The Explorers' Club, № DXCV

Operation AXIOM: The World War—The Russian Revolution, Part VIII
18-19 January 1918: The Russian Constituent Assembly, the ambition of reformers & revolutionaries since the Revolution of 1905, met for thirteen hours until overthrown by Red Guards, who declared the Bolshevik-led All-Russian Congress of Soviets the country's supreme governing body; eleven months of revolution had exchanged Romanov dynastic autocracy for Bolshevik Soviet autocracy.

Lest we forget.

The Wayback Machine Tour of the Russian Revolution
№ DXXXIX: The February Revolution (Part I)
№ DLVI: The Kerensky Offensive (Part II)
№ DLIX: The July Days (Part III)
№ DLXIV: The Kornilov Affair (Part IV)
№ DLXXVII: The October Revolution (Part V)
№ DLXXXIII: Russian Constituent Assembly elections (Part VI)
№ DLXXXVIII: Armistice on the Eastern Front (Part VII)

The Explorers' Club, № DLXXXVIII

Operation AXIOM: The World War—The Russian Revolution, Part VII
17 December 1917: A thirty-day armistice between the Central Powers & Bolshevik-led Russia, agreed on 15 December, came into effect, providing for a commission to be set up to restore postal & trade relations, & for negotiations to continue on a permanent peace treaty; Vierbund forces remained at-the-ready along the front, not yet able to be withdrawn & redeployed to the Western Front.

Lest we forget.

The Explorers' Club, № DLXXXIII

Operation AXIOM: The World War—The Russian Revolution, Part VI
25 November 1917: Elections were held for the Russian Constituent Assembly, the long-promised permanent, democratic governing body of post-monarchy Russia; the Bolsheviks participated, thinking the electorate would affirm their "Red October" seizure of power, but the anti-Bolshevik Socialist Revolutionary Party won the largest plurality of the vote & the outright majority of seats.

Lest we forget.

The Explorers' Club, № DLXXVII

Operation AXIOM: The World War—The Russian Revolution, Part V
7 November 1917: "Red October"—Lenin & the Bolsheviks, disarmed after the July Days & re-armed by the Provisional Government during the Kornilov Affair, ousted the Provisional Government; the Soviets later mythologized "Red October" as a bloody struggle, but they seized Petrograd almost without firing a shot; Kerensky drove to freedom in a motorcar borrowed from the American embassy.

Commentary: 7 November 1917 is the "New Style" (Gregorian) date. The Soviet coup d'état is called "Red October" due to the persistent Russian use of the "Old Style" (Julian) date, 25 October 1917.

Also, make no mistake, 7 November 1917 was largely bloodless, but far too much blood had already been shed since the fall of the monarchy in the February Revolution & vast seas of blood would yet be shed in the Russian Civil War, the dueling "Red Terrors" & "White Terrors," & the ensuing decades of Soviet oppression & mass-murder.

Lest we forget.

The Explorers' Club, № DLXXIV

Operation AXIOM: The World War
12 October-3 November 1917: The Germans won victories on land & sea in the Baltic, conquering the West Estonian Archipelago (Saaremaa/Ösel, Hiiumaa/Dagö, Muhumaa/Mohn, & Vormsi/Worms) from the Provisional Government via Operation Albion (12-20 October) & defeating both the Russian Navy & a Royal Navy submarine flotilla in the Battle of Moon Sound (16 October-3 November).

Lest we forget.

The Explorers' Club, № DLXXII

Operation AXIOM: The World War
13 October 1917: The Miracle of the Sun—A crowd estimated at seventy thousand in Fátima, Portugal witnessed an array of unusual visual phenomena; the crowd had gathered, some to debunk, others to venerate, a series of Marian apparitions reported by three illiterate shepherd children who prophesied that the world war would soon end & that Russia would need to be re-Christianized.

Lest we forget.

The Explorers' Club, № DLXIV

Operation AXIOM: The World War—The Russian Revolution, Part IV
August 1917: The Kornilov Affair—Kerensky ordered the commander-in-chief of the army, General Kornilov, to garrison Petrograd with loyal troops to quell pro-Bolshevik troops in the city, then accused Kornilov of plotting a putsch, freed Trotsky & armed the Red Guards, & arrested Kornilov; Lenin's Bolsheviks were rearmed & revived mere weeks after being disarmed & discredited in the July Days.

Lest we forget.

The Explorers' Club, № DLIX

Operation AXIOM: The World War—The Russian Revolution, Part III
16-20 July 1917: The July Days—Soldiers & workers in Petrograd demanded "All Power to the Soviets," splitting the Provisional Government: the Bolsheviks & Anarchists in support, the Socialist Revolutionaries (S.R.) & Mensheviks in opposition; troops recalled from the front restored order; an S.R., Kerensky, became Prime Minister; Trotsky, et al. were arrested, but Lenin escaped to Finland.

Lest we forget.

The Explorers' Club, № DLVI

Operation AXIOM: The World War—The Russian Revolution, Part II
1-19 July 1917: The Kerensky Offensive—The Provisional Government's Minister of War ordered an offensive to placate the Entente Powers, despite the low morale & increasing dysfunction of the post-imperial Russian Army (exacerbated by the Petrograd Soviet's Order № 1) & the war-weariness of the populace; the advance of the Central Powers' counterattack was rapid, deep, & widespread.

Lest we forget.

The Explorers' Club, № DXXXIX

Operation AXIOM: The World War—The Russian Revolution, Part I
8-16 March 1917: The February Revolution—Industrial strikes led to general protests to mass uprisings & widespread mutinies in Petrograd (pre-war St. Petersburg), leading to the abdication of Nicholas II as Emperor & Autocrat of All the Russias (15 March) & the declaration by parliamentarians of the Provisional Government, which uneasily shared power with the populist Petrograd Soviet.

Lest we forget.

Commentary: Called the "February Revolution" because in 1917 the Russian Empire still used the "Old Style" (O.S.) Julian calendar dates, 23 February-3 March, as opposed to the "New Style" (N.S.) Gregorian calendar dates of 8-16 March. Spoiler alert: We'll see this O.S./N.S. monthly discrepancy again in the October Revolution, which took place in November 1917.