February Revolution

The February Revolution (Russian: Февральская революция), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution, and sometimes as the March Revolution or February Coup, was the first of two revolutions which took place in Russia in 1917.

The main events of the revolution took place in and near Petrograd (now Saint Petersburg), the then-capital of Russia, where long-standing discontent with the monarchy erupted into mass protests against food rationing on 23 February Old Style (8 March New Style). Revolutionary activity lasted about eight days, involving mass demonstrations and violent armed clashes with police and gendarmes, the last loyal forces of the Russian monarchy. On 27 February O.S. (12 March N.S.), most of the forces of the capital's garrison sided with the revolutionaries. On the same day, the Russian Provisional Government, made up by left-leaning Duma members, was formed, seized the railway telegraph and issued orders claiming that the Duma now controlled the government. This was followed by a second telegram prohibiting trains from traveling near Petrograd, ensuring that loyal troops could not arrive by railway to restore Imperial Authority. Three days later, Nicholas II, stranded in his train in the city of Pskov while trying to reach the capital, and with the Provisional Government preventing his train from moving, was forced to abdicate, ending Romanov dynastic rule. The Provisional Government under Georgy Lvov replaced the Council of Ministers of Russia.

The Provisional Government proved deeply unpopular and was forced to share dual power with the Petrograd Soviet. After the July Days, in which the government killed hundreds of protesters, Alexander Kerensky became the head of the government. He was unable to resolve Russia's immediate problems, including food shortages and mass unemployment, as he attempted to keep Russia involved in the ever more unpopular world war. The failures of the Provisional Government led to the October Revolution by the communist Bolsheviks later that year. The February Revolution had weakened the country; the October Revolution broke it, resulting in the Russian Civil War and the eventual formation of the Soviet Union.

The revolution appeared to have broken out without any real leadership or formal planning. Russia had been suffering from a number of economic and social problems, which compounded after the start of World War I in 1914. Disaffected soldiers from the city's garrison joined bread rioters, primarily women in bread lines, and industrial strikers on the streets. As more and more troops of the undisciplined garrison of the capital deserted, and with loyal troops away at the Eastern Front, the city fell into chaos, leading to the Tsar's decision to abdicate under his generals' advice. In all, over 1,300 people were killed during the protests of February 1917. The historiographical reasons for the revolution have varied. Russian historians writing during the time of the Soviet Union cited the anger of the proletariat against the bourgeois boiling over as the cause. Russian liberals cited World War I. Revisionists tracked it back to land disputes after the serf era. Modern historians cite a combination of these factors and criticize mythologization of the event.

Despite occurring in March of the Gregorian calendar, the event is most commonly known as the "February Revolution" because at the time Russia still used the Julian calendar. The event is sometimes known as the "March Revolution," after the Soviet Union modernized its calendar.

A number of factors contributed to the February Revolution, both short and long-term. Historians disagree on the main factors that contributed to this. Liberal historians emphasise the turmoil created by the war, whereas Marxists emphasise the inevitability of change. Alexander Rabinowitch summarises the main long-term and short-term causes:

Despite its occurrence during the height of World War I, the roots of the February Revolution extended much further back. Chief among these was Imperial Russia's failure, throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, to modernize its archaic social, economic, and political structures while preserving popular loyalty to an increasingly outmoded autocracy. As historian Richard Pipes writes, ..."the incompatibility of capitalism and autocracy struck all who gave thought to the matter."

The first major event of the Russian Revolution was the February Revolution of 1917, a chaotic uprising fueled by over a century of civil and military unrest between the common people and the Tsarist regime. Among the long-term causes were the harsh treatment of peasants by landowners, poor working conditions for industrial laborers, and the spread of Western democratic ideals by political activists. These developments contributed to a growing political and social consciousness among the lower classes.