The February revolution took place in the fateful 1917 for Russia and was the first of many coups d'etat that led step by step to the establishment of Soviet power and the formation of a new state on the map.
Reasons for the February Revolution of 1917
The protracted war created many difficulties and plunged the country into a difficult crisis. Most of the society opposed the monarchist system; in the Duma even a liberal opposition was formed against Nicholas II. Numerous meetings and speeches began to take place in the country under anti-monarchist and anti-war slogans.
1. The crisis in the army
At that time, more than 15 million people were mobilized into the Russian army, of which 13 million were peasants. Hundreds of thousands of injured, killed and mutilated, terrible front conditions, embezzlement and mediocrity of the high command of the army loosened discipline and led to mass desertion. By the end of 1916, more than one and a half million people were deserters from the army.
On the front line, cases of "fraternization" of Russian soldiers with Austrian and German were often noted. The officers made a lot of efforts to stop this trend, but among ordinary soldiers it became normal to exchange different things and communicate with the enemy in a friendly manner.
Discontent and mass revolutionary sentiments gradually grew in the ranks of the military.
2. The threat of hunger
A fifth of the country's industrial potential was lost due to the occupation, food was running out. In St. Petersburg, for example, in February 1917, grain stocks remained for only a week and a half. The supply of food and raw materials was so irregular that part of the military factories was closed. Providing the army with everything necessary also came under threat.
3. The crisis of power
Upstairs, too, everything was complicated: during the war years, four prime ministers with the full composition of the government were replaced . There were no strong personalities who could stop the crisis of power and lead the country along at that time in the ruling elite.
The tsar’s family always strove to be closer to the people, but the phenomenon of racutinism and the weakness of government gradually widened the gap between the king and his people.
In the political situation, everything indicated the proximity of the revolution. All that remained was the question of where and how it would happen.
The February Revolution: the overthrow of the centuries-old monarchical system
Since January 1917, strikes took place in large numbers throughout the Russian Empire, in which more than 700,000 workers took part. The trigger in the February events was the strike of the Putilov plant in St. Petersburg.
On February 23, 128 thousand were on strike, the next day their number grew to 200 thousand, and on February 25 the strike took on a political character, and 300 thousand workers in St. Petersburg alone took part in it. So the February Revolution unfolded.
Troops and police opened fire on striking workers, the first blood was shed.
February 26, the king sent troops to the capital under the command of General Ivanov, but they refused to crush the uprising and actually sided with the rebels.
On February 27, insurgent workers captured more than 40 thousand rifles and 30 thousand revolvers. They took control of the capital and elected the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' Deputies, which headed Chkheidze.
On the same day, the tsar sent an order to the Duma for an uninterrupted interruption in its work. The Duma obeyed the decree, but decided not to diverge, but to elect a Provisional Committee of ten people, headed by Rodzianko.
Soon the king received telegrams about the victory of the revolution and calls from the commanders of all fronts to cede power in favor of the rebels.
On March 2, the establishment of the Provisional Government of Russia was officially announced, the head of which Nicholas II approved Prince Lvov. And on the same day the tsar abdicated for himself and for his son in favor of his brother, Mikhail Romanov. But he wrote the same renunciation in the same way.
So the February Revolution ceased the existence of the monarchy in Russia.
After that, the tsar as a civilian tried to obtain permission from the Provisional Government to leave with his family in Murmansk in order to emigrate to the UK from there. But the Petrograd Soviet resisted so decisively that it was decided to arrest Nicholas II and his family and deliver them to Tsarskoye Selo for imprisonment.
The former emperor will never be destined to leave his country.
February Revolution of 1917: Results
The interim government survived many crises and was able to survive for only 8 months. The attempt to build a bourgeois-democratic society was unsuccessful, since a more powerful and organized force, which saw only the socialist revolution as its goal, claimed power in the country.
The February revolution revealed this power - workers and soldiers, led by the Soviets, began to play a decisive role in the history of the country.