The February Revolution of 1917 - the completion of the monarchical system in Russia

The February revolution took place in a crucial for Russia in 1917 and was the first of many coups d'état which step by step led to the formation of the power of the Soviets and the formation of a new state on the map.

The reasons for the February Revolution of 1917

The protracted war gave rise to many difficulties and plunged the country into a serious crisis. The majority of the society opposed the monarchical system, even the liberal opposition against Nicholas II was formed in the Duma. Numerous meetings and speeches under anti-monarchist and anti-war slogans began to take place in the country.

1. 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 victims, killed and maimed, terrible front-line conditions, embezzlement and mediocrity of the high command of the army weakened discipline and led to mass desertion. By the end of 1916 more than 1.5 million people were army deserters.

On the front line, there were frequent cases of "fraternization" of Russian soldiers with Austrian and German. The officers made a lot of efforts to stop this tendency, but among ordinary soldiers it was normal to exchange different things and communicate friendly with the enemy.

In the ranks of the military, discontent and mass revolutionary moods were gradually growing.

2. The Threat of Hunger

A fifth of the industrial potential of the country was lost because of the occupation, food was running out. In St. Petersburg, for example, in February 1917, there was only one and a half weeks left to store the grain. Deliveries of products and raw materials were carried out so irregularly that part of the military plants was closed. Providing the army with everything necessary was also jeopardized.

3. The crisis of power

Upstairs, too, everything was complicated: during the war years, four prime ministers with a full government staff were replaced . Strong personalities who could stop the crisis of power and lead the country for themselves, at that time in the ruling elite was not.

The royal family has always sought to be closer to the people, but the phenomenon of rasputin and the weakness of government gradually deepened the gulf between the tsar and his people.

In the political situation, everything indicated the proximity of the revolution. There was only a question, where and how it will happen.

February revolution: the overthrow of the age-old monarchical system

Since January 1917, throughout the Russian Empire, large-scale strikes took place, in which more than 700,000 workers took part. Trigger hook in the February events was the strike Putilov factory in St. Petersburg.

February 23, the strike was already 128 thousand, the next day their number increased to 200 thousand, and on February 25 the strike took a political character, and it involved 300,000 workers in St. Petersburg alone. So the February Revolution unfolded.

The troops and police opened fire on striking workers, the first blood was spilled.

On February 26, the tsar sent troops to the capital under the command of General Ivanov, but they refused to suppress the insurrection and actually took the side of the rebels.

On February 27, the insurgent workers seized more than 40,000 rifles and 30,000 revolvers. They took control of the capital and elected the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' Deputies, which was headed by Chkheidze.

On the same day, the tsar sent to the Duma an order on an indefinite break in her work. The Duma obeyed the decree, but decided not to disperse, but to elect the Provisional Committee of ten people headed by Rodzianko.

Soon the tsar received telegrams on the victory of the revolution and calls from the commanders of all fronts to yield power in favor of the insurgents.

March 2, it was officially announced the establishment of the Provisional Government of Russia, whose head 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 also wrote a renunciation.

So the February revolution ceased to exist monarchy in the territory of Russia.

After this, the tsar as a civilian tried to obtain permission from the Provisional Government to travel with his family to Murmansk, to emigrate to Britain from there. But the Petrograd Soviet so resolutely resisted that Nicholas II and his family were decided to arrest and deliver for imprisonment in Tsarskoe Selo.

The former emperor will not be destined to leave his country.

The February Revolution of 1917: results

The Provisional Government survived many crises and could survive only 8 months. An attempt to build a bourgeois-democratic society was not crowned with success, since a more powerful and organized force claimed power in the country, which only saw the socialist revolution as its goal.

The February revolution revealed this force - workers and soldiers led by the Soviets began to play a decisive role in the history of the country.