The 1917 Russian Revolution: a complete timeline

The Russian Revolution of 1917 was the greatest event in human history. For the first time, ordinary working people were able to win power and hold onto it. Our new season of the Spectre of Communism podcast kicks off with a complete timeline of the revolution, from January to October, charting 10 months that shook the world!

The Russian proletariat, allied with peasantry (many of whom were soldiers who had been fighting in the First World War), successfully brought down the brutal regime of Tsar Nicholas II in February and established the soviets (mass workers’ councils).

Lenin was able, through patient work, to arm the Bolshevik Party with the correct slogans and tactics to win over the workers and peasants organised in the soviets. Under the leadership of Lenin, Trotsky and the Bolsheviks, the masses finally felled the capitalist provisional government in October and created a workers’ government: the first in history that began to carry out its programme.

Fred Weston from the leadership of the Revolutionary Communist International takes us through the events of 1917, month by month, culminating in the seizure of power. This incredible story altered the course of world history and remains an immense inspiration to revolutionaries today.