S. L. Maslov, The Taking of the Winter Palace. November 11, 1917

This account narrates the seizure of the Winter Palace on the night of the October Revolution, as armed detachments arrested the Provisional Government. It captures both the mechanics of the operation and its symbolic weight. Later Soviet memory turned the event into a heroic "storming," but the text points to an improvised, uneven action by Red Guards, soldiers, and sailors.

Original Source: Delo Naroda, No. 193, 11 November 1917, pp. 1-2.

On Tuesday [November 6] I attended as usual the meeting of the Provisional Government at the Winter Palace. All the ministers were present and Kerenskii presided.

After several minor matters were attended to we took up the land law. The first and second articles were accepted without change. While we were at work, Kerenskii received several reports about the uprising which the Bolsheviks were preparing. It was decided to lay the land law on the table temporarily and to take tip current affairs.

The matter of the resolution of the Pre-Parliament was discussed, and then we turned to the question of the defense of Petrograd. About one in the morning the meeting came to a close

On Wednesday morning at half-past eleven I was summoned by telephone to a special meeting of the Provisional Government. It was reported to us that the Bolsheviks had seized the Petrograd news agency, the State Bank, the post and telegraph. It was agreed that Polkovnikov, the man in charge of the defense, had not acted with decision, and N. M. Kishkin was appointed in his place, with two assistants, Palchinskii and Rutenberg. Kishkin left for the office of the General Staff. After this an appeal to the population was drawn up and approved. It was decided that the Provisional Government should remain in continuous session. While at work, reports of Bolshevik success reached us.

At seven in the evening, Kishkin, who was at the General Staff, was handed a note signed by Antonov demanding the surrender of the Provisional Government and the disarming of the guard. The note called attention to the fact that all the guns of the "Aurora" and Peter and Paul Fortress were trained on the Winter Palace. Kishkin was given twenty minutes in which to decide. When the ministers learned of this demand they decided that only the Constituent Assembly and not a self appointed organization could take over their powers.

The guard of the Winter Palace was made up of some cadets, part of the Engineering School, two companies of Cossacks, and a small number of the Women's Battalion.

At 10:00 PM a shot was fired in the palace, followed by cries and shots from the cadets. On investigation it appeared that two sailors had climbed to the tipper story of the palace and had thrown down two hand grenades. The bombs wounded two cadets, who where quickly attended to by N. A. Kishkin.

The sailors were arrested and disarmed. A search was made throughout the building and about fifty hostile sailors ad soldiers were arrested and disarmed. In the meantime more and more sailors and soldiers arrived, until the guard seemed helpless. Outside the palace, rifles, machine guns, and even cannon were being fired. About two in the morning [November 7-8] there was a loud noise at the entrance to the palace. The insurrectionists were trying to break in and thirty of the cadets were trying to hold them back. Members of the Provisional Government took a hand and stopped further trouble. The armed mob of soldiers, sailors, and civilians, led by Antonov, broke in. They shouted threats and made jokes. Antonov arrested everybody in the name of the Revolutionary Committee and proceeded to take the names of all present. He began with Konovalov, then Kishkin, and then the others. He inquired for Kerenskii, but he was no longer in the palace.

We were placed under arrest, and told that we would be taken to Peter and Paul Fortress. We picked tip our coats, but Kishkin's was gone, Someone had stolen it. He was given a soldier's coat. A discussion started between Antonov, the soldiers, and the sailors as to whether the ministers should be taken to their destination in automobiles or on foot. It was decided to make them walk.

Each of us was guarded by two men. As we walked through the palace it seemed as if it were filled with the insurrectionists, some of whom were drunk. When we came out on the street we were surrounded by a mob, shouting, threatening, ... and demanding Kerenskii. The mob seemed determined to take the law into its own hands and one of the ministers was jostled a bit. just then a shot was fired and the mob quieted down. We moved on by the palace, past the Hermitage ... to the Troitskii Bridge. At the Troitskii Bridge the mob recovered its voice and shouted, "Throw them into the river!" The calls were becoming louder and louder. just then a machine gun opened fire from the other side of us. We threw ourselves down, while some of the mob ran, and with them one of the arrested officers ...

From this point to the fort we proceeded without further excitement.

. Each of us was placed in a separate cell ... which was cold and damp. In this manner I spent the night. In the morning I was given some hot water and a piece of bread, at noon some kind of a soup. It was only at nine in the evening that I got something to eat, two cutlets and some potatoes. Nothing happened during the day. I was given a catalogue of books and a piece of paper on which to write down things I needed for tomorrow. At three in the morning I was awakened by the entrance of several military men. They, informed me that according to the decision of the Second Congress of Soviets Salazkin and I were placed under house arrest. They took me to the office; Salazkin was also there ... They asked me to promise on my word of honor not to leave the house. I declined and said that I was not obliged to make any promises to 'ail guards. Salazkin replied in the same manner. We were then informed that Red Guards would be placed in our homes. When I explained that I was living in the building occupied by the Central Executive Committee of the All-Russian Soviet of Peasants' Deputies, they were a bit confused ... Another attempt was made to persuade me to make a promise, but I refused.

Following this conversation a member of the Revolutionary Committee and I got into a car, and we went without any other guard to the building of the Executive Committee. As we entered, ... he said: "You are free, but you should know that by refusing to give me your word of honor, you expose me to the danger of being placed under arrest."