The February/March Revolution of 1917

Who was Leon Trotsky and what did he do?

exiled to Siberia in 1898 for his involvement in radical groups, studied the works of Lenin and Marx there, escaped in 1902 using passport in name of prison guard Trotsky, went to London met Lenin and founded St Petersburg soviet in 1905, organised Military Revolutionary Committee which he used to plan Bolshevik takeover in October, became commissar for Foreign Affairs, exiled from party by Stalin in 1928, murdered by Stalinist agent with an icepick in Mexico in 1940

What were the main causes of the February revolution?

by winter 1917 streets of Petrograd were tense with pent-up frustrations of the unemployed the starving and the desperate, demonstration by 150,000 Petrograd workers on anniversary of bloody Sunday was hint of what was to come, haphazard affair catalysed by bread shortage

What happened on Monday 14th February that catalysed the revolution?

100,000 workers from 58 different factories were on strike in Petrograd, news that bread would be rationed from March 1st brought long queues and violent exchanges, police struggle to keep order and were attacked

What happened to 20,000 workers on Wednesday 22nd February?

locked out of Putilov Steel Works by the management after pay talks collapsed, workers in other factories went on strike in support

When was international women's day and what was its significance in the revolution?

Thursday 23rd February, 90,000 workers went on strike and 50 factories closed, striking workers joined traditional march of women from Petrograd suburbs to city centre, city fell into chaos with 240,000 out on the streets, order was only restores by a desperate police force in early evening, day saw no loss of life

what song did the strikers sing and what was the significance of this?

La Marseillaise, French national anthem, to sing it was to show support for the idea of French Revolution “liberty, equality and fraternity”

what did the 200,000 workers do on the 24th February?

overturned tsarist statues, waved red flags, more red rosettes, shouted revolutionary slogans calling for an end to Tsardom and sang La Marseillaise

what happened on Tuesday 28th February?

nicholas left his military headquarters and started to make his way back to Petrograd, sent a telegram to Rodzianki offering to share power with the Duma but reply told him he was too late

who were the mutineers?

ordered to shoot the demonstrators, often of peasant or worker background, young, newly enlisted, men who had joined the army from a sense of patriotism inspired by war

what did soviet historians put the events of the February revolution down to?

inevitable class struggle between the bourgeoise-proletarian forces on one side and traditional aristocratic forces on the urban workers in St Petersburg - spontaneous rising driven by the oppressed working class

what did the emergence of soviets in Petrograd as well as other cities and towns suggest?

some sort of organisation by socials leaders and the Petrograd soviet soviet set up by revolutionary leaders in the capital on 27th February, was to play a major role in the events

what did the petrograd soviet agree too?

under the pressure from the soldiers and from mutineers at the Kronstadt naval base that each regiment should elect committees and send representatives to the soviet - the order No.1

what was the Order No.1?

A charter of soldiers' rights produced on the 1st of March 1917

what did the Order No.1 promise?

all units to elects a deputy to the soviet and agree to political control of Petrograd soviet, military commission of Duma to be obeyed only if it agreed with soviet orders, all weapons to be controlled by elected soldiers committees not officers, all soldiers to enjoy full citizens rights when off duty, no requirement to salute or stand to attention, no honorific titles to be used for officers, officers not to address soldiers in the ‘ty’ form

what official title did the Petrograd soviet take?

'Soviet of Workers' and soldiers' deputies, by 10 march had 3000 members

what was the Kronstadt naval base?

the headquarters of the Russian Baltic Fleet ( 19 miles west of Petrograd at the head of the Gulf of Finland)

who did the provisional government appear under?

Prince Lvov, a wealthy aristocrat and zemstvo leader

what did the members of the provisional government represent?

a cross-section of the influential elites and comprised those who had formerly favoured constitutional monarchy - liberals, moderate socialists and Kadets

what was the original intention of the provisional government?

as its name suggest, to be temporary and that elections would be held as soon as possible for a new constituent assemebly which would draw up a new constitution for Russia

where did the provisional government set itself up?

in the Duma chamber in the right wing of the Tauride Palace in Petrograd and so perpetuated its rule, although never rejecting the idea of elections at a later date

what were the promise of the provisional government that the Petrograd soviet accepted?

a general amnesty for political prisoners, civil liberties, the abolition of legal disabilities based on class religion and nationality, freedom to organise trade unions and to strike, the election of a constituent assembly to determine Russia’s future

What reasons were there for the failure of dual authority?

PG believed that the change of regime should lead to a all-out effort to 'win' the war whereas the soviet view was that the war should be ended as quickly as possible 'without annexation' of territory by the Germans as the price of peace

what was Milyukov's announcement?

April 1917, said that the government would continue fighting until a ‘just peace’ had been won

what was the impact of the Milyukov announcement?

unleashed a storm of protest forcing Milyukov and Guchkov to reisgn under popular pressure led by the Petrograd soviet in May