:03,660
He orders that bridges
and key government buildings
560
00:37:03,660 --> 00:37:06,220
be seized to protect the city.
561
00:37:06,220 --> 00:37:07,660
He claims...
562
00:37:07,660 --> 00:37:10,100
This is defence, comrades,
563
00:37:10,100 --> 00:37:11,940
this is defence.
564
00:37:13,420 --> 00:37:15,420
He goes so far as to say...
565
00:37:15,420 --> 00:37:18,580
An armed conflict,
today or tomorrow,
566
00:37:18,580 --> 00:37:22,540
on the eve of the Soviet Congress,
is not in our plans.
567
00:37:32,060 --> 00:37:35,460
By that evening,
Lenin is convinced the hour,
568
00:37:35,460 --> 00:37:39,940
indeed the moment to seize power,
has finally arrived.
569
00:37:41,380 --> 00:37:44,420
Everything now hangs by a thread.
570
00:37:46,060 --> 00:37:50,620
The matter must be decided
without fail...
571
00:37:51,740 --> 00:37:53,380
..this evening.
572
00:37:55,020 --> 00:37:58,660
'Lenin has been told very
categorically by his comrades'
573
00:37:58,660 --> 00:38:02,180
to stay put
and he is crawling the walls.
574
00:38:02,180 --> 00:38:05,340
'He is desperate to be there,
to be in the thick of it.
575
00:38:07,180 --> 00:38:09,260
'Lenin's face is notorious
576
00:38:09,260 --> 00:38:12,700
'so what he does is
he puts on his disguise.
577
00:38:12,700 --> 00:38:17,420
'He puts on glasses, he puts on
a fairly ridiculous wig,
578
00:38:17,420 --> 00:38:19,940
'he puts on a battered worker's cap.
579
00:38:24,060 --> 00:38:28,020
'And finally he, sort of, swathes
some bandages around his face
580
00:38:28,020 --> 00:38:30,460
'to, sort of, look injured
in some way
581
00:38:30,460 --> 00:38:33,940
'and also simply to obscure
those notorious features.'
582
00:38:37,140 --> 00:38:39,660
He is wanted for high treason.
583
00:38:41,260 --> 00:38:44,340
Government troops are searching
the city for him.
584
00:38:46,020 --> 00:38:51,020
Now, he must risk capture to get
to Bolshevik headquarters.
585
00:38:51,020 --> 00:38:52,940
DOG BARKS
586
00:39:01,260 --> 00:39:05,940
'On his way, they're stopped by
one of the last police patrols'
587
00:39:05,940 --> 00:39:07,900
of the provisional government.
588
00:39:07,900 --> 00:39:09,900
HE MUMBLES
589
00:39:13,020 --> 00:39:17,460
'And they look at this man and think
he's some sort of drunk tramp...'
590
00:39:17,460 --> 00:39:21,100
What do you think? He's just drunk.
591
00:39:21,100 --> 00:39:23,140
..and let him go.
592
00:39:23,140 --> 00:39:24,980
Get out of here.
593
00:39:30,060 --> 00:39:35,900
For me, this is the real turning
point of 20th century history.
594
00:39:35,900 --> 00:39:38,780
This is the moment when one man
makes all the difference.
595
00:39:40,420 --> 00:39:42,900
'If Lenin had been arrested...
596
00:39:44,420 --> 00:39:47,940
'..they probably never would have
launched an insurrection.
597
00:39:48,980 --> 00:39:52,620
'But because those policemen
failed to recognise Lenin,'
598
00:39:52,620 --> 00:39:54,860
for whom there was a warrant
for arrest...
599
00:39:55,940 --> 00:39:58,140
..the insurrection took place.
600
00:40:09,060 --> 00:40:12,260
'Everything is happening
in a series of rooms
601
00:40:12,260 --> 00:40:15,180
'in the splendid Smolny Institute.
602
00:40:16,780 --> 00:40:20,460
'Lenin arrived at room 36, which
was the key room, the headquarters,'
603
00:40:20,460 --> 00:40:23,500
the engine room, the beating heart
of the revolution,
604
00:40:23,500 --> 00:40:27,540
'and there he found
all the key players.
605
00:40:27,540 --> 00:40:29,180
'There's Trotsky.
606
00:40:30,540 --> 00:40:32,260
'There's Stalin.
607
00:40:33,380 --> 00:40:35,860
'And they're running everything
from here.
608
00:40:38,980 --> 00:40:42,180
'There were soldiers playing cards,
smoking.
609
00:40:43,180 --> 00:40:45,220
'People sleeping.
610
00:40:45,220 --> 00:40:48,460
'People drinking vodka.
Some people drunk.
611
00:40:48,460 --> 00:40:50,540
'Soldiers rushing in with news'
612
00:40:50,540 --> 00:40:53,260
that this building or that building
had fallen.
613
00:40:53,260 --> 00:40:57,020
'At this moment in Russian history,
in world history,
614
00:40:57,020 --> 00:41:00,060
'these series of shambolic rooms
615
00:41:00,060 --> 00:41:05,140
'half encampment, half military
headquarters, half student bivouac,
616
00:41:05,140 --> 00:41:09,220
'are the centre of the world
and Lenin has to be in this room.'
617
00:41:12,060 --> 00:41:16,020
Lenin has always been called
the Father of the Revolution.
618
00:41:16,020 --> 00:41:21,380
But the man who ran the October
Revolution was not Lenin or Stalin.
619
00:41:22,460 --> 00:41:26,900
'Trotsky wasn't just a handsome face
and a great orator,
620
00:41:26,900 --> 00:41:30,020
'he was also
an organisational genius.
621
00:41:30,020 --> 00:41:34,180
'He put together the machinery,
the personnel, the plan.
622
00:41:34,180 --> 00:41:36,820
'It was Trotsky that gave
the orders.'
623
00:41:36,820 --> 00:41:38,660
Trotsky was the man of the hour.
624
00:41:43,260 --> 00:41:46,980
The Bolsheviks take control
of Petrograd overnight,
625
00:41:46,980 --> 00:41:50,780
just hours before the Congress
of Soviets is to meet.
626
00:41:50,780 --> 00:41:53,500
By the morning of October the 25th,
627
00:41:53,500 --> 00:41:56,260
only the Winter Palace
remains in the hands
628
00:41:56,260 --> 00:41:58,340
of the provisional government.
629
00:41:58,340 --> 00:42:01,420
'Kerensky is in cloud cuckoo land,
quite frankly.
630
00:42:01,420 --> 00:42:05,060
'And on the morning
of the 25th of October,
631
00:42:05,060 --> 00:42:08,700
'thinks, well, it might be time
to go and summon troops.
632
00:42:08,700 --> 00:42:11,260
'He can't get any on the telephone.'
633
00:42:11,260 --> 00:42:14,420
Of course, the Bolsheviks are
already in control of virtually
634
00:42:14,420 --> 00:42:16,900
'every means of communication
in the capital.'
635
00:42:22,260 --> 00:42:26,420
Though the provisional government
still occupies the Winter Palace,
636
00:42:26,420 --> 00:42:31,500
that afternoon, Trotsky announces
that the government has fallen.
637
00:42:31,500 --> 00:42:35,020
In the name of the military
revolutionary committee,
638
00:42:35,020 --> 00:42:40,580
I declare that the provisional
government is no more!
639
00:42:40,580 --> 00:42:42,780
CHEERING
640
00:42:42,780 --> 00:42:46,020
Well, talk about fake news.
It hasn't happened at all.
641
00:42:46,020 --> 00:42:48,220
It had meant to happen
by that point.
642
00:42:48,220 --> 00:42:51,700
The authority of
the provisional government,
643
00:42:51,700 --> 00:42:54,740
presided over by Kerensky,
644
00:42:54,740 --> 00:42:56,700
was a corpse
645
00:42:56,700 --> 00:43:00,900
that only awaited the broom
of history to sweep it away.
646
00:43:01,980 --> 00:43:05,020
Well, this was the first
Bolshevik lie
647
00:43:05,020 --> 00:43:09,260
of...of many of the next,
erm, the next 70 years.
648
00:43:09,260 --> 00:43:13,020
The Winter Palace is not yet taken
649
00:43:13,020 --> 00:43:18,060
but its fate will be settled in
the course of the next few minutes!
650
00:43:18,060 --> 00:43:20,060
CHEERING
651
00:43:21,020 --> 00:43:23,860
But the minutes drag into hours.
652
00:43:23,860 --> 00:43:26,900
Why haven't they seized power?
653
00:43:27,940 --> 00:43:30,580
'He was promised,
he was told by his military'
654
00:43:30,580 --> 00:43:33,180
that it would take
just three or four hours.
655
00:43:33,180 --> 00:43:35,260
For heaven's sake,
656
00:43:35,260 --> 00:43:39,300
why aren't shells being fired
into the Winter Palace?
657
00:43:39,300 --> 00:43:41,940
Why haven't they stormed it?
658
00:43:43,780 --> 00:43:46,700
'They couldn't find the artillery,
the guns didn't work,'
659
00:43:46,700 --> 00:43:49,700
they were blocked, could
anyone find anyone to work them?
660
00:43:49,700 --> 00:43:51,980
They needed a lantern
to give the signal
661
00:43:51,980 --> 00:43:53,980
but no-one could find a lantern.
662
00:43:53,980 --> 00:43:57,620
'There's a sort of hilarious crisis
where the Mayor of Petrograd
663
00:43:57,620 --> 00:43:59,740
'actually marches
in front of the troops
664
00:43:59,740 --> 00:44:02,700
'and stops the whole seizure
of the Winter Palace.
665
00:44:02,700 --> 00:44:06,260
'An entire group of men in frock
666
00:44:06,260 --> 00:44:09,100
'and saying, "You're not going to
seize power now."'
667
00:44:09,100 --> 00:44:12,660
They have to be moved out of the way
and still nothing has happened.
668
00:44:12,660 --> 00:44:15,260
By this point, Lenin is apoplectic.
669
00:44:16,260 --> 00:44:18,340
What the hell's going on?
670
00:44:18,340 --> 00:44:21,300
These people should be shot
for their incompetence!
671
00:44:22,980 --> 00:44:25,860
As long as ministers
are in the Palace,
672
00:44:25,860 --> 00:44:28,940
the provisional government
still stands.
673
00:44:30,020 --> 00:44:33,260
I think the seizure of
the Winter Palace is the key,
674
00:44:33,260 --> 00:44:36,020
'because until then
there's a Cabinet
675
00:44:36,020 --> 00:44:39,300
'sitting around a Cabinet table,
still running Russia.'
676
00:44:40,380 --> 00:44:42,500
And Lenin himself recognises this.
677
00:44:42,500 --> 00:44:46,700
This is why Lenin doesn't go to
the Congress or do anything else.
678
00:44:50,220 --> 00:44:53,260
Trotsky deals with
the other socialist parties
679
00:44:53,260 --> 00:44:55,700
at the Congress of Soviets.
680
00:44:55,700 --> 00:44:57,980
Having travelled
from all over Russia,
681
00:44:57,980 --> 00:45:02,220
they are shocked to find Petrograd
already seized by the Bolsheviks.
682
00:45:02,220 --> 00:45:06,700
But their protests are shouted down
by Trotsky's men.
683
00:45:06,700 --> 00:45:09,700
Trotsky has another strategy ready.
684
00:45:10,740 --> 00:45:15,380
'Trotsky's order of the day was that
if the people in the Winter Palace'
685
00:45:15,380 --> 00:45:17,220
didn't surrender,
686
00:45:17,220 --> 00:45:22,740
'the battleship Aurora
should fire blanks at them.
687
00:45:23,820 --> 00:45:27,220
'He said that very noise
of the battleship,
688
00:45:27,220 --> 00:45:30,020
'which they could all see
with its guns pointing,'
689
00:45:30,020 --> 00:45:33,260
would be enough to send them out
scurrying like rabbits.
690
00:45:36,220 --> 00:45:42,380
At 10:40pm, the warning shot
is fired from the Aurora.
691
00:45:44,060 --> 00:45:47,140
And is heard as far away
as the Congress.
692
00:45:48,300 --> 00:45:51,940
The other socialist parties
are outraged by the aggression...
693
00:45:52,940 --> 00:45:54,540
..and walk out.
694
00:45:55,620 --> 00:46:00,700
Without realising it, they have just
handed power to the Bolsheviks.
695
00:46:01,820 --> 00:46:05,420
'It was a godsend that his chief
opponent just walked out,
696
00:46:05,420 --> 00:46:07,380
'leaving the field of battle.'
697
00:46:09,060 --> 00:46:13,060
So many socialist delegates leave
that the Bolsheviks are now
698
00:46:13,060 --> 00:46:16,100
in the majority
and can do as they please.
699
00:46:19,500 --> 00:46:22,460
'I think we have to agree
with the great memoirist,'
700
00:46:22,460 --> 00:46:26,060
Nikolai Sukhanov, who was at
the Soviet Congress himself,
701
00:46:26,060 --> 00:46:29,420
when he said, it was just
a huge gift to Lenin.
702
00:46:30,580 --> 00:46:35,020
As the delegates leave,
Trotsky mocks his one-time allies
703
00:46:35,020 --> 00:46:38,500
in one of the most quoted speeches
of the 20th century.
704
00:46:38,500 --> 00:46:42,940
The rising of the masses
of the people
705
00:46:42,940 --> 00:46:45,940
requires no justification.
706
00:46:46,980 --> 00:46:50,220
What has happened is an uprising,
707
00:46:50,220 --> 00:46:52,540
not a conspiracy.
708
00:46:52,540 --> 00:46:55,420
Trotsky's the real star
of the Petrograd Soviet.
709
00:46:55,420 --> 00:46:57,260
He's a brilliant orator.
710
00:46:57,260 --> 00:47:02,420
The masses of the people
moved under our banner
711
00:47:02,420 --> 00:47:04,660
and our uprising
712
00:47:04,660 --> 00:47:06,860
has won victory.
713
00:47:06,860 --> 00:47:09,500
But he's also
a brilliant theoretician
714
00:47:09,500 --> 00:47:14,460
who understands how rhetoric
and politics are intertwined
715
00:47:14,460 --> 00:47:17,620
and how he can play on an audience
to mobilise them.
716
00:47:19,300 --> 00:47:21,940
Trotsky is able to make
the Bolshevik view
717
00:47:21,940 --> 00:47:23,940
sound like everyone's view.
718
00:47:24,980 --> 00:47:26,580
And now...
719
00:47:27,700 --> 00:47:30,020
..we are told...
720
00:47:30,020 --> 00:47:33,500
to renounce our victory.
721
00:47:33,500 --> 00:47:35,420
Make concessions.
722
00:47:35,420 --> 00:47:37,140
Compromise.
723
00:47:38,180 --> 00:47:40,020
With whom?
724
00:47:40,020 --> 00:47:43,060
With that wretched group
who've just left us?
725
00:47:43,060 --> 00:47:46,420
No-one in Russia
is with them any more.
726
00:47:46,420 --> 00:47:48,220
No.
727
00:47:48,220 --> 00:47:50,940
No compromise is possible.
728
00:47:52,420 --> 00:47:56,460
The Bolshevik position
becomes the Soviet position.
729
00:47:56,460 --> 00:47:58,980
To those who have left
730
00:47:58,980 --> 00:48:01,540
and those who make these proposals,
731
00:48:01,540 --> 00:48:05,980
we say,
you are pathetic individuals!
732
00:48:05,980 --> 00:48:07,940
You are bankrupt!
733
00:48:07,940 --> 00:48:11,100
Your role is played out.
734
00:48:11,100 --> 00:48:13,940
Go off to where you belong
from now on.
735
00:48:15,140 --> 00:48:17,420
To the dustbin of history!
736
00:48:17,420 --> 00:48:19,420
CHEERING
737
00:48:21,700 --> 00:48:26,780
'His kind of dripping contempt lets
them know that power is moving now,'
738
00:48:26,780 --> 00:48:30,020
minute by minute,
erm, to the Bolsheviks,
739
00:48:30,020 --> 00:48:32,780
and to the creation
of an entirely new world.
740
00:48:42,500 --> 00:48:47,460
At virtually the same moment,
Lenin's wish is becoming reality.
741
00:48:47,460 --> 00:48:50,260
The Winter Palace
is about to be taken.
742
00:49:00,060 --> 00:49:03,300
Though its capture may not
have been quite as spectacular
743
00:49:03,300 --> 00:49:07,020
as Sergei Eisenstein's film,
October, portrayed it.
744
00:49:15,060 --> 00:49:17,300
First of all, it wasn't even locked.
745
00:49:17,300 --> 00:49:20,380
Secondly, it was guarded by a group
of adolescent boys
746
00:49:20,380 --> 00:49:22,860
who were about 15 years old -
cadets,
747
00:49:22,860 --> 00:49:25,260
and by a group of female soldiers
748
00:49:25,260 --> 00:49:28,260
who were getting more
and more terrified.
749
00:49:30,460 --> 00:49:34,940
So when they finally did, on that
evening, enter the Winter Palace...
750
00:49:38,060 --> 00:49:40,700
..when the doors were open,
no-one stopped them.
751
00:49:40,700 --> 00:49:43,140
There was no fighting,
there was no storming.
752
00:49:43,140 --> 00:49:48,980
The heroic scale of that film
is creating a myth of October,
753
00:49:48,980 --> 00:49:50,900
far from the reality.
754
00:49:52,060 --> 00:49:56,580
'The storming of the Winter Palace
creates this foundation myth
755
00:49:56,580 --> 00:49:59,340
'of it being a mass uprising.
756
00:50:00,540 --> 00:50:03,460
'That the thousands who stormed
the Winter Palace,'
757
00:50:03,460 --> 00:50:06,300
instead of the few dozen
who actually did so,
758
00:50:06,300 --> 00:50:09,300
were representatives
of the whole people.
759
00:50:11,980 --> 00:50:15,220
'Revolutions are, by nature,
illegitimate.'
760
00:50:15,220 --> 00:50:18,060
So you need to create
foundation myths.
761
00:50:18,060 --> 00:50:23,140
The moment that power passes to
the Bolsheviks is an epic example.
762
00:50:24,780 --> 00:50:26,980
They walked into
the Cabinet meeting.
763
00:50:34,020 --> 00:50:37,460
'And the Cabinet looked up and said,
"What do you want us to do?"
764
00:50:37,460 --> 00:50:40,660
'And the Bolsheviks said,
"You're under arrest."'
765
00:50:43,500 --> 00:50:47,300
That is the moment
the October Revolution happens.
766
00:50:50,740 --> 00:50:52,380
CHEERING
767
00:50:53,380 --> 00:50:56,180
An heroic new world is born.
768
00:50:57,700 --> 00:51:00,420
At least in Eisenstein's
version of events.
769
00:51:03,980 --> 00:51:08,700
In reality, Lenin is in room 36
when he gets the news,
770
00:51:08,700 --> 00:51:10,660
far from the action.
771
00:51:14,460 --> 00:51:16,620
It is finally done.
772
00:51:18,980 --> 00:51:20,900
Russia is his.
773
00:51:31,500 --> 00:51:34,980
But did Lenin just grab power
in a coup
774
00:51:34,980 --> 00:51:37,180
or did he have popular support?
775
00:51:38,180 --> 00:51:40,340
'I think it was a coup d'etat.'
776
00:51:40,340 --> 00:51:42,740
There were people who wanted
bread and land
777
00:51:42,740 --> 00:51:44,740
and all power to the Soviets,
778
00:51:44,740 --> 00:51:49,220
but did they want a Bolshevik
government led by Vladimir Lenin?
779
00:51:49,220 --> 00:51:51,220
I don't think so.
780
00:51:51,220 --> 00:51:54,460
Was there an element
of conspiracy in it?
781
00:51:54,460 --> 00:51:58,420
Well, of course, because you
can't plan an insurrection
782
00:51:58,420 --> 00:52:01,260
by publishing the details
the day before.
783
00:52:01,260 --> 00:52:05,940
But everything till then,
till the day before,
784
00:52:05,940 --> 00:52:09,780
had been discussed in Lenin's
speeches, in his writings,
785
00:52:09,780 --> 00:52:12,420
and those of Trotsky,
what he was saying,
786
00:52:12,420 --> 00:52:15,700
they were saying, yes,
we are making a revolution.
787
00:52:15,700 --> 00:52:18,420
How the hell is that a coup d'etat?
788
00:52:18,420 --> 00:52:22,980
For sure, the coup d'etat of
October, which is what it was,
789
00:52:22,980 --> 00:52:27,620
based itself on the underpinnings
of a mass social revolution
790
00:52:27,620 --> 00:52:31,020
which originated in February 1917.
791
00:52:31,020 --> 00:52:35,780
And we see the radicalisation
of peasants, workers, soldiers,
792
00:52:35,780 --> 00:52:41,460
across the country, giving a mandate
for Soviet power by October.
793
00:52:41,460 --> 00:52:46,020
But Soviet power
is not what Lenin makes
794
00:52:46,020 --> 00:52:48,780
of the events
of the 25th of October.
795
00:52:48,780 --> 00:52:52,220
Lenin is using the cloak
of Soviet power
796
00:52:52,220 --> 00:52:55,420
to establish
a Bolshevik dictatorship.
797
00:52:58,900 --> 00:53:00,940
APPLAUSE
798
00:53:06,220 --> 00:53:10,900
The next day, Lenin appears at the
Congress of Soviets to announce...
799
00:53:11,900 --> 00:53:14,380
We shall now proceed
800
00:53:14,380 --> 00:53:17,380
to construct the socialist order.
801
00:53:21,060 --> 00:53:24,300
'This is a man who had spent years
working out the theory
802
00:53:24,300 --> 00:53:26,380
'of exactly what he was
going to do.'
803
00:53:27,980 --> 00:53:30,580
And so the moment that they took
over, he was ready.
804
00:53:32,060 --> 00:53:36,260
Trotsky is named the People's
Commissar for Foreign Affairs.
805
00:53:36,260 --> 00:53:40,220
Stalin, the People's Commissar
for Nationalities.
806
00:53:40,220 --> 00:53:43,180
And Lenin becomes
the leader of the government.
807
00:53:44,220 --> 00:53:49,100
A new era in the history of Russia
and of the world begins.
808
00:53:51,980 --> 00:53:56,380
Lenin issues scores of decrees
that transform Russia in days.
809
00:53:58,060 --> 00:54:01,940
'You start to see the first
stirrings of a different kind
810
00:54:01,940 --> 00:54:04,380
'of social control, for example.
811
00:54:04,380 --> 00:54:07,980
'Workers' control and peasantry
having control of their own lives.
812
00:54:09,020 --> 00:54:12,020
'Equal rights of men and women,
of divorce law,
813
00:54:12,020 --> 00:54:14,420
'decriminalising homosexuality.'
814
00:54:16,140 --> 00:54:20,620
To me, there's no question that
October represents a moment of hope.
815
00:54:22,220 --> 00:54:26,300
'Just weeks after
the October Revolution,'
816
00:54:26,300 --> 00:54:29,900
Lenin created a one-party state,
a totalitarian state.
817
00:54:30,980 --> 00:54:34,420
'He also created the Cheka,
the secret police,
818
00:54:34,420 --> 00:54:38,260
'with power over life and death,
to kill enemies of the revolution.'
819
00:54:39,380 --> 00:54:43,740
He repeatedly ordered mass shootings
of thousands of innocent people.
820
00:54:44,540 --> 00:54:46,420
'He specified that, you know,
821
00:54:46,420 --> 00:54:50,060
'annihilation was the only way
for the party to keep power.
822
00:54:50,060 --> 00:54:52,700
'So, gradually,
he created a dictatorship'
823
00:54:52,700 --> 00:54:57,140
that was inherited by Stalin, and
made much more intense by Stalin.
824
00:54:59,820 --> 00:55:02,980
'When the ideologue
is confronted with reality,
825
00:55:02,980 --> 00:55:05,300
'that doesn't fit into his scheme,'
826
00:55:05,300 --> 00:55:07,700
he can't defeat reality
with argument,
827
00:55:07,700 --> 00:55:09,300
so the fist tightens.
828
00:55:10,380 --> 00:55:14,620
Vladimir Lenin dies of a stroke
in 1924.
829
00:55:16,020 --> 00:55:19,060
Joseph Stalin rises to power.
830
00:55:19,900 --> 00:55:21,980
He eliminates his rivals.
831
00:55:21,980 --> 00:55:24,220
Notably, Leon Trotsky,
832
00:55:24,220 --> 00:55:27,460
who was assassinated in 1940.
833
00:55:30,860 --> 00:55:34,260
Joseph Stalin,
the quiet backroom fixer,
834
00:55:34,260 --> 00:55:37,420
outlasts both Lenin and Trotsky.
835
00:55:37,420 --> 00:55:40,020
His reign becomes the Great Terror
836
00:55:40,020 --> 00:55:42,860
that lasts for over a quarter
of a century.
837
00:55:44,700 --> 00:55:48,100
The Tsars,
in their last half century,
838
00:55:48,100 --> 00:55:51,980
were averaging 17 executions a year.
839
00:55:51,980 --> 00:55:54,340
Within a month...
840
00:55:54,340 --> 00:55:57,060
a few months of Lenin taking power,
841
00:55:57,060 --> 00:56:00,740
erm, it was 1,000 a month,
executions.
842
00:56:00,740 --> 00:56:05,220
And during the Great Terror,
it was more like 1,000 a week.
843
00:56:05,220 --> 00:56:08,460
'Under Stalin, something like
20 million people'
844
00:56:08,460 --> 00:56:12,540
would go through the concentration
camps, the Gulag camps.
845
00:56:12,540 --> 00:56:17,020
Somewhere between 20 and 30 million
people were killed.
846
00:56:17,020 --> 00:56:19,740
These were on the orders
not just of Stalin,
847
00:56:19,740 --> 00:56:22,340
but of Lenin
and the Bolshevik Party.
848
00:56:22,340 --> 00:56:25,260
Stalin is not Lenin's heir.
849
00:56:25,260 --> 00:56:27,740
In his last will and testament,
850
00:56:27,740 --> 00:56:31,380
Lenin made it very clear
that he should be removed
851
00:56:31,380 --> 00:56:33,860
as General Secretary of the party.
852
00:56:33,860 --> 00:56:37,660
Said he was not the right sort
of person to be leading the party.
853
00:56:41,780 --> 00:56:47,060
Stalin's impact on Russia
lasts beyond his death in 1953
854
00:56:47,060 --> 00:56:51,140
or even the death
of the Soviet Union in 1991.
855
00:56:52,260 --> 00:56:54,620
ANNOUNCED IN RUSSIAN
856
00:56:55,980 --> 00:56:58,820
'Putin really understands
the October Revolution.
857
00:56:58,820 --> 00:57:02,140
'In many ways, he's a result of it,
one of the results of it.
858
00:57:03,300 --> 00:57:06,140
'When he looks back at history,
he's really interested,'
859
00:57:06,140 --> 00:57:08,980
not in Marxism or Bolshevism,
860
00:57:08,980 --> 00:57:13,020
'he's most impressed
by the Red Tsar, by Stalin.
861
00:57:14,500 --> 00:57:17,700
'Because Stalin
is the successful manager
862
00:57:17,700 --> 00:57:19,700
'of the Russian nation.'
863
00:57:19,700 --> 00:57:21,420
HE SPEAKS RUSSIAN
864
00:57:21,420 --> 00:57:25,460
'Putin's not interested in the chaos
caused by Lenin and Trotsky.
865
00:57:25,460 --> 00:57:28,940
'He's interested in the prestige
and the victory'
866
00:57:28,940 --> 00:57:30,980
delivered by Joseph Stalin.
867
00:57:35,420 --> 00:57:39,220
So, has history proved Stalin
to be more influential
868
00:57:39,220 --> 00:57:40,900
than Lenin or Trotsky?
869
00:57:42,020 --> 00:57:45,740
For so many years,
70 years of the Soviet Union,
870
00:57:45,740 --> 00:57:49,660
it was Lenin who was always
invoked as the godlike figure,
871
00:57:49,660 --> 00:57:51,740
the Father of the Revolution.
872
00:57:51,740 --> 00:57:55,900
And now, in the Putin era, he's been
sort of left to one side a bit.
873
00:57:55,900 --> 00:57:57,740
The statues are still there,
874
00:57:57,740 --> 00:58:00,220
but somehow he's not
talked about as much.
875
00:58:00,220 --> 00:58:04,460
When there was a poll recently
about some of the greatest leaders
876
00:58:04,460 --> 00:58:08,060
or figures in Russia, it was Stalin
who figured, not Lenin.
877
00:58:13,740 --> 00:58:16,180
But is Lenin's time coming again?
878
00:58:20,220 --> 00:58:25,780
'We live today in a world of rampant
populism, of post-factual politics,
879
00:58:25,780 --> 00:58:30,020
'and much of this can be
traced back to Lenin.
880
00:58:30,020 --> 00:58:32,900
'That ultimate
political manipulator...'
881
00:58:34,900 --> 00:58:37,940
..who, though he was
a fanatical Marxist,
882
00:58:37,940 --> 00:58:40,980
was also the master of pragmatism.
883
00:58:40,980 --> 00:58:46,020
'He understood that politics
was all about who controls who
884
00:58:46,020 --> 00:58:51,060
'and any means were suitable
to achieving his ends.'
72926
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