Why was the timing of the Bolshevik revolution of october 1917 so important?
The timing was vital, because had the Bolsheviks acted too early they may not have enough popular support to maintain power once the government was overthrown, too late and the more popular parties, especially the Right Socialist Revolutionaries, may have seized power. Lenin had to wait for the Provisional Government to be too weak, and discredited to be able to mount an effective opposition. He also timed the takeover to coincide with the 2nd Congress of Soviets. The takeover was then announced and ratified by the congress, the Bolsheviks were not in a majority in the Congress, but they held key positions, and their allies, the Left Socialist Revolutionaries backed the seizure. It was not really about WWI, as the war was more or less stalemated, so the Germans were not threatening the capital, but, had they launched an offensive, the soldiers and sailors of the Petrograd Soviet may have been called back to the front, depriving the Bolsheviks of a lot of support in the Petrograd Soviet
