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Thousands of men, women, and children were unsatisfied by the poor economy and the lost war with Japan. So they all marched peacefully to Czar Nicholas's Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, the capital. They wanted to deliver a petition asking for better working conditions and a democratically elected assembly, instead, the czar's soldiers fired at them.
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In Petrograd, there were many strikes and riots over the things the people needed mostly, food and coal.
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The Russian people rebelled against Czar Nicholas II. He gave up his throne and a temporary government tried to administer the country.
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Czar Nicholas II was forced by the government to resign his throne. He and his family were taken into custody and later killed in 1918 by the Bolsheviks.
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Trotsky returned to Petrograd and was chosen to head the soviet. Soon, Lenin returned and persuaded the Bolsheviks to take power from the temporary government.
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When Lenin fled to Finland, Alexander Kerensky was appointed as prime minister. He released the imprison Bolsheviks and allowed them to arm the workers once General Lavr Kornilov made a bid to seize power and was advancing on Petrograd.
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A Bolshevik-led army of workers, soldiers, and sailors took control of key positions in Petrograd. They captured the Winter Palace which was the headquarters of Kerensky's temporarary government.
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The All-Russian Congress of Soviets let the Bolsheviks set up a Council of People's Commissars to run the national government. With this new government, a secret police force was established, it was called the Cheka. Local soviets in towns and cities throughout Russia gave workers control of factories, and took away property of large lanowners, such as the Russian Orthodox Church, and anyone going against the revolution.
