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To what extent was Lenin crucial to the Bolshevik seizure of power in October 1917?

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To what extent was Lenin crucial to the Bolshevik seizure of power in October 1917?
To what extent was Lenin crucial to the Bolshevik seizure of power in October 1917?
On 24th October 1917 the Lenin and the Bolsheviks led a revolution in Russia. The Bolshevik Red Guards led a revolution against the Provisional Government by seizing control of stations, telephone exchanges, post offices, the national bank and the Winter Palace in Petrograd. Now Lenin set about creating the world’s first communist state. Although he was a strong influence, he was not solely responsible for the outbreak of revolution. There are other important causes of the Bolshevik seizure of power, such as the weakness of the Provisional government and Kerensky’s mistakes. Also other important factor was the actions of Trotsky and the timing and luck of the Bolsheviks. However, Lenin was, to a large extent, crucial to the Bolshevik seizure of power because he presented his April thesis, which gave the people of Russia an awakening to the communist aim. Lenin was important to the Bolshevik seizure of power as he was able to manipulate public opinion using slogans and propaganda. This was also shown early in the year, before Lenin's return to Russia from Switzerland. The Bolsheviks in Russia had printed in 'Pravda' (their newspaper) that their members and followers should support the Provisional Government, and also that they had given serious thought to the idea of combining with the Mensheviks. This was all very contrary to what Lenin wrote in his 'April Theses' which clearly laid out his views and beliefs on the subject. A key point of his 'April Theses' was "No Support for the Provisional Government", yet without him his party were proposing just that. Lenin as an individual was able to force the Bolsheviks to follow his beliefs and goals and without him they may never have chosen this course of action at all. Through his April thesis, particularly the slogans “Peace, Bread, Land” and “All Power to the Soviets”, he was able to harness the support of the Russian people.
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