February Revolution
February of 1917 brought about great change for the czar and the
people of Russia as workers went on strike in the two major cities
of Moscow and Petrograd (renamed from St. Petersburg in 1914). Riots
broke out as demands for higher food rations during that time of war
became more insistent. The army was deployed to quell the unhappy
masses. The soldiers mutinied and the army fell apart, for they too
agreed with ideals of their fellow peasants. Nicholas II's power was
dwindling.
Nicholas was quick to dissolve the Duma, but was not quick enough.
It was not long before he was forced to abdicate by Lvov, Kerensky,
and Milyukov. The people were happy to see the end of the Russian
autocracy. Lvov took over as leader of Russia, but things did not go
as well as planned as the provisional government was not supported
well by the Russian people. That and the soviets of the soldiers
were dysfunctional at best.
The Social Revolutionaries and Mensheviks wanted a bourgeois
provisional government and election by general suffrage. They forgot
to address whether Russia should stay in
World War I or not, and they always touchy Russia issue of the
distribution of land.
In March, peace was demanded, and Lvov was forced to resign in May.
Kerensky stepped in as head of the country. Milyukov became foreign
minister and Chernov was made the minister of agriculture.
Everything was peachy keen until that
October.
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Works Cited
Trenches on
the Web - Timeline 1996-2000
Mike Iavarone,
All Rights Reserved
"February Revolution"
Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia 1993-1997: 2.
Microsoft Corporation.
CD-ROM. Microsoft Corporation. 1997
"February Revolution"
Encyclopedia.com Copyright © 2001
Infonautics Corporation
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