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 actually had been. Official films made much later showed a huge storming of the Winter Palace and fierce fighting, but in reality the Bolshevik insurgents faced little or no opposition and were practically able to just walk into the building and take it over. State power was offically handed over to Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies on November 7.
The Consequences:
A new Congress of Soviets was set up consisting of 649 elected delegates; 390 were Bolshevik and nearly a hundred were Left Socialist-Revolutionaries, who also supported the overthrow of the Kerensky Government.
The transfer of power was not without disagreement. Many of the Socialist Revolutionaries and Mensheviks believed that Lenin and the Bolsheviks had illegally seized power and they walked out before the resolution was passed. As they exited they were taunted by Leon Trotsky who told them "You are pitiful isolated individuals; you are bankrupts; your role is played out. Go where you belong from now on - into the dustbin of history!"
The following day, the Soviet elected Council passed the Decree of Peace and the Decree on Land.
The Decree on Land ratified the actions of the peasants who throughout Russia had seized the lands of the aristocracy and of the kulaks and redistributed it.
The Bolsheviks viewed themselves as representing an alliance of workers and peasants and memorialized that understanding with the Hammer and Sickle on the flag and coat of arms of the Soviet Union.