Editing October Revolution (section)

===July days===
{{main|July Days}}
[[File:19170704 Riot on Nevsky prosp Petrograd.jpg|thumb|A scene from the July Days. The army has just opened fire on street protesters.]]

On 16 July, spontaneous demonstrations of workers and soldiers began in Petrograd, demanding that power be turned over to the soviets. The Central Committee of the [[Russian Social Democratic Labour Party]] provided leadership to the spontaneous movements. On 17 July, over 500,000 people participated in what was intended to be a peaceful demonstration in Petrograd, the so-called [[July Days]]. The Provisional Government, with the support of [[Socialist-Revolutionary Party]]-[[Menshevik]] leaders of the All-Russian Executive Committee of the Soviets, ordered an armed attack against the demonstrators, killing hundreds.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kort |first=Michael |title=The Soviet colossus: the rise and fall of the USSR |date=1993 |publisher=M.E. Sharpe |isbn=978-0-8733-2676-6 |location=Armonk, NY |page=104}}</ref>

A period of repression followed. On 5–6 July, attacks were made on the editorial offices and printing presses of ''[[Pravda]]'' and on the [[Museum of Political History of Russia (St. Petersburg)|Palace of Kshesinskaya]], where the Central Committee and the Petrograd Committee of the Bolsheviks were located. On 7 July, the government ordered the arrest and trial of [[Vladimir Lenin]], who was forced to go underground, as he had done under the [[Tsarist]] regime. Bolsheviks were arrested, workers were disarmed, and revolutionary military units in Petrograd were disbanded or sent to the war front. On 12 July, the Provisional Government published a law introducing the death penalty at the front. The second coalition government was formed on 24 July, chaired by [[Alexander Kerensky]] and consisted mostly of Socialists.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hickey |first=Michael C. |title=Competing Voices from the Russian Revolution: Fighting Words: Fighting Words |date=2010 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-0-3133-8524-7 |page=559}}</ref> Kerensky's government introduced a number of liberal rights, such as [[freedom of speech]], equality before the law, and the right to form unions and arrange [[labor strike]]s.{{citation needed|date=May 2024}}

In response to a Bolshevik appeal, Moscow's working class began a protest strike of 400,000 workers. They were supported by strikes and protest rallies by workers in [[Kiev]]<!--See WP:KIEV-->, [[Kharkov]], [[Nizhny Novgorod]], [[Ekaterinburg]], and other cities.