T1: A timeline of the October Revolution - planning the revolution

September 27th
Lenin (in exile in Finland) wrote to the Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party, urging them to seize power. He thought that the time was write because

• The Bolsheviks had control of the Soviet
• They had done well in elections
• The Provisional Government had been discredited due to the Kornilov Affair
• If they waited, the Provisional Government could pull out of the war and elect a Constituent Assembly, increasing their popularity

Other leading Bolsheviks were more cautious. Kamenev and Zinoviev wanted to wait as they feared a takeover would lead to civil war, Trotsky suggested waiting until the All-Russia Congress…