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History–Tours
19177–8 November 1917 (25–26 October old style) · St Petersburg (then Petrograd)

October Revolution

The green and white Winter Palace facade seen across Palace Square, St Petersburg
Photo: Bahnfrend. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

In Petrograd, Bolshevik Red Guards organised by Lenin and Trotsky seized bridges, the telegraph and finally the Winter Palace, arresting the Provisional Government, after a blank shot from the cruiser Aurora signalled the assault. The revolution brought the Bolsheviks to power, led to civil war and created the Soviet Union, a state that shaped world politics until 1991.

Travel advisory. Russia: Western governments advise against all travel because of the war in Ukraine, the risk of arbitrary detention and very limited consular help. We list this event for reference, and don't list guides here until travel is possible again.

Sites

  1. Site 1: Winter Palace and Palace SquareThe palace taken by Red Guards, now part of the Hermitage museum.Map ↗
  2. Site 2: Cruiser AuroraMuseum ship moored on the Neva.Map ↗
  3. Site 3: Smolny InstituteThe Bolshevik headquarters in 1917, seen from outside.Map ↗

More from the First World War

Read more: reference. Summary written by History-Tours.com.