This in brief the story of how the workers, peasants, and soldiers defeated the bourgeoisie and the landlords at the end of 1917. The fight, however, was not finished then. Those were only the first important victories, and there remained still the work of strengthening the government of the workers and peasants, and of crushing all its enemies, who were gathering their forces in the outlying provinces of the country.
The Struggles of the Soviet Government.
The first onslaught of the workers, soldiers, and peasants upon the bourgeoisie and the landlords, and upon their government, brought victory to the toiling masses of the people. The workers came out determined to seize the power of the State and get hold of the works and factories. The soldiers, weary of three years of fight, strove for peace, whilst the bourgeoisie and the Mensheviki, together with the Social-Revolutionaries, who betrayed the cause of Socialism, were forcing them to continue the war. The peasants wanted to seize the land of the nobility, but the bourgeoisie, the:landlords and their lackeys, the Mensheviki and the Social-Revolutionaries, neither could nor wished to give them this land. Thus a mighty union was formed between the workers and the peasantry that delivered a crushing blow to the wealthy classes of Russia. The landlords fled from their estates. The bourgeoisie lost its head, and at first could not even think of resistance. After the first fright had passed, however, the counter-revolutiondry elements gradually gathered strength, organised
