Featured moment · World history

October Revolution in Petrograd

7–8 November 1917

Bolshevik-led forces seized key sites in Petrograd and overthrew Russia’s Provisional Government.

Historic photograph showing the aftermath of the capture of the Winter Palace in Petrograd in 1917 — Photograph: Pyotr Novitsky, photograph of Petrograd in November 1917 / Wikimedia Commons. View image, creator and licence on Wikimedia Commons.

What happened?

During the October Revolution, named for the Julian calendar then used in Russia, Bolshevik-led workers, soldiers and sailors seized strategic locations in Petrograd. On 7–8 November 1917 by the Gregorian calendar (25–26 October old style), they took the Winter Palace and arrested ministers of the Provisional Government.

Why it mattered

The uprising brought the Bolsheviks to power. The revolutionary government’s subsequent struggle for control reshaped Russia and ultimately led to the establishment of the Soviet Union, influencing politics internationally for much of the twentieth century.