The February/March revolution of 1917 Flashcards
what was the state of Russia in 1914?
- duma = very weak, not representative of the Russian people + could not decide on the appointment of govt
- many peasants were opposed to agricultural reforms, wanted to stay in the mir + believed land shortage could be solved by taking away the landlords property.
- economy was vulnerable to boom + bust
- industrial proletariat were growing
- Nicholas II not committed to changes introduce after 1905
what were peasants goals at this time?
land + freedom
what triggered the revolution?
bread shortages but rooted in long years of suffering + frustration under an autocracy that was unable to adapt to change
the course of the revolution
Feb 14th: strikes in Petrograd, bread would be rationed = long queues + riots
Feb 22nd: 20,000 workers locked out go Putilov Steel Works after pay talks collapsed
Feb 23rd: city fell into chaos + order was not restored until the evening
Feb 24th: 200,000 workers were on strike + there were spontaneous demonstrations
Feb 25th: 250,000 were on strike, Shalfeev (in charge of mounted police) was dragged from his horse + shot
Feb 26th: the duma president sent tsar telegram of situation , Nicholas ignored + ordered duma to dissolve the next day
Feb 27th: soldiers joined the protestors, arming them with rifles, duma held a meeting + set up a PG to takeover govt, the Petrograd soviet was also set up by the revolutionaries to takeover govt
Feb 28th: Nicholas started make his way to Petrograd, he offered to share power with the Duma
what was the issue of leadership?
almost all major bolshevik leaders were absent at the time, Stalin + Lenin both in exile. Rev appeared spontaneous + leaderless
what was Order No.1
a charter of soldiers rights, it stated:
- all military units were to elect a deputy to PS + agree to be under the control of the PS
- the military commission of the duma only to be obeyed if its orders agreed with PS’s orders
what happened to Nicholas?
he tried to get back to Petrograd but his train was diverted, 1st March Nicholas’ chief of general staff tried to convince him to abdicate, he agreed and his family were placed under house arrest long with his council of ministers
what was the Petrograd soviet?
- made up of socialist intellectuals (mainly Mensheviks + SRs)
- members of the executive committee were elected unlike the PG
- considered by workers, soldiers + peasants to be a more democratic, less elitist organisation
what was the provisional govt?
headed by prime Luov
- made up of former supporters of a constitutional monarchy
- planned as temp govt until a constituent assembly could be elected
- support by old tsarist civil service, army office + the police
who was a member of both PG and PS?
Alexandr Kerensky
what were the areas of conflict between PG and PS?
- Order No.1 stated workers + soldiers should only obey PG where the PS agreed with PG’s decisions
- PG wanted to improve discipline in the army but S encouraged soldiers, workers + peasants to defy authority
- PG wanted all out effort to win the war but S wanted to end involvement as quickly as possible (as long as they did not give up land to G)
- the soviet was an obstacle to PG + did not offer any alternative leadership
why can it be seen as spontaneous revolution?
- without crowds on the streets + mutiny of the troops, there would have been no need for elite to act
- soldiers, workers, peasants were sick of conditions with the war, rationing + inflation
- it was leaderless
- the middle classes had anticipated a takeover but had not acted
mistakes of the PG
- saw itself as provisional, did not make LT decisions
- it did not deliver promises made in Feb on elections, to end war or land redistribution
