1917 rev

• what happened on the anniversary of bloody Sunday in 1917 and what did this


  a demonstration was held in Petrograd with 150,000 workers = it was a hint of things to come
• what was the first event of discontent

  14th feb

  100k workers from 58 factories go on strike in Petrograd

  the police are attacked
• what happens next (22 FEB)

  20,000 workers are locked out of the Pulitov iron works by management after pay talks collapse

  workers in other factories go on strike to support
• what happened on international womens day (23 FEB)


  (23 Feb)

  90,000 workers went on strike and 50 factories close

  these workers joined a traditional march of women alongside students and women from bread queues from the suburbs to the city center

  
  

  Petrograd falls into chaos with 240,000 out on the streets

  order restored by police in the evening, no loss of life
• what happened the day after womens day (24 feb)


  200,000 workers went on strike and crowds overturned tsarist statues, waved red flags and shouted revolutionary slogans and songs about ending tsardom
• how did the mass strike after womens day esculate even further


  on the 25th

  - 250,000 were now on strike, city was in a standstill

  - all major factories and shops closed, no transport, news

  
  

  violence escalated as the chief of the police tried to control the masses = he was dragged, beaten and shot

  - the Cossacks were refusing to attack the strikers depite orders
• how did the tsar react to the strike the following day (26th)


  the duma president sent the tsar a telegram stating

  - "the situation is serious..

  - the gov is paralysed..

  - "troops are shooting at each other"

  - "hesitaton (to form a new gov) is fatal"

  
  

  Nicholas stated in his diary that the duma president was spewing "nonsense which I shall not even bother to reply"

  
  

  Nich's only response was to suspend the duma
• what was the final breaking point for strikers in the February revolution


  the announcement that bread was to be rationed from the 1st March = long queues and violent exchanged for basic needs
• what did the tsar order to do to solve the revolution on the monday (27th)


  the tsar ordered the commander of the Petrograd military district to restore order by military force

  
  

  == soldiers are sent onto the street, 40 killed
• how did the Tsars decision to send troops in backfire


  there was a mutiny in the Volynskii regiment - a sergeant shot his commanding officer dead

  
  

  == 66,000 ended up joined the mutiny and helped to arm protestors with 40,000 riffles

  
  

  - police headquarters are attacked and prisons are opened
• how did the duma react to the mass mutiny


  the duma held a meeting despite tsar orders and set up a 12 man provisional committee to take over government

  
  

  the army's high command (who had already ordered troops into the capital to restore stability) changed their mind and gave support to the duma instead
• what was set up during the februrary revolution and why


  the Petrograd soviet - to take over the government and organize food supplies for the city following the revolution

  
  

  their were many soviets (councils) that sprang up in towns and cities across Russia but the petrograd soviet was the most important
• why did many soliders join the mutiny


  many of those ordered to shoot the strikers were of peasant or worker background so were young and newly enlisted

  
  

  only joined for the war effort - patriotism

  not many men were from traditional noble background and likely to remain loyal to the Tsar

  
  

  their sympathies laid with the masses
• what was the Tsar' final attempt to stop the feb revolution (28th)

  returns to petrograd, sends a telegram to the duma offering a form of power sharing

  
  

  Rodzianko (leader of duma) responds "measures you propose are too late... there is no return"
• why was the Petrograd soviet the most important soviet


  10th March = 3000 members

  so large so most of its work was done by the executive committee - dominated by socialist intellectuals
• what was the "order no.1 - a charter of soldiers" rights


  an agreement by the petrograd soviet that stated and promised soliders would:

  
  

  - elect a deputy to the soviet and agree to the political control of the Petrograd soviet

  - military commissions of the duma are to be obeyed if the soviet says so

  - all weapons are to be controlled by the elected soldier committees not officers

  - soldiers have citizen rights when off duty

  - no honorific titles to be used for officers

  - officers cannot degrade soldiers
• why was Nicholas unable to return to Petrograd in time


  his train was delayed by rebellious railway workers and forced to stop in a town 200mi away from Petrograd
• how was the tsar under pressure from the chief of general staff (Alekseev)


  Alekseev wanted the Tsar to resign in favor of his son, Alexei, and his younger brother Mikhail as regent

  
  

  - Alekseev had been reassured by an agreement on 1 march that the Petrograd soviet would recognize a provisional government formed by the Duma
• how and when did Nicholas agree to Alekseevs, the duma and the soviets demands


  on the 2nd March = abdication announcement in favor of Mikhail (who hadn't been consulted)

  
  

  Sid Mikhail should rule "in complete union with the representatives of the people"
• why was the tsar's abdication problematic

  Mikhail refused the throne despite the fact that the abdication terms had already been agreed
• what happened to the Tsar after he abdicated the throne


  the tsar and his family were placed under house arrest, as were most of the Tsar's council of ministers

  
  

  == 304 years of Romanov rule came to an end
• how did revolution spread beyond petrograd


  - Kronstadt naval base

  - Moscow + other industrial towns/cities

  
  

  == workers seized control of factories, set up workers committees and disposed of their former bosses

  == set up own elected regional assemblies and soviets
• what happened to the army


  the army who were under the control of the petrograd soviet technically

  == set up semi-independent bodies and soldiers soviets without clear leadership and organisation
• what happened in the countryside

  peasants attacked landlords properties and felled trees illegally
• what happened to countries under tsar rule outside of Russia


  in provinces such as Finland, Ukraine, the Caucuses, and Poland national minority independence was declared
• what is the clear cause of the february revolution


  the class struggle between the working class and traditional aristocatic forces in Petrograd
• why is the revolution seen to be a spontaneous event rather than by revolutionary groups


  in 1917, most revolutionary leaders ie. Bolsheviks, Mensheviks and SRs were either in prison or exiled - siberia/abroad

  
  

  Bolsheviks were in no position to provide leadership and organize revolutionary uprisings
• did the revolution defeat aristocracy altogether


  whilst it did end with the tsars abdication, it did not overthrow all aristocracy