Editing October Revolution (section)

==Background==

===February Revolution===
{{main|February Revolution}}

The [[February Revolution]] had toppled Tsar [[Nicholas II of Russia]] and replaced his government with the [[Russian Provisional Government]]. However, the provisional government was weak and riven by internal dissension. It continued to wage [[World War I]], which became increasingly unpopular. There was a nationwide crisis affecting social, economic, and political relations. Disorder in industry and transport had intensified, and difficulties in obtaining provisions had increased. Gross industrial production in 1917 decreased by over 36% of what it had been in 1914. In the autumn, as much as 50% of all enterprises in the [[Ural (region)|Urals]], the [[Donbas]], and other industrial centers were closed down, leading to mass unemployment. At the same time, the cost of living increased sharply. Real wages fell to about 50% of what they had been in 1913. By October 1917, Russia's national debt had risen to 50 billion [[rouble]]s. Of this, debts to foreign governments constituted more than 11 billion roubles. The country faced the threat of financial [[bankruptcy]].

=== German support ===
{{See also|April Crisis}}
Vladimir Lenin, who had been living in exile in Switzerland, with other dissidents organized a plan to negotiate a passage for them through Germany, with whom Russia was then at war. Recognizing that these dissidents could cause problems for their Russian enemies, the German government agreed to permit 32 Russian citizens, among them Lenin and his wife, to travel in a [[sealed train]] carriage through their territory.

Upon his arrival in Petrograd on 3 April 1917, Lenin issued his [[April Theses]] that called on the [[Bolsheviks]] to take over the Provisional Government, usurp power, and end the war.

===Unrest by workers, peasants, and soldiers===
Throughout June, July, and August 1917, it was common to hear working-class Russians speak about their lack of confidence in the Provisional Government. Factory workers around Russia felt unhappy with the growing shortages of food, supplies, and other materials. They blamed their managers or foremen and would even attack them in the factories. The workers blamed many rich and influential individuals for the overall shortage of food and poor living conditions. Workers saw these rich and powerful individuals as opponents of the Revolution and called them "bourgeois", "capitalist", and "imperialist".<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Steinberg |first=Mark |title=The Russian Revolution 1905–1921 |date=2017 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-1992-2762-4 |location=New York |pages=143–146}}</ref>

In September and October 1917, there were mass [[strike action]]s by the Moscow and Petrograd workers, miners in the Donbas, metalworkers in the Urals, oil workers in [[Baku]], textile workers in the [[Central Industrial Region (Poland)|Central Industrial Region]], and railroad workers on 44 railway lines. In these months alone, more than a million workers took part in strikes. Workers established control over production and distribution in many factories and plants in a [[social revolution]].{{Sfn|Mandel|1984}} Workers organized these strikes through [[factory committee]]s. The factory committees represented the workers and were able to negotiate better working conditions, pay, and hours. Even though workplace conditions may have been increasing in quality, the overall quality of life for workers was not improving. There were still shortages of food and the increased wages workers had obtained did little to provide for their families.<ref name=":0"/>

By October 1917, peasant uprisings were common. By autumn, the peasant movement against the landowners had spread to 482 of 624 counties, or 77% of the country. As 1917 progressed, the peasantry increasingly began to lose faith that the land would be distributed to them by the [[Socialist Revolutionary Party|Social Revolutionaries]] and the [[Mensheviks]]. Refusing to continue living as before, they increasingly took measures into their own hands, as can be seen by the increase in the number and militancy of the peasant's actions. Over 42% of all the cases of destruction (usually burning down and seizing property from the landlord's estate) recorded between February and October occurred in October.{{Sfn|Trotsky|1932|pages=859–864}} While the uprisings varied in severity, complete uprisings and seizures of the land were not uncommon. Less robust forms of protest included marches on landowner manors and government offices, as well as withholding and storing grains rather than selling them.{{Sfn|Steinberg|2017|pages=196–197}} When the Provisional Government sent punitive detachments, it only enraged the peasants. In September, the garrisons in Petrograd, Moscow, and other cities, the Northern and Western fronts, and the sailors of the [[Baltic Fleet]] declared through their elected representative body [[Tsentrobalt]] that they did not recognize the authority of the Provisional Government and would not carry out any of its commands.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Upton |first=Anthony F. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-iTqvnpRXDEC&pg=PA89 |title=The Finnish Revolution: 1917–1918 |date=1980 |publisher=University of Minnesota Press |isbn=978-1-4529-1239-4 |location=Minneapolis, Minnesota |pages=89 |language=en}}</ref>

Soldiers' wives were key players in the unrest in the villages. From 1914 to 1917, almost 50% of healthy men were sent to war, and many were killed on the front, resulting in many females being head of the household. Often—when government allowances were late and were not sufficient to match the rising costs of goods—soldiers' wives sent masses of appeals to the government, which went largely unanswered. Frustration resulted, and these women were influential in inciting "subsistence riots"—also referred to as "hunger riots", "[[pogrom]]s", or "baba riots". In these riots, citizens seized food and resources from shop owners, who they believed to be charging unfair prices. Upon police intervention, protesters responded with "rakes, sticks, rocks, and fists."{{Sfn|Steinberg|2017|pages=193–194}}

===Antiwar demonstrations===
In a diplomatic note of 1 May, the minister of foreign affairs, [[Pavel Milyukov]], expressed the Provisional Government's desire to continue the war against the [[Central Powers]] "to a victorious conclusion", arousing broad indignation. On 1–4 May, about 100,000 workers and soldiers of Petrograd, and, after them, the workers and soldiers of other cities, led by the Bolsheviks, demonstrated under banners reading "Down with the war!" and "All power to the soviets!" The mass demonstrations resulted in a crisis for the Provisional Government.<ref>{{Cite book |first=Richard |last=Pipes |author-link=Richard Pipes |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XtE54LuhFzEC&pg=PA407 |title=The Russian Revolution |date=1990 |publisher=Knopf Doubleday |isbn=978-0-3077-8857-3 |page=407}}</ref> 1 July saw more demonstrations, as about 500,000 workers and soldiers in Petrograd demonstrated, again demanding "all power to the soviets," "down with the war," and "down with the ten capitalist ministers." The Provisional Government opened an [[Kerensky Offensive|offensive]] against the Central Powers on 1 July, which soon collapsed. The news of the offensive's failure intensified the struggle of the workers and the soldiers.

===July days===
{{main|July Days}}
[[File:19170704 Riot on Nevsky prosp Petrograd.jpg|thumb|A scene from the July Days. The army has just opened fire on street protesters.]]

On 16 July, spontaneous demonstrations of workers and soldiers began in Petrograd, demanding that power be turned over to the soviets. The Central Committee of the [[Russian Social Democratic Labour Party]] provided leadership to the spontaneous movements. On 17 July, over 500,000 people participated in what was intended to be a peaceful demonstration in Petrograd, the so-called [[July Days]]. The Provisional Government, with the support of [[Socialist-Revolutionary Party]]-[[Menshevik]] leaders of the All-Russian Executive Committee of the Soviets, ordered an armed attack against the demonstrators, killing hundreds.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kort |first=Michael |title=The Soviet colossus: the rise and fall of the USSR |date=1993 |publisher=M.E. Sharpe |isbn=978-0-8733-2676-6 |location=Armonk, NY |page=104}}</ref>

A period of repression followed. On 5–6 July, attacks were made on the editorial offices and printing presses of ''[[Pravda]]'' and on the [[Museum of Political History of Russia (St. Petersburg)|Palace of Kshesinskaya]], where the Central Committee and the Petrograd Committee of the Bolsheviks were located. On 7 July, the government ordered the arrest and trial of [[Vladimir Lenin]], who was forced to go underground, as he had done under the [[Tsarist]] regime. Bolsheviks were arrested, workers were disarmed, and revolutionary military units in Petrograd were disbanded or sent to the war front. On 12 July, the Provisional Government published a law introducing the death penalty at the front. The second coalition government was formed on 24 July, chaired by [[Alexander Kerensky]] and consisted mostly of Socialists.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hickey |first=Michael C. |title=Competing Voices from the Russian Revolution: Fighting Words: Fighting Words |date=2010 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-0-3133-8524-7 |page=559}}</ref> Kerensky's government introduced a number of liberal rights, such as [[freedom of speech]], equality before the law, and the right to form unions and arrange [[labor strike]]s.{{citation needed|date=May 2024}}

In response to a Bolshevik appeal, Moscow's working class began a protest strike of 400,000 workers. They were supported by strikes and protest rallies by workers in [[Kiev]]<!--See WP:KIEV-->, [[Kharkov]], [[Nizhny Novgorod]], [[Ekaterinburg]], and other cities.

===Kornilov affair===
{{main|Kornilov affair}}

In what became known as the Kornilov affair, General [[Lavr Kornilov]], who had been Commander-in-Chief since 18 July, with Kerensky's agreement directed an army under [[Aleksandr Krymov]] to march toward Petrograd to restore order.<ref>{{harvnb|Beckett|2007|p=526}}</ref> According to some accounts, Kerensky appeared to become frightened by the possibility that the army would stage a coup, and reversed the order. By contrast, historian [[Richard Pipes]] has argued that the episode was engineered by Kerensky.<ref>{{harvnb|Pipes|1997|p=51|ps=: "There is no evidence of a Kornilov plot, but there is plenty of evidence of Kerensky's duplicity."}}</ref> On 27 August, feeling betrayed by the government, Kornilov pushed on towards Petrograd. With few troops to spare at the front, Kerensky turned to the Petrograd Soviet for help. Bolsheviks, Mensheviks, and Socialist Revolutionaries confronted the army and convinced them to stand down.<ref>{{harvnb|Service|1998|p=54}}</ref> The Bolsheviks' influence over railroad and telegraph workers also proved vital in stopping the movement of troops. The political right felt betrayed, and the left was resurgent. The first direct consequence of Kornilov's failed coup was the formal abolition of the monarchy and the proclamation of the [[Russian Republic]] on 1 September.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Провозглашена Российская республика |url=https://www.prlib.ru/history/619540 |access-date=6 November 2021 |website=Президентская библиотека имени Б.Н. Ельцина |language=ru}}</ref>

With Kornilov defeated, the Bolsheviks' popularity in the soviets grew significantly, both in the central and local areas. On 31 August, the Petrograd Soviet of Workers and Soldiers Deputies—and, on 5 September, the Moscow Soviet Workers Deputies—adopted the Bolshevik resolutions on the question of power. The Bolsheviks were able to take over in [[Briansk]], [[Samara, Russia|Samara]], [[Saratov]], [[Tsaritsyn]], [[Minsk]], Kiev, [[Tashkent]], and other cities.{{Citation needed|date=June 2022}}