Abdication of Tsar Nicholas II & the February Revolution (Great War Podcast Ep 73)

Podcast & Calendar Context

  • Episode: Great War Podcast, Episode 73 – focus on abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, a pivotal 20th-century event
  • Previous episode finished U.S. entry into WWI; U.S. will re-enter narrative later
  • Calendar clarification
    • Russia still used Julian (Old Style) calendar, 13 days behind Western Gregorian
    • All dates in podcast use Julian; e.g., March 1 (OS) = March 14 (NS)

Russia’s Position by Early 1917

  • 28 months of war → nation on brink of collapse
  • Military losses
    • 2{,}700{,}000 killed / wounded / missing
    • 4{,}000{,}000 prisoners
  • Brusilov Offensive (mid-1916) briefly raised morale; optimism gone by winter
  • Romania’s rapid collapse (late 1916) further humiliated regime
  • Dec 29 1916: senior commanders admit army not ready for spring 1917 offensive

Home-Front Crisis (Winter 1916-17)

  • Average Petrograd temperature: -25^{\circ}\text{C}
  • Homes dark → coal shortage; army requisitioning worsens civilian scarcity
  • Food crisis
    • No centralized rationing (unlike Britain, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary)
    • Problem = transport mismanagement, not poor harvest/blockade
  • Railway collapse
    • Half locos out of service, overloading → cracked rails / overheated engines
    • Huge stockpiles idle in ports & warehouses
  • Urban suffering
    • Bread queues hours long; women often sleep in streets to keep place
    • No firewood; spike in winter illness; children confined indoors
  • Police & censor reports predict uprising; morale “at an all-time low”

Leadership: Tsar Nicholas II

  • 49 yrs old; personally kind yet intellectually limited (“weapons-grade inability to grasp complexity”)
  • Since Sept 1915, resides at Stavka HQ (Mogilev) – 800\,\text{km} south of Petrograd
    • Surrounded by loyal aristocratic officers; all news filtered positively → isolation bubble

Empress Alexandra’s Domestic Role

  • German-born; unpopular, accused (falsely) of being German agent
  • Fierce believer in autocracy; rules as regent while Tsar at front
    • Habitual purge of “disloyal” ministers → revolving-door cabinet
  • Ministerial churn since 1914
    • Interior × 4, Prime × 4, Agriculture × 4, Transport × 3, Foreign × 2
  • Couple’s shared worldview: crisis is temporary, dissent = sabotage; utterly disconnected from populace

Rasputin’s Assassination (Night 12/30/1916)

  • Killers = Romanov relatives hoping to restore prestige
  • Result opposite: Alexandra doubles down, purges critics, promotes hard-liners
    • PM Alexander Trepov (appt Nov 1916) fired Jan 1917 → replaced by 67-yr-old loyalist Nikolai Galitsyn (lasted 45 days)

January 9 1917 Mass Protests

  • 150{,}000 workers in Petrograd mark 12th anniversary of Bloody Sunday (1905)
  • New character: overtly political, red flags, anti-Tsar banners; spread to Moscow, Kharkov, Baku
  • Demonstrations non-violent but reveal loss of fear + regime legitimacy

The Duma & President Mikhail Rodzianko

  • Duma (est. 1905) = semi-representative assembly; limited power (Tsar can ignore/dissolve)
  • Nov 1916: Pavel Milyukov asks if failures due to “treason or stupidity?”
  • Tsar ridicules Rodzianko (weight jokes), cuts meetings; ignores warnings
  • January protests arose without party leadership → shows Duma impotence & risk of anarchy

Interior Minister Alexander Protopopov

  • 4th & final Interior Minister (appt Sept 1916)
    • Background: merchant → Duma member under Rodzianko; once reformist, flips to arch-reactionary
  • Controls police, rail transport, food distribution – key choke-points
  • Mental/physical decline (advanced syphilis / spinal paralysis) → deep superstition
    • Rasputin disciple; keeps monk’s idol, nightly séances; imitates Rasputin-Empress routine via morning phone call
  • Duma unanimously demands removal; Tsar refuses; instead prorogues Duma (Jan 1917)

Foreign Warning – British Ambassador Sir George Buchanan (Jan 14 1917)

  • Blunt audience at Mogilev: “reform or ruin… two paths”
  • Breach of diplomatic etiquette shows severity; Nicholas unmoved

Women’s March & February 23 1917 Uprising (Intl Women’s Day)

  • Women = 55\% of Petrograd labor force; long hours + bread lines + child mortality (up to 50\% before age 3)
  • >7{,}000 women strike → escalates; slogans expand: “Down with the Tsar/Empress”
  • By late afternoon \approx100{,}000 workers joined
  • Government response: Cossacks / police deployed
    • Confrontation: women appeal to Cossacks’ compassion → many Cossacks refuse to charge, some join crowd → psychological turning point
  • Sporadic violence elsewhere; anarchy spreads

Mutinies & Fall of Petrograd (Feb 26-28)

  • Volynsky Regiment first: shoots commander, erects barricades
  • Citywide total mutiny est. 170{,}000 soldiers (Feb total)
  • Crowd composition: workers, women, students, Cossacks, police, regular army
  • Arms seized from stations & arsenals → rebels outgun loyal guards
  • Effective loss of imperial capital

Dual Power Emerges

Provisional Committee of the Duma (Feb 28 1917)

  • Rodzianko & party leaders ignore prorogation; meet 08:00
  • Declare “Provisional Committee of Duma Members for the Restoration of Order in the Capital and the Establishment of Relations with Institutions”
    • Goal: basic administration & order; lacks formal legality until later

Petrograd Soviet (Feb 28 1917)

  • Represents revolutionary soldiers & workers: 1 soldier delegate per company, 1 worker per 1{,}000 employees
  • Formed because uprising was popular, not Duma-led; distrust of politicians

Role of Alexander Kerensky

  • 36-yr-old lawyer, Socialist-Revolutionary Duma deputy; popular orator, approachable style
  • Only figure trusted by both bodies; mediates, accumulates influence

Soviet Order No. 1 (Mar 1 1917 O.S.)

  • Seven-point decree from Petrograd Soviet soldiers’ section
    1. Units elect committees; send reps to Soviet
    2. Weapons under committee control, not officers
    3. Soldiers obey Duma orders only if not contradictory to Soviet (Point 4)
    4. Officers addressed “Mr. General” etc.; salute off-duty abolished, civilian rights extended, etc.
  • Consequence: new government (even post-abdication) lacks independent command of army → foundational weakness of Provisional Government

Nicholas’s Final Days

  • Continues to downplay crisis; believes 100{,}000 Petrograd troops loyal (actually disgruntled)
  • Allied delegation (Jan 29-Feb 21) leaves before uprising; city erupts <48 h later
  • Feb 28: boards train to Tsarskoe Selo to see measles-stricken heir Alexis (temp 104^{\circ}\text{F})
    • Revolutionaries seize tracks; forced detour to Pskov (Mar 1 02:00)
  • Generals (Alekseyev, Brusilov, etc.) telegram favouring change; army loyalty lost
  • In Pskov, Nicholas tells Gen. Ruzsky he will abdicate for son Alexis → rethinks (health/exile issues) → opts for brother Grand Duke Michael
  • Duma envoys Alexander Guchkov & Vasily Shulgin present abdication document; Nicholas signs (Mar 2 1917 O.S.)
  • Farewell statement urges unity vs. Germans, avoids civil war

Grand Duke Michael’s Refusal (Mar 3)

  • Shocked; meets Provisional Committee; issues manifesto deferring crown until Constituent Assembly’s decision
  • Effectively ends 300-year Romanov rule; Russia becomes de-facto republic headed by Provisional Government

Formation of Provisional Government

  • Premier: Prince Georgy Lvov
  • Foreign Affairs: Pavel Milyukov
  • War: Alexander Guchkov
  • Justice: Alexander Kerensky (bridges Soviet & cabinet)
  • Mandate: run state until democratically elected Constituent Assembly convenes; pledges to continue war “to victorious end”

Immediate Aftermath

  • Public & Soviet largely welcome abdication; uncertainty over food, transport, peace/war
  • Fate of Romanovs debated
    • Options: Crimean exile, British asylum, execution (rejected for now)
    • Family under house arrest; Tsar reunited Mar 9; shuffled between safe locations, treated relatively well
  • International
    • U.S. first to recognize new govt, then Britain & France
    • Allies relieved: no longer tied to autocracy; hope democratic Russia boosts war effort (optimism ill-founded)

Key Numbers & Dates Summary

  • War casualties: 2.7 million K/W/M; POW 4 million
  • Winter temp Petrograd: -25^{\circ}\text{C}
  • Women in workforce: 55\%
  • Women’s Day initial marchers: \sim7{,}000; swells to \sim100{,}000
  • Mutinous soldiers Feb: \sim170{,}000
  • Interior Ministers since 1914: 4; Prime Ministers: 4; Ministers Agriculture 4; Transport 3; Foreign 2
  • Galitsyn PM tenure: 45 days

Ethical & Practical Implications

  • Leadership detachment and suppression of reform can transform hardship into revolution
  • Order No. 1 exemplifies grassroots demand for representation but cripples centralized authority; foreshadows military breakdown & later Bolshevik leverage
  • Foreign diplomacy (Buchanan) shows limits of outside counsel vs. autocratic obstinacy

Connections & Looking Ahead

  • February Revolution sets stage for dual-power struggle that BOLSHEVIKS will exploit (October 1917)
  • All within broader WWI context: 1917 sees U.S. entry, unrestricted U-boats, and soon Battle of Arras (Apr 2)
  • Podcast will next return to Western Front chronology