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82-451: After the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution , the new Soviet government abandoned the former Russian sphere of influence in the five northern provinces of Iran, branding the concept as " Tsarist Imperialism ". Britain was the remaining power in the region and Curzon hoped to make Iran not a protectorate but a client state of Britain and of no other great power. The document gave a guarantee of British access to all Iranian oil fields. In return

164-558: A Constituent Assembly . This new Soviet government was known as the council (Soviet) of People's Commissars ( Sovnarkom ), with Lenin as a leader. Lenin allegedly approved of the name, reporting that it "smells of revolution". The cabinet quickly passed the Decree on Peace and the Decree on Land . This new government was also officially called "provisional" until the Assembly was dissolved. That same day, posters were pinned on walls and fences by

246-586: A sealed train carriage through their territory. According to Deutsche Welle : On November 7, 1917, a coup d'état went down in history as the October Revolution. The interim government was toppled, the Soviets seized power, and Russia later terminated the Triple Entente military alliance with France and Britain. For Russia, it was effectively the end of the war. Kaiser Wilhelm II had spent around half

328-621: A Bolshevik appeal, Moscow's working class began a protest strike of 400,000 workers. They were supported by strikes and protest rallies by workers in Kyiv , Kharkiv , Nizhny Novgorod , Ekaterinburg , and other cities. In what became known as the Kornilov affair, General Lavr Kornilov , who had been Commander-in-Chief since 18 July, with Kerensky's agreement directed an army under Aleksandr Krymov to march toward Petrograd to restore order. According to some accounts, Kerensky appeared to become frightened by

410-549: A billion euros ($ 582 million) in today's money to weaken his wartime enemy. Upon his arrival Lenin gave his April Theses that called on the Bolsheviks to take over the Provisional Government, usurp power, and end the war. Throughout June, July, and August 1917, it was common to hear working-class Russians speak about their lack of confidence in the Provisional Government. Factory workers around Russia felt unhappy with

492-529: A diplomatic note of 1 May, the minister of foreign affairs, Pavel Milyukov , expressed the Provisional Government's desire to continue the war against the Central Powers "to a victorious conclusion", arousing broad indignation. On 1–4 May, about 100,000 workers and soldiers of Petrograd, and, after them, the workers and soldiers of other cities, led by the Bolsheviks, demonstrated under banners reading "Down with

574-522: A means of reaching military forces he hoped would be friendly to the Provisional Government outside the city and ultimately borrowed a Renault car from the American embassy, which he drove from the Winter Palace, along with a Pierce Arrow . Kerensky was able to evade the pickets going up around the palace and to drive to meet approaching soldiers. As Kerensky left Petrograd, Lenin wrote a proclamation To

656-549: A peaceful demonstration in Petrograd, the so-called July Days . The Provisional Government, with the support of Socialist-Revolutionary Party - Menshevik leaders of the All-Russian Executive Committee of the Soviets, ordered an armed attack against the demonstrators, killing hundreds. A period of repression followed. On 5–6 July, attacks were made on the editorial offices and printing presses of Pravda and on

738-520: A statement denouncing the government's actions. At 10   a.m., Bolshevik-aligned soldiers successfully retook the Rabochiy put printing house. Kerensky responded at approximately 3   p.m. that afternoon by ordering the raising of all but one of Petrograd's bridges, a tactic used by the government several months earlier during the July Days . What followed was a series of sporadic clashes over control of

820-629: A transitional military force of the collapsing Imperial Russian Army and the base formations of Bolsheviks during the October Revolution and the first months of the Russian Civil War . Most of them were formed in the time frame of the Russian Revolution of 1917, and some of the units were reorganized into the Red Army during 1918. The Red Guards formations were organized across most of

902-551: A validation of its ideology and the triumph of the working class over capitalism . On the other hand, the Western Allies , for various reasons, later intervened against the Bolsheviks in the civil war. The event inspired many cultural works and ignited communist movements globally. October Revolution Day was a public holiday in the Soviet Union , marking its key role in the state's founding, and many communist parties around

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984-668: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . October Revolution Bolshevik victory The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Soviet historiography ), October coup , Bolshevik coup , or Bolshevik revolution , was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment in the larger Russian Revolution of 1917–1923. It

1066-476: The February Revolution earlier that year, which had led to the abdication of Nicholas II and the creation of a provisional government . The provisional government, led by Alexander Kerensky , had taken power after Grand Duke Michael , the younger brother of Nicholas II, declined to take power. During this time, urban workers began to organize into councils ( soviets ) wherein revolutionaries criticized

1148-637: The Palace of Kshesinskaya , where the Central Committee and the Petrograd Committee of the Bolsheviks were located. On 7 July, the government ordered the arrest and trial of Vladimir Lenin , who was forced to go underground, as he had done under the Tsarist regime. Bolsheviks were arrested, workers were disarmed, and revolutionary military units in Petrograd were disbanded or sent to the war front. On 12 July,

1230-532: The Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies , which began on this day. After the majority of the petrograd Soviet passed into the hands of the Bolsheviks, [Trotsky] was elected its chairman and in that position organized and led the insurrection of October 25. Lenin on the organization of the October Revolution, Vol.XIV of the Collected Works . Kerensky and

1312-563: The Winter Palace (the seat of the Provisional government located in Petrograd, then capital of Russia) was captured. As the revolution was not universally recognized, the country descended into the Russian Civil War , which would last until late 1922 and ultimately lead to the creation of the Soviet Union . The historiography of the event has varied. The victorious Soviet Union viewed it as

1394-533: The elected parliament of Russia, and used machine-gun fire against demonstrators in Petrograd, killing about 100 demonstrators and wounding several hundred. Dybenko in his memoirs mentioned this event as "several shots in the air". These are disputed by various sources, such as Louise Bryant , who claims that news outlets in the West at the time reported that the unfortunate loss of life occurred in Moscow, not Petrograd, and

1476-487: The left-wing Party of Socialist-Revolutionaries (SRs), controlled the government. The far-left Bolsheviks were deeply unhappy with the government, and began spreading calls for a military uprising. On 10 October 1917 (O.S.; 23 October, N.S.), the Petrograd Soviet , led by Leon Trotsky , voted to back a military uprising. On 24 October (O.S.; 6 November, N.S.), the government shut down numerous newspapers and closed

1558-582: The "politically correct" version of the October events in Petrograd came to be taken as truth. Historical falsification of political events such as the October Revolution and the Brest-Litovsk Treaty became a distinctive element of Stalin's regime. A notable example is the 1938 publication, History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks) , in which the history of the governing party

1640-592: The Bolshevik party had risen from 24,000 members in February 1917 to 200,000 members by September 1917. The Bolsheviks created a revolutionary military committee within the Petrograd soviet, led by the Soviet's president, Leon Trotsky . The committee included armed workers, sailors, and soldiers, and assured the support or neutrality of the capital's garrison. The committee methodically planned to occupy strategic locations through

1722-463: The Bolsheviks had illegally seized power and they walked out before the resolution was passed. As they exited, they were taunted by Trotsky who told them "You are pitiful isolated individuals; you are bankrupts; your role is played out. Go where you belong from now on—into the dustbin of history!" The following day, 26 October, the Congress elected a new cabinet of Bolsheviks, pending the convocation of

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1804-630: The Bolsheviks' Central Committee voted 10–2 for a resolution saying that "an armed uprising is inevitable, and that the time for it is fully ripe." At the Committee meeting, Lenin discussed how the people of Russia had waited long enough for "an armed uprising," and it was the Bolsheviks' time to take power. Lenin expressed his confidence in the success of the planned insurrection. His confidence stemmed from months of Bolshevik buildup of power and successful elections to different committees and councils in major cities such as Petrograd and Moscow. Membership of

1886-650: The Bolsheviks' popularity in the soviets grew significantly, both in the central and local areas. On 31 August, the Petrograd Soviet of Workers and Soldiers Deputies—and, on 5 September, the Moscow Soviet Workers Deputies—adopted the Bolshevik resolutions on the question of power. The Bolsheviks were able to take over in Briansk , Samara , Saratov , Tsaritsyn , Minsk , Kiev, Tashkent , and other cities. On 10 October 1917 (O.S.; 23 October, N.S.),

1968-629: The British would: The document was criticized by foreign observers as hegemonic , especially in the United States, which also had designs on accessing Iranian oil fields. Eventually, the Anglo-Persian Agreement was formally denounced by the Majlis on 22 June 1921. This Iranian history -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article related to a treaty

2050-569: The Citizens of Russia , stating that the Provisional Government had been overthrown by the Military-Revolutionary Committee. The proclamation was sent by telegraph throughout Russia, even as the pro-Soviet soldiers were seizing important control centers throughout the city. One of Lenin's intentions was to present members of the Soviet congress, who would assemble that afternoon, with a fait accompli and thus forestall further debate on

2132-474: The Cossacks breaking rank and fleeing, leaving their artillery behind. On 31 October 1917 (13 November, N.S.), the Bolsheviks gained control of Moscow after a week of bitter street-fighting. Artillery had been freely used, with an estimated 700 casualties. However, there was continued support for Kerensky in some of the provinces. After the fall of Moscow, there was only minor public anti-Bolshevik sentiment, such as

2214-432: The Military-Revolutionary Committee designated the last of the locations to be assaulted or seized. The Red Guards systematically captured major government facilities, key communication installations, and vantage points with little opposition. The Petrograd Garrison and most of the city's military units joined the insurrection against the Provisional Government. The insurrection was timed and organized to hand state power to

2296-696: The Moscow and Petrograd workers, miners in the Donbas, metalworkers in the Urals, oil workers in Baku , textile workers in the Central Industrial Region , and railroad workers on 44 railway lines. In these months alone, more than a million workers took part in strikes. Workers established control over production and distribution in many factories and plants in a social revolution . Workers organized these strikes through factory committees . The factory committees represented

2378-401: The Provisional Government published a law introducing the death penalty at the front. The second coalition government was formed on 24 July, chaired by Alexander Kerensky and consisted mostly of Socialists. Kerensky's government introduced a number of liberal rights, such as freedom of speech , equality before the law, and the right to form unions and arrange labor strikes . In response to

2460-548: The Provisional Government sent punitive detachments, it only enraged the peasants. In September, the garrisons in Petrograd, Moscow, and other cities, the Northern and Western fronts, and the sailors of the Baltic Fleet declared through their elected representative body Tsentrobalt that they did not recognize the authority of the Provisional Government and would not carry out any of its commands. Soldiers' wives were key players in

2542-413: The Provisional Government were virtually helpless to offer significant resistance. Railways and railway stations had been controlled by Soviet workers and soldiers for days, making rail travel to and from Petrograd impossible for Provisional Government officials. The Provisional Government was also unable to locate any serviceable vehicles. On the morning of the insurrection, Kerensky desperately searched for

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2624-779: The Red Guards performed some of the functions of the regular army, between the time the new Soviet government began demobilizing the old Russian military and the time the Red Army was created in January 1918. During the revolution, training of the Red Guards was arranged by the Military Organization of the RSDLP ( Bolshevik Military Organizations ). Enlistment was voluntary, but required recommendations from Soviets , Bolshevik party units or other public organizations. The military training of workers

2706-625: The Red Guards. On March 26, 1917, the Bureau of the Central Committee of the RSDRP(b) published a resolution "About the Provisional Government" since then the term, Red Guards, received the widest usage. The biggest centralized Red Guards formations were created in Petrograd and Moscow . Soon thereafter a series of attempts took place to legalize those formations. On April 14, 1917, the Moscow Committee of

2788-552: The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party ( Bolsheviks ) (RSDLP(b)) adopted a resolution for the creation of its Red Guard. On April 17 in Petrograd, the council of workers' squad's representatives created a commission for the formation of workers' guards and on April 29 in the Pravda newspaper has appeared a draft of its statute. The Vyborg raion (district) council of Petrograd on April 28 declared to transform

2870-576: The SR Party no longer existed as a whole party by that time, as the Left SRs had gone into coalition with the Bolsheviks from October 1917 to March 1918 (a cause of dispute of the legitimacy of the returned seating of the Constituent Assembly, as the old lists, were drawn up by the old SR Party leadership, and thus represented mostly Right SRs, whereas the peasant soviet deputies had returned majorities for

2952-697: The Socialist Revolutionaries, describing the takeover as a "crime against the motherland" and "revolution"; this signaled the next wave of anti-Bolshevik sentiment. The next day, the Mensheviks seized power in Georgia and declared it an independent republic; the Don Cossacks also claimed control of their government. The Bolshevik strongholds were in the cities, particularly Petrograd, with support much more mixed in rural areas. The peasant-dominated Left SR party

3034-466: The army and convinced them to stand down. The Bolsheviks' influence over railroad and telegraph workers also proved vital in stopping the movement of troops. The political right felt betrayed, and the left was resurgent. The first direct consequence of Kornilov's failed coup was the formal abolition of the monarchy and the proclamation of the Russian Republic on 1 September. With Kornilov defeated,

3116-536: The autumn, as much as 50% of all enterprises in the Urals , the Donbas , and other industrial centers were closed down, leading to mass unemployment. At the same time, the cost of living increased sharply. Real wages fell to about 50% of what they had been in 1913. By October 1917, Russia's national debt had risen to 50 billion roubles . Of this, debts to foreign governments constituted more than 11 billion roubles. The country faced

3198-571: The base for the forming of the Red Army. Therefore, the term is often used as just another English name for the Red Army in reference to the times of the Russian Revolution and Russian Civil War . In Petrograd , the head of the Red Guards (30,000 personnel) was Konstantin Yurenev . At the time of the October Revolution , the Russian Red Guards had 200,000 personnel. After the revolution,

3280-464: The bridges, between Red Guard militias aligned with the Military-Revolutionary Committee and military units still loyal to the government. At approximately 5   p.m. the Military-Revolutionary Committee seized the Central Telegraph of Petrograd, giving the Bolsheviks control over communications through the city. On 25 October (O.S.; 7 November, N.S.) 1917, the Bolsheviks led their forces in

3362-518: The building, the cabinet of the Provisional Government surrendered, and were imprisoned in Peter and Paul Fortress . The only member who was not arrested was Kerensky himself, who had already left the palace. With the Petrograd Soviet now in control of government, garrison, and proletariat, the Second All Russian Congress of Soviets held its opening session on the day, while Trotsky dismissed

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3444-422: The cases of destruction (usually burning down and seizing property from the landlord's estate) recorded between February and October occurred in October. While the uprisings varied in severity, complete uprisings and seizures of the land were not uncommon. Less robust forms of protest included marches on landowner manors and government offices, as well as withholding and storing grains rather than selling them. When

3526-520: The city of Petrograd in an attempt to forestall the revolution; minor armed skirmishes broke out. The next day, a full-scale uprising erupted as a fleet of Bolshevik sailors entered the harbor and tens of thousands of soldiers rose up in support of the Bolsheviks. Bolshevik Red Guard forces under the Military-Revolutionary Committee began the occupation of government buildings. In the early morning of 26 October (O.S.; 8 November, N.S.),

3608-526: The city, almost without concealing their preparations: the Provisional Government's President Kerensky was himself aware of them; and some details, leaked by Lev Kamenev and Grigory Zinoviev , were published in newspapers. In the early morning of 24 October (O.S.; 6 November N.S.), a group of soldiers loyal to Kerensky's government marched on the printing house of the Bolshevik newspaper, Rabochiy put ( Worker's Path ), seizing and destroying printing equipment and thousands of newspapers. Shortly thereafter,

3690-452: The cruiser Aurora fired a blank shot from the harbor. Some of the revolutionaries entered the palace at 10:25   p.m. and there was a mass entry 3 hours later. By 2:10   a.m. on 26 October, Bolshevik forces had gained control. The Cadets and the 140 volunteers of the Women's Battalion surrendered rather than resist the 40,000 strong attacking force. After sporadic gunfire throughout

3772-438: The former Russian Empire , including territories outside the contemporary Russian Federation such as Finland , Poland , Estonia , Ukraine , and others. They were not centralized and were formed by decision of a local political party and local soviet members. By fighting to protect and extend the power of the Soviets, they aided the creation of a new state that (according to its original conception) would give "all power to

3854-486: The government announced the immediate closure of not only Rabochiy put but also the left-wing Soldat , as well as the far-right newspapers Zhivoe slovo and Novaia Rus . The editors and contributors of these newspapers were seen to be calling for insurrection and were to be prosecuted on criminal charges. In response, at 9   a.m. the Bolshevik Military Revolutionary Committee issued

3936-526: The growing shortages of food, supplies, and other materials. They blamed their managers or foremen and would even attack them in the factories. The workers blamed many rich and influential individuals for the overall shortage of food and poor living conditions. Workers saw these rich and powerful individuals as opponents of the Revolution and called them "bourgeois", "capitalist", and "imperialist". In September and October 1917, there were mass strike actions by

4018-546: The landowners had spread to 482 of 624 counties, or 77% of the country. As 1917 progressed, the peasantry increasingly began to lose faith that the land would be distributed to them by the Social Revolutionaries and the Mensheviks . Refusing to continue living as before, they increasingly took measures into their own hands, as can be seen by the increase in the number and militancy of the peasant's actions. Over 42% of all

4100-636: The leading position of Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars when the Bolsheviks formed a new government, after the October Revolution in 1917, and suggested Trotsky for the position. However, Trotsky refused the position and other Bolsheviks insisted that Lenin assume principal responsibility which resulted in Lenin eventually accepting the role of chairman. The Second Congress of Soviets consisted of 670 elected delegates: 300 were Bolsheviks and nearly 100 were Left Socialist-Revolutionaries , who also supported

4182-454: The model for official films made later, which showed fierce fighting during the storming of the Winter Palace, although, in reality, the Bolshevik insurgents had faced little opposition. Later accounts of the heroic "storming of the Winter Palace" and "defense of the Winter Palace" were propaganda by Bolshevik publicists. Grandiose paintings depicting the "Women's Battalion" and photo stills taken from Sergei Eisenstein 's staged film depicting

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4264-545: The newspaper Novaya Zhizn , which criticized the Bolsheviks' lack of manpower and organization in running their party, let alone a government. Lenin confidently claimed that there is "not a shadow of hesitation in the masses of Petrograd, Moscow and the rest of Russia" in accepting Bolshevik rule. On 10 November 1917 (23 November, N.S.), the government applied the term "citizens of the Russian Republic" to Russians, whom they sought to make equal in all possible respects, by

4346-400: The next day by order of the Congress of Soviets. Red Guard (Russia) Red Guards ( Russian : Красная гвардия ) were paramilitary volunteer formations for the "protection of the soviet power", as part of the Bolshevik Military Organizations . The Red Guards consisted primarily of urban workers , peasants , cossacks and partially of soldiers and sailors . Red Guards were

4428-419: The nullification of all "legal designations of civil inequality, such as estates, titles, and ranks." The long-awaited Constituent Assembly elections were held on 12 November (O.S., 25 November, N.S.) 1917. In contrast to their majority in the Soviets, the Bolsheviks only won 175 seats in the 715-seat legislative body, coming in second behind the Socialist Revolutionary Party , which won 370 seats, although

4510-459: The number was much less than suggested above. As for the "several shots in the air", there is little evidence suggesting otherwise. While the seizure of the Winter Palace happened almost without resistance, Soviet historians and officials later tended to depict the event in dramatic and heroic terms. The historical reenactment titled The Storming of the Winter Palace was staged in 1920. This reenactment, watched by 100,000 spectators, provided

4592-410: The offensive's failure intensified the struggle of the workers and the soldiers. On 16 July, spontaneous demonstrations of workers and soldiers began in Petrograd, demanding that power be turned over to the soviets. The Central Committee of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party provided leadership to the spontaneous movements. On 17 July, over 500,000 people participated in what was intended to be

4674-417: The opposing Mensheviks and the Socialist Revolutionaries (SR) from Congress. Some sources contend that as the leader of Tsentrobalt , Pavlo Dybenko played a crucial role in the revolt and that the ten warships that arrived at the city with ten thousand Baltic Fleet mariners were the force that took the power in Petrograd and put down the Provisional Government. The same mariners then dispersed by force

4756-409: The organized peasantry in this criminal violation of the will of the working class". This eventually developed into major counter-revolutionary action, as on 30 October (O.S., 12 November, N.S.) when Cossacks , welcomed by church bells, entered Tsarskoye Selo on the outskirts of Petrograd with Kerensky riding on a white horse. Kerensky gave an ultimatum to the rifle garrison to lay down weapons, which

4838-412: The overthrow of the Alexander Kerensky government. When the fall of the Winter Palace was announced, the Congress adopted a decree transferring power to the Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies, thus ratifying the Revolution. The transfer of power was not without disagreement. The center and right wings of the Socialist Revolutionaries, as well as the Mensheviks, believed that Lenin and

4920-456: The palace and returned to their barracks. While the cabinet of the provisional government within the palace debated what action to take, the Bolsheviks issued an ultimatum to surrender. Workers and soldiers occupied the last of the telegraph stations, cutting off the cabinet's communications with loyal military forces outside the city. As the night progressed, crowds of insurgents surrounded the palace, and many infiltrated it. At 9:45   p.m,

5002-411: The possibility that the army would stage a coup, and reversed the order. By contrast, historian Richard Pipes has argued that the episode was engineered by Kerensky. On 27 August, feeling betrayed by the government, Kornilov pushed on towards Petrograd. With few troops to spare at the front, Kerensky turned to the Petrograd Soviet for help. Bolsheviks, Mensheviks, and Socialist Revolutionaries confronted

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5084-400: The pro-Bolshevik Left SRs). The Constituent Assembly was to first meet on 28 November (O.S.) 1917, but its convocation was delayed until 5 January (O.S.; 18 January, N.S.) 1918 by the Bolsheviks. On its first and only day in session, the Constituent Assembly came into conflict with the Soviets, and it rejected Soviet decrees on peace and land, resulting in the Constituent Assembly being dissolved

5166-418: The provisional government and its actions. The provisional government remained unpopular, especially because it was continuing to fight in World War I , and had ruled with an iron fist throughout mid-1917 (including killing hundreds of protesters in the July Days ). It declared Russia as a republic on 1 September (O.S.; 14 September, N.S.) 1917. Events came to a head in late 1917 as the Directorate , led by

5248-423: The provisional government was weak and riven by internal dissension. It continued to wage World War I , which became increasingly unpopular. There was a nationwide crisis affecting social, economic, and political relations. Disorder in industry and transport had intensified, and difficulties in obtaining provisions had increased. Gross industrial production in 1917 decreased by over 36% of what it had been in 1914. In

5330-461: The ready to side with people military formations. Taken all together, this is a revolutionary army. A number of other militarized formations created during the February Revolution , such as "people's militia" (народная милиция), created by the Russian Provisional Government , "squads of self-defence" (отряды самообороны), "committees of public security" (комитеты общественной безопасности), "workers' squads" (рабочие дружины) were gradually unified into

5412-420: The soviets": the Soviet Union . Composing the majority of the urban population, they were the main strike force of several radically oriented socialist political factions. Red Guard units were created in March 1917 at manufacturing companies by Factory and Plant Committees and by some communist-inclined party cells ( Bolsheviks , Left Socialist Revolutionaries , others). The Red Guards formations were based on

5494-415: The squads of workers' and factory militia into the Red Guard squads. On May 17 the Samara council of workers' representatives (deputies) established a commission in the creation of Red Guard squads. A big role in the creation of the Red Guard squads played the Factory committees . Before April 1917, seventeen Russian cities created Red Guard squads, which by June increased in numbers to 24. Red Guards were

5576-408: The threat of financial bankruptcy . Vladimir Lenin, who had been living in exile in Switzerland, with other dissidents organized a plan to negotiate a passage for them through Germany, with whom Russia was then at war. Recognizing that these dissidents could cause problems for their Russian enemies, the German government agreed to permit 32 Russian citizens, among them Lenin and his wife, to travel in

5658-439: The time of the event. In his book, The Stalin School of Falsification , Leon Trotsky argued that the Stalinist faction routinely distorted historical events and the importance of Bolshevik figures especially during the October Revolution. He cited a range of historical documents such as private letters, telegrams, party speeches, meeting minutes , and suppressed texts such as Lenin's Testament . Lenin initially turned down

5740-734: The unrest in the villages. From 1914 to 1917, almost 50% of healthy men were sent to war, and many were killed on the front, resulting in many females being head of the household. Often—when government allowances were late and were not sufficient to match the rising costs of goods—soldiers' wives sent masses of appeals to the government, which went largely unanswered. Frustration resulted, and these women were influential in inciting "subsistence riots"—also referred to as "hunger riots", " pogroms ", or "baba riots". In these riots, citizens seized food and resources from shop owners, who they believed to be charging unfair prices. Upon police intervention, protesters responded with "rakes, sticks, rocks, and fists." In

5822-441: The uprising in Petrograd (now St. Petersburg, then capital of Russia) against the Provisional Government. The event coincided with the arrival of a pro-Bolshevik flotilla—consisting primarily of five destroyers and their crews, as well as marines—in Petrograd harbor. At Kronstadt , sailors announced their allegiance to the Bolshevik insurrection. In the early morning, from its heavily guarded and picketed headquarters in Smolny Palace,

5904-505: The war!" and "All power to the soviets!" The mass demonstrations resulted in a crisis for the Provisional Government. 1 July saw more demonstrations, as about 500,000 workers and soldiers in Petrograd demonstrated, again demanding "all power to the soviets," "down with the war," and "down with the ten capitalist ministers." The Provisional Government opened an offensive against the Central Powers on 1 July, which soon collapsed. The news of

5986-418: The wisdom or legitimacy of taking power. A final assault against the Winter Palace —against 3,000 cadets, officers, cossacks, and female soldiers—was not vigorously resisted. The Bolsheviks delayed the assault because they could not find functioning artillery. At 6:15   p.m., a large group of artillery cadets abandoned the palace, taking their artillery with them. At 8:00   p.m., 200 cossacks left

6068-415: The worker's strike forces of the Russian Revolution of 1905 . Lenin gave a following evaluation of the phenomenon: The lack is not in the "new motives", esteemed Manilovs, but in the military force, in the military force of revolutionary people (not people in general) that stands 1) in the armed proletariat and peasantry, 2) in the organized frontline formations out of representatives of those classes, 3) in

6150-423: The workers and were able to negotiate better working conditions, pay, and hours. Even though workplace conditions may have been increasing in quality, the overall quality of life for workers was not improving. There were still shortages of food and the increased wages workers had obtained did little to provide for their families. By October 1917, peasant uprisings were common. By autumn, the peasant movement against

6232-624: The world celebrate it. Despite occurring in November of the Gregorian calendar , the event is most commonly known as the "October Revolution" ( Октябрьская революция ) because at the time Russia still used the Julian calendar . The event is sometimes known as the "November Revolution", after the Soviet Union modernized its calendar . To avoid confusion, both O.S and N.S. dates have been given for events. For more details see Old Style and New Style dates . It

6314-451: Was in coalition with the Bolsheviks. There were reports that the Provisional Government had not conceded defeat and were meeting with the army at the Front. Anti-Bolshevik sentiment continued to grow as posters and newspapers started criticizing the actions of the Bolsheviks and repudiated their authority. The executive committee of Peasants Soviets "[refuted] with indignation all participation of

6396-458: Was often performed without disengagement from the work at plants. There were both infantry and mounted regiments. At different places, the organization was nonuniform in terms of subordination, headcount, degree of military training. This state was often called "half- partisan ". While successful at local conflicts (e.g., with ataman Alexander Dutov in Orenburg guberniya ), this loose organization

6478-515: Was promptly refused. They were then fired upon by Kerensky's Cossacks, which resulted in 8 deaths. This turned soldiers in Petrograd against Kerensky as being the Tsarist regime. Kerensky's failure to assume authority over troops was described by John Reed as a "fatal blunder" that signaled the final end of his government. Over the following days, the battle against the anti-Bolsheviks continued. The Red Guard fought against Cossacks at Tsarskoye Selo, with

6560-453: Was significantly altered and revised including the importance of the leading figures during the Bolshevik revolution. Retrospectively, Lenin's primary associates such as Zinoviev, Trotsky, Radek and Bukharin were presented as "vacillating", "opportunists" and "foreign spies" whereas Stalin was depicted as the chief discipline during the revolution. However, in reality, Stalin was considered a relatively unknown figure with secondary importance at

6642-641: Was sometimes known as the Bolshevik Revolution, or the Communist Revolution. Initially the event was referred to as the "October coup" ( Октябрьский переворот ) or the "Uprising of the 3rd", as seen in contemporary documents, for example in the first editions of Lenin 's complete works. The February Revolution had toppled Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and replaced his government with the Russian Provisional Government . However,

6724-444: Was the second revolutionary change of government in Russia in 1917. It took place through an insurrection in Petrograd (now Saint Petersburg ) on 7 November 1917 [ O.S. 25 October]. It was the precipitating event of the Russian Civil War . The initial stage of the October Revolution which involved the assault on Petrograd occurred largely without any human casualties . The October Revolution followed and capitalized on

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