November 7 is a red day on the calendar. Most Russians associate this day (albeit somewhat vaguely) with red carnations, Lenin on an armored car and the statement that “the lower classes do not want the old way, but the upper classes cannot do it in the new way.” On this “revolutionary” day, we will present just a few facts about the Great October Socialist Revolution or the October Revolution - as you prefer.
During the Soviet years, November 7th was special holiday and was called "Day of the Great October Socialist Revolution". After switching to Gregorian calendar the date of the beginning of the revolution shifted from October 25 to November 7, but they did not rename the event that had already occurred and the revolution remained “October”.
The revolutionary salvo turned out to be empty
The Great October Revolution began on October 25, 1917 at 21:40 local time. The signal for the start of active actions by the revolutionaries was a shot from the gun of the cruiser Aurora. The shot was fired towards the Winter Palace on the orders of Commissioner A.V. Belyshev, and was fired by Evdokim Pavlovich Ognev. It is noteworthy that the legendary shot at the Winter Palace was fired with a blank charge. Why this happened is still unknown today: either the Bolsheviks were afraid to destroy the palace, or they did not want unnecessary bloodshed, or there were simply no warheads on the cruiser.
The most high-tech revolution
The revolutionary events of October 25 are not much different from most armed riots or insurrections that have occurred in European history. Nevertheless, October Revolution became the most “high-tech revolution” in human history. The fact is that after the last center of resistance was suppressed in St. Petersburg, and control over the city passed to the revolutionaries, the first revolutionary radio address to the people in history took place. Thus, at 5:10 a.m. on October 26, an “Appeal to the People of Russia” was heard, in which the Petrograd Military Revolutionary Committee announced the transfer of power to the Soviets.The assault on Zimny is one of the most controversial events in history
The legendary storming of the Winter Palace is covered by historians in different ways. Some depict this event as almost greatest feat revolutionaries, others describe the bloody atrocities of the sailors during the assault. According to the documents of the Military Revolutionary Committee, the losses of the revolutionaries during the assault amounted to only 6 people, and even those were listed as victims of an accident. In the comments to the losses in some lists you can find the following notes: “they were blown up by a grenade of an unknown system due to personal negligence and imprudence.” There is no information at all about the killed defenders of Zimny, but the archives are replete with notes that a cadet, officer or soldier such and such was released to such and such after the capture of Zimny, on his word of honor not to take part in battles against the revolutionaries. However, there were still battles on the streets of Petrograd.
Revolutionaries - lawless people or humanists
Modern historians love to convict revolutionaries of all sorts of crimes. So, for example, one of the most striking episodes is the case of the sailors who, after the capture of Winter Palace, plundered the wine cellar, got drunk and filled all the lower rooms with wine. However, it is not difficult to guess that this incriminating information could only become known from the archives of the revolutionaries themselves, which means that these actions were not only not encouraged, but were also regarded as a military crime.It is worth noting that reports often contain information that on the night of October 25-26, soldier so-and-so helped local residents get home, bypassing the streets of Petrograd on which firefights took place. They say that they still roam the streets of St. Petersburg today.
However, revolutionaries were never soft and sweet people. Rather, predatory, quarrelsome and dishonest. Lenin considered Trotsky a competitor and wrote nasty things about him. Trotsky, in turn, considered Lenin to be a dishonest and unprincipled person by revolutionary standards and also “threw mud” as best he could. Lenin’s trick is well known when he began to publish a newspaper called “Pravda” parallel to Trotsky.
Lenin - bloody dictator or leader of the proletariat
On October 25 at 10 o’clock in the morning, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin addressed the appeal “To the Citizens of Russia”:“The provisional government has been overthrown... The cause for which the people fought: the immediate proposal of a democratic peace, the abolition of landlord ownership of land, workers' control over production, the creation of the Soviet government, this cause is secured.”.
Lenin is one of the most ambiguous and contradictory personalities in the history of the revolution and Russia. Albert Einstein, being a rare humanist, respected Lenin as a man who was able to direct all his strength to achieve the goal of social equality and justice. However, Einstein also wrote that, to his deepest regret and disappointment, he could not approve of the methods by which Vladimir Ilyich achieves this good goal. It is also worth adding that Albert Einstein would later write that Soviet Union became for him one of his greatest disappointments in world history.
It is worth noting that Vladimir Ilyich is one of the few political figures who did not leave his autobiography. In the archives they found only one piece of paper on which Lenin made an attempt to begin a biography, but there was no continuation.
Modern points of view on revolutionary events vary greatly: some endlessly criticize the actions of revolutionaries, others defend them, while others take a centrist position, some try to get to the bottom of the truth and judge events impartially. In any case, this event once and for all changed the course of Russia's development and left a significant mark on world history. However, it turns out to be in Spain coup d'etat happens every year, though not seriously, but...
Once again, we want to invite you to combine business with pleasure and learn a lot of new and interesting things during breaks caused by a variety of reasons. Fill the time of forced waiting by reading information that is easy and at the same time useful for broadening your horizons. This time we bring to your attention the most incredible and little known facts from world history. Thanks to its convenient design, the book can be used in almost any environment.
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The given introductory fragment of the book Essential Reading. 1000 new interesting facts for the mind and entertainment (E. Mirochnik, 2014) provided by our book partner - the company liters.
Chapter 2. Incredible facts from the lives of great people
Great Losers
Beethoven's teacher considered him a completely untalented student. Until the end of his life, the great composer never mastered such a mathematical operation as multiplication.
Darwin, who abandoned medicine, was bitterly reproached by his father: “You are not interested in anything except catching dogs and rats!”
Walt Disney was fired from the newspaper due to a lack of ideas.
Edison's mentor said about him that he was stupid and could not learn anything.
Einstein did not speak until he was four years old. His teacher described him as mentally retarded.
The father of Rodin, the great sculptor, said: “My son is an idiot. He failed to get into art school three times.”
Mozart, one of the most brilliant composers, was told by Emperor Ferdinand that his “Marriage of Figaro” had “too little noise and too many notes.”
Our compatriot Mendeleev had a C in chemistry.
When we look at Ford cars, we think that their creator, Henry Ford, was always a wealthy, successful businessman. We see this huge empire that has existed for more than a hundred years. But few of us know that before achieving financial success, Ford declared himself bankrupt several times and went completely bankrupt - the man who changed the course of history by putting the world on wheels.
Henry Ford never had a driver's license.
When Guglielmo Marconi invented the radio and told his friends that he would transmit words over a distance through the air, they thought he was crazy and took him to a psychiatrist. But within a few months his radio saved the lives of many sailors.
Nikolai Gogol, oddly enough, wrote rather mediocre essays at school. He achieved some success only in Russian literature and drawing. In addition, Nikolai Vasilyevich was an extremely shy person: for example, if a stranger appeared in the company, Gogol simply quietly left the room.
Great actor silent films, Charlie Chaplin learned to read much later than he received his first role in the theater. He was terribly afraid that someone would discover his illiteracy, so he in every possible way avoided situations where he could be forced to read excerpts from the role.
The outstanding politician Winston Churchill was an excellent orator. But as a child he stuttered and had a lisp, and only thanks to a good speech therapist were his speech defects corrected.
Besides, Churchill literally hated school. He was the worst student in the class and often received blows from teachers. When the father noticed that his son was interested in toy soldiers, he suggested that he enroll in military academy. Churchill entered there... on the third attempt.
The famous storyteller Hans Christian Andersen wrote with grammatical and spelling errors until the end of his life. He had particular difficulties with punctuation marks. Therefore, a lot Money went to pay for the work of people who rewrote his works before they went to the publishing house.
Alexander Pushkin, as we know, was a graduate of the Lyceum. But he got into it through connections - his uncle placed him there. And that's when graduation party prepared lists of graduates, Pushkin was listed second in his academic performance... from the bottom.
The author of the law of universal gravitation, Isaac Newton, was a member of the House of Lords. We must give him his due - he attended all the meetings of the chamber regularly, but for many years he did not utter a word there. And then one day he nevertheless asked to be given the opportunity to speak. Everyone literally froze, waiting for the significant speech of the great scientist. And in absolute silence Newton said: “Gentlemen! I ask you to close the window, otherwise I might catch a cold!” That's all! This was his only performance.
The university graduation certificate of the German philosopher Georg Hegel stated: “A young man with sound judgment, but was not distinguished by eloquence and did not show himself in any way in philosophy.”
Little is known about the biography of Sylvester Stallone by a wide range of viewers who admire their favorite hero on the screen, and meanwhile the future action star was known at the school where he studied as a real bandit! His teachers unanimously insisted that Stallone would definitely kill someone and end his life in prison, with a life sentence or be executed! Probably for this reason, young Sylvester changed several schools every year, which eventually totaled 15!
Colombian singer Shakira was kicked out of her school choir at age 10 because her teacher didn’t like her voice. Then she practically abandoned the dream of a musical career.
A woman with outstanding forms, singer and actress Jennifer Lopez, at one time, simply could not pass the very first selection in her life for filming in a television commercial. The fact is that the experts who assessed the candidates for the role of the girl who will advertise the jeans unanimously declared that Lopez simply would not fit into them.
The strangest actions and habits of great people
The 16th-century astronomer Tycho Brahe, whose research helped Sir Isaac Newton create the theory of universal gravitation, died an untimely farewell due to the fact that he did not visit the toilet on time. In those days, leaving the table before the end of the feast meant causing a grave insult to the owner of the house. Being a polite man, Brahe did not dare ask permission to leave the table. His bladder burst, and after suffering for 11 days, the astronomer died.
Jean-Baptiste Lully, 17th-century composer who wrote music on commission French king, died from excess devotion to his work. Once, during a rehearsal for another concert, he got so excited that, hitting his cane on the floor, he pierced his own leg and died from blood poisoning.
The great illusionist Harry Houdini died after a fan punched him in the stomach. Houdini allowed people to hit him, demonstrating the wonders of an impenetrable abs. He died in hospital from internal injuries.
The twelfth President of the United States, Zachary Taylor, ate too much ice cream after a ceremony on a particularly hot day on July 4, 1850, suffered from indigestion and died five days later, having been president for only 16 months.
Jack Daniel, the father of the famous Jack Daniel's whiskey, died of blood poisoning after suffering a leg injury: he broke his finger kicking his safe, to which he forgot the combination.
Vincent van Gogh painted for days, drank buckets of absinthe, cut off his left ear and painted a self-portrait in this form, and at the age of 37 he committed suicide. After his death, by the way, doctors published over 150 medical diagnoses that were given to the great painter during his lifetime.
While working, Gustave Flaubert groaned along with the characters he portrayed, cried and laughed, walked quickly around the office with long steps and loudly chanted words.
Honore de Balzac was afraid of getting married more than anything else in the world. Long years he was in love with Countess Evelina Ganskaya. Balzac resisted for another eight years, but still the Countess insisted on the wedding. The writer fell ill from fear and even wrote to his fiancée: they say, my health is such that you would rather accompany me to the cemetery than have time to try on my name. But the wedding took place. True, Honore was taken down the aisle in a chair, since he himself could not go.
The French artist Henri Matisse, before starting to paint, felt a strong desire to strangle someone.
Voltaire drank up to 50 cups of coffee a day.
Ivan Krylov had an inexplicable mania: he loved to look at fires and tried not to miss a single fire in St. Petersburg.
When the blues attacked Ivan Turgenev, he put a high cap on his head and put himself in a corner. And he stood there until the melancholy passed.
Anton Chekhov loved to say unusual compliments: “dog”, “actress”, “snake”, “crocodile of my soul”.
William Burroughs wanted to surprise the guests at one of the parties. The writer planned to repeat the act of the archer William Tell, who hit an apple standing on the head of his own son. Burroughs placed a glass on his wife Joan Vollmer's head and fired the gun. The wife died from a bullet in the head.
Ivan the Terrible personally rang the bells at the main belfry of the Alexandrovskaya Sloboda in the mornings and evenings. Thus, they say, he tried to drown out mental suffering.
Lord Byron became extremely irritated at the sight of a salt shaker.
Charles Dickens always washed down every 50 lines of what he wrote with a sip of hot water.
Johannes Brahms constantly polished his shoes unnecessarily “for inspiration.”
Isaac Newton once welded a pocket watch while holding an egg and looking at it.
Ludwig van Beethoven always went unshaven, believing that shaving hindered creative inspiration. And before sitting down to write music, the composer poured a bucket of cold water on his head: this, in his opinion, was supposed to greatly stimulate brain function.
Alexander Pushkin loved to shoot in the bathhouse. They say that in the village of Mikhailovskoye almost nothing authentic from the time of the poet has been really preserved, but the wall that Pushkin shot at surprisingly remained intact.
Fyodor Dostoevsky could not work without strong tea. When he wrote his novels at night, on his desk There was always a glass of tea, and a samovar was always kept hot in the dining room.
Johann Goethe worked only hermetically indoors, without the slightest access to fresh air.
Commander Alexander Suvorov was famous for his strange antics: his unusual daily routine - he went to bed at six o'clock in the evening and woke up at two o'clock in the morning, his unusual awakening - he wet himself cold water and loudly shouted “ku-ka-re-ku!”, an unusual bed for a commander - with all ranks, he slept on hay. Preferring to wear old boots, he could easily go out to meet high officials in a sleeping cap and underwear.
He also gave the signal for the attack to his loved ones “ku-ka-re-ku!”, and, they say, after he was promoted to field marshal, he began jumping over chairs and saying: “And I jumped over this one, and over that one.” That!"
Suvorov was very fond of marrying his serfs, guided by a very peculiar principle - he lined them up in a row, selected those suitable in height, and then married 20 couples at a time.
Emperor Nicholas I did not like music and, as a punishment for officers, gave them a choice between the guardhouse and listening to Glinka's operas.
Emperor Nicholas I ordered that portraits of his ancestors be hung in the toilet. The Tsar Father justified his action by saying that in difficult times he was pleased to feel the support of his relatives. In addition, Nikolai Pavlovich moved his library to the outhouse.
Arthur Schopenhauer was famous for his excellent appetite and ate for two; if anyone made a remark to him on this score, he replied that he thought for both.
It was his custom to pay for two seats so that no one could join him at the table.
At dinner, he used to talk loudly to his poodle Atman and at the same time addressed him every time as “you” and “sir” if he behaved well, and “you” and “man” if he was the master of something upset.
Sigmund Freud hated music. He threw away his sister's piano and did not visit restaurants with an orchestra.
French writer Guy de Maupassant was one of those who was irritated by the Eiffel Tower. Nevertheless, he dined at her restaurant every day, explaining that this was the only place in Paris from where the tower was not visible.
Hunter Thompson arrived on the set before filming the film adaptation of his novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. The role of Raoul Duke was played by Johnny Depp. The writer, while intoxicated, personally cut the movie star's hair, creating a huge bald spot on Depp's head.
The third President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, designed his own tombstone and wrote a text for it that did not indicate that he was president.
The sixteenth President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, always wore a tall black top hat on his head, inside which he kept letters, financial papers, bills and notes.
The 20th century Chinese statesman and politician Mao Zedong never brushed his teeth. And when he said that it was unhygienic, he replied: “Have you ever seen a tiger brush his teeth?”
English footballer David Beckham can't stand clutter. The objects surrounding it must be carefully selected in color, shape and size, and their number must be a multiple of two.
Funny incidents from the lives of famous people
One day Albert Einstein was riding a tram in Leipzig. And on this very tram there was a conductor. The conductor approached the physicist and asked him to pay the fare. Einstein quite calmly counted out the required amount and handed it to the conductor. He counted the money and said that another 5 pfennigs were missing.
- I counted carefully! This can't be true! - Einstein objected.
Galileo Galilei spent his wedding night reading a book. Noticing that it was already dawn, he went to the bedroom, but immediately came out and asked the servant: “Who is lying in my bed?” “Your wife, sir,” answered the servant. Galileo completely forgot that he got married.
Once Voltaire was invited to a dinner party. When everyone was seated, it turned out that the maestro found himself between two grumpy gentlemen. Having drunk well, Voltaire’s neighbors began to argue about how to properly address the servants: “Bring me some water!” or “Give me some water!” Voltaire unwittingly found himself right in the middle of this controversy. Finally, tired of this disgrace, the maestro could not stand it and said:
- Gentlemen, both of these expressions are inapplicable to you! You should both say, “Take me to water!”
Once Vladimir Mayakovsky had to speak in front of a whole hall of writers. This was not uncommon for him, but that speech of the proletarian poet became special. While he was reading his poems on the podium, one of the poet’s ill-wishers, of whom there were plenty in those years, shouted:
– I don’t understand your poems! They're kind of stupid!
“It’s okay, your children will understand,” Vladimir Vladimirovich answered.
- And my children will not understand your poems! – continued the ill-wisher.
“Well, why are you talking about your children so quickly,” the poet answered with a grin. “Maybe their mother is smart, maybe they’ll take after her.”
Once, speaking at a debate on proletarian internationalism at the Polytechnic Institute, Vladimir Mayakovsky said:
– Among Russians I feel like a Russian, among Georgians I feel like a Georgian...
- And among fools? – suddenly someone shouted from the hall.
“And this is my first time among fools,” Mayakovsky answered instantly.
While traveling around France, Mark Twain traveled by train to the city of Dijon. The train was passing, and he asked to wake him up on time. At the same time, the writer said to the conductor:
– I sleep very soundly. When you wake me up, maybe I will scream. So ignore it and be sure to drop me off in Dijon.
When Mark Twain woke up, it was already morning and the train was approaching Paris. The writer realized that he had passed through Dijon and became very angry. He ran to the conductor and began to reprimand him.
– I have never been as angry as I am now! - he shouted.
“You are not as angry as the American whom I dropped off in Dijon at night,” answered the guide.
Mark Twain, being a newspaper editor, once published a devastating denunciation of a certain N. It contained the phrase: “Mr. N does not even deserve a spit in the face.” This gentleman filed a lawsuit, which ordered the newspaper to publish a refutation, and Mark Twain showed himself to be a “law-abiding” citizen: in the next issue of his newspaper it was published: “Mr. N deserves a spit in the face.”
End of introductory fragment.
The spring of 1917 was to be decisive in the victory of the Russian Empire over Germany and Austria-Hungary in the First World War. But history decreed otherwise. February Revolution 1917 not only put an end to all military plans, but also destroyed the Russian autocracy.
1. Bread is to blame
The revolution began with the grain crisis. At the end of February 1917, due to snow drifts, the schedule for freight transportation of bread was disrupted, and rumors spread about an imminent transition to bread rationing. Refugees arrived in the capital, and some bakers were drafted into the army. Lines formed at the bread shops, and then riots began. Already on February 21, a crowd with the slogan “Bread, bread” began to destroy bakery shops.
2. Putilov workers
On February 18, workers at the fire monitor stamping workshop of the Putilov plant went on strike, and workers from other workshops joined them. Just four days later, the plant administration announced the closure of the enterprise and the dismissal of 36,000 workers. Proletarians from other plants and factories spontaneously began to join the Putilovites.
3. Protopopov’s inaction
Appointed Minister of Internal Affairs in September 1916, Alexander Protopopov was confident that he had the entire situation under control. Trusting the convictions of his minister about security in Petrograd, Nicholas II left the capital on February 22 for headquarters in Mogilev. The only measure taken by the minister during the days of the revolution was the arrest of a number of leaders of the Bolshevik faction. The poet Alexander Blok was sure that it was Protopopov’s inaction that became the main reason for the victory of the February Revolution in Petrograd. “Why is the main platform of power - the Ministry of Internal Affairs - given to the psychopathic chatterbox, liar, hysteric and coward Protopopov, who is maddened by this power?” - Alexander Blok wondered in his “Reflections on the February Revolution”.
4. Revolt of housewives
Officially, the revolution began with unrest among Petrograd housewives forced to stand in long lines for long hours for bread. Many of them became workers in weaving factories during the war. By February 23, about 100,000 workers from fifty enterprises were already on strike in the capital. The demonstrators demanded not only bread and an end to the war, but also the overthrow of the autocracy.
5. All power is in the hands of a random person
Drastic measures were needed to suppress the revolution. On February 24, all power in the capital was transferred to the commander of the Petrograd Military District, Lieutenant General Khabalov. He was appointed to this post in the summer of 1916, without having the necessary skills and abilities. He receives a telegram from the emperor: “I command you to stop the riots in the capital tomorrow, which are unacceptable during the difficult time of the war with Germany and Austria. NICHOLAY." A military dictatorship by Khabalov was to be established in the capital. But most of the troops refused to obey him. This was logical, since Khabalov, who was previously close to Rasputin, served his entire career at headquarters and in military schools, without having the authority among the soldiers necessary at the most critical moment.
6. When did the king learn about the beginning of the revolution?
According to historians, Nicholas II learned about the beginning of the revolution only on February 25 at about 18:00 from two sources: from General Khabalov and from Minister Protopopov. In his diary, Nikolai first wrote about the revolutionary events only on February 27 (the fourth day): “Unrest began in Petrograd several days ago; Unfortunately, troops also began to take part in them. It’s a disgusting feeling to be so far away and receive fragmentary bad news!”
7. Peasants' revolt, not soldiers' revolt
On February 27, a massive transition of soldiers to the side of the people began: in the morning 10,000 soldiers rebelled. By the evening next day there were already 127,000 rebel soldiers. And by March 1, almost the entire Petrograd garrison had gone over to the side of the striking workers. Government troops were melting away every minute. And this is not surprising, because the soldiers were yesterday’s peasant recruits, not ready to raise bayonets against their brothers. Therefore, it is more fair to consider this rebellion not a soldier’s, but a peasant’s. On February 28, the rebels arrested Khabalov and imprisoned him in the Peter and Paul Fortress.
8. The first soldier of the revolution
On the morning of February 27, 1917, senior sergeant major Timofey Kirpichnikov raised and armed the soldiers subordinate to him. Staff Captain Lashkevich was supposed to come to them to send, in accordance with Khabalov’s order, this unit to quell the unrest. But Kirpichnikov persuaded the platoon leaders, and the soldiers decided not to shoot at the demonstrators and killed Lashkevich. Kirpichnikov, as the first soldier to raise his weapon against the “tsarist system”, was awarded St. George's Cross. But punishment found its hero; on the orders of the monarchist Colonel Kutepov, he was shot in the ranks of the Volunteer Army.
9. Arson of the Police Department
The police department was a stronghold in the struggle of the tsarist regime against the revolutionary movement. Capture this law enforcement agency became one of the first targets of the revolutionaries. Director of the Police Department Vasiliev, foreseeing the danger of the events that had begun, ordered in advance that all documents with the addresses of police officers and secret agents be burned. The revolutionary leaders sought to be the first to get into the Department building, not only in order to take possession of all the data on criminals in the empire and solemnly burn them, but also to destroy in advance everything in their hands former government dirt on them. Thus, most of the sources on the history of the revolutionary movement and the tsarist police were destroyed during the February Revolution.
10. “Hunting season” for the police
During the days of the revolution, the rebels showed particular cruelty to police officers. Trying to escape, former servants of Themis changed clothes and hid in attics and basements. But they were still found and betrayed on the spot death penalty, sometimes with monstrous cruelty. The head of the Petrograd security department, General Globachev, recalled: “The rebels scoured the whole city, looking for policemen and police officers, expressed wild delight at finding a new victim to quench their thirst for innocent blood, and there was no mockery, mockery, insults and torture that the animals did not try on their victims."
11. Uprising in Moscow
Following Petrograd, Moscow also went on strike. On February 27, it was declared under a state of siege, and all rallies were prohibited. But it was not possible to prevent the unrest. By March 2, train stations, arsenals and the Kremlin had already been captured. Representatives of the Committee of Public Organizations of Moscow and the Moscow Council of Workers' Deputies, created during the days of the revolution, took power into their own hands.
12. “Three Powers” in Kyiv
News of the change of power reached Kyiv on March 3. But unlike Petrograd and other cities of the Russian Empire, in Kyiv it was not dual power that was established, but triple power. In addition to the provincial and district commissars appointed by the Provisional Government and the local Councils of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies that were being formed, a third force entered the political arena - the Central Rada, initiated by representatives of all parties participating in the revolution to coordinate the national movement. And immediately a struggle began within the Rada between supporters of national independence and supporters of an autonomous republic in a federation with Russia. Nevertheless, on March 9, the Ukrainian Central Rada declared its support for the Provisional Government headed by Prince Lvov.
13. Liberal conspiracy
Back in December 1916, the idea of a palace coup had matured among liberals. The leader of the Octobrist party, Guchkov, together with cadet Nekrasov, were able to attract the future Minister of Foreign Affairs and Finance of the Provisional Government Tereshchenko, Chairman of the State Duma Rodzianko, General Alekseev and Colonel Krymov. They planned to intercept the emperor on his way from the capital to headquarters in Mogilev no later than April 1917 and force him to abdicate the throne in favor of the rightful heir. But the plan was implemented earlier, already on March 1, 1917.
14. Five centers of “revolutionary ferment”
The authorities knew not about one, but about several centers of the future revolution. The palace commandant, General Voeikov, at the end of 1916, named five centers of opposition to autocratic power, as he put it, centers of “revolutionary ferment”: 1) the State Duma, headed by M.V. Rodzianko; 2) Zemstvo Union led by Prince G.E. Lvov; 3) City Union headed by M.V. Chelnokov; 4) Central Military-Industrial Committee headed by A.I. Guchkov; 5) Headquarters headed by M.V. Alekseev. As subsequent events showed, they all took a direct part in the coup d'etat.
15. Nikolai's last chance
Did Nicholas have a chance to retain power? Perhaps if he had listened to “fat Rodzianko.” In the afternoon of February 26, Nicholas II receives a telegram from State Duma Chairman Rodzianko, who reports anarchy in the capital: the government is paralyzed, food and fuel transport is in complete disorder, and there is indiscriminate shooting in the street. “It is necessary to immediately entrust a person with confidence to form a new government. You can't hesitate. Any delay is like death. I pray to God that this hour of responsibility does not fall on the Crown Bearer.” But Nikolai does not react, complaining only to the Minister of the Imperial Court Fredericks: “Again this fat man Rodzianko has written to me all sorts of nonsense, to which I will not even answer him.”
16. Future Emperor Nicholas III
Back at the end of 1916, during negotiations between the conspirators, the main contender for the throne as a result palace coup was considered Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Army at the beginning of the First World War. In the last pre-revolutionary months, he served as governor in the Caucasus. The proposal to occupy the throne was received by Nikolai Nikolaevich on January 1, 1917, but two days later the Grand Duke refused. During the February Revolution, he was in the south, where he received news of his appointment again as Supreme Commander-in-Chief, but upon his arrival at Headquarters in Mogilev on March 11, he was forced to abandon his post and resign.
17. The Tsar's Fatalism
Nicholas II knew about the conspiracies being prepared against him. In the fall of 1916, he was informed about this by the palace commandant Voeikov, in December by the Black Hundred member Tikhanovich-Savitsky, and in January 1917 by the Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Prince Golitsyn, and the aide-de-camp Mordvinov. Nicholas II was afraid to act openly against the liberal opposition during the war and completely entrusted his life and the life of the Empress to the “will of God.”
18. Nicholas II and Julius Caesar
If you believe personal diary Emperor Nicholas II, then throughout all the days of the revolutionary events he continued to read the French book about the conquest of Gaul by Julius Caesar. Did Nicholas think that he would soon suffer the fate of Caesar - a palace coup?
19. Rodzianko tried to save the royal family
In the February days, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna was in Tsarskoye Selo with her children. After Nicholas II left for Headquarters in Mogilev on February 22, all the royal children fell ill with measles one after another. The source of the infection, apparently, were young cadets - playmates of Tsarevich Alexei. On February 27, she writes to her husband about the revolution in the capital. Rodzianko, through the empress’s valet, urged her and her children to immediately leave the palace: “Leave anywhere, and as quickly as possible. The danger is very great. When the house is on fire and sick children are carried out.” The Empress replied: “We won’t go anywhere. Let them do what they want, but I won’t leave and I won’t destroy my children.” Due to the serious condition of the children (the temperature of Olga, Tatyana and Alexei reached 40 degrees) royal family could not leave her palace, so all the guards battalions loyal to the autocracy were gathered there. Only on March 9, “Colonel” Nikolai Romanov arrived in Tsarskoye Selo.
20. Betrayal of allies
Thanks to intelligence and the ambassador in Petrograd, Lord Buchanan, the British government had full information about a conspiracy being prepared in the capital of his main ally in the war with Germany. On the issue of power in the Russian Empire, the British crown decided to rely on the liberal opposition and, through its ambassador, even financed them. By promoting the revolution in Russia, the British leadership got rid of a competitor in the post-war issue of territorial acquisitions of the victorious countries.
When on February 27 deputies of the 4th State Duma A Provisional Committee was formed headed by Rodzianko, which for a short time assumed full power in the country; it was the allied France and Great Britain that were the first to recognize the de facto new government - on March 1, the day before the abdication of the still legitimate tsar.
21. Unexpected renunciation
Contrary to popular belief, it was Nicholas, and not the Duma opposition, who initiated the abdication of Tsarevich Alexei. By decision of the Provisional Committee of the State Duma, Guchkov and Shulgin went to Pskov with the aim of abdicating Nicholas II. The meeting took place in the carriage royal train, where Guchkov suggested that the emperor abdicate the throne in favor little Alexei, with the appointment of Grand Duke Mikhail as regent. But Nicholas II declared that he was not ready to part with his son, so he decided to abdicate in favor of his brother. Taken by surprise by such a statement from the tsar, the Duma envoys even asked Nicholas for a quarter of an hour to confer and still accept the abdication. On the same day, Nicholas II wrote in his diary: “At one o’clock in the morning I left Pskov with a heavy feeling of what I had experienced. There is treason and cowardice and deceit all around!”
22. Isolation of the Emperor
A key role in the emperor's decision to abdicate was played by the chief of staff, General Alekseev, and the commander of the Northern Front, General Ruzsky. The sovereign was isolated from sources of objective information by his generals, who were participants in the conspiracy to carry out a palace coup. Most army commanders and corps commanders expressed their readiness to march with their troops to suppress the uprising in Petrograd. But this information was not communicated to the king. It is now known that in the event of the emperor’s refusal to relinquish power, the generals even considered the physical elimination of Nicholas II.
23. Loyal commanders
Only two military commanders remained loyal to Nicholas II - General Fyodor Keller, who commanded the 3rd Cavalry Corps, and the commander of the Guards Cavalry Corps, General Huseyn Khan Nakhichevansky. General Keller addressed his officers: “I received a dispatch about the abdication of the Sovereign and about some kind of Provisional Government. I, your old commander, who shared with you hardships, sorrows, and joys, do not believe that the Sovereign Emperor at such a moment could voluntarily abandon the army and Russia.” He, together with General Khan Nakhichivansky, offered the king to provide himself and his units to suppress the uprising. But it was already too late.
24. Lvov was appointed by decree of the abdicated emperor
The Provisional Government was formed on March 2 after an agreement between the Provisional Committee of the State Duma and the Petrograd Soviet. But the new government, even after the abdication, required the consent of the emperor to appoint Prince Lvov at the head of the government. Nicholas II signed a decree to the Governing Senate on the appointment of Lvov as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, dated 2 o'clock in the afternoon on March 2, for the legitimacy of the document an hour earlier than the time set in the abdication.
25. Mikhail’s self-recusal on Kerensky’s initiative
On the morning of March 3, members of the newly formed Provisional Government arrived to Mikhail Romanov to decide on the issue of accepting the throne. But there was no unity among the deputation: Miliukov and Guchkov insisted on accepting the throne, Kerensky called for refusal. Kerensky was one of the most ardent opponents of the continuation of autocracy. After a personal conversation with Rodzianko and Lvov, the Grand Duke decided to renounce the throne. A day later, Mikhail issued a manifesto calling on everyone to submit to the authority of the Provisional Government until the convening of Constituent Assembly. Ex-Emperor Nikolai Romanov reacted to this news with the following entry in his diary: “God knows who advised him to sign such a nasty thing!” This was the end of the February Revolution.
26. The Church supported the Provisional Government
Dissatisfaction with the policies of the Romanovs had been smoldering in the Orthodox Church since Peter's reforms. After the first Russian revolution, discontent only intensified, since the Duma could now pass laws concerning church issues, including its budget. The Church sought to regain from the sovereign the rights lost two centuries ago and transfer them to the newly installed patriarch. During the days of the revolution, the Holy Synod did not take any active part in the struggle on either side. But the king's abdication was approved by the clergy. On March 4, the Chief Prosecutor of the Synod of Lvov proclaimed “freedom of the Church,” and on March 6, it was decided to serve a prayer service not for the reigning house, but for the new government.
27. Two anthems of the new state
Immediately after the start of the February Revolution, the question arose about a new Russian anthem. The poet Bryusov proposed to arrange All-Russian competition to choose new music and words of the anthem. But all the proposed options were rejected by the Provisional Government, which approved the “Workers' Marseillaise” as the national anthem with the words of the populist theorist Pyotr Lavrov. But the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies proclaimed the "International" as the anthem. Thus, dual power remained not only in the government, but also in the issue of the national anthem. The final decision on the national anthem, like many other issues, had to be taken by the Constituent Assembly.
28. Symbols of the new government
Change state form board is always accompanied by a review of the entire state symbols. Following the anthem, which appeared spontaneously, the new government had to decide the fate of the double-headed imperial eagle. To solve the problem, a group of specialists in the field of heraldry was assembled, who decided to postpone this issue until the Constituent Assembly. It was temporarily decided to leave the double-headed eagle, but without any attributes of royal power and without St. George the Victorious on the chest.
29. Not only Lenin “slept through” the revolution
In Soviet times, it was always emphasized that only on March 2, 1917, Lenin learned that the revolution had won in Russia, and instead of the tsarist ministers, there were 12 members of the State Duma in power. “Ilyich lost sleep from the moment the news of the revolution arrived,” Krupskaya recalled, “and at night the most incredible plans were made.” But besides Lenin, all other socialist leaders “slept through” the February Revolution: Martov, Plekhanov, Trotsky, Chernov and others who were abroad. Only the Menshevik Chkheidze, because of his duties as head of the corresponding faction in the State Duma, found himself in the capital at a critical moment and headed the Petrograd Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies.
30. Non-existent February Revolution
From 2015, in accordance with the new concept of studying national history and the historical and cultural standard, which establishes uniform requirements for school history textbooks, our children will no longer study the events of February-March 1917 as the February Revolution. According to the new concept, there is now no division into the February and October revolutions, but there is the Great Russian revolution, lasting from February to November 1917. The events of February-March are now officially called the “February Revolution”, and the October ones are called the “seizure of power by the Bolsheviks.”
1. Napoleon was 26 years old when he captured Italy.
2. Baghdad University awarded Uday, the eldest son of Saddam Hussein, a doctorate in political science. Although he did not even have a secondary education. His dissertation was titled “The Decline of American Power by 2016.”
3. In 1938, Time magazine named Hitler “Man of the Year.”
4. While serving in the KGB, Vladimir Putin had the nickname “Mol.”
5. Hitler was a vegetarian.
6. The Egyptian queen Cleopatra tested the effectiveness of her poisons by forcing her slaves to take them.
7. Cleopatra married her sibling- Ptolemy.
8. Cleopatra was not Egyptian. She had Macedonian, Iranian and Greek roots.
9. Lafayette became a general in the US Army at age 19. His full name sounds like this: Maria Joseph Paul Yves Rocher Gilbert de Motier, Marquis de Lafayette.
10. The Minister of Culture of the RSFSR in the 50s, Alexei Popov, was a famous swearer.
11. The Mongol conqueror Timur (1336-1405) played something like polo with the skulls of the people he killed. He created a pyramid of their severed heads 9 meters high.
12. At the time of Lenin's death, his brain was only a quarter of its normal size.
13. Napoleon was born not in France, but on the Mediterranean island of Corsica. His parents were Italian and they had eight children.
14. The national flag of Italy was invented by Napoleon.
15. One of Napoleon's drinking cups was made from the skull of the famous Italian adventurer Cagliostro.
16. The founder of the theory of communism, Karl Marx, never visited Russia.
17. The first American Chief Justice, John Jay, bought slaves to free them.
18. The first person in history to be hit by a train was Member of the British Parliament William Haskinson.
19. Winston Churchill's maternal ancestors were... Indians.
20. US President Andrew Jackson believed that the Earth was flat.
21. During the reign of Elizabeth I, there was a tax on men's beards. However, Peter the Great did not favor bearded men either.
22. Queen Ranavalona of Madagascar ordered the execution of her subjects if they appeared to her in dreams without her permission.
23. At her wedding, Queen Victoria was given a piece of cheese with a diameter of 3 meters and weighing 500 kilograms.
24. King Henry VIII of England executed two of his six wives.
25. The President of Uganda and one of the most ruthless dictators in the world, Idi Amin, served in the British Army before coming to power.
26. British Prime Minister Lord Palmerston died in 1865 on a billiard table, on which he made love to his servants.
27. At the court of King Alfonso of Spain, there was a special position - a gymnast. The fact is that the king had no ear for music at all, and he himself could not distinguish the anthem from other music. The anthem leader had to warn the king when the national anthem was played.
28. The Roman emperor Nero married a man - one of his slaves named Scorus.
29. The Roman Emperor Nero forced his teacher, the philosopher Seneca, to commit suicide.
30. The height of Peter the Great was approximately 213 cm. Despite the fact that in those days the average height of men was significantly lower than today.
31. Sir Winston Churchill smoked no more than 15 cigars a day.
32. Tom Cruise entered seminary at age 14 to become a priest, but dropped out after a year.
33. At the French king's Louis XIV there were 413 beds.
34. The Israeli king Solomon had approximately 700 wives and several thousand mistresses.
35. King Louis XIV of France, known as the “Sun King,” had over 400 beds.
36. Napoleon had ailurophobia - fear of cats.
37. Winston Churchill was born in the women's toilet of the Blenheim family castle. During the ball, his mother felt unwell and soon gave birth.
38. Physicist and owner Nobel Prize Niels Bohr and his brother, the famous mathematician Harald Bohr, were football players. Harald was a member of the Danish national team and even took second place at the 1905 Olympics.
39. The phrase “The King is dead, long live the King” was uttered by Catherine de Medici when she learned of the death of her son Charles IX.
40. Swedish King Charles VII, killed in 1167, was the first king of a state named Charles! Charles I, II, III, IV, V and VI never existed, and it is unclear where he got the prefix “seventh”. And after a couple of centuries, King Charles VIII (1448-1457) appeared in Sweden.
41. Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the Sherlock Holmes stories, was an ophthalmologist by profession.
42. Attila the Barbarian died in 453 on his wedding night immediately after the wedding.
43. Beethoven always brewed coffee from 64 beans.
44. Britain's Queen Victoria (1819-1901), who ruled Britain for 64 years, spoke English with an accent. She had German roots.
45. In 1357, a dead woman was crowned Queen of Portugal. She became Princess Ines de Castro, the second wife of Pedro I. 2 years earlier, her father-in-law, Alfonso “The Proud,” who hated her for being a commoner, secretly ordered his men to kill her and her children. When Pedro became king, he ordered Ines's body to be removed from the grave and forced the nobility to recognize her as Queen of Portugal.
46. In 1849, Senator David Atchison became President of the United States for only 1 day, and for most of this day he... slept.
47. The Grand Vizier of Persia Abdul Kassim Ismail (who lived in the 10th century) never parted with his library. If he went somewhere, the library “followed” him. 117 thousand book volumes were transported by 400 camels. Moreover, the books (along with camels) were arranged in alphabetical order.
48. The great Genghis Khan died while having sex.
49. Hannibal died in 183 BC. e. taking poison when he learned that the Romans had come to kill him.
50. Hans Christian Andersen could not write almost a single word without errors.
51. Henry IV often flogged his son, the future Louis XIII.
52. Danish king Frederick IV was a bigamist. He married twice while his wife Queen Louise was alive. His first lover died during childbirth, his second mistress was queen for only 19 days after the death of Queen Louise. All the children from both of his mistresses either died at birth or in infancy, as he believed for his sinful life. Later he became extremely religious.
53. Jack the Ripper, the most famous murderer of the 19th century, always committed his crimes on weekends.
54. Dr. Alice Chace, who wrote the book “ Healthy eating"and many books about proper nutrition, died of malnutrition.
55. Once the merchant Krasnobryukhov turned to Alexander I with a request to change his surname, and he allowed him to be called... Sinebryukhov. After this, the merchant, out of grief, left for Finland and founded the famous Koff brewing company there.
56. When Russian Queen Elizabeth I died in 1762, more than 15,000 dresses were discovered in her wardrobe.
57. Mozart began composing music at age 3.
58. There is not a single living descendant of William Shakespeare left on Earth.
59. Before composing music, Beethoven would pour a bucket of cold water on his head, believing that this would stimulate the brain.
60. Working out light bulb, Thomas Edison wrote 40 thousand pages.
61. Felix Mendelssohn wrote “A Midsummer Night's Dream” at the age of 17. This became his most famous work.
62. Beria suffered from syphilis.
63. More than 100 descendants of Johann Sebastian Bach became organists.
64. In the group ZZ Top, only one member does not have a beard. And his name is Beard, which translated from English means... “beard”.
65. Since 1932, only Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush have not been elected to a second term as president.
66. Ilf and Petrov discarded ideas that came to both of their minds at once - in order to avoid cliches.
67. When Beethoven wrote the famous Ninth Symphony, he was completely deaf.
68. Composer Franz Liszt was the father-in-law of German composer Richard Wagner.
69. Paul McCartney's mother was a midwife.
70. The writer Rudyard Kipling could not write with ink unless it was black.
71. The writer Charles Dickens worked with his face turned to the north. He also always slept with his head facing north.
72. The Roman Emperor Commodus collected dwarfs, cripples and freaks from all over the Roman Empire to arrange fights between them in the Colosseum.
73. Roman Emperor Julius Caesar wore a laurel wreath on his head to hide his increasing baldness.
74. Russian composer Alexander Borodin was also a famous chemist in St. Petersburg.
75. The smallest American president is James Madison (1.62 m), and Abraham Lincoln is the tallest (1.93 m).
76. The shortest British monarch is Charles I. His height was 4 feet 9 inches (approximately 140 cm). After his head was cut off, his height became even smaller.
77. The body of Voltaire, who died in 1778, was stolen from his grave and was never found. The loss was discovered in 1864.
78. Balzac has a whole book dedicated to... a tie.
79. The British Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603) had about 3,000 outfits.
80. American Pete Ruff knocks an apple off his own head with a boomerang.
81. American industrial magnate and billionaire John Rockefeller donated more than $550 million. to various foundations and institutions.
82. American President Benjamin Franklin advocated for the turkey to be America's national bird.
83. In 1856, the English chemist William Perkin, while trying to obtain quinine from aniline, invented the first artificial dye, mauvais.
84. In the village of Lobovskoye, Saratov region. There lives a beekeeper who can withstand 40 hours in a hive with bees completely naked.
85. Between 1952 and 1966, 5 children were born into the family of Ralph and Carolyn Cummins and all of them had a birthday on February 20th.
86. Galileo Galilei was the first person to propose the use of a pendulum to measure time.
87. Hannibal died in 183 BC after taking poison when he learned that the Romans had come to kill him.
88. Grover Cleveland was the only US president to get married in the White House.
89. James Madison was the smallest American president (1.62 m), and Abraham Lincoln was the tallest (1.93 m).
90. Dr. Alice Chace, who wrote the book Healthy Eating and many books about proper nutrition, died of malnutrition.
91. Over 35 years, Mozart created over 600 works. But after his death, the widow did not have money for a separate place in the cemetery
92. Famous bull fighter of the 19th century. Lagarijo (born Rafael Molina) killed 4,867 bulls.
93. When the German physicist A. Einstein died, his last words went with him. The nurse who was nearby did not understand German.
94. The maximum number of crossword puzzles was created by Andrian Bell. From January 1930 to 1980, he sent 4,520 crossword puzzles to The Times.
95. Robert Lincoln, son of President Lincoln, was rescued from a traffic accident by a certain Edwin Booth. As it turns out, Edwin is the brother of Abraham Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth. Father tried to kill father, and their children saved each other
96. The first American president to use a telephone was James Garfield.
97. The concept of a negative number was first introduced by the Italian merchant Pisano in 1202, denoting his debts and losses.
98. The largest in the world private collection meteorites belongs to the American Robert Haag - from the age of 12 he collected 2 tons of celestial stones.
99. Thomas Edison had a bird collection of 5,000 specimens.
100. The French Jeanne Louise and Guy Bruti compiled a crossword puzzle on a sheet of paper 5 m long and 3 m wide, from 18 thousand words and 50 thousand cells.
101. Shakespeare mentioned roses more than 50 times in his poems.
102. Andrew Johnson, 17th President of the United States, was the only president to sew his own clothes.
103. Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin were born on the same day - February 12, 1809. The scientist lived almost 20 years longer than the politician.
104. Bill Clinton sent as many as two emails during his entire presidency, one of which was a test email to check that everything was working fine. I wonder who the second letter was to? Maybe Monica?
105. In 1759, Arthur Guinness leased St Gate's Brewery for 9,000 years at a rent of £45 per annum. The famous Guinness beer began to be brewed there.
106. In 1981, Deborah Ann Fountain, Ms. NY, was disqualified for excessive use of cotton padding in a swimsuit competition
107. George Washington did not shake hands when meeting - he preferred to bow
108. The only US president who is also the chairman of a union is Ronald Reagan, who heads the Screen Actors Guild.
109. If you remember a little of your school physics course, then you know that there is temperature scale Richter. So this same Charles Richter was a malicious nudist, because of which his wife left him
110. If you read the works of the writer Stephen King, you should notice that most of the actions of his stories take place in Maine. Paradoxically, this state has the lowest crime rate in the United States.
111. The founder of psychoanalysis has many oddities. Freud was terrified of the number 62. He refused to reserve a hotel room with more than 62 rooms for fear of accidentally getting a room with number 62. He used cocaine, like many of his contemporaries.
112. The famous entrepreneur Henry Ford preferred to hire people with physical disabilities - among the workers of his factories in 1919, there was one disabled person for every four healthy people.
113. Louis Pasteur's research was sponsored by a brewery. They also paid for his ticket to the international congress. When Pasteur was given the floor at the congress, the first thing he did was hang advertising posters with beer on the stage. And he began his speech by saying that this beer is the best. And only then did he get down to business.
114. Madonna and Celine Dion are cousins of Prince Charles's wife, Camilla
115. The father of the famous comedian Leslie Nielsen (“The Naked Gun”, etc.) served as a police officer in Canada, and his brother worked in the Canadian Parliament
116. Tennis player Andre Agassi's father represented Iran at the 1948 and 1952 Olympics. He was... a boxer
The history of Russia at the beginning of the 20th century was rich in various kinds of events. In 1914 the First World War, which became, in fact, one of the main reasons for all subsequent troubles and misfortunes that befell the country. The February Revolution, followed by the October Revolution, Civil War and finally establishing Soviet power, the emergence of a new totalitarian state. Some of these events largely determined the further course of world history.
Causes of the October Revolution.
After the events of February 1917, the power of the country was in the hands of the Provisional Government. Here it is definitely worth saying that the councils of workers’ and peasants’ deputies actively prevented him from working.
The composition of the Provisional Government was not constant; ministers replaced each other every now and then. Meanwhile, the situation in the country was deteriorating. The economy fell into complete decline. The financial crisis that hit Russia has reached unprecedented proportions. The treasury, of course, was full, but not with money, but with unpaid bills. Inflation reduced the price of the ruble to 7 pre-revolutionary kopecks. There were problems with supplying cities, and there were queues outside stores. It became restless, and rallies and strikes took place more and more often. Everyone put forward their own demands. Peasant uprisings began in the villages, which the authorities were unable to resist. Certain preconditions were taking shape for a change of power and new upheavals.
How was the October Socialist Revolution prepared?
At the end of August 1917, the leadership of the Soviets in large cities passed into the hands of the Bolsheviks. The party is growing stronger and beginning to grow in numbers. Under her, the Red Guard was formed, which constitutes the power fist of the political struggle. The main demands of the party are the resignation of the Provisional Government and the formation of a new government from representatives of the revolutionary proletariat and peasantry.
Perhaps the Bolsheviks could have organized “October” earlier. The actions of party members were affected by the absence of their leader, Lenin, in Russia. Vladimir Ilyich hid in Finland, from where he sent his directives and instructions to Petrograd. Opinions within the party were divided. Those who believed that power should be taken right now, someone suggested that we hesitate - only workers and soldiers are for us,” we will not stand.
Meanwhile, Lenin continued to send letters to the city of Peter I, in which he spoke of the need to prepare an uprising and seize power. He believed that if the people in Moscow and Petrograd suddenly rose up, the current government would not stand. On October 7, Lenina returns to Russia. Revolution becomes inevitable.
The revolution was well prepared. On the 12th, Trotsky, who headed the Petrograd Soviet, established the Military Revolutionary Committee. On the 22nd, Bolshevik agitators went to all military units in Petrograd. The October Revolution began on October 25, 1917. In Petrograd and Moscow there were fierce street fighting. The number of victims of those events is difficult to calculate. Bandits and criminals, from whom the Red Guard was predominantly formed, were opposed by beardless cadets. On the night of the 26th, the rebels managed to capture the Winter Palace. The ministers of the Provisional Government were imprisoned.
Interesting facts about the October Revolution.
1. On the night when bloody battles were taking place on the streets of Petrograd, Lenin reached Smolny with a wig on his head, a bandaged cheek and a fake passport, at five o’clock in the morning, when the fighting was already ending. But on his way there were numerous Cossack and Junker cordons. How this happened is a big mystery. Trotsky led the actions of the rebels during the absence of the leader.
2. Lenin instantly issued the “Decree on Land”. Divide and distribute. And Vladimir Ilyich was not at all embarrassed that this document completely copied the agrarian program of the Socialist Revolutionaries.
3. The soldiers did not want to go to the front at all. Lenin was sensitive to the mood of people. “A world without indemnities!” Yep, we agree. But it just couldn't be done. Civil War, War with Poland, shameful Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Here you are, soldiers and “World without indemnities”, you just bring me into power with bayonets.
4. The myth that the Bolsheviks were the main driving force behind the events of those days. The Social Revolutionaries enjoyed great influence in the army, and anarchists in the navy. Without them, the uprising would have failed.
5. The Red Guard units were formed from former criminals and deserters. The fighters received salaries from the Bolsheviks, and they, in turn, from Germany
