Events

• The Bolsheviks seized key points in the city – the post offices, railway stations, telegraph offices, bridges and power stations. They met little resistance.
• . On the 25th - 26th October, just as the All Russian Congress of Soviets was meeting, the Bolsheviks took control of the Winter Palace. Again they met with little resistance.
• The battleship Aurora was moored on the River Neva opposite the Winter Palace, but fired only blank shots as a warning. Bolshevik troops were met with only kadets (boy soldiers) and members of a women’s battalion. Most members of the Provisional Government had fled. Those that remained were arrested
• In the early hours of 26th October, Lenin was able to announce to the Second All Russian Congress of Soviets that the Bolsheviks had seized power on their behalf.