1917 Revolution

• The February/March revolution is considered a peculiar revolution, lacking the typical mastermind opposition party or radical group leading the overthrow
• The traditional interpretation is that the February Revolution was mainly caused by the stress and upheaval of World War I


  Without the war, Russia could have continued developing into a modern industrialized state and the revolution may not have happened
• The revisionist interpretation sees the February Revolution as the culmination of long-term social, political, and economic problems in Russia


  The war was just a catalyst that sped up the system's collapse, as the Tsarist regime was inherently weak and out of touch with the growing demands of the people
• The assassination of Rasputin in December 1916 caused scandal and shame for the royal household, showing the weakness of the Tsarist regime
• By January 1917, the economic problems and suffering of the Russian people had reached a boiling point, with growing unrest and warnings from even conservative politicians about the Tsar's poor leadership
• The build-up to the February Revolution

  1. Demonstrations and strikes by workers and women in Petrograd in February 1917

  2. The military garrison in Petrograd unable to maintain order and many soldiers deserting or siding with the protesters

  3. 40 demonstrators shot by soldiers, proving a decisive turning point
• The February Revolution was a spontaneous uprising by the Russian people, lacking the typical mastermind opposition group or radical party leading the overthrow
• The Tsarist regime was imploding by the end of February 1917, unable to maintain control or restore order in Petrograd
• By the 26th of February, the Tsar doesn't have more than a few thousand men and there's also a battalion of men who've been sent from the front and they get to the outskirts of Petrograd and most of those desert as well
• The Tsar was willing to take a really strong action but he didn't have the men to do it and he couldn't get anybody to print the declaration of martial law
• On the 27th, 40 demonstrators were shot by soldiers from the regiment, which proved to be a decisive turning point as the morale of the soldiers was broken and they started to turn and refuse to obey orders to shoot on the demonstrators
• Kerensky, a lawyer and leading member of the SR and a member of the Duma, openly called for the Tsar to abdicate, highlighting the degree to which the Tsarist regime had lost control in Petrograd
• The Tsar sent orders to the Duma, which he saw as being against him, to stop meeting, but they ignored him and created the Provisional Committee to take over the government instead
• Army generals who had ordered loyal troops to march the city were now changing their orders and giving their support to the Provisional Committee
• On the evening of the 27th, revolutionary groups like the Bolsheviks and SRs joined together to set up a Petrograd Soviet intending to also form a new government
• On the 28th, there was the start of dual authority, with the Provisional Committee and the Petrograd Soviet effectively becoming the government of Russia as the Tsar's ministers had abandoned their posts
• Rodzianko, the leader of the Duma, told the Tsar to abdicate, which was more serious than Kerensky's call the day before as Rodzianko was a conservative politician
• When the Tsar tried to leave his headquarters and go back to the capital, his train was diverted by revolutionary rail workers and forced to stop about 200 miles away from Petrograd
• The Tsar eventually agreed to abdicate in favour of his brother Grand Duke Mikhail, but Mikhail refused the offer
• The collapse of the Russian autocracy was one of the most needless, spontaneous and anonymous revolutions of all time, with the opposition groups playing catch-up rather than shaping the developments
• The February Revolution succeeded because the highest ranks of the army and the nobility turned against the Tsar, and the Tsar himself seemed to give up and accept his fate
• The Tsar was a weak ruler surrounded by ineffective ministers, hamstrung by the scandal surrounding his wife and Rasputin, and the regime was not strong enough to survive the rigors of war