Russian Revolution and post-war turmoil thumb|14 September 1917, issue of . The headline reads: "To the workers of the world." Disaffection with the war condensed in the post-World War I revolutions that began with the Russian Revolution of 1917. In February 1917, strikes, riots, and troop mutinies broke out in Petrograd, forcing the Nicholas II to abdicate on 2 March in favor of the Russian Provisional Government. Immediately, anarchist groups emerged. Russian syndicalists organized around the journal (The Voice of Labor), which had a circulation of around 25,000, and the Union of Anarcho-Syndicalist Propaganda. Anarchists found themselves agreeing with the Bolsheviks led by Lenin, who returned to Russia in April, as both sought to bring down the provisional government. Lenin abandoned the theory of historical trajectory, which represented the idea that capitalism is a necessary stage on Russia's path to communism, dismissed the establishment of a parliament in favor of that power being taken by soviets, and called for the abolition of the police, the army, the bureaucracy, and finally the state all sentiments syndicalists shared. Although the syndicalists also welcomed the soviets, they were most enthusiastic about the factory committees and workers' councils that had emerged in all industrial centers in the course of strikes and demonstrations in the February Revolution. The committees fought for higher wages and shorter hours but above all for workers' control over production, which both the syndicalists and Bolsheviks supported. The syndicalists viewed the factory committees as the true form of syndicalist organization, not unions. Because they were better organized, the Bolsheviks were able to gain more traction in the committees, with six times as many delegates in a typical factory. Despite the goals they had in common, syndicalists became anxious about the Bolsheviks' growing influence, especially after they won majorities in the Petrograd and Moscow soviets in September.
Russian Revolution and post-war turmoil thumb|14 September 1917, issue of . The headline reads: "To the workers of the world." Disaffection with the war condensed in the post-World War I revolutions that began with the Russian Revolution of 1917. In February 1917, strikes, riots, and troop mutinies broke out in Petrograd, forcing the Nicholas II to abdicate on 2 March in favor of the Russian Provisional Government. Immediately, anarchist groups emerged. Russian syndicalists organized around the journal (The Voice of Labor), which had a circulation of around 25,000, and the Union of Anarcho-Syndicalist Propaganda. Anarchists found themselves agreeing with the Bolsheviks led by Lenin, who returned to Russia in April, as both sought to bring down the provisional government. Lenin abandoned the theory of historical trajectory, which represented the idea that capitalism is a necessary stage on Russia's path to communism, dismissed the establishment of a parliament in favor of that power being taken by soviets, and called for the abolition of the police, the army, the bureaucracy, and finally the state all sentiments syndicalists shared. Although the syndicalists also welcomed the soviets, they were most enthusiastic about the factory committees and workers' councils that had emerged in all industrial centers in the course of strikes and demonstrations in the February Revolution. The committees fought for higher wages and shorter hours but above all for workers' control over production, which both the syndicalists and Bolsheviks supported. The syndicalists viewed the factory committees as the true form of syndicalist organization, not unions. Because they were better organized, the Bolsheviks were able to gain more traction in the committees, with six times as many delegates in a typical factory. Despite the goals they had in common, syndicalists became anxious about the Bolsheviks' growing influence, especially after they won majorities in the Petrograd and Moscow soviets in September.