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The February Revolution
Overview
In February 1917 the Old Tsarist regime collaped under a revolution and power was taken by a collection of various organisations and committees. The two most significant were the Petrograd Soviet and the Provisional Government.
Timeline of Events
Thursday 23 February (OS) : Morning-International Women’s’ day march begins.
Afternoon-Men Join the Protest from steelworks and factories and the protest begins to gather momentum.
Saturday 25 February (OS): Cossacks sent to combat protestors join the revolution.
:Soldiers and NCOs in the army begin to join the demonstrations, refusing to fire on the protestors.
Sunday 26 February (OS): Soldiers fire on demonstrators, killing several.
Soldiers join the demonstrations in increasing numbers.
Monday 27 February (OS): The Petrograd Garrison has largely gone over to the side the people.
Tuesday 28 February (OS): Crime and Chaos increase in the city as prisons are opened. The capital is descending into anarchy
Thursday 2 March (OS): The Tsar abdicates in favour of his brother Michael who refuses. The Autocratic Romanov Dynasty is over.
Revolution
The Spark of Revolution
On the morning of 23 February (OS) an International Women’s march of middle class, peasant and industrial worker women began against the wishes of the Bolsheviks and other revolutionary groups. In the afternoon striking textile workers began to call upon men in factories to join the protest calling them cowards upon their refusal to do so. Later in the day the protests became more violent as female tram drivers overturned their carriages to block off streets. Soon the highly politicised men of the Putilov engineering works joined the protest along with other male factory workers. The protest was gaining momentum.
Protest Grows
By 26 February the protest had gathered significant support among the population of Petrograd and a small proportion of the city’s Garrison had joined the revolution. Groups of Cossacks sent by the Tsar into the city to put down the protests instead defected to the popular uprising.
Soldiers Revolt
Although some soldiers had refused their orders and gone over to the side of the people, these were largely reservists with poor morale and no desire to fight at the front, it was not until the Tsar ordered them to open fire on protestors that a full-scale revolt began within the military. By the 27th(OS), following some minor inter-regimental skirmishes and the killing of several officers the army, the Tsar had lost any effective control of the army.
The Police, however, remained loyal to the Tsar and used rooftop snipers to attack crowds of protestors. Recently revolutionised army units attacked the snipers threw them off the building tops. The Tsar’s army was now firmly and visibly on the side of the people.
Power After the Revolution
Chaos and Order
By the 28th(OS) the crime rate in the city was escalating. Up to 1500 people were dead and the capital’s prisons were emptied. Armed bands stalked the streets looting and attacking the property of the wealthy. As the Duma was unable to bring order, the citizens began to look to the newly formed Petrograd Soviet.
The Soviets
Soviets (“councils” in Russian) were not a new idea in 1917; they had been established in large numbers (up to 80) in population centres across the empire during the 1905 revolution.
In February 1917 the Old Tsarist regime collaped under a revolution and power was taken by a collection of various organisations and committees. The two most significant were the Petrograd Soviet and the Provisional Government.
Timeline of Events
Thursday 23 February (OS) : Morning-International Women’s’ day march begins.
Afternoon-Men Join the Protest from steelworks and factories and the protest begins to gather momentum.
Saturday 25 February (OS): Cossacks sent to combat protestors join the revolution.
:Soldiers and NCOs in the army begin to join the demonstrations, refusing to fire on the protestors.
Sunday 26 February (OS): Soldiers fire on demonstrators, killing several.
Soldiers join the demonstrations in increasing numbers.
Monday 27 February (OS): The Petrograd Garrison has largely gone over to the side the people.
Tuesday 28 February (OS): Crime and Chaos increase in the city as prisons are opened. The capital is descending into anarchy
Thursday 2 March (OS): The Tsar abdicates in favour of his brother Michael who refuses. The Autocratic Romanov Dynasty is over.
Revolution
The Spark of Revolution
On the morning of 23 February (OS) an International Women’s march of middle class, peasant and industrial worker women began against the wishes of the Bolsheviks and other revolutionary groups. In the afternoon striking textile workers began to call upon men in factories to join the protest calling them cowards upon their refusal to do so. Later in the day the protests became more violent as female tram drivers overturned their carriages to block off streets. Soon the highly politicised men of the Putilov engineering works joined the protest along with other male factory workers. The protest was gaining momentum.
Protest Grows
By 26 February the protest had gathered significant support among the population of Petrograd and a small proportion of the city’s Garrison had joined the revolution. Groups of Cossacks sent by the Tsar into the city to put down the protests instead defected to the popular uprising.
Soldiers Revolt
Although some soldiers had refused their orders and gone over to the side of the people, these were largely reservists with poor morale and no desire to fight at the front, it was not until the Tsar ordered them to open fire on protestors that a full-scale revolt began within the military. By the 27th(OS), following some minor inter-regimental skirmishes and the killing of several officers the army, the Tsar had lost any effective control of the army.
The Police, however, remained loyal to the Tsar and used rooftop snipers to attack crowds of protestors. Recently revolutionised army units attacked the snipers threw them off the building tops. The Tsar’s army was now firmly and visibly on the side of the people.
Power After the Revolution
Chaos and Order
By the 28th(OS) the crime rate in the city was escalating. Up to 1500 people were dead and the capital’s prisons were emptied. Armed bands stalked the streets looting and attacking the property of the wealthy. As the Duma was unable to bring order, the citizens began to look to the newly formed Petrograd Soviet.
The Soviets
Soviets (“councils” in Russian) were not a new idea in 1917; they had been established in large numbers (up to 80) in population centres across the empire during the 1905 revolution.
