The February Revolution Flashcards
Economic hardship across Russia led to the growth of…
unrest in towns and the countryside.
Where did strikes and protests start to occur?
In major cities such as Moscow and Petrograd.
As the war went on goods became increasingly…
scarce.
With inflation growing, the value of wages of industrial workers…
were cut by half in 1916.
What was the average wage in Petrograd, despite receiving a large amount of investment during the war?
They were still 20% lower in real terms than they had been in 1914.
As millions of refugees fled from the fighting, they…
arrived in large numbers in Russia’s already crowded cities, placing a great deal of strain on the facilities in urban areas.
How many workers were on strike from September to December in 1914?
10,000.
How many workers were on strike in 1915?
540,000.
How many workers were on strike in 1916?
880,000.
During the war, young male peasants were…
conscripted in large numbers - therefore, there was a drop in the rural workforce.
During the war, horses were…
requisitioned in order to help with war work.
What happened to grain prices during the war?
They were kept low and, with rising inflation, standards of living for many in the countryside fell.
Were the Okhrana and the leadership of the army aware of the unrest? What was the Tsar’s attitude?
Yes - but the Tsar was complacent. Based on 1905, he assumed that his government could survive even large-scale unrest.
What did the government announce about bread in February 1917? Why did this lead to?
That it would be rationed from 1st March. This led to panic buying, food shortages and more strikes.
What happened on the 23rd February 1917?
Thousands of women took to the streets of Petrograd to celebrate International Women’s Day - female workers in Petrograd’s major textile factories went on strike to protest at bread rationing and appealed to male workers at the Putilov Engineering Works to join the strike.
