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October Revolution 1917 - Coggle Diagram
October Revolution 1917
Causes
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Resentments of soldiers, peasants and workers
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When he finally acted in 23rd October, it was to order the printers of two Bolshevik newspapers, Pravda and Izvestia, to cease activities, to attempt to restrict the power of the Military Revolutionary Committee
He also sent troops to raise the bridges linking the working class area of Petrograd (Vyborg district, a Bolshevik stronghold) to the city centre
However, he was prevented from doing this by troops loyal to the Bolsheviks who claimed that his actions were a betrayal of the Soviet and an abandonment of the principles of the Feb Revolution. Kerensky's move thus gave the Bolsheviks an excuse to act
Course
24th Oct
Following Trotsky's plan, through the night of 24-25th October, 5000 soldiers and sailors from Kronstadt moved into the city and Bolshevik Red Guards began to take over key government buildings and positions in Petrograd
Telephone exchange, post office, railway stations, news agency, state bank, bridges and power stations
Although they encountered some resistance at the main telegraph office, the troops on duty generally gave in without resistance.
Lenin remained in hiding until the evening when he travelled to Smolny Institute to take charge of the insurrection
25th Oct
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Red Guard soldiers and sailors surrounded the Winter Palace, which was threatened by artillery from the St Peter and Paul Fortress across the river and the guns of the battleship Aurora, whose crew had declared their support for the revolution
A blank shot was fired from Aurora, as the signal for the beginning of the Bolshevik attack. Further shots mostly went into the river.
The Second Congress of Soviets convened, although without Lenin or the Bolsheviks present as they were still out fighting on the streets. It was nearly midnight when the first Bolshevik deputies arrived with news of the day's events. Some Mensheviks and SRs made public a declaration of protest against the seizure of power.
26th Oct
The Congress greeted the announcement of the capture of the Winter Palace and the arrest of the remaining members of the PG. The Congress adopted a resolution to take power into its own hands.
In the evening, the second session of the Congress opened and Lenin's Decree on Peace, to end the war, was adopted unanimously.
27th Oct
Lenin's Decree on Land, acknowledging the peasant seizures, was agreed and the Bolshevik faction put forward their proposals for the reorganisation of government
They were opposed by the Mensheviks and SRs. However, the Congress adopted the proposals by an overwhelming majority and elected a new All-Russian Central Executive Committee of 101 members, of whom 62 were Bolsheviks and 29 left-wing SRs.
A Soviet of People's Commissars (Sovnarkom) was created to run the government, which included only Bolsheviks because the left-wing SRs refused to join. Lenin was elected chairman of the Sovnarkom.
Other resolutions were adopted, including the transfer of power in the provinces to the local soviets, the freeing of those arrested for political action by the PG, the abolition of the death penalty at the front, and the immediate arrest of Karensky.
The Congress issued an appeal to the Cossacks (who remained loyal to the PG) to switch sides, and to the railway workers to maintain order on the railways.
Extent
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25,000 to 30,000 were actively involved (around 5% of all the workers and soldiers in the city)
Evidence suggests forces at the Winter Palace were quite small, but it suited the Bolsheviks to claim that they were larger, as the legitimacy of their regime was based upon the fact that it had emerged from a 'popular' revolution
In 25-27th October, the three days it took for the Bolsheviks to assume control of the city, there was actually very little fighting with no more than 5 deaths
This is because the PG had hardly any military resources left with which to combat the assault. Much of Petrograd remained undisturbed - trams and taxis ran as normal, and restaurants, theatres and cinemas remained open
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