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Detail from a 1898 map of St. Petersburg, the Russian capital, from a German atlas. Central St Petersburg, or Petrograd, is on the Neva River. Key landmarks from top to bottom include the Peter and Paul Fortress, which served as a prison, Nevski Prospect, a primary boulevard south of the Fortress, and the Mariyinsky Theater.
Alexander Kerensky, leader of Russia's Cadet party and a member of the Provisional government in 1917 as Minister of Justice, War, and Prime Minister. From 'The War of the Nations Portfolio in Rotogravure Etchings Compiled from the Mid-Week Pictorial Published by the New York Times Co. New York City N.Y.' © Copyrighted 1919 by the New York Times Company 1914 - 1919
Parted red curtains; in the center, in a trench, a German soldier, eyes closed, hands in overcoat pockets, leans against one side of a trench, smoking a pipe, his rifle resting on the other side of the trench. To the right, a Red soldier, red from red fur hat to red boots, holds two rifles. To the left, a Russian soldier casts away his his hat, backpack, and rifle. Across the bottom of the stage it reads, 1918. Operett: "Trockij", Operetta Trotsky. A watercolor postcard by Schima Martos.
Proclamation by the Military Revolutionary Committee of the fall of the Provisional Government of Russia, issued the night of November 7 (October 25, Old Style), 1917. From the 1967 Signet edition of Ten Days that Shook the World by John Reed.
View of Moscow, the Kremlin and St. Basil's Cathedral along the Moskva River. The message on the reverse was dated from Moscow May 29, 1914 (new style); multiple postmarks May 17 (old style; May 30 new style) and May 21 (old style; June 3 new style).
"Sunday, November 4, was in the nature of a dress rehearsal for the clash ahead. The Petrograd Soviet—that is to say, the Bolsheviks—called on their followers to demonstrate in their own districts, not violently, but simply to make a show of strength. There was no serious incident, but the meetings were crammed with soldiers and workers who were clearly only waiting for a signal, and through the course of the day the Bolshevik Military Committee sent messages to the regiments that in future they were to obey no orders but those of their commissars." ((1), more)
"Now at last the government began to take serious action. Kerensky called a cabinet meeting late in the evening of November 5, and an emergency was declared. Polkovnikov was put in command of all forces in the city, with orders to take drastic action against disturbances. The Soviet Military Revolutionary Committee was declared illegal, and an order was sent out for the arrest of Trotsky and other Bolshevik leaders. Bolshevik newspapers were banned. Kerensky continued to be confident; he said he knew all about the Bolshevik plans. He would be glad if they did attempt a rising; he had ample forces to deal with it. Even now loyal troops were being summoned from outside the city. Yet Polkovnikov took no action on this night. He sent off a Women's Battalion to strengthen the guard inside the Winter Palace, but he made no attempt at all to attack the real center of the trouble, Smolny. And in fact the government had already suffered a major reverse on this day without a single shot being fired." ((2), more)
"October 24, a gray morning, early. I roamed about the building from one floor to another, partly for the sake of movement and partly to make sure everything was in order and to encourage those who needed it. Along the stone floors of the interminable and still half-dark corridors of the Smolny, the soldiers were dragging their machine-guns, with a hearty clangor and tramping of feet—this was the new detachment I had summoned. The few Socialist-Revolutionists and Mensheviks still at the Smolny could be seen poking sleepy, frightened faces out at us. The music of the guns was ominous in their ears, and they left the Smolny in a hurry, one after the other. We were now in full command of the building that was preparing to rear a Bolshevik head over the city and the country." ((3), more)
"To the Citizens of Russia!The Provisional Government is deposed. The State Power has passed into the hands of the organ of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, the Military Revolutionary Committee, which stands at the head of the Petrograd proletariat and garrison.The cause for which the people were fighting: immediate proposal of a democratic peace, abolition of landlord property-rights over the land, labor control over production, creation of a Soviet Government—that cause is securely achieved.Long live the revolution of workmen, soldiers and peasants!Military Revolutionary CommitteePetrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies." ((4), more)
"By midday [on November 8, 1917], however, certain definite information was available and it was important. A bicycle battalion which had been advancing on the city to defend the government—and at this stage one battalion might have made all the difference—had halted and had come over to the Bolsheviks. In Moscow the garrison had risen against the government. And from the front there was a message to say that the Twelfth Army supported the rising. All this was great encouragement for Smolny; indeed, when the news about the Twelfth Army came in pandemonium broke out and the delegates flung their arms round one another, weeping with relief." ((5), more)
(1) Some of the events of November 4 (October 22, Old Style), 1917 in Petrograd, capital of Russia. Although the Bolsheviks were in the majority in the Petrograd Soviet and the Military Revolutionary Committee, other socialist parties were also represented.
The Russian Revolution by Alan Moorehead, page 238, copyright © 1958 by Time, Inc., publisher: Carroll and Graf, publication date: 1989
(2) Alexander Kerensky, head of the Provisional Government of Russia, responded to the formation of the Military Revolutionary Committee, led by Leon Trotsky and the Bolsheviks and formed to defend the Revolution, but to do so by seizing power. Kerensky may have thought he had command of the situation on November 5 (October 23 Old Style), 1917, but he had lost control of the army. General Polkovnikov was in command in the Petrograd Military District. The Winter Palace was the seat of the Provisional Government, the Smolny that of the Bolsheviks.
The Russian Revolution by Alan Moorehead, page 239, copyright © 1958 by Time, Inc., publisher: Carroll and Graf, publication date: 1989
(3) Leon Trotsky writing of the morning of November 6, 1917 — October 24, Old Style. The Smolny, a former school for girls, had been the seat of the Soviet Executive Committee, a Committee in which Bolsheviks had been increasingly represented in the weeks before the October Revolution. Earlier in the morning, Trotsky had found the machine guns in the building poorly maintained, and had sent for the detachment he writes of. The Provisional Government of Alexander Kerensky had determined to suppress the Bolsheviks on the 5th, and tried to do so on the 6th, but by the morning of the 7th the Bolsheviks would control Petrograd.
My Life: an Attempt at an Autobiography by Leon Trotsky, page 321, publisher: Dover Publications, Inc., publication date: 2007
(4) Proclamation by the Military Revolutionary Committee of the fall of the Provisional Government of Russia, issued the night of November 7 (October 25, Old Style), 1917. The Bolsheviks had seized control of Petrograd the night of November 6–7 — telephone and telegraph exchanges, the State Bank, rail stations and bridges. John Reed, author of Ten Days that Shook the World, helped distribute this proclamation after the surrender of the Winter Palace where most of the government ministers were meeting. The Provisional Government supported continuing the war, and had been unable to resolve the demands for the distribution of land to the peasants who worked it.
Ten Days that Shook the World by John Reed, page 102, publisher: Signet Books, publication date: 1967
(5) The Bolsheviks had seized control of Petrograd the night of November 6–7 — telephone and telegraph exchanges, the State Bank, rail stations and bridges. Even as Prime Minister and Commander of the Army Alexander Kerensky was trying to rally troops to retake the capital and seize the Bolsheviks, more army units were coming out in support of the Revolution. The support of the Moscow garrison and the Twelfth Army were critical steps in securing the Bolshevik Revolution. The Smolny, a former school for girls, was the Bolshevik headquarters in Petrograd.
The Russian Revolution by Alan Moorehead, page 251, copyright © 1958 by Time, Inc., publisher: Carroll and Graf, publication date: 1989
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