The aim of this article is to explore the key themes in revolutionary Russia, with the intention of determining to what extent the Bolshevik political movement in 1917 could structurally support a revolution in its name, examining the extent to which the party was able to command the support of the political institutions of Russia as well as the people.  Reference will be paid to the events prior to and following the October revolution, with focus on the fragmented socio-political environment and the cost imposed by Russian participation in the First World War.