The Feb/March Revolution of 1917 Flashcards

1
Q

what was Petrograd like in the winter of 1917

A

the streets of Petrograd were tense with the frustrations of the unemployed, the starving and the desperate

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2
Q

What happened in January 1917

A

there was a demonstration by 150,000 Petrograd workers

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3
Q

what was the demonstration on the anniversary of

A

Bloody Sunday

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4
Q

What was the catalyst in the Revolution

A

a bread shortage

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5
Q

What happened on Monday 14th Feb

A

100,000 workers from 58 different factories were on strike in Petrograd.

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6
Q

when was bread rationing meant to start

A

1st March

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7
Q

What happened on Wednesday 22nd February

A

20,000 workers were locked out of the Putilov Steel Works by the management after pay talks collapsed. Workers in other factories went on strike in support

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8
Q

What day was Thursday 23rd February

A

International Women’s Day

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9
Q

What happened on international women’s day

A

90,000 workers were on strike and 50 factories closed. They joined the women’s day marches. Petrograd fell into chaos with 240,000 people out on the streets.

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10
Q

how was order restored on international women’s day

A

when the desperate police force relaxed things in the early evening

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11
Q

What happened on Friday 24th February

A

200,000 workers were on strike and the crowds overturned Tsarist statues, waved red flags, wore red rosettes, shouted revolutionary slogans calling for an end to Tsardom

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12
Q

What song did the workers sing in retaliation to the Tsarist regime

A

La Marseillaise

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13
Q

What happened on Saturday 25th February

A

250,000 people (over half the capital’s workforce) were on strike and Petrograd was at a virtual standstill. There were no newspapers and no public transport.

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14
Q

who was in charge of the mounted police and what did he try to do

A

Shalfeev tried to control the masses.

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15
Q

what happened to Shalfeev

A

he was set upon, dragged from his horse, beaten and shot

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16
Q

What happened at the end of the Day on the 25th Feb

A

a band of civilians were killed by soldiers on the Nevskii Prospekt but later the same day, some Cossacks refused to attack processing of strikes when ordered to do so

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17
Q

who was president of the Duma

A

Rodzianko

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18
Q

what did Rodzianko do

A

he sent a telegram to the Tsar warning him of the serious situation in Petrograd.

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19
Q

what did Nicholas II do in response to Rodzianko’s telegram

A

he ignored the warning and ordered the duma to dissolve the next day

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20
Q

who did Nicholas order to restore order

A

Major General Khabalov

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21
Q

who was Major General Khabalov

A

Commander of the Petrograd Military District

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22
Q

what day did the Tsar order general Khabalov

A

Monday 27th February

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23
Q

what did Khabalov do

A

he sent soldiers onto the streets and around 40 demonstrators in the city centre were killed

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24
Q

where did a mutiny begin in the army

A

the Volynskii regiment

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25
Q

what happened in the Volysnkii mutiny

A

a sergeant shot his commanding officer dead. 66,000 soldiers mutinied and joined the protestors, arming them with 40,000 rifles

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26
Q

what did the Duma do

A

they held a meeting, despite the Tsar’s orders and set up a 12-man Provisional Committee to take over the government

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27
Q

what did the Army’s high command do

A

changed their minds, ordered soldiers to halt and gave support to the Duma Committee

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28
Q

What was set up on the evening of 27th February

A

revolutionaries set up a soviet which also intended to take over the government. It began to organise food supplies for the city

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29
Q

what did Nicholas II do on Tuesday 28th Feb

A

he left his military headquarters at the VVolynskii regiment and started to make his way back to Petrograd

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30
Q

what did Nicholas II do after leaving his military headquarters

A

he sent a telegram to Rodzianko, offering to share power with the Duma

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31
Q

What did Rodzianko reply to Nicholas

A

‘the measures you propose are too late. The time for them has gone. There is no return’

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32
Q

Which individuals were in Zurich

A

Vladimir Lenin and Julius Martov

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33
Q

Who was in New York

A

Leon Trotsky

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34
Q

Who was in Paris

A

Viktor Chernov

35
Q

What did research by James White find

A

he found that a liberal group, including Pavel Milyukov, Aleksandr Guchkov, Aleksandr Konovalov and Mikhail Tereshchenko, was already planning a coup to topple the Tsar and were considerably alarmed by the turn of events in Feb which they feared might get out of hand

36
Q

Who was James White

A

A professor of Russian History at Glasgow Uni

37
Q

What did James White also identify

A

that a revolutionary workers’ group based in the working-class Vyborg district of Petrograd

38
Q

what seems to support the idea that there was organisation by socialist leaders

A

the creation of soviets in cities

39
Q

When was the Petrograd Soviet set up

A

27th February

40
Q

What did the Petrograd Soviet agree to

A

that each regiment of soldiers should elect committees and send representatives to the Soviet

41
Q

What did Order Number 1 promise

A
  • all units to elect a deputy to the Soviet and agree to the political control of the Petrograd Soviet
  • The Military Commission of the Duma was to be obeyed, only if it agreed with the Soviet’s orders
  • All weapons to be controlled by elected soldier’s committees
  • No honorific titles to be used for officers
  • Officers were not to address soldiers in the ‘ty’ form
42
Q

What official title did the Petrograd Soviet take

A

‘Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies’

43
Q

By the 10th of March, how many members did the Petrograd Soviet have

A

3,000 members

44
Q

who dominated the executive committee of the Soviet

A

Aleksandr Kerensky

45
Q

What happened to Nicholas

A

he never returned to Petrograd

46
Q

why did Nicholas never return to Petrograd

A

His train was diverted by rebellious railway workers and forced to stop at Pskov, 200 miles south of his destination

47
Q

who was the chief of general staff

A

General Alexeev

48
Q

What did General Alexeev say to the Tsar

A

that he should resign

49
Q

What had Alexeev been reassured about

A

on 1st March, it was agreed that the Petrograd Soviet would recognise a provisional government formed by members of the Duma and suggested that the Tsar should resign in favour of his Son, Aleksei, With Nicholas’ younger brother, Mikhail, acting as regent

50
Q

Who did Nicholas name as the new Tsar

A

Grand Duke Mikhail, even though he had not been consulted

51
Q

What happened to the Tsar and his family

A

they were placed under house arrest, as were most of the members of the Tsar’s Council of Ministers

52
Q

how long had the Romanovs ruled Russia

A

304 years

53
Q

what happened beyond Petrograd

A

revolutionary disturbances spread beyond Petrograd to the Kronstadt naval base just outside the city, Moscow and other industrial cities and rural areas.

54
Q

what happened in the provinces

A

places like Finland, Poland, Ukraine and the Caucasus, national minorities declared their independence.

55
Q

what happened to the army

A

it disintegrated into semi-independent bodies and soldiers’ soviets without clear leadership and coordination.

56
Q

what met in June 1917

A

An ‘All-Russian Congress of Soviets’ met in Petrograd, with representatives from 350 towns, villages and military bases throughout Russia

57
Q

who did Grand Duke Mikhail relinquish political authority to

A

the ‘provisional government’

58
Q

who led the PG

A

Prince Lvov

59
Q

who was Prince Lvov

A

a wealthy aristocrat and zemstvo leader

60
Q

what did the members of the PG represent

A

a cross-section of the influential elites and compromised those who had formerly favoured constitutional monarchy - liberals, moderate socialists and Kadets

61
Q

what was the original intention of the PG

A

to be temporary and that election would be held as soon as possible for a new Constituent Assembly that would draw up a new constitution for Russia

62
Q

where did the PG set itself up

A

in the Duma chamber in the right-wing of the Tauride Palace.

63
Q

who did not accept the PG

A

the mass of workers, soldiers and peasants due to it being a self-appointed committee of the wealthy

64
Q

Where did the PG establish itself

A

in the left-wing of the Tauride Palace

65
Q

who did the PG comprise of

A

radical socialist intellectuals, Mensheviks and SRs, but also a small number of Bolsheviks.

66
Q

how many of the original executive committee were actually workers

A

seven of the first 42 committee members

67
Q

who was a member of both the PG and Soviet

A

Kerensky

68
Q

what agreement was made by Kerensky

A

that both bodies would work together, in dual authority

69
Q

what promises did the PG make to the Soviet

A
  • a general amnesty for political prisoners
  • civil liberties
  • the abolition of legal disabilities based on class, religion and nationality
  • freedom to organise trade unions and to strike
  • the election of a constituent assembly to determine Russia’s future
70
Q

what did the PG say in April

A

’ the power of the state should be based, not on violence and coercion, but on the consent of free citizens to the power they themselves created’

71
Q

What did the PG grant

A

freedom of religion and the press, abolished the death penalty at the front, replaced the Tsarist police force with a ‘people’s militia’ and dismissed Provincial Governors, giving their work to the elected zemstva.

72
Q

What had the Soviet’s order No.1 say

A

that soldiers and workers should obey the PG, but only when the Soviets agreed with the PG’s decisions, and there were many points of disagreements

73
Q

what did the Soviets encourage people to do

A

they encouraged peasants and workers to defy authority and assert their ‘rights’.

74
Q

what did the PG and the Soviet disagree over

A

the war.

75
Q

what did the PG want to do during the war

A

they believed that the change of regime should lead to an all-out effort to ‘win’ the war

76
Q

what was the Soviet view of the war?

A

the war should be ended as quickly as possible ‘without annexation’ of territory by the Germans as the price of peace

77
Q

what did Milyukov announce in April 1917

A

the government would continue fighting until a ‘just peace’ had been won

78
Q

what did Milyukov’s announcement do

A

it unleashed a storm of protest forcing Milyukov and Guchkov to resign under popular pressure led by the Petrograd Soviet in May

79
Q

who replaced Lvov as chairman

A

Kerensky

80
Q

when did Kerensky become chairman

A

July 1917

81
Q

why were the PG in a near-impossible situation

A

The war was deeply unpopular, yet they felt bound by their alliance with Britain and France and relied on French loans for survival

82
Q

who attracted the workers’ votes in the cities

A

the Bolsheviks

83
Q

What happened to the elections

A

they were constantly postponed and since the PG had said that key policy changes, such as land redistribution to the peasants, should await a Constituent Assembly, little got done.

84
Q

why did the autocracy collapse

A

a large spontaneous breakdown of order in Petrograd and a mutiny in the Tsar’s garrisons in the capital