• October 9-12: The Petrograd Soviet creates a Military Revolutionary Committee (MRC), developed from the counter-revolutionary committee of the Kornilov Affair. Devoted to defending Petrograd by arming workers and organising solders, the Bolsheviks are its leading creators and commanders.
• October 10: Having gained a majority in the Petrograd and Moscow Soviets, the Bolshevik Central Committee vote 10-2 in favour of Lenin's demand to seize power (he is present, in disguise). No timetable is set, but a 2nd All Russian Congress of Soviets is to be organised so it can also vote.
• October 15-18: Antonov-Duseenko travels to the Northern Front (WW1's Eastern Front) to find and organise support for Bolshevik revolution under the guise of the MRC. He is very successful.
• October 16: Bolshevik Central Committee discuss plans again; doubts are raised, but the MRC is identified as a potential tool of revolution.
• October 17-18: Articles by Bolshevik dissenters (notably Zinoviev and Kamanev) appear in non-Bolshevik newspapers, talking of the revolution and expressing dismay; Lenin reacts by publicly countering their arguments. Rumours of a Bolshevik uprising are now common; the PG does little to react.
• October 21: Petrograd's soldiers promise to support the MRC. Antonov-Ovseenko now controls the Red Guards, the Petrograd Garrison and the Baltic naval navy, easily enough to overpower PG forces. The MRC also controls the Northern Front soldiers, who refuse the PG's request for reinforcements.
• October 23: Bolshevik leaders debate launching a coup immediately, but delay until a Congress of Soviets has met and agreed. The Peter and Paul fortress garrison agrees to support the MRC; in response, the PG declares the MRC a criminal organisation and tries to arrest its leaders.
• October 24: The PG moves against Bolshevik printers and meetings in the morning, while the MRC continues to either occupy key buildings with their troops, or gain support from the existing garrisons. Lenin is frustrated that no one has officially seized power.
• October 25: Lenin goes to a Bolshevik HQ and drafts a declaration: power has passed to the MRC, but the arrest of the government has been delayed. Shortly after, Trotsky announces to the PS that the PG has been usurped and all ministers will soon be arrested; Lenin then outlines his plans for a new Soviet govt. The Second Congress of Soviets begins but, without a majority, the Bolsheviks need to negotiate; Menshevik and Right SR delegates walk out in disgust. That evening, the MRC occupy the Winter Palace and Kerensky flees.
• October 25-November 3: Soviet power spreads across Russia, with Bolshevik and other Socialist groups seizing control. In some regions this is easy and peaceful; in others, there is violence. Moscow's Bolsheviks attempt to copy the PS and create an MRC, but they are opposed by an active local Duma.
• October 26: Antonov-Ovseenko arrests the PG. The Congress of Soviets passes several of Lenin's decrees, including those on war, land reform and government: the Council/Soviet of People's Commissars (Sovnarkom) is created. This ruling council is entirely Bolshevik and will rule until a Constituent Assembly is elected. General opinion is that the Bolshevik government won't last long.
• October 27: The Decree of the Press is issued, censoring Russian publications and press; many socialists are dismayed.
• October 29: Kerensky and General Krasnov advance on Petrograd with the few loyal forces they can muster but are beaten by larger Bolshevik forces at Pulkoso heights. Vikzhel, the Executive Committee of the massive railway workers' union, pushes for an all-party soviet government and forces the Bolsheviks to negotiate.
• November 2: The Declaration of the Rights of the Peoples of Russia is issued.
• November 3: Bolsheviks finally take control of Moscow and the Kremlin.
• November 10: All ranks and titles abolished.
• November 12-19: The elections to the Constituent Assembly in which over 44 million votes are cast across Russia. The Bolsheviks gain 23.9% of the vote, with much larger support amongst soldiers, urban workers. Moscow and Petrograd. SRs get 40%.
• November 19: Official peace negotiations begin on the Eastern Front.
• December: Soviet power spreads further throughout Russia, but in the fringe countries independence movements grow in equal numbers.
• December 2: The Supreme Council of the National Economy created to organise the entire Russian economy; answers to the Sovnarkom.
• December 7: The Cheka, the All Russian Extraordinary Commission for the Struggle Against Counter-Revolution and Sabotage, is created. Within a year it has the right to arrest and execute people without question.
• December 9: The Bolsheviks and Left SRs agree to a coalition government in the Sovnarkom; several SRs take up important positions.
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Citation And Footnotes:
Title: The Russian Revolutions: A Timeline
Author: Robert Wilde
Date: 2004
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