The Tsar's Abdication

Long-Term Causes of the February Revolution

It took only a few days for the tsar’s regime to collapse. The revolution happened because of a combination of long and short term causes, including International Women's Day.

Long-standing discontent

There was long-standing economic discontent amongst workers and the peasantry.
- The tsar was unpopular as a wartime leader. There had been a lot of casualties and living standards were low.
This eventually led to revolt.

International Women's Day

International Women’s Day was on the 23rd February.
- Bread shortages, strikes in bakeries across Petrograd and Moscow and grain hoarding by peasants led thousands of women to march on the streets.
- This made Russia’s problems worse.

After 23 February 1917, the combination of worsening living conditions, better weather and political discontent led protesting crowds to grow to 240,000 people. There were then clashes with the police.

Absence of the tsar

The tsar, in his role as commander-in-chief, was 780 kilometres away at Mogilev.
The tsar was told that crowds were trying to seize control of the city, and on 25 February he ordered the police and the army to stop the protests.

Escalation of Violence - 26th February

On the 26 February, soldiers killed 40 protesters even though the soldiers did not fully support the tsar.
Soldiers from the Pavlovsky Guards in Petrograd refused to follow orders.
This initial revolt was put down.

Escalation of Violence - 27th February

The regiment which had executed the protesters the previous day refused to shoot demonstrators on 27 February.
Other regiments did the same and crowds on the streets now had weapons.
The young conscripts in the army had little loyalty to the regime.

Collapse of law and order - 28th February

Law and order officials stopped trying to control the garrison.
On 28th February, a military commander reported to the tsar that protesters had taken control of the weaponry in the garrison and the railway stations.
- Telephone lines had also been seized by the protesters.

The role of the Duma

The Duma (parliament) petitioned the tsar to create a cabinet (a committee of senior members of the government) representing the different parties.
On the streets, the Okhrana (tsar’s secret police) reported that “the masses gained confidence that they could act with impunity” (Secret report, 26 February 1917).
- The tsar refused to allow the Duma to continue sitting or create a representative cabinet.

Abdication and Collapse of the Regime

Following the dissolution of the Duma, members of the Kadet Party and other liberals continued to meet, forming a Duma Committee to reform Russia.

The tsar’s ministers held one final meeting, and then most left Petrograd, leaving Nicholas II two options.

The tsar's options

The military now had two options:
- Send more troops to Petrograd to crush the growing revolt.
- A political solution: negotiate with the Duma to try and put a stop to disorder.
Nicholas II chose to negotiate with the Duma.
He could not reach Petrograd because of the mutinous soldiers, so he met representatives of the army and the Duma at Pskov.

Abdication

The tsar quietly agreed to abdicate at this meeting at Pskov. He wanted his son, the Tsarevich Alexsei to take power.
But his son had a rare health condition, haemophilia. So, the tsar offered the crown to his brother, Grand Duke Michael.
- The Grand Duke declined, the regime collapsed, and Russia’s monarchy ended.

Provisional Government

Members of the Duma formed a Provisional (temporary) Government, to rule the country until a general election could choose the next government.
The people would then choose representatives to create a ‘Constituent Assembly’ to choose the rules for how Russia would be governed.

The February Revolution

The February revolution had not been caused by the radical political parties.
The revolution had started on the streets, and was carried out by the political ruling class.
Many of the leaders who would become important in October (including Lenin) were still in exile (away from Russia in punishment). They could only encourage the protesters from overseas.

1The End of Tsardom

1.1Russia's Economy & Society

1.1.1Industrialisation

1.1.2Living & Working Conditions

1.2Nicholas II's Autocracy & the Court

1.2.1Growth of Revolutionary Opposition

1.2.2The 1905 Revolution & the October Manifesto

1.2.3Reforming Russia Before 1914 - Stolypin

1.2.4The Duma & Political Stalemate

1.3The First World War

1.3.1The Impact of Military Defeats

1.3.2Social & Economic Effects of WW1

1.3.3Romanov Unpopularity

1.3.4The Tsar's Abdication

1.3.5Top Grade AO2/3 - The End of Tsardom

2Lenin's New Society

2.1The Provisional Government

2.1.1The Failure of the Government

2.1.2Social & Economic Problems

2.1.3Lenin & Trotsky

2.1.4The Growth of the Bolsheviks

2.1.5The October / November Revolution

2.1.6Top Grade AO2/3 - The Provisional Government

2.2The Impact of Lenin's Dictatorship

2.2.1The End of the First World War

2.2.2The Cheka

2.2.3Red Terror & Centralisation

2.2.4The Civil War & The Red Army

2.2.5Propaganda

2.2.6Top Grade AO2/3 - Early Bolshevism & the Civil War

2.3Social & Economic Developments

2.3.1War Communism

2.3.2The Kronstadt Rising

2.3.3The New Economic Policy (NEP)

2.3.4The Achievements of Lenin & Trotsky

2.3.5Top Grade AO2/3 - Social & Economic Developments

3Stalin's USSR

3.1Stalin the Dictator

3.1.1The Power Struggle to Succeed Lenin

3.1.2The Communist Party & Government

3.1.3The Terror & the Purges

3.1.4The Secret Police

3.1.5Cult of Personality

3.1.6Propaganda & Censorship under Stalin

3.1.7Top Grade AO2/3 - Stalin's Dictatorship

3.2Stalin's Modernisation of the USSR

3.2.1Collectivisation

3.2.2Five Year Plans

3.2.3Social & Economic Consequences

3.2.4Social & Economic Consequences 2

3.2.5The Extent of Modernisation

3.3Impact of the Second World War

3.3.1Stalin's Wartime Leadership

3.3.2Political, Economic & Social Consequences of War

3.3.3Top Grade AO2/3 - Modernisation of the USSR

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