Editing Joseph Stalin (section)

=== 1917: Russian Revolution ===
While Stalin was in exile, Russia entered the [[First World War]], and in October 1916 he and other exiled Bolsheviks were [[Conscription in the Russian Empire|conscripted into the Russian Army]].{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=57|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2pp=113–114|3a1=Montefiore|3y=2007|3p=300|4a1=Kotkin|4y=2014|4p=155}} They arrived in [[Krasnoyarsk]] in February 1917,{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=57|2a1=Montefiore|2y=2007|2pp=301–302|3a1=Kotkin|3y=2014|3p=155}} where a medical examiner ruled Stalin unfit for service due to his crippled arm.{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=114|2a1=Montefiore|2y=2007|2p=302|3a1=Kotkin|3y=2014|3p=155}} Stalin was required to serve four more months of his exile and successfully requested to serve it in [[Achinsk]].{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=114|2a1=Montefiore|2y=2007|2p=302}} Stalin was in the city when the [[February Revolution]] took place; the Tsar abdicated and the Empire became a ''de facto'' republic.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1pp=57–58|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2pp=116–117|3a1=Montefiore|3y=2007|3pp=302–303|4a1=Kotkin|4y=2014|4p=178|5a1=Khlevniuk|5y=2015|5p=42}} In a celebratory mood, Stalin travelled by train to Petrograd (as Saint Petersburg had been renamed) in March.{{sfnm|1a1=Volkogonov|1y=1991|1pp=15, 19|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=117|3a1=Montefiore|3y=2007|3p=304|4a1=Kotkin|4y=2014|4p=173}} He assumed control of ''Pravda'' alongside [[Lev Kamenev]],{{sfnm|1a1=Volkogonov|1y=1991|1p=19|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=120|3a1=Montefiore|3y=2007|3p=310}} and was appointed as a Bolshevik delegate to the executive committee of the [[Petrograd Soviet]], an influential workers' council.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1pp=59–60|2a1=Montefiore|2y=2007|2p=310}}

{{Quote box
| quote = The existing government of landlords and capitalists must be replaced by a new government, a government of workers and peasants.<br />The existing pseudo-government which was not elected by the people and which is not accountable to the people must be replaced by a government recognised by the people, elected by representatives of the workers, soldiers and peasants and held accountable to their representatives.
| source = Stalin's editorial in ''Pravda'', October 1917{{sfn|Service|2004|p=144}}
| width = 25em
}}

Stalin helped organise the [[July Days]] uprising, an armed display of strength by supporters of the Bolsheviks.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=65|2a1=Montefiore|2y=2007|2pp=319–320}} After the demonstration was suppressed, the Provisional Government initiated a crackdown on the party, raiding ''Pravda''.{{sfn|Montefiore|2007|p=32}} Stalin smuggled Lenin out of the paper's office and took charge of his safety, moving him between Petrograd safe houses before smuggling him to nearby [[Razliv]].{{sfnm|1a1=Montefiore|1y=2007|1pp=322–324|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2p=203|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3pp=48–49}} In Lenin's absence, Stalin continued editing ''Pravda'' and served as acting leader of the Bolsheviks, overseeing the party's [[6th Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (Bolsheviks)|Sixth Congress]].{{sfnm|1a1=Montefiore|1y=2007|1p=326|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2p=204}} Lenin began calling for the Bolsheviks to seize power by toppling the Provisional Government, a plan which was supported by Stalin and fellow senior Bolshevik [[Leon Trotsky]], but opposed by Kamenev, Zinoviev, and other members.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=68|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=138|4a1=Montefiore|4y=2007|4pp=331–332|5a1=Kotkin|5y=2014|5p=214|6a1=Khlevniuk|6y=2015|6p=50}}

On 24 October, police raided the Bolshevik newspaper offices, smashing machinery and presses; Stalin salvaged some of the equipment.{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=144|2a1=Montefiore|2y=2007|2pp=337–338}} In the early hours of 25 October, Stalin joined Lenin in a Central Committee meeting in Petrograd's [[Smolny Institute]], from where the Bolshevik coup—the [[October Revolution]]—was directed.{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=145|2a1=Montefiore|2y=2007|2p=341}} Bolshevik militia seized Petrograd's power station, main post office, state bank, telephone exchange, and several bridges.{{sfn|Montefiore|2007|pp=341–342}} A Bolshevik-controlled ship, the ''[[Russian cruiser Aurora|Aurora]]'', opened fire on the [[Winter Palace]]; the Provisional Government's assembled delegates surrendered and were arrested.{{sfn|Montefiore|2007|pp=344–346}} Stalin, who had been tasked with briefing the Bolshevik delegates of the [[All-Russian Congress of Soviets#Second Congress|Second Congress of Soviets]] about the situation, had not played a publicly visible role.{{sfn|Service|2004|pp=145, 147}} Trotsky and other later opponents used this as evidence his role had been insignificant, although historians reject this,{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=144–146|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2p=224|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3p=52}} citing his role as a member of the Central Committee and as an editor of ''Pravda''.{{sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=53}}