October 25: Today is the traditional anniversary of the October Revolution, in Russia in 1917, with the capture of the Winter Palace in Petrograd, now St. Petersburg. The date refers to the Julian calendar which corresponds to November 7 in the Gregorian calendar.

Vladimir Ilych Ulyanov Lenin Russian revolution october bolshevik communism USSR.

The Russian Revolution was composed of two major events: 1. The February Revolution that overthrew Tsar Nicholas II of power in Petrograd, now St. Petersburg. It was a coup d’etat while visiting the Tsar Russian troops on a front, during World War I. The local uprising set up a provisional government.

On this day in history, in the late hours of the evening, Vladimir Lenin organized his allies in the Petrograd Soviet, and signaled by a blank shot fired by the battleship Aurora, began the revolt against the Provisional Government. Elements of the Red Guard seized the lightly guarded Winter Palace and by the early morning of the next day, Petrograd was firmly in Bolshevik control.

2. The October Revolution, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution that overthrew the Provisional Government and established the Soviet Union. This was a much more elaborate revolution where Red Bolsheviks planned a final blow, with six months notice. The democratic process was not viable and decided to declare the proletarian dictatorship.

October Revolution Begins in Russia When Bolsheviks Storm Winter Palace in St. Petersburg.

Recall that the Russian Empire was humbled by the Japanese in 1905 in a war where the Russian army was fully hit by the Japanese strategy. That created a revolt that led to the establishment of a democratic assembly that Russian called DUMA, which means "to think".

Bolshevik revolutionaries, October Revolution, 1917. Bridgeman Art Library.

Additionally, the Russian incursion into the World War was catastrophic. The Russians wanted to honor their solidarity with the Serbian people because Russia harbored the Slavs, but the Russian Empire could not compete with industrialized Germany. Therefore, the human losses of the Russian army had not been felt in such numbers before.

The October Revolution is also known as the Bolshevik Revolution. This revolution was the main reason why Russia turned into a communist.