The October Revolution

The October Revolution

The October Revolution, is also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was

the second phase of the Russian Revolution of 1917, the first

occurring in the Febuary Revolution.

The October Revolution was led by the Bolsheviks under the command of

Vladmir Lenin and marked the fist officially Communist revolution of

the 20th century. The Bolsheviks based there revolution on the

theories of Carl Marx, however they believed that they had to press

for a change rather than waiting for one to occur.

The main crucial revolutionary activities happened in Petrograd were

under the command of the Petrograd Soviet’s Military Revolutionary

Committee.

The revolution was a communist coup against the Russian provisional

government, which would lead to the creation of the Soviet Union.

The October Revolution was seen as a hugely important global event,

and the first in a series of events that lay the groundwork for an

epic Cold War struggle between the Soviet Union and the Western

democracies, mainly being the USA.

The Revolutions official name is ‘The Great October Socialist

Revolution’ although Russian communists now only normally use this.

The term Red October is also often used.

What Happened:

On October 25, 1917, Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin led his leftist

revolutionaries in an uprising in Petrograd, the then capital of

Russia, against the ineffective Kerensky Provisional Government.

For the most part, the revolt in Petrograd was bloodless, with the Red

Guards led by Bolsheviks taking over major government facilities with

little opposition before finally launching an assault on the Winter

Palace on the night from November 6 to November 7. The assault led by

Vladimir Antonov-Ovseenko was launched at 9:45pm signalled by a blank

shot from the cruiser Aurora. The Place was guarded by Cossacks,

Women's Batallion, and cadets corps. It was taken at about 2am. The

latter date was made the official date of the Revolution.

Later official accounts of the revolution from the Soviet Union would

depict the events in October as being far more dramatic than they