Today's Happy Birthday
Educators, challenge your students to learn vital Web research skills and study an event in history with the On This Day Challenge. Participating classes will be eligible for prizes and could be featured on findingDulcinea. Learn more >>
On This Day: Russia’s February Revolution Begins
March 08, 2009 06:00 AM
by
findingDulcinea Staff
On March 8, 1917, the female factory workers of St. Petersburg began striking and rioting in response to food shortages and government oppression.
Revolution Dethrones Tsar Nicholas II
The Russian Revolution of 1917 actually comprised two separate revolutions in February and October.
At that time, Russia was using the Julian calendar, which was 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar used in America and much of the world. As a result, when the February Revolution began in Russia on Feb. 23, it was actually March 8 elsewhere, Marxist.org writes.
The February Revolution began with demonstrations and protests, when an International Women’s Day festival in St. Petersburg gave way to widespread demonstrations by female factory workers protesting food shortages, according to the Web site St. Petersburg Life.
According to The History Channel, other causes of the uprising were “fuel shortages, continuing repression by the tsarist government, and military incompetence in World War I.”
Tsar Nicholas II called for police and military intervention, but many troops and officers refused and joined the demonstrators. Nicholas II would abdicate the throne seven days later.
At that time, Russia was using the Julian calendar, which was 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar used in America and much of the world. As a result, when the February Revolution began in Russia on Feb. 23, it was actually March 8 elsewhere, Marxist.org writes.
The February Revolution began with demonstrations and protests, when an International Women’s Day festival in St. Petersburg gave way to widespread demonstrations by female factory workers protesting food shortages, according to the Web site St. Petersburg Life.
According to The History Channel, other causes of the uprising were “fuel shortages, continuing repression by the tsarist government, and military incompetence in World War I.”
Tsar Nicholas II called for police and military intervention, but many troops and officers refused and joined the demonstrators. Nicholas II would abdicate the throne seven days later.
Later Developments: Political change in Russia
Prince Gyorgy Yevgenevich Lvov is said to have led Russia’s provisional government after Nicholas stepped down, before being replaced by the charming young orator, Alexander Kerensky. According to the BBC, “real power in Russia after the February Revolution, however, lay with socialist leaders of the Petrograd (later All-Russian) Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies, who were elected by popular mandate (unlike the ministers of the Provisional Government).”
Russia was “consumed with political fervor” after the revolution, according to St. Petersburg Life, but “political stability was still a long way off.”
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (Lenin) took advantage of the chaos, returning to Russia in the April following the revolution. By October, he had brought about a successful coup d’etat, replacing the provisional government with Bolsheviks.
Russia was “consumed with political fervor” after the revolution, according to St. Petersburg Life, but “political stability was still a long way off.”
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (Lenin) took advantage of the chaos, returning to Russia in the April following the revolution. By October, he had brought about a successful coup d’etat, replacing the provisional government with Bolsheviks.
Reference: Russian history; Nicholas' abdication
A World War I timeline from PBS begins with a number of important events before 1914, including the crowning of Tsar Nicholas II, and continues through 1919. Several significant post-1919 events are also noted, including the end of the Russian Civil War. The events that occurred between 1917 and 1919 shaped how the February Revolution influenced Russian history.
Source: PBS
A copy of Russian Tsar Nicholas’ decree of abdication, which he signed on March 15, 1917 (March 2 of the julian calendar), says, “Internal popular disturbances threaten to have a disastrous effect on the future conduct of this persistent war.” He concluded with “May the Lord God help Russia!” Web site First World War provides the text of the document.
Source: First World War
Related: Czar Nicholas II's murder; the czar's missing children
On July 17, 1918, Russian Czar Nicholas II and his immediate family were executed by Bolsheviks in the cellar of Ipatiev House in Ekaterinburg, ending the Romanov dynasty. FindingDulcinea describes their final days and the discovery of their remains later in the century.
Source: findingDulcinea
In 2008, almost 90 years since Czar Nicolas II, his wife and their children were killed, new developments answered questions about the remains of family members.
Source: findingDulcinea
© 2009 Dulcinea Media, Inc.
