Causes and events of the Feb/March 1917 revolution
CAUSES:
Early 1917, Russia in crisis
Support for the Tsarist regime was collapsing -> Tsar + Tsarina + Rasputin
Triggered by bread shortages but rooted in long yrs of suffering + frustration under an
autocracy that was unable to adapt to change buty absolutely unwilling to give up power
PROBLEMS 1917:
Disturbances in Petrograd: cities full, no food, no fuel
Tsars courts support collapsing + Rasputin crisis Soviets = elected
Protest marches + strikes were spreading in the major cities council
War soldiers dying + people don’t have supplies
Economy + workers conditions
Tsar = at front-line, 28th Feb -> boards train to return to capital, stopped 200km away from
Petrograd, can’t return
KEY EVENTS DURING FEB 1917:
14th Feb:
Strikers at 100,000
News that bread would be rationed from 1 March brought long queues + riots – police
struggled to keep order
22nd Feb:
20,000 workers locked out of Putilov Steel Works after pay talks collapsed
Workers in other factories went on strike in support
23rd Feb:
90,000 workers on strike + 50 factories closed joined traditional march for International
Women’s Day
Students + women from bread queues joined march
City feel into chaos as 240,000 marched + order not restored until evening BUT NO DEATHS
24th Feb:
200,000 workers were on strike became increasingly violent, e.g. overturning statues of
the Tsars, waving red flags, wore red rosettes shouted revolutionary slogans
Spontaneous demonstrations – no organisation from political parties
25th Feb:
250,000 people (over ½ capitals workforce) -> became increasingly violent
Shalfeev, in charge of the mounted police was dragged from his horse + shot
Civilians were shot by soldiers on the Nevskii Prospekt but some Cossacks refused to attack
the strikers
26th Feb:
Rodzianko, Duma President, sent the Tsar a telegram warning him of the serious situation in
Petrograd
Nicholas ignored the warning + ordered the Duma to dissolve the next day
27th Feb:
, Nicholas ordered Khabalov, Commander of the Petrograd Military District, to restore order
by military force. Around 40 demonstrators killed
A mutiny began in the Volynskii regiment
o 66,000 soldiers joined protestors, arming them with rifles
The Duma held a meeting, despite the Tsar’s orders + set up a Provisional Committee to
take over the gov (with 12 members)
o They were supported by the army’s High Command
The same evening revolutionaries set up the Petrograd Soviet, which also intended to take
over the gov
o It began to organise food supplies for the city
28th Feb:
Nicholas started to make his way back to Petrograd
He sent a telegram offering to share power with the Duma Rodzianko said it was too late
ISSUES WITH LEADERSHIP:
1. Almost all major Bolshevik leaders = absent at time of rev
o E.g. Lenin = in exile in Switzerland + Stalin in Siberia
2. Revolution appeared spontaneous + leaderless; wasn’t clear to what extent any of the small
groups of local Bolshevik activists played a part in instigating or influencing the course of it
o During + following the rev, local socialist groups helped to set up soviets (councils)
3. The most important was the Petrograd Soviet which represented works + soldiers
o Had 3,000 members by march 10
4. On 1 march produced the Order No. 1 promised soldier’s rights, in response to soldiers
refusing to fight
o All units elected deputy to the Soviet + agree to political control of Petrograd Soviet
o Military commission of Duma to be obeyed if it agreed with Soviet orders
o Soldiers could enjoy citizen’s rights when off duty + no honorific titles to be used
THE ABDICATION OF THE TSAR:
Actions taken by the Tsar Nicholas II
Never returned to Petrograd tried to get back from military HQ but forced to stop at
Pskov 200 miles south of destination after train was diverted
He was advised to abdicate by Alexkeev on march 1, couldn’t find replacement
o Named brother Grand Duke Mikhail as the new Tsar, he had not been consulted +
refused unless offered to him by a Constituent Assembly elected by all the Russian
people
o Power instead transferred to a Provisional Government on 2nd March – formed
hastily when Mikhail effectively turned down the throne
o Lead by Prince Lvov a wealthy liberal landowner with a noble background
Tsar + family under house arrest, dynasty came to end
