On November 7, five days after the Balfour declaration, the Bolsheviks took over Russia. The Bolshevik seizure of power led to civil war in Russia and the collapse of the Western part of the Russian Empire. Poland, the Ukraine and the Lithuanian states became independent. The collapse of central authority led to an eruption of pogroms across Russia and all the new militias were happy to attack the defenceless Jews. The exception were the Bolsheviks, who (usually) took measures to stop their forces massacring Jews and this led to Jews siding with, and volunteering for the Bolshevik's Red Army which came under the command of Leon Trotsky, who was of Jewish origin.