October Revolution
Deteriorating Conditions
In the countryside, the peasants finally had their land. The Barons were dead or gone, local soviets were running things and there was food. In the cities, there was a shortage of food, worker unrest and constant agitation on the part of the Bolsheviks (majority) of the Social Democrats. A large German offensive was moving toward Petrograd to make things worse. The Kerensky government was unable to solve all these problems and was also unwilling to establish some sense of order by using the Army. In the Summer the army tried to overthrow Kerensky, in the Kornilov Putsch but was stopped by a strike and military opposition from Liberals and Socialists and including the Bolsheviks A few weeks later, the Bolsheviks start rioting in an attempt to overthrow Kerensky. This fails and Lenin is arrested and forced back into exile in Finland.
Planning the Coup D'etat
From Finland, Lenin constantly calls for Revolution. He feels the situation in Russia is so chaotic that a small, disciplined group can overthrow the government.. On the issue of Peace, Lenin is fully aware that it may cause a civil war. In fact, Lenin welcomes a civil war and seeks to bring it about. It will allow him to destroy his enemies since in such a war, legality goes out the window and civil war goes by its own law.
Still many other Bolsheviks and far left members of the SR liked the idea of a coup d'etat, but were worried about not having the support of fellow socialists and liberals in the Congress of Soviets. They do not wish to become the Communards of 1917.
Nevertheless, Lenin wins the debate and welcomes the likely departure of other socialists since it will leave the Bolsheviks in charge almost completely.
October Revolution
On 10 October, Lenin sneaks back into Russia to direct the coup. On the 16th, Trotsky sets up the Petrograd Revolutionary Military Committee despite opposition from moderate socialists This technically was run by the Petrograd Soviet, but was really run by the Bolsheviks.
On 25 October, a few thousand loyal Red soldiers, sailors from Kronstadt and Red Guards who protected the Petrograd Soviet launched the coup. They took over newspapers, the police station and other important centers. Moderate socialists denounced the Bolsheviks and walked out of the Congress of Soviets. The only ones left were the small group of Social Revolutionaries and the Bolsheviks. However, they now announced their slogan, "All power to the soviets" (since they now controlled the soviets) and declared that they ruled in the name of the Russian people in the "Soviet State."
Reaction to the October Revolution
Though the Bolsheviks opposed the idea of peasants owning their own land, Lenin gave the go ahead for the slogan, "Land and Peace." This rallied peasants to the Bolshevik cause and undercut the SR and Mensheviks, though ratifying their position.
The voluntary associations and soviets were slowly brought under Bolshevik control. These groups often had loyalties to either socialists or anarchist groups.
After the Bolshevik coup, the Finns, Ukrainians, and other national minorities asserted their independence.