Editing Russian Civil War (section)

=== From World War I to the Russian Revolution ===
{{Main|Russia in the First World War|Russian Revolution}}
The Russian Empire fought in World War I from 1914 alongside France and the United Kingdom ([[Triple Entente]]) against Germany, Austria-Hungary and Ottoman Empire ([[Central Powers]]).

The [[February Revolution]] of 1917 resulted in the abdication of Emperor [[Nicholas II of Russia]]. As a result, the [[Russian Provisional Government]] formed by a coalition of centrist parties<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uBfnjdxFUkUC |title=The Russian Revolution, 1917 |date=21 April 2005 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-5218-4155-9}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Thatcher |first=Ian D. |date=2020 |title=The 'broad centrist' political parties and the first provisional government, 3 march – 5 may 1917 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09546545.2020.1808318 |journal=Revolutionary Russia |volume=33 |issue=2 |pages=197–220 |doi=10.1080/09546545.2020.1808318}}</ref> was established, and [[Soviet (council)|soviets]], elected councils of workers, soldiers, and peasants, were organized throughout the country, leading to a situation of [[dual power]]. The [[Russian Republic]] was proclaimed in September of the same year.

====October Revolution====
{{Main|October Revolution}}
The Provisional Government, led by [[Socialist Revolutionary Party]] politician [[Alexander Kerensky]], was unable to solve the most pressing issues of the country, most importantly to end the war with the Central Powers. A [[Kornilov affair|failed military coup]] by General [[Lavr Kornilov]] in September 1917 led to a surge in support for the [[Bolsheviks]], who [[Bolshevization of the Soviets|took control of the soviets]], which until then had been controlled by the Socialist Revolutionaries. Promising an end to the war and "all power to the Soviets", the Bolsheviks then ended dual power by overthrowing the Provisional Government in late October, on the eve of the [[Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies]], in what would be the second Revolution of 1917. The initial stage of the October Revolution which involved the assault on [[Petrograd]] occurred largely without any human [[Casualty (person)|casualties]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Shukman |first=Harold |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ScabEAAAQBAJ&dq=october+revolution+bloodless&pg=PA343 |title=The Blackwell Encyclopedia of the Russian Revolution |date=5 December 1994 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-0-6311-9525-2 |page=343 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Bergman |first=Jay |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5UKjDwAAQBAJ&dq=october+revolution+bloodless&pg=PA224 |title=The French Revolutionary Tradition in Russian and Soviet Politics, Political Thought, and Culture |date=2019 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-1988-4270-5 |page=224 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=McMeekin |first=Sean |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aXmZDgAAQBAJ&dq=october+revolution+bloodless&pg=PT155 |title=The Russian Revolution: A New History |date=30 May 2017 |publisher=Basic Books |isbn=978-0-4650-9497-4 |pages=1–496 |language=en}}</ref> Despite the Bolsheviks' seizure of power, they lost to the Socialist Revolutionary Party in the [[1917 Russian Constituent Assembly election]], and the Constituent Assembly was dissolved by the Bolsheviks in retaliation. The Bolsheviks soon lost the support of other far-left allies, such as the [[Left Socialist-Revolutionaries]], after their acceptance of the terms of the [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]] presented by the German Empire.<ref name="Stone-2011">{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Russian Civil War (1917–1920) |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of War |publisher=Blackwell Publishing |last=Stone |first=David R. |date=2011 |author-link=David R. Stone |editor-last=Martel |editor-first=Gordon |language=en |doi=10.1002/9781444338232.wbeow533 |isbn=978-1-4051-9037-4 |s2cid=153317860}}</ref> Conversely, a number of prominent members of the [[Left Socialist Revolutionaries]] had assumed positions in Lenin's government and led commissariats in several areas. This included agriculture ([[Andrei Kolegayev|Kolegaev]]), property ([[Vladimir Karelin|Karelin]]), justice ([[Isaac Steinberg|Steinberg]]), post offices and telegraphs ([[Prosh Proshian|Proshian]]) and local government (Trutovsky).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Abramovitch |first=Raphael R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L_q1WAmv7XkC&q=Steinberg+became+the+People%27s+Commissar+of+Justice,+Proshyan+became+the+People%27s+Commissar+for+Posts+and+Telegraphs |title=The Soviet Revolution, 1917-1939 |date=1985 |publisher=International Universities Press |page=130 |language=en}}</ref> The Bolsheviks also reserved a number of vacant seats in the Soviets and [[All-Russian Central Executive Committee|Central Executive]] for the [[Menshevik]] and [[Left Socialist Revolutionaries]] parties in proportion to their vote share at the Congress.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Deutscher |first=Isaac |url=https://archive.org/details/dli.ernet.507702/page/335/mode/1up?view=theater |title=The Prophet Armed Trotsky 1879-1921 (1954) |date=1954 |publisher=Oxford University Press. |pages=330–336}}</ref> The dissolution of the Constituent Assembly was also approved by the Left Socialist Revolutionaries and [[anarchists]], both groups were in favour of a more [[radical democracy]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Liebman |first=Marcel |url=https://archive.org/details/leninismunderlen0000lieb_f2h6/page/237/mode/1up |title=Leninism under Lenin |date=1975 |publisher=London : J. Cape |isbn=978-0-2240-1072-6 |page=237}}</ref>