The Events of the Revolution

Early Stages

• On the 22nd of February 1917, metal workers in Petrograd went on strike to protest the failures of government and Russia’s continuing involvement in WWI

• They were joined the next day by women who looted bakeries to protest bread rationing and food shortages (this was a part of an International Women’s Day demonstration)

• The revolution, despite being a spontaneous event, grew and grew

• The royal family initially dismissed the strikes as a ‘hooligan movement’ and did little to stop it

• 1500 dead, several thousand wounded

• 28th of February 1917, capitol is out of control – there is a significant growth in crime and increase of violence

The Tsar Responds

• After a few weeks of strikes and protests, the Tsar (who was still away at war) ordered the soldiers in Petrograd to attack protestors and restore order

• Soldiers refused to fire on the crowds – many of them broke ranks and joined the protests, sometimes shooting their commanding officers

• The Petrograd Soviet was formed to represent the protestors

• Realising the situation was quickly spiralling out of control, the Tsar tried to return to Petrograd, but his train was deliberately diverted to Pskov

The End of Tsardom

• Unable to save his regime, Tsar Nicholas II abdicated on the 15th of March 1917

• He passed the role of Tsar to his brother Michael who refused the position, and 300 years of Tsardom was over

• Tsar Nicholas II were deeply out of touch with the needs and wants of the majority of the Russian population – many of the Tsar’s reforms introduced after the 1905 Revolution still served the interests of Russia’s wealthy – the outbreak of WWI put more pressure than ever on Russia’s poor, most of whom were struggling to survive

• His abdication was inevitable according to some historians