History week 22.

Timeline & Context

1. Date: November 6–7, 1917 (Gregorian calendar; October 24–25 in the Julian calendar used in Russia at the time)
2. Location: Petrograd (now St. Petersburg), Russian Empire.
3. Background: Russia was reeling from World War I, economic collapse, and widespread dissatisfaction with the monarchy and the Provisional Government that had replaced it after the February Revolution earlier that year.
4. Key Players
5. Vladimir Lenin: Leader of the Bolsheviks, a radical socialist faction advocating for proletarian rule.
6. Bolsheviks: Promised land to peasants, peace to soldiers, and power to workers. They opposed the more moderate Mensheviks and the conservative White forces.
7. Tsar Nicholas II: Abdicated in March 1917; he and his family were later executed in July 1918.
8. What Happened
9. The Bolsheviks, supported by workers’ soviets and the Red Guards militia, overthrew the Provisional Government.
10. They seized control of key infrastructure and government buildings in Petrograd.
11. The revolution was relatively bloodless but led to a brutal civil war between the Bolsheviks (Reds) and their opponents (Whites)
12. Aftermath
13. The Bolsheviks established Soviet Russia, which later became the USSR.
14. They withdrew Russia from WWI, redistributed land, and banned all political parties except the Communist Party.
15. The revolution inspired communist movements worldwide and reshaped 20th-century geopolitics.