October Revolution

The hammer and sickle flag unfurled in Red Square, Moscow, 1917. The square, in existence since the 15th century, saw the final scenes of the October Revolution, in which the Congress of Soviets, led by the Bolsheviks, seized key sites in the capital, including the Kremlin, and took over power from the provisional government of Russia.

Second stage of the Russian Revolution 1917, when, on the night of 24 October (6 November in the Western calendar), the Bolshevik forces under Trotsky, and on orders from Lenin, seized the Winter Palace and arrested members of the Provisional Government. The following day the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets handed over power to the Bolsheviks.