The October Revolution :: Papers

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