The February Revolution took place in a fatefulfor Russia, 1917 was the first of many coup d'états that, step by step, led to the establishment of Soviet power and the formation of a new state on the map.
Causes of the February 1917 Revolution
The prolonged war gave rise to many difficultiesand plunged the country into a severe crisis. A large part of the society opposed the monarchical system; in the Duma even a liberal opposition was formed against Nicholas II. Numerous meetings and speeches under anti-monarchist and anti-war slogans began to take place in the country.
1. The crisis in the army
The Russian army at that time wasmobilized more than 15 million people, of whom 13 million were peasants. Hundreds of thousands of victims, killed and maimed, terrible front-line conditions, embezzlement and lack of talent of the high command of the army shook discipline and led to mass desertion. By the end of 1916, more than a million and a half people were deserters from the army.
On the front line there have been frequent cases."fraternization" of Russian soldiers with Austrian and German. The officers made a lot of efforts to stop this tendency, but among ordinary soldiers it became normal to exchange different things and communicate friendly with the enemy.
In the ranks of the military gradually grew discontent and mass revolutionary sentiment.
2. The threat of hunger
The fifth part of the country's industrial potential waslost due to occupation, food was running out. In St. Petersburg, for example, in February 1917, stocks of bread remained only for a week and a half. Deliveries of products and raw materials were carried out so irregularly that some military factories were closed. Providing the army with all necessary things also came under threat.
3. The crisis of power
Upstairs, too, everything was difficult:during the war years, four full-time prime ministers changed. There were no strong personalities who could stop the crisis of power and lead the country behind them.
The royal family has always sought to be closer to the people, but the phenomenon of Rasputin and the weakness of the government gradually deepened the gap between the king and his people.
In a political situation, everything indicated the proximity of the revolution. There was only the question of where and how it will happen.
February Revolution: the overthrow of the age-old monarchy
Начиная с января 1917 года во всей Российской empires massively held strikes, which were attended by a total of more than 700 thousand workers. The trigger of the Putilov factory in St. Petersburg was the trigger in the February events.
On February 23, 128 thousand were already on strike, the nextthe day their number grew to 200 thousand, and on February 25 the strike took a political character, and already 300 thousand workers in St. Petersburg alone took part in it. So the February revolution unfolded.
The troops and police opened fire on the striking workers, the first blood was shed.
On February 26, the king sent troops under the command of General Ivanov to the capital, but they refused to suppress the uprising and actually sided with the rebels.
On February 27, the insurgent workers seized more than 40 thousand rifles and 30 thousand revolvers. They took control of the capital and elected the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' Deputies, which was headed by Cheidze.
On the same day, the king sent an order to the Duma about an indefinite recess in her work. The Duma submitted to the decree, but decided not to disperse, but to elect a provisional committee of ten people headed by Rodzianko.
Soon the king received telegrams about the victory of the revolution and appeals from the commanders of all fronts to cede power in favor of the rebels.
March 2 was officially announced the establishmentThe Provisional Government of Russia, whose head Nicholas II approved Prince Lvov. And on the same day the king abdicated the throne for himself and his son in favor of his brother, Mikhail Romanov. But he wrote the same renunciation.
So the February Revolution ceased the existence of a monarchy in Russia.
After that, the king as a civilian triedto obtain permission from the Provisional Government to travel with his family to Murmansk in order to emigrate to the UK from there. But the Petrograd Soviet resolutely resisted that it was decided to arrest Nicholas II and his family and bring them to Tsarskoye Selo for imprisonment.
The former emperor will not be destined to leave his country.
February revolution of 1917: results
The Provisional Government experienced manycrises and could exist only 8 months. The attempt to build a bourgeois-democratic society was not crowned with success, since a more powerful and organized force, which saw only socialist revolution as its goal, claimed power in the country.
The February Revolution revealed this force - the workers and soldiers led by the Soviets began to play a decisive role in the history of the country.
