The February/March revolution of 1917

What were the causes of the February Revolution 1917?

Failure of WW1

Railway problems - poor logistics

• Hard to transport food, worsened by the pressure of war

Inflation

• Especially people who are wealthy - saving become worthless

International Women’s Day

• Women join in on strike action on 23rd Feb

Strikes

• Due to poor conditions and workload of war

• Labour unionism - right of workers

Incompetent Tsar

• Showed lack of trust in War Industry Committee and Zemgor

• Became Commander In Chief - blamed for all military errors

Agriculture shortage

• Food shortages - requisitioning of horses and fertilisers

Bread rationing

• There was a few that ration sizes will become smaller

Rasputin + Tsarina

• ministerial leapfrog

What happened during the February Revolution 1917? (Timeline)

1. The build up:

9 Jan: a workers group in Petrograd call for a Bloody Sunday commemoration - 150,000 workers march = shows dissatisfaction in the Tsar

14 Feb: strikes around the city again organised by workers group - wanted to put pressure on he Duma to change the government, Rodzianko warns of unrest growing - 90,000 still on the street despite strike leaders being arrested

18 Feb: a Putilov strike of 40,000

19 Feb: bread rationing announced - Tsar is taking action, but people are put in queues and rumours started to spread

21 Feb: Putilov temporarily shuts down due to a lack of coal - Tsar isn’t managing the economy properly

22 Feb: Tsar leaves Petrograd and returns to the front line - Tsar’s lack of insight and didn’t prioritise domestic issues

2. Main event:

23 Feb: International women’s day - Putilov workers joined the women striking - over 100,000 on strike

24 Feb: 200,000 on strike

25 Feb: 300,000 on strike

26 Feb: control was lost! Tsar orders general Khabalov to enforce the martial law (put down demos using force) - but he couldn’t print posters about the martial law - most troops join the crowd instead, deserting the army - now the people have weapons - hostility grows and police stations attacked

= Rodzianko (president of Duma) appeals to the Tsar about the urgent need for major concessions through telegrams - the Tsar responds by disbanding the Duma - some members refuse

3. Revolution

27 Feb: chaos! Order breaks down! - Okhrana HQ is overrun, prisoners released from prisons by mobs, looting, Tsar’s winter palace occupied

Duma members form a provisional Duma committee of 12 key politicians + workers, soldiers and sailors formed the Petrograd soviet

28 Feb: government officers forced to flee the city, Petrograd soviet published a newspaper called Izvestia - wants universal suffrage and a a constituent assembly (parliament where every political party is represented)

Tsar is stopped at Pskov - Shulgun and Guckhov advise abdication

4. The End

1 Mar: order no.1 from Petrograd soviet

2 Mar: provisional government set up

Nicholas abdicates!

3 Mar: news of the Tsar’s abdication spreads - Tsardom is no more!

How does Rodzianko’s appeals to the Tsar show the Tsar’s incompetence?

26 Feb

• Rodzianko is a supporter of the Tsar, but even he is encouraging the Tsar to change

• 26 Feb is close to the actual revolution, the Tsar clearly hasn’t responded nor taken action to the previous requests

27 Feb

• Sends another telegram - Tsar still hasn’t took action

Was there any evidence that the revolution was spontaneous?

For:

• No general organisation of events

• No political party in charge

• No revolutionaries at the time in Russia

• Only started in May Day - weren’t thinking about having a strike in February

• Chaos started at 23rd Feb - momentum gained

• 26th Feb - soldiers started to join in - couldn’t have planned for the soldiers to join

• Th Tsar triggered the soldiers to join

Against:

• Bolshevik revolutionary party were active in spreading protest and getting workers out on the streets - handing out red flags and banners

Was there any evidence that the revolution was popular?

For:

• many women textile workers and train drivers took part

• Men from highly politicised Putilov engineering works and other factories joined

• All classes of people marched - 26th/27th Feb shopkeepers, teachers, students joined

• Soldiers joined as well

• Factory workers joined the strike

Evidence:

• Soldiers didn’t want to fight at the front line, instead of joining the revolution because they disliked the Tsar

What evidence supports that there were no revolutionaries during the revolution?

• Revolutionary leaders were in exile (Trotsky in USA, Lenin in Switzerland…) - poor communication as war made long distance communication difficult

• Dec 1916, Lenin said that he didn’t expect a revolution in his lifetime - the Feb Revolution happened less that 12 weeks later, he clearly wasn’t prepared for it

• The revolution happened because the military and the political elite sacrificed the Tsar: this includes Nicholas II’s brother in laws who said that support for Tsardom was waning

• Kerensky (leader of the Duma and member of the Progressive Bloc) asked for the Tsar himself to be removed on 13th Feb

• Rodzianko (chairman of the Duma) said ‘it’s urgent that someone enjoying the confidence of the country must be entrusted with the formation of the new government’ - he had been aTsarist supporter but his support was waning too

• Peter Wrangler warned coup d’etat (revolution)

What evidence goes against that there were no revolutionaries during the revolution?

• The Mensheviks under Shylapnikov set up the Petrograd Soviet

• The Soviet was full of revolutionaries representing the workers, soldiers and sailors

• The revolutionaries organised quickly and formed a council (Soviet) and created a newspaper ‘Izvestiya’, so they could get their views across and ‘wipe out the old system completely’ - a revolutionary intent - but not much readers

• The Social Democrats released a manifesto on the 27th Feb, stating that they would try to suppress a counter revolution by Tsarist forces - indicating they were involved in the revolution and sustaining it

= But these were all done after the revolution, meaning they’re not present in the buildup

Where were the revolutionaries during the February Revolution?

• The Central Workers’ Group founded in 1915 by the Mensheviks became increasing radical as the economic situation worsened during WW1

• Jan 1917: the entire leadership of the Central Workers’ Group was arrested

• Feb 1917: they were freed by a crowd of disaffected soldiers during the beginning of the Feb Rev

• That day, the chairman convened a meeting at the Tauride Palace to organise and elect a Soviet of workers’ Deputies

Why did the military and political elite sacrifice the Tsar?

Fear of popular protest:

• a people’s revolution needed to be stopped as this could potentially be a bigger revolution and would overthrow the military and politicians too

The mobs were being joined by the garrison

• this would arm the mob, making them more dangerous

The elites were influenced by the failings they had seen during WW1

What role did the city of Petrograd play in the February Revolution?

• The rest of Russia just accepted it

• Ready to put up a fight against the old regime

What does it mean by ‘Tsardom collapsed from within’?

• Highest ranking officers intimated to the Tsar to stand down

• The aristocratic members of the Duma refused to disband

• The army and police dint carry out the Tsar’s command

• Tsar’s own failure to resist

What are some interpretations/debates of the February Revolution?

Trotsky

• Revolution began from the working class taught by the Bolshevik

• Didn’t have any leaders as the Bolsheviks couldn’t lead it

Katkov

• Revolution was conspired by German agents to get Russia out of WW1

• There was German wartime influence in the labour movement in Russia

• German government constantly pushed a revolution strategy in Russia

Pipes

• Revolution was by bitter, war-weary people

• The Russia military abandoned the Tsar

• Pressure came from witching, the ranks of politicians and generals who thought removing the Tsar was essential to victory

• Tsar unable to cope with the strains

Christian

• Revolution could have been avoided

• It was the Progressive Bloc that swung the media

• If the Tsar had recognised them, the revolution could’ve been avoided

Stone

• Revolution caused by the failure of his institutes

• War intensifies the problems Russia traditionally had

• Showed hoe the Tsarist system was politically and economically bankrupt

What made up the new government?

Dual power/authority

• Provisional government (legitimate) - mostly liberals

• Petrograd Soviet (less legitimate) - mostly revolutionaries

Initially, they met in the Tauride Palace.

In early March, the PG moved to the Mariinsky Palace

What was the PG, what were their aims and problems faced?

The PG was formed on 2nd March by the Provisional Duma Committee

• Dominated by liberals (especially Kadets - liked the idea of gradual change via reforms)

Main focus: to run Russia until elections could take place - the elections would be for a constituent assembly (a parliament representing all parties in Russia)

Problem: elections can’t be held until WW1 ends - and until then, there can only be limited reforms

• The PG will look ineffective and be regarded as representatives of Tsardom by some (they were part of the Duma, so basically just the next level beneath the Tsar)

Problem: the made up of the PG changed over time as a result of politicians making mistakes and being forced to resign - causing a government reshuffle

• Mar-May: liberal coalition of Kadets and some Social Revolutionaries

• July-Sept: socialist coalition of SRs and Mensheviks, with some Kadets

• Sept-Oct: officially renamed to Russian Republic, dominated by Mensheviks and SRs

What were some key people in the PG?

Kerensky

• Originally an SR

• In the Progressive Bloc

• Had different roles: Minister of Justice (Mar-May), Minister for War (May-July), Prime Minister (July-Oct)

• He was the leader during the October Revolution

• Vice president of the PS

Milyukov

• Kadet

• Had been in the Progressive Bloc

• Famed for his ‘stupidity or treason’ speech

• Roles: Foreign Minister (Mar-May) - sacked due to the Milyukov Note - told the citizens they will only fight defensively, but told the allies Russia will keep fighting

What was the PS, what were its aims and key people?

Initially just workers, soldiers and sailors

27 Feb: dominated by revolutionary socialist groups - SRs, Mensheviks, Bolsheviks

Main focus: representing the views of the workers, sailors (from Kronstadt) and soldiers of Petrograd

Leaders/key people:

• Chkheidze (Mar-Sept)

• Trotsky (Sept-Oct)

Membership

• 3 Mar: 1300

• 10 Mar: 3000 - 800 were workers and 2200 from the military

What was Order no.1?

Order no.1 was the 1st official decree of the PS - the gained a lot of power through it

It was issued in response to the PG’s order calling soldiers to turn to barracks and to obey their officers

PS wanted to prevent the PG from taking control of the soldiers and instead take control of the soldiers themselves

What the order included:

• Gave their committees control of all weapons

• Soldiers would only obey orders of the PG if the PS agreed

• The PS could determine which factories stayed open and which services, like electricity would be provided

• Telling the people to organise themselves and form a committee

• Appealed to the soldiers

What was Kerensky reaction to order no.1?

Unhappy - sided with the PG more

Felt like order no.1 was not needed - as if saying PG don’t treat the soldiers well

Kerensky was annoyed with the characterisation of the PG

Why was order no.1 controversial?

• Workers and soldiers are finally getting listened to

• Dragged on WW1, breaking the army down

What was the policy of the Soviet?

• Keep its distance from the middle class PG - make sure that it did nothing to damage the interests of the working class

• Not directly participates in the government, except Kerensky

Why did the Soviets not take power?

1. They didn’t think the time was right for the workers to from the government

• Mensheviks and SRs believed that Russia had to go through a ‘bourgeois revolution’ before they could take power (Marxist)

• Capitalism needed to be developed more, society needed to become more industrialised and proletariat needed to become larger

• Workers needed education

2. Wanted to avoid a civil war and counter-revolution

• Needed to keep the middle classes and army commanders on their side

• Russian High Command had kept their troops outside the city (if the Soviet was hostile to the PG, they might send their troops)

3. Soviet leaders were scared

• Not sure they would control the masses

• Anger in the streets might be turned onto them if they become the gov

• Little experience of governing

What was the honeymoon period of the revolution/dual power?

• Tsarist ministers and officers arrested and imprisoned

• Police put themselves under arrest

• Disbanded the secret police

• PG grated amnesty for political and religious prisoners + established freedom of speech and press

• Abolished the death penalty

• PG promised elections

=support flooded from outside the capital - soldiers were happy as they wouldn’t be sent to the front line + workers secure the right to strike, organise trade unions, 8 hour working day, recognition of the factory committee

What was happening to the rest of Russia?

PG dismissed the old Tsarist governor and replaced them with commissars (usually old zemstvo chairmen) - but they were largel ignored and was given little respect

‘Committees of public organisations’ were set up

• Run by middle class zemstvo members first

• Membership increased to take in representatives of workers, soldiers, trade unions…

• Outstripped by the growth in towns and districts of soviets tat were set up to represent workers interests

Peasants also started to set up committees and give voice to their opinions and demands

War was still being fought

What were the key issues Dual authority faced? How did they approach them?

1. WW1 - end it, continue or fight defensively?

PG: continue PS: defend only

2. Land redistribution - Tsardom is gone, so what should happen to the land of the Tsar and the nobility? Hand it to peasants or divided up by the PG?

PG+PS: wait till there is a constitutional assembly elected

3. National minorities - what should happen to all the non Russia countries that was in the Russia Empire? Independence or keep control? (Esp. Ukraine - largest and best area for agriculture)

PG: unite the countries - wanting to keep control PS: allows self government

4. Cost of feeding and supplying the people - reforms to improve agricultural yield? How much money invested into agriculture?

5. Social reforms - soviets wanted to help the workers, but workers need to be angry enough for the ‘second revolution’ to happen

PG+PS: elections would happen after the war ended

Why was the PG weak?

• They were an elected, temporary group

• Used to be the Tsar’s Duma - just the next level under the Tsar - not a complete change

• Shared power unofficially with the PS - took away some of PG’s power

• PS released order no.1 and had power of the army - PG’s lack of power

• Liberals in nature - allows the revolutionaries to do what they want (freedom of speech) - revolutionary ideas spread quickly

• Revolutionaries rushed back to Petrograd