Original subtitles

In February of 1917, a coup took place in Russia.

The power was overtaken by the Temporary Government;

however, the upheavals in the state didn't stop there.

In July of the same year, the Bolsheviks made another attempt to take control.

After the failure of their revolt,

the military headed by General Kornilov rebelled.

After Kornilov's mutiny had been suppressed as well,

the Temporary Government lost its support in the army

and couldn't resist the Bolsheviks who were gaining more and more influence.

The Russian revolutionary Boris Yakovenko wrote about those days:

"The main evidence of complete helplessness of the coalitional government

was the general state of the country in all the spheres of the life:

economic, administrative and military.

That state could be adequately and exactly expressed in the scary words

“destruction' and 'anarchy”."

Autumn of 1917 was early.

The cold rain was washing away the last episodes of the past life.

Meetings were held in the streets. Red banners waved.

The Communist anthem "International" sounded everywhere;

it scared peaceful civilians tired of the revolutionary disorders.

The future looked grim.

The people who were interested in nothing but the politics just recently

were now sick and tired of it.

The inflation was clearing the commoners' pockets.

In September, the government started to issue the new money

which people nicknamed "the Kerenki" after Kerenskiy.

First, 40 notes were printed on a big piece of paper.

First people cut the necessary amount of the Kerenkis with scissors;

later, they paid with the entire big piece of paper;

and later still, even a pile of papers wasn't enough to pay for anything.

Because those notes were so easy to print, people started counterfeiting them.

With piles of the Kerenkis in their hands, people gathered by the shops.

Endless queues snaked along the streets.

A few months ago, such "tails" by the groceries became one of the reasons

of the revolts in the Russian capital.

Those revolts led to the February Revolution

and the downfall of the centuries-old Russian monarchy.

Now the queues were a usual part of the daily Petrograd life.

However, more and more often people waited in queues in vain.

There were no goods, there was lack of bread.

Even the ration cards didn't help.

The ghost of hunger appeared at the horizon.

Well? Open.

In those dark days, only criminals had a free and happy life.

The country was engulfed by crimes.

There was nobody to fight them,

and the recent hopes for the revolutionary upbringing

of the criminals didn’t come true.

Hey, owner! Do you have something to swear with butter? Like bread?

What is going on? They only have soap again!

Helplessness of the law-enforcement officials – the people's police –

led to lynching and bloody carnages.

The commoners were defending themselves the best they could,

and often killed the caught criminals on the spot.

Wine pogroms became another type of widespread thefts and burglaries.

After the beginning of the World War,

the prohibition was introduced in Russia.

The Temporary Government prolonged its action.

However, the masses swept off all obstacles on the way to the spirits

with great revolutionary enthusiasm.

In summer of 1917, the wine stores both in the capital and in the provinces

were ransacked. The soldiers were the most active thieves.

The people's police usually did nothing about that.

It didn't have the forces at its disposal to contain the crowds.

The head of the government had to interfere.

Kerenskiy addressed the thieves with a passionate appeal:

"Representatives of the irresponsible groups and dark forces of Russia

are making people get drunk to destroy the state,

lead it to the anarchy, restore the old order.

I demand to catch the guilty and hand them over to the court.

The freedom is in danger, and it's our duty to protect it."

However, nobody was scared of the head of the government.

Out of a yesterday's hero and idol he was gradually turning into a hated jocker.

Mocking poems spread about the country.

-May I be free? -Yes, thanks.

"He is ruling the confused Russia with his clean-shaved face.

He isn't the God's representative but a former advocate."

Those who saw Kerenskiy during those days noticed

that the Minister and the head of the government

looked unwell and depressed.

His face coarsened and his eyes were dull and sunk.

Just three months ago, it was an energetic, active

and even a bit feverish person.

The burden of power turned out to be too much for Alexander Fedorovitch.

However, he had no intention of letting it go.

After the military headed by General Kornilov attempted to overthrow

the power and failed, Russia was left without the government.

All the ministers resigned and Kerenskiy was the only person who stayed.

He started to form a new ruling coalition, but it was difficult to do

as the Petrograd Council was constantly against its new members.

In a result of that, a new temporary higher authority was formed in the country –

the Directory. The name came from the times of the French Revolution.

The Directory officially proclaimed Russia to be a republic

and legalized the liquidation of the police.

Five people became the members of the Directory –

the Minister for Foreign Affairs Mikhail Tereschenko,

Minister of Post and Telegraph Alexei Nikitin,

Military Minister Alexander Verkhovskiy,

Naval Minister Dmitry Verderevskiy

and Kerenskiy himself.

The appointments of Verkhovskiy and Verderevskiy

were a serious concession to the left forces.

General Major Verkhovskiy was an active participant

of the struggle against Kornilov, thanks to what he became Kerenskiy's favorite.

Counter-Admiral Verderevskiy refused to fight against the Bolsheviks

in July and was imprisoned. It worked for his benefit;

after his release, he became the Naval Minister.

Kerenskiy gave people who used to be revolutionary officers

posts of military ministers on purpose.

However, his calculations didn't live up to his expectations.

The division of posts and chairs couldn't solve anything anymore.

The failure of Kornilov's advance not only provided for Kerenskiy’s victory

but also brought the Bolsheviks into the spotlight.

The liberal and revolutionary forces and groups were afraid

of the possible dictatorship of Kornilov's generals

realizing that after coming to power the military would dismiss

both the Temporary Government and its political opponents.

To the liberals, Kornilov seemed to be scarier than the Bolsheviks.

In that situation, according to Lenin's words, Kerenskiy looked like

"Kornilov's supporter who fell out with Kornilov

but still keeps a very intimate union with other Kornilov's supporters."

The Councils and the Bolsheviks looked like the saviors

of the ideas of the February Revolution,

and the Temporary Government was accused of the conspiracy

with the counter-revolutionary forces. In that way,

the struggle against Kornilov literally resurrected the Bolsheviks' party.

The July mutiny of the Bolsheviks was forgotten.

Meanwhile, the struggle with the generals allowed the Bolsheviks

to form their own armed detachments – the Red Guards.

The Red Guards were the voluntary formations

established by the territorial organizations of the Bolsheviks' party.

In spring of 1917, the working detachments were first formed in Petrograd,

Moscow and other cities of Russia.

After the July events, they were disbanded.

The resurrection of the Red Guards took place during Kornilov's mutiny.

By the end of September, detachments of the Red Guards

had been formed in 104 settlements.

They amounted to 250,000 people.

In Petrograd alone, the workers had over 40,000 rifles.

The disarmament of those detachments

after the suppression of Kornilov's mutiny was out of the question –

the Temporary Government simply didn't have the forces to do that.

Lenin's agenda on gaining the influence in the Councils bore its fruits.

Despite the order to arrest the leaders of the Bolsheviks' party,

the influence of the Bolsheviks in the Petrograd Council became decisive.

It influenced the decisions of the Council immediately.

At night of September 1, the deputies voted for the resolution

put forward by the Bolsheviks for the very first time.

It included a direct appeal to the establishment of the new power –

the authority of the revolutionary proletariat and peasantry.

The common members of the fractions supported the Bolsheviks' revolution.

The management of the Council included the members

of the socialist revolutionaries and Mensheviks –

Nicolay Tchkheidze, Abram Gotz, Fedor Dan, Irakliy Tsereteli and Viktor Chernov.

They tried to resist the majority of the Bolsheviks in the Council but in vain.

In a result of that, all the chairmen resigned.

Just a few months ago, such a step would frighten the ordinary deputies

and make them compromise.

However, now they voted for the resignation of the top members of the Council.

In a few days, Bolshevik Lev Trotskiy who had been released

from the "Kresty" prison became its chairman.

Lenin was still hiding in Finland.

It remained a part of the Russian State,

but the police couldn't arrest Lenin there.

The Finnish Social Democrats as well as officials

dreaming about the independence of Finland were actively assisting him.

At some point, Lenin was hiding in the house of the head of police of Helsingfors.

In his letters, Lenin kept urging his comrades to start an armed revolt.

"Move the loyal regiments to the most important points…

take over the Fortress of Peter and Paul,

arrest the General Headquarters and the Government."

Alexander Fedorovitch?

However, not all leaders of the Bolsheviks supported Lenin.

The memory about the failed July mutiny was still fresh.

The Bolsheviks' advantage in the Council

was a serious cause of worry for the Directory.

The newspapers spread the rumour that the authorities were moving to Moscow,

as far from the Petrograd's Bolsheviks as possible.

However, the Moscow Council also fell under the control of Lenin's people,

so Kerenskiy had no place to run.

On September 14, the All-Russian Democratic Consultations

started in Petrograd. On opening it,

the chairman of All-Russian Central Executive Committee

Nicolay Tchkheidze claimed: "Instead of a leap into the kingdom of freedom

we made a leap into the kingdom of anarchy."

These words were confirmed almost at once.

The speech of Kerenskiy – the first person of the state –

was disrupted by shouts and insults.

The Bolsheviks were the hosts of the situation in that hall.

The majority of the participants Of the meeting felt

that they just lost time in vain.

From the book of Boris Yakovenko "History of the Great Russian Revolution":

"The result of that Democratic Meeting was evidently tragic

for it demonstrated with full clarity that both the democracy

and the revolution were at the complete deadlock."

The so-called democracy and government was at a deadlock too.

Nobody trusted either the Directory or the remains of the Temporary Government.

Their politicians were neither decisive nor respected.

The majority of people felt irritation at the Councils

because of their illegality, aggressiveness and irresponsibility.

The Bolsheviks kept criticizing any attempt to establish legality and order.

One of the decisions of the Democratic Consultation

was the establishment of some sort of a parliament.

It was officially called the Temporary Council of Russian Republic

but it was more often called the "Pre-Parliament".

The Bolsheviks got only 58 places in the Pre-Parliament out of 555.

At Lenin's recommendation, they were sabotaging its work.

Kerenskiy's only achievement was the formation of the new government.

The socialist revolutionaries and the Mensheviks finally agreed

to the coalition with the cadets' party.

The Directory ceased its existence;

its members joined the new Temporary Government.

The Bolsheviks didn't take part in the government's work.

The forming of the government became Kerenskiy's last success.

The Prime-Minister had long been looking like a man

on the verge of tiredness and depression.

People talked behind his back he was taking stimulants and even drugs.

The country was sliding into the abyss,

but Kerenskiy could only help the situation

by delivering speeches that nobody wanted to listen to.

You're the Minister of Industry. Make the machines!

People were now listening to Trotskiy,

an influential Bolshevik who was almost as popular as Lenin.

Do what you must, and Russia will get its freedom!

The new government demonstrated complete helplessness.

The first body to attack it was the All-Russian Executive Committee

of the Railways’ Professional Union.

The Union arranged an all-Russian strike demanding the raise of the wages

for the railways’ workers and the shortening of the working day.

The strike threatened to paralyze the economic life of the state,

and the authorities had to surrender.

The government suffered its next defeat at the Don.

Ataman Alexei Kaledin headed the Don Kazak troops there.

He was an active supporter of Kornilov

and demanded the restoration of the order in the country.

In spring of 1917, the Temporary Government dismissed the General

from the commandment of the 8th army.

The disgraced war leader left for the Don

where he was elected the ataman of the Don Kazak Troop.

After Kornilov's advance, an order to arrest Kaledin was issued.

However, the government of the Don district refused to execute that order,

and the Petrograd government had no choice

but to claim that it was a sheer misunderstanding.

Kaledin remained at his post and ruled the Don province as he liked.

At the same time, the Finnish Seim adopted a law on the autonomy of Finland.

The Temporary Government rejected that law and dismissed the Seim.

The General Governor even ordered to seal the building of the Seim.

However, the Finnish deputies tore off the seals, held a session

and adopted laws which were out of favour with the Russian authorities.

In Ukraine, the Central Rada was in control.

It demanded the right to independently appoint the commanders

of all the military units on the territory of Ukraine

as well as of all the regiments and divisions

that declared themselves to be Ukrainian.

The Temporary Government couldn't agree to that.

It summoned the heads of the Rada for personal explanations.

However, they refused to go to Petrograd.

They adopted a couple of resolutions and prohibited anybody

to execute instructions of any officials

appointed without the consent of the Central Rada.

To strengthen its positions, the Rada organized

the so-called Convention of the Enslaved Nations of Russia in Kiev.

It included representatives of Ukrainians, Poles, Jews, Belarusians,

Georgians, Baltic peoples, Moldavians, Kazaks, Buryats and Turks.

It was unclear how those people were chosen to represent their nations

but the Convention approved

the transformation of Russia into a federation.

It also formed a Council of Nations in Kiev.

The new Temporary Government in Petrograd watched the chaos

that engulfed the entire country, protested, expressed outrage

but could do nothing.

The situation in the army was even worse.

After Kornilov's advance, a wave of carnages against the officers

hit all the fronts again.

From the book of Boris Yakovenko "History of the Great Russian Revolution":

"The echo of the anti-governmental action of General Kornilov

was a wilful execution of four naval officers of the battleship “Petropavlovsk”.

That execution was, alas, the first swallow of the future beatings

and repressions carried out by the soldiers against the officers."

Deserting became massive.

The soldiers were running from the fronts en masse, taking their weapons with them.

To get home faster, they were seizing railway trains.

Those who stayed at the front lines kept refusing to fight.

The entire divisions were passing resolutions

stating that they would only stay at the front until November 1,

and leave home afterwards.

Under such circumstances, the German troops started an operation

under the code name "Albion" aimed at the capture of the Moonsund archipelago

and the strait of the same name.

That island had a strategic importance for the attack at Petrograd.

First the army and the fleet resisted the enemy as well as they could.

They destroyed some enemy forces with the naval mines –

the Germans lost nine ships, plus, some were damaged.

The Russian ironclad "Slava" was fighting until the end

when it was drowned by the enemy.

A few other ships went into the battle too.

Six seamen with a machine gun were defending the tactically important dam

on the island of Moonsund Mukhu).

A battery on the Tserel Cape was shooting at the advancing enemy.

However, when the enemy approached, the team of the battery

simply escaped leaving their wounded commander behind.

The course of the battle could be changed

by the new battleships from Helsingfors.

However, their crews decided to stay in the port

and supported their dying comrades with nothing more than meetings.

The Germans seized the Moonsund archipelago.

It cost them nine drowned ships.

The Russian fleet lost two ships.

The Germans lost 381 people.

The Russians didn't lose many people

but over 20,000 people surrendered and were taken prisoners.

The Germans even didn't disarm some of them.

The soldiers of the revolutionary army were in such a hurry to surrender

that the enemy wasn't afraid of their possible escape.

The country that was one step away from a victory in the war

just six months ago was now on the verge of a complete collapse.

The front was in agony.

Just recently, the liberals were accusing the Tsar's ministers

of preparing a peace treaty with Germany.

Now, the Military Minister Verkhovskiy was openly talking

about the need to conclude peace.

The delegates from the army echoed him.

Everybody demanded peace at any expense.

This war is the war of the people and not of the governments.

The Russian people know of the feelings these great sacrifices brought.

The Tsar's regime left the country in a state of disorganization.

It would be better if our allies

expressed as little respect to the Tsarist government as possible,

and call him to account for his sins.

However, the allies of Russia didn't want peace with Germany and Austro-Hungary.

They wanted a victory.

They needed to keep the Eastern front at any cost.

London and Paris were pressing on the Temporary Government.

The government had to listen to its allies

and refused to raise the issue of the peaceful negotiations.

The Bolsheviks, on the contrary, promised peace here and now.

For that, they needed just a bit – take the power into their hands.

At the beginning of October, Lenin returned to Petrograd.

He came secretly, in a wig and make-up.

He settled at a secret address.

The leader of the Bolsheviks could still be arrested for the July revolt.

Lenin's personal bodyguard Eino Rahja accompanied him.

Rahja Eino Abramovitch, a Finnish revolutionary and Communist;

worked as a metalworker at the railways;

used to smuggling illegal literature and arms into Russia.

In 1917, he became Lenin's personal bodyguard.

Served at the top positions in the Red Guards.

One phrase told to Fedor Shalyapin made his famous:

"We shall cut talented people

for no one shall have any advantage over other people.

A talent is a violation of the equality."

He died of tuberculosis and alcoholism.

Two of his brothers, also Communists,

went into smuggling after the revolution

and were delivering luxury items and food from Finland to Russia.

On October 10, the Central Committee of the Bolsheviks' party

gathered at a secret address. After passionate debates,

the Central Committee supported Lenin's plan of a revolt.

The decision wasn't an easy one to take.

Lenin was pressing on his comrades.

"The majority is for us now.

Politically, the situation is ripe for the transfer of the power."

The power was indeed lying under the feet,

and anybody who had enough of strength and decisiveness could take it.

Vladimir Ilyitch, there will be too many victims.

Too many indeed! This is the army!

Hasn't there been many victims before? I suggest voting.

Who is for?

Ten members of the Central Committee voted for the revolt.

Kamenev and Zinovyev voted against it.

There was one problem.

The Bolsheviks could carry out an armed revolt

only with the help of the workers and soldiers

who supported the Petrograd Committee.

In other words, it looked like the Council was organizing the revolt.

However, should the revolt fail, then all the Bolshevik majority

at the Council would be arrested.

To protect the top management of the party in case of a failure,

a new body was formed at the Council

that was called the Military Revolutionary Committee.

Formally, it was formed for the alleged defence of Petrograd

in case if the German attack. It was headed by a representative

of the left socialist revolutionaries Pavel Lazimir.

In reality, its task was to organize the revolt and it was fully controlled

by the chairman of the Council Bolshevik Lev Trotskiy.

Should the revolt fail,

only the leaders of the socialist revolutionaries would be arrested.

Soon representatives of the Military and Revolutionary Committee

visited all the units of the Petrograd garrison.

The Bolsheviks became more and more numerous.

In February of 1917, the party amounted to 24,000 members,

in April – to 80,000,

in August - 240,000,

in October – 400,000.

The Council became Bolshevik too.

The Petrograd Council was headed by Bolshevik Trotskiy

and the Moscow Council was headed by Bolshevik Nogin.

"Alarming rumours spread about the city

that an armed revolt of the Bolsheviks was under way.

Groups of armed Red Guards appeared in the streets;

sometimes they were riding armoured cars

with threatening posters saying something like "Death to Kerenskiy!"

However, the Temporary Government was making one mistake after another,

as if it didn't understand what was going on.

Kerenskiy ordered to send 200,000-strong garrison of the capital to the front.

The commanders described the mood of the garrison in the following way:

"A small part of it is closely tied to the Bolshevik Council and is very active.

The mood of the other part one may call passive, even apathic…"

However, when the soldiers found out that they would be sent to the trenches,

they claimed that they had to be fully equipped and armed.

The demand seemed sound, and the Military Ministry satisfied it.

Even the units which were disarmed in July as unreliable

got rifles and machine guns. The Red Guards received weapons as well.

However, the garrison didn't leave for the front.

But the Bolsheviks gained a well-armed support for their upcoming revolt.

"The majority of the garrison is geared up against the government

and is ready to act at the first signal of the Petrograd Council,

and actively resists the dispatching of the Petrograd troops to the front."

Meanwhile, the struggle for the organization of the armed revolt

was still raging within Lenin's party and was sometimes taking funny turns.

After the end of the secret meeting of the Central Committee,

one of the closest comrades of Lenin Lev Kamenev published an article

in the newspaper in which he spoke against the armed revolt.

One member of the Central Committee Grigoriy Zinovyev supported him.

When Lenin found out about the publication, he flew into a fit of rage

and demanded to expel Kamenev from the party.

However, soon the comrades-in-arms made up…

A famous writer Maksim Gorkiy was against Lenin's plan too.

He had been supporting the Bolsheviks for a long time

and became a member of their party in 1905.

Gorkiy welcomed the February Revolution.

But he disapproved of the plans of the armed revolt –

he was afraid of new blood and chaos.

Gorkiy spoke against the revolt openly and directly.

In a newspaper "Novaya Zhizn" ("New Life") the writer published an article

"We Can't Keep Silence" in which he appealed to the Bolsheviks

to denounce their plans.

Now the entire Petrograd knew about the Bolsheviks' secret plans.

Trotskiy was forced to publicly lie

that they weren't preparing for a revolt.

Few believed his words, but the Temporary Government acted passively

even in that decisive moment.

We are not planning any armed disturbances…

Kerenskiy plunged into a complete depression.

He publicly acknowledged: "I'm a doomed person.

I don't care for anything now and I dare say,

this provocation that is being organized

by the Bolsheviks in the city is unbelievable."

Meanwhile the situation exacerbated.

The commandment of the Petrograd district reported to the government

that the troops weren't reliable.

The Military Minister Verkhovskiy tried to resign.

He didn't believe in his ability to successfully resist the Bolsheviks.

The government didn't fire the Minister but gave him a vacation –

to restore his health. On October 21,

four days before the revolt of the Bolsheviks,

the Military Minister left for Valaam.

The government went on making mistakes pushing away those people

who could support it at a critical moment.

The next day, on October 22, the Kazaks organized a cross procession

in honour of the holiday of the Kazan Mother of God.

The Kazaks were considered to be the supporters of the counter-revolution,

and so, the cross procession could seriously hinder the Bolsheviks' plans.

It coincided with another holiday – the day of the Petrograd Council,

in honour of which a demonstration was planned.

The Council put forward an ultimatum - to cancel the cross procession.

The government satisfied their request.

Lenin was excited. He wrote:

"The cancellation of the Kazaks' demonstration is a giant victory of ours."

The chief of the Bolsheviks was still in Petrograd illegally.

At night from October 23 to 24 of 1917,

the Minister of Justice of the Temporary Government Pavel Malyantovitch

issued an order to arrest Lenin.

However, it didn't interfere with the Bolsheviks' plans.

Moreover, the Minister of Justice Malyantovitch was a Menshevik

but had close ties with the Bolsheviks and even warned Lenin personally

about the arrest that was being prepared.

Under those circumstances, the effectiveness of actions

of the Temporary Government was close to nil.

Trotskiy who was preparing for the revolt was rushing about Petrograd.

He visited the caserns, the plants, the Smolniy, the meetings,

and spoke clearly and directly.

“You have two fur coats, capitalist.

Give one to a soldier who is cold in the trenches.

Do you have warm boots? A worker needs your boots.

Stay at home…”

Those appeals found an eager audience.

Soldiers, seamen and workers were ready to follow Trotskiy anywhere.

On October 24, at 5:30 a.m.

a commissar of the Temporary Government accompanied by a detachment of cadets

came to the printing house were the Bolshevik newspapers

"Rabochiy Put" ("the Workers' Way") and "Soldat" ("Soldier") were printed.

At his order, the door of the typography was sealed

and the guards were placed around the building.

However, it was too late to stop the Bolshevik agitation.

Work was in progress in the building of the former Smolniy Institute for Noble Girls

that became the Headquarters

of the Military and Revolutionary Committee.

The troops received an order to execute the resolution of the headquarters

of the Petrograd military district.

That was too much for Kerenskiy,

and he ordered to arrest the members of the Committee.

However, it was easier said than done.

The government summoned reliable military troops to Petrograd

but received a reply from the Northern Front:

"The organization and dispatch of a detachment

for the defence of the Temporary Government is impossible.

Nobody will follow that slogan."

Meanwhile, the Fortress of Peter and Paul took the side of the Bolsheviks.

The Winter Palace in which the Temporary Government was sitting

was now under the aim of the Fortress' guns.

The scared government called upon the cadets to protect them.

The cadets were the students of the military institutes

and schools of warrant officers of the Russian army.

After the graduation, they received a junior officer rank of a warrant officer.

In Petrograd and its suburbs, there were the Pavlov

and Vladimir Military Colleges, Nicolay Cavalry Institute,

Mikhail Artillery and Nicolay Engineer Colleges

as well as a couple of schools of warrant officers.

The total number of the cadets who were in Petrograd

and its suburbs was about 7,000 people.

The well-trained cadets patrolling the streets

were live impersonation of order and calm in the eyes of the commoners.

The cadets became the last hope of the Temporary Government.

The Bolsheviks went on with their distractive manoeuvres.

The Military and Revolutionary Committee adopted a resolution

stating that it wasn't planning to organize an armed revolt.

However, in reality the revolt had already started.

Kerenskiy's mood changed radically; he claimed that he dreamt of a revolt

because it was giving him a chance to crush the Bolsheviks.

The Minister and the chairman of the government agreed for violent measures.

Simultaneously, he turned to the Pre-Parliament for support.

Kerenskiy delivered a passionate speech in front of the deputies:

"The Temporary Government, including me,

prefers to be killed and destroyed, but we won't surrender

the life, honour and independence of our state."

People applauded Kerenskiy wildly but in a few hours,

they adopted a resolution against him.

The Pre-Parliament only ruled to form a committee

to resolve the conflict between the government and the Bolsheviks.

Kerenskiy threatened to resign from the post of the head of the government;

however, he still hoped to win.

On October 24, at his order the Headquarters of the Petrograd district

tried to isolate the working suburbs.

However, the attempt to raise the bridges over the Neva failed.

The detachments of the Red Guards managed to interfere

with the cadets' activities almost everywhere.

The Bolsheviks seized the Central Telegraph

as well as the railway stations, the State Bank and the telephone station.

The troops loyal to the government gathered on the Palace Square.

They controlled the Winter Palace,

the building of the Headquarters of the military district

and the Mariinskiy Palace. The defenders didn't have more forces.

To stop the enemy, a barricade from firewood was erected on the square.

The Bolsheviks went on gathering their forces.

A telegram signed by the member of the Bolshevik Central Committee

Yakov Sverdlov was sent to the Central Committee of the Baltic Fleet,

"Send the Charter".

It was an arbitrary sign.

After getting the telegram,

the Baltic Fleet sent almost 2,000 seamen to Petrograd.

The very same day, Lenin went to the Smolniy.

For the sake of conspiracy, he was made-up and had false documents.

Lenin put a cap on, tied a kerchief around his cheek as if he had toothache.

Eino Rahja accompanied him, armed to his teeth.

On their way, patrols stopped them twice to check the documents.

However, neither of them recognized Lenin.

At the Smolniy, he enjoyed a happy reception and got down to work at once.

On October 25, at 4 a.m. at the order of the Military and Revolutionary Committee

cruiser "Aurora" approached the Nicolay Bridge.

"Aurora" was a cruiser of the first rank of the Baltic Fleet.

Its crew consisted of 578 people, 20 officers and 550 seamen.

During the Russian-Japanese War the cruiser took part

in the campaign of the Second Pacific Ocean Squadron

that ended with a battle of Tsushima.

During the February Revolution, a mutiny started onboard,

and Captain Nicolskiy was forced to shoot at the rebels.

The enraged crowd murdered their Captain and his Senior Assistant violently.

By summer, the crew included 42 members of the Bolsheviks' party.

By the end of October, the cruiser was in Petrograd at the repair dock.

The crew elected a new Captain – Senior Lieutenant Nikonov,

but on October 25 he left for the Headquarters,

and Lieutenant Ericson was in charge on the ship.

"Aurora's" task was to restore movement along the Nicolay Bridge

that had been overtaken and raised by the cadets the day before.

For that, the cruiser had to sail to the middle of the river.

Ericson refused to do that saying that he didn't know the fairwaters well.

After threats and long conversations he agreed to do it

fearing that without his help the seamen would run the ship aground.

When the "Aurora" approached, the cadets left the bridge.

The electricians from the ship landed on the shore and drew the bridge.

By the morning of October 25, Kerenskiy started to realize

that he was sitting in the Winter Palace like in a besieged fortress.

Nobody was answering his calls for help.

He only had a half of the Female Battalion he had summoned at his disposal.

The Female Battalion was a military unit consisting solely of women.

Such battalions were formed by the Temporary Government

out of the female volunteers primarily with a propagandistic goal –

to raise the patriotic mood.

The second company of the battalion amounting to 137 people

took part in the defence of the Winter Palace.

In the morning of October 25, the weather was vile in Petrograd.

It was cloudy and cold, and bitter cold wind was blowing.

Everywhere, there were leaflets with prohibitions from the Temporary Government.

They prohibited "wilful demonstrations"

and "execution by the troops of any orders from different organizations".

They ordered to find and arrest Lenin.

The leaflets were still on the walls

when the Temporary Government was no more in power.

The city was under almost full control of the Bolsheviks.

Realizing that it made no sense to sit in the Winter Palace,

Kerenskiy decided to move forward towards the loyal troops

that had been summoned to Petrograd.

However, the ruler of Russia didn't even have a good car in his disposal.

With great efforts, he managed to borrow a car from the US Embassy.

At the last moment, Kerenskiy's personal car was found.

The driver put an American flag on the front desk and drove into the night.

The Head of the Temporary Government left Petrograd.

Telegrams were flying to all corners of the country

from the telegraph captured by the Bolsheviks:

"To the citizens of Russia. The Temporary Government is overthrown.

The state power now rests with the Petrograd Council of the Deputies

from Workers and Soldiers and the Military and Revolutionary Committee

that heads the Petrograd proletariat and garrison."

It wasn't true yet.

Officially, the Temporary Government still existed

though it couldn't exercise any real power.

In the afternoon of October 25,

the Ministers gathered in the Winter Palace for a session.

There, they found out that the commander of the Petrograd military district

Colonel Polkovnikov panicked and couldn't lead the troops.

A decision was taken to hand the power in the city to one of the Ministers –

Nicolay Kishkin, a physiotherapist.

Dr. Kishkin became a governor with extraordinary competence.

He tried to organize the resistance to the Bolsheviks as hard as he could.

However, he only had the servants of the Winter Palace,

cadets, a detachment of the Kazaks and a couple of dozens of women

from the Female Storm Battalion at his disposal.

Kishkin dismissed Polkovnikov and appointed a battle General Bagratuni

the commander of the district.

However, by that time the majority of Petrograd garrison units

were listening to the orders of only one authority –

the Military and Revolutionary Committee.

It didn't take the Bolsheviks long to dismiss the Pre-Parliament

that was sitting in the Mariinskiy Palace.

The delegates who were at the hall adopted a resolution

with a protest against violence and went home.

None of them showed any resistance.

Meanwhile, reinforcements arrived to the Winter Palace –

a joint battalion of the school of the warrant officers

of the engineering troops.

People in the Palace immediately started to plan the counter-attack.

They tried to free the Mariinskiy Palace, then the Central Telephone Station.

All was in vain. One armoured car under a red banner

was enough to send the troops loyal to the government running.

Closer to the evening the Military and Revolutionary Committee

seized the Headquarters of the Petrograd military district.

In the evening, Lenin delivered a speech at the Petrograd Council

and said the words that became famous all over the world,

"The revolution of workers and peasants, the necessity for which

was constantly explained by the Bolsheviks, has happened!"

Simultaneously, the Second All-Russian Convention

of the Councils started its work.

Its task was to legalize the seizure of power by the Bolsheviks.

Lenin and his comrades did everything to make the population

perceive the coup not as the seizure of power by the Bolsheviks.

They wanted them to see that the Military and Revolutionary Committee

of the Petrograd Council – allegedly a body elected by the people –

took the power into its hands.

They kept the fact that the Bolsheviks had been already heading

and completely controlling the Council hushed.

The Ministers remained in the Winter Palace.

They only had one telephone line at their disposal.

The defenders of the Palace got depressed.

The artillery cadets left taking four cannons with them;

a part of the school of the warrant officers of the engineering troops left too,

as did the Kazaks.

In the evening, the Bolsheviks got ready for the storm.

An ultimatum on the immediate capitulation was delivered to the Winter Palace.

It threatened that the "Aurora" would open fire at the Palace.

The Ministers decided not to reply to the ultimatum.

They received the last support from the City Duma.

Its deputies decide to organize a procession to the Winter Palace

to support the besieged Ministers

or to "die together with them" should they fail.

The Red Guards’ patrols simply didn't let their demonstration pass through.

The deputies didn't die and went on to their sessions.

When it got completely dark,

the Bolsheviks attacked the barricades by the Winter Palace.

However, the attack was repelled by just two blank shots from the cannons.

The Temporary Government could still go home at that point.

The only thing that kept the Ministers in the Palace was the responsibility

before those few fighters who stayed to defend them.

After their first failure, the Bolsheviks intensified their efforts.

According to some witnesses,

"Aurora" did shoot at the Palace a couple of times.

The cannons of the Fortress of Peter and Paul

were fired above the Palace's roof.

The historians still discuss

whether the "Aurora" fired at the Winter Palace.

According to some data, the storm of the Winter Palace

started after a blank shot of a cruiser's cannon.

According to other evidence, the "Aurora" was firing at the Palace

with battle shells. However, some researchers doubt the fact

that the cruiser had any battle shells onboard.

Meanwhile the infantry started to get into the Winter Palace

through the broken windows and side entrances

that the soldiers simply forgot to lock.

The crowd that burst into the Palace swept its defenders off their feet.

The Winter Palace filled with soldiers and seamen.

Some defenders resisted, but there wasn't any unified command.

There were only 5 officers in the Palace.

On October 25, at 1:30 a.m. a cadet ran into the room

where the ministers were sitting.

He said that he and his comrades were ready to fight

until the last man standing. All the people present shouted,

"No blood, please!" The cadet went out.

In a few minutes, a door opened, and a crowd burst in.

A man in a civilian overcoat and a hat asked

where the members of the Temporary Government were;

they answered that they were the ones.

Then the man said:

"I declare you arrested.

I'm the Chairman of the Military and Revolutionary Committee Antonov."

That was the end.

At 3:00 a.m. Kamenev reported to the Convention of the Councils

on the arrest of the government.

The delegates adopted the appeal "To the Workers, Soldiers and Peasants"

in which they informed that the Temporary Government was overthrown,

and the power passed to the Convention of the Councils.

The appeal also said:

"The Council rules that in the provinces,

the power shall be handed over to the Councils of the Deputies

from the Workers, Soldiers and Peasants…"

The arrested Ministers were taken under guard to the Fortress of Peter and Paul.

The crowd demanded to cut their heads off.

However, the lynching was prevented.

The guards delivered the disgraced government to the Fortress safe and sound.

The Russian revolution that started in February of 1917,

ended in October with the Bolsheviks' coup.