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142-535: In January 1917 the Inter-Allied Shipping Committee was established with representatives from Great Britain, France, and Italy. However this body was ineffective lacking ministerial input for policy development or suitable officials to organise either shipping or supplies. Russia was not involved – shipping issues as regards this country being followed in a different basis. By the time the AMTC

284-773: A Tsarist official in Kiev. I spent 11 years at hard labour. After the Revolution, I was freed. I favoured the Constituent Assembly and am still for it. Kaplan referenced the Bolsheviks' growing authoritarianism, citing their forcible shutdown of the Constituent Assembly in January 1918, the elections to which they had lost. When it became clear that Kaplan would not implicate any accomplices, she

426-626: A citywide council to unite these deputies with representatives of the socialist parties. On 27 February, socialist Duma deputies, mainly Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries, took the lead in organizing a citywide council. The Petrograd Soviet met in the Tauride Palace , room 13, permitted by the Provisional Government. The leaders of the Petrograd Soviet believed that they represented particular classes of

568-472: A constituent assembly, and so on). They met in the same building as the emerging Provisional Government not to compete with the Duma Committee for state power, but to best exert pressure on the new government, to act, in other words, as a popular democratic lobby. The relationship between these two major powers was complex from the beginning and would shape the politics of 1917. The representatives of

710-516: A democratically elected parliament (the State Duma ). Although the Tsar accepted the 1906 Fundamental State Laws one year later, he subsequently dismissed the first two Dumas when they proved uncooperative. Unfulfilled hopes of democracy fueled revolutionary ideas and violent outbursts targeted at the monarchy. One of the Tsar's principal rationales for risking war in 1914 was his desire to restore

852-528: A firm belief that his power to rule was granted by Divine Right , Nicholas assumed that the Russian people were devoted to him with unquestioning loyalty. This ironclad belief rendered Nicholas unwilling to allow the progressive reforms that might have alleviated the suffering of the Russian people. Even after the 1905 Revolution spurred the Tsar to decree limited civil rights and democratic representation, he worked to limit even these liberties in order to preserve

994-463: A foreign war would mitigate the social unrest over the persistent issues of poverty, inequality, and inhumane working conditions. Instead of restoring Russia's political and military standing, World War I led to the slaughter of Russian troops and military defeats that undermined both the monarchy and Russian society to the point of collapse. The outbreak of war in August 1914 initially served to quiet

1136-433: A higher cost of living, but with little increase in income. As a result, they tended to hoard their grain and to revert to subsistence farming . Thus the cities were constantly short of food. At the same time, rising prices led to demands for higher wages in the factories, and in January and February 1916, revolutionary propaganda , in part aided by German funds, led to widespread strikes. This resulted in growing criticism of

1278-714: A number of vacant seats in the Soviets and Central Executive for the Menshevik and Left Socialist Revolutionaries parties in proportion to their vote share at the Congress. The dissolution of the Constituent Assembly was also approved by the Left Socialist Revolutionaries and anarchists , both groups were in favour of a more radical democracy . From mid-1917 onwards, the Russian Army ,

1420-490: A period of time at a fixed rate of hire to carry Government cargoes. The owner was responsible for recruiting and paying the crew, with the Government paying the running expenses and managing the vessel. This was altered in January 1916 for a system whereby the ship owners were paid per tonnage delivered. However with 90% of the supplies consisting of cereals and coal this very soon led to shortages in both these areas and so

1562-522: A possibility, the war made it logistically difficult. Eventually, German officials arranged for Lenin to pass through their territory, hoping that his activities would weaken Russia or even – if the Bolsheviks came to power – lead to Russia's withdrawal from the war. Lenin and his associates, however, had to agree to travel to Russia in a sealed train : Germany would not take the chance that he would foment revolution in Germany. After passing through

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1704-400: A problem especially in the capital, St. Petersburg , where distance from supplies and poor transportation networks made matters particularly worse. Shops closed early or entirely for lack of bread, sugar, meat, and other provisions, and lines lengthened massively for what remained. Conditions became increasingly difficult to afford food and physically obtain it. Strikes increased steadily from

1846-565: A related war against Poland , the Peace of Riga was signed, splitting disputed territories in Belarus and Ukraine between the Republic of Poland and Soviet Russia. Soviet Russia sought to re-conquer all newly independent nations of the former empire, although their success was limited. Estonia , Finland , Latvia , and Lithuania all repelled Soviet invasions, while Ukraine , Belarus (as

1988-814: A result of the Polish–Soviet War ), Armenia , Azerbaijan and Georgia were occupied by the Red Army. By 1921, Soviet Russia had defeated the Ukrainian national movements and occupied the Caucasus , although anti-Bolshevik uprisings in Central Asia lasted until the late 1920s. The armies under Kolchak were eventually forced on a mass retreat eastward . Bolshevik forces advanced east, despite encountering resistance in Chita , Yakut and Mongolia . Soon

2130-465: A source of comfort and reassurance in the face of difficult conditions and as a means of political authority exercised through the clergy. Perhaps more than any other modern monarch, Nicholas II attached his fate and the future of his dynasty to the notion of the ruler as a saintly and infallible father to his people. This vision of the Romanov monarchy left him unaware of the state of his country. With

2272-688: A strong imprint on the specifics of the Civil War. During the Russian Civil War, the White movement functioned as a big tent political movement representing an array of political opinions in Russia united in their opposition to the Bolsheviks—from the republican-minded liberals and Kerenskyite social-democrats on the left through monarchists and supporters of a united multinational Russia to

2414-632: A surge in support for the Bolsheviks , who took control of the soviets , which until then had been controlled by the Socialist Revolutionaries. Promising an end to the war and "all power to the Soviets", the Bolsheviks then ended dual power by overthrowing the Provisional Government in late October, on the eve of the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies , in what would be

2556-548: A terrible disaster would grip the country unless a constitutional form of government was put in place. Nicholas ignored these warnings and Russia's Tsarist regime collapsed a few months later during the February Revolution of 1917. One year later, the Tsar and his entire family were executed. At the beginning of February, Petrograd workers began several strikes and demonstrations. On 7 March [ O.S. 22 February], Putilov , Petrograd's largest industrial plant

2698-423: A total of nearly 5,000,000 men. These staggering losses played a definite role in the mutinies and revolts that began to occur. In 1916, reports of fraternizing with the enemy began to circulate. Soldiers went hungry, lacked shoes, munitions, and even weapons. Rampant discontent lowered morale, which was further undermined by a series of military defeats. Casualty rates were the most vivid sign of this disaster. By

2840-502: A violently anti-German stand, while Alexander Parvus supported the German war effort as the best means of ensuring a revolution in Russia. The Mensheviks largely maintained that Russia had the right to defend herself against Germany, although Julius Martov (a prominent Menshevik), now on the left of his group, demanded an end to the war and a settlement on the basis of national self-determination, with no annexations or indemnities. It

2982-537: The Council of People's Commissars (Sovnarkom) decided to liquidate criminal recklessness associated with anarchists and disarm all anarchist groups in the face of their militancy. From early 1918, the Bolsheviks started physical elimination of opposition, other socialist and revolutionary fractions. Anarchists were among the first: Of all the revolutionary elements in Russia it is the Anarchists who now suffer

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3124-841: The Czechoslovak Legions overthrew Bolshevik rule in Siberia , the Urals and the Volga region in late May-early June 1918 and the center of SR activity shifted there. On June 8, 1918, five Constituent Assembly members formed the All-Russian Committee of Members of the Constituent Assembly ( Komuch ) in Samara and declared it the new supreme authority in the country. The Social Revolutionary Provisional Government of Autonomous Siberia came to power on 29 June 1918, after

3266-634: The Eastern Front counteroffensive , the Southern Front counteroffensive , and the defeat of the Northwestern Army . By 1919, the White armies were in retreat and by the start of 1920 were defeated on all three fronts. Although the Bolsheviks were victorious, the territorial extent of the Russian state had been reduced, for many non-Russian ethnic groups had used the disarray to push for national independence. In March 1921, during

3408-547: The Romanov family . A short wave of patriotic nationalism ended in the face of defeats and poor conditions on the Eastern Front of World War I . The Tsar made the situation worse by taking personal control of the Imperial Russian Army in 1915, a challenge far beyond his skills. He was now held personally responsible for Russia's continuing defeats and losses. In addition, Tsarina Alexandra , left to rule while

3550-779: The Russian Civil War concluded with the defeat of the White Army and most separatist factions, leading to mass emigration from Russia . The victorious Bolshevik Party reconstituted itself into the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) and would remain in power for the following 69 years. The Russian Revolution of 1905 was a major factor contributing to the cause of the Revolutions of 1917. The events of Bloody Sunday triggered nationwide protests and soldier mutinies . A council of workers called

3692-597: The Russian Empire . The RSFSR initially focused its efforts on the newly independent republics of Armenia , Azerbaijan , Belarus , Georgia , and Ukraine . Wartime cohesion and intervention from foreign powers prompted the RSFSR to begin unifying these nations under one flag and created the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Historians generally consider the end of the revolutionary period to be in 1922, when

3834-481: The Social-Democrats or Mensheviks , Social Revolutionaries , and Anarchists , as well as the Bolsheviks , a far-left party led by Vladimir Lenin . Initially the Bolsheviks were a marginal faction; however, they won popularity with their program promising peace, land, and bread : cease war with Germany, give land to the peasantry, and end the wartime famine. Despite the virtually universal hatred of

3976-628: The St. Petersburg Soviet was created in this chaos. While the 1905 Revolution was ultimately crushed, and the leaders of the St. Petersburg Soviet were arrested, this laid the groundwork for the later Petrograd Soviet and other revolutionary movements during the leadup to 1917. The 1905 Revolution also led to the creation of a Duma (parliament) that would later form the Provisional Government following February 1917. Russia's poor performance in 1914–1915 prompted growing complaints directed at Tsar Nicholas II and

4118-635: The Tsarevich . Nicholas nominated his brother, the Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich , to succeed him. But the Grand Duke realised that he would have little support as ruler, so he declined the crown on 16 March [ O.S. 3 March], stating that he would take it only if that was the consensus of democratic action. Six days later, Nicholas, no longer Tsar and addressed with contempt by the sentries as "Nicholas Romanov",

4260-416: The poor railway system , workers abandoned the cities in droves seeking food. Finally, the soldiers themselves, who suffered from a lack of equipment and protection from the elements, began to turn against the Tsar. This was mainly because, as the war progressed, many of the officers who were loyal to the Tsar were killed, being replaced by discontented conscripts from the major cities who had little loyalty to

4402-514: The AMTC ‘international administration’. In more critical terms the Transport Council worked like a cartel , just run by states, trying to eliminate the economic and logistic competition between the partners. So the organization tried to hold prices down, pooled the allied tonnage and coordinated the allied logistics with substantial rationalization effects. Their work was supported by three subcommittees, each responsible for reporting to

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4544-714: The Allies began their North Russian and Siberian interventions . That, combined with the creation of the Provisional All-Russian Government , saw the reduction of Bolshevik-controlled territory to most of European Russia and parts of Central Asia . In 1919, the White Army launched several offensives from the east in March, the south in July, and west in October. The advances were later checked by

4686-612: The Bolshevik commissar Leon Trotsky began organizing workers' militias loyal to the Bolsheviks into the Red Army . While key events occurred in Moscow and Petrograd, every city in the empire was convulsed, including the provinces of national minorities, and in the rural areas peasants took over and redistributed land. As the war progressed, the RSFSR began to establish Soviet power in the newly independent republics that seceded from

4828-574: The Bolshevik Party who had peacefully stood down from the Soviet when they failed to win the elections. As a result, the Bolsheviks banned each opposition party when it turned against the Soviet government. In some cases, bans were lifted. This banning of parties did not have the same repressive character as later bans enforced under the Stalinist regime. In December 1917, Felix Dzerzhinsky

4970-555: The Bolshevik police. The Union of Regeneration was founded in Moscow in April 1918 as an underground agency organizing democratic resistance to the Bolshevik dictatorship, composed of the Popular Socialists, Right Socialist Revolutionaries, and Defensists, among others. They were tasked with propping up anti-Bolshevik forces and to create a Russian state system based on civil liberties, patriotism, and state-consciousness with

5112-626: The Bolsheviks. They, as well as non-ideological green armies , opposed the Bolsheviks, the Whites and the foreign interventionists. Thirteen foreign nations intervened against the Red Army, notably the Allied intervention , whose primary goal was re-establishing the Eastern Front of World War I . Three foreign nations of the Central Powers also intervened, rivaling the Allied intervention with

5254-654: The Bolsheviks: in the Voronezh Oblast, the Red Guards killed sixteen peasants during the pacification of the village, while another village was shelled with artillery in order to force the peasants to surrender and in the Novgorod Oblast the rebelling peasants were dispersed with machine-gun fire from a train sent by a detachment of Latvian Red Army soldiers. While the Bolsheviks immediately denounced

5396-499: The Central War Industries Committee about a possible coup to force the abdication of the Tsar. In December, a small group of nobles assassinated Rasputin , and in January 1917 the Tsar's cousin, Grand Duke Nicholas , was asked indirectly by Prince Lvov whether he would be prepared to take over the throne from his nephew, Tsar Nicholas II. None of these incidents were in themselves the immediate cause of

5538-453: The Civil War (1917–1922), During interrogation by the Cheka , she made the following statement: My name is Fanya Kaplan. Today I shot Lenin. I did it on my own. I will not say from whom I obtained my revolver. I will give no details. I had resolved to kill Lenin long ago. I consider him a traitor to the Revolution. I was exiled to Akatui for participating in an assassination attempt against

5680-465: The Duma that morning, leaving it with no legal authority to act. The response of the Duma, urged on by the liberal bloc, was to establish a Temporary Committee to restore law and order; meanwhile, the socialist parties established the Petrograd Soviet to represent workers and soldiers. The remaining loyal units switched allegiance the next day. The Tsar directed the royal train back towards Petrograd, which

5822-635: The Eastern Front. The superior German Army  – better led, better trained, and better supplied – was quite effective against the ill-equipped Russian forces, driving the Russians out of Galicia, as well as Russian Poland during the Gorlice–Tarnów Offensive campaign. By the end of October 1916, Russia had lost between 1,600,000 and 1,800,000 soldiers, with an additional 2,000,000 prisoners of war and 1,000,000 missing, all making up

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5964-554: The February Revolution, but they do help to explain why the monarchy survived only a few days after it had broken out. Meanwhile, Socialist Revolutionary leaders in exile, many of them living in Switzerland , had been the glum spectators of the collapse of international socialist solidarity. French and German Social Democrats had voted in favour of their respective governments' war efforts. Georgi Plekhanov in Paris had adopted

6106-525: The Minister of Commerce was exercising full control over French supplies by the time the AMTC was established. The USA introduced a requisitioning system in 1917, however paying increased costs. With the requirements which arose from shipping the Army to Europe, quite drastic steps were taken to organise control. Restrictions on imports were more exercised by policy decisions than control of shipping. In general

6248-455: The Provisional Government agreed to "take into account the opinions of the Soviet of Workers' Deputies", though they were also determined to prevent interference which would create an unacceptable situation of dual power. In fact, this was precisely what was being created, though this "dual power" (dvoyevlastiye) was the result less of the actions or attitudes of the leaders of these two institutions than of actions outside their control, especially

6390-428: The Provisional Government, including Lev Kamenev . With Lenin's arrival, the popularity of the Bolsheviks increased steadily. Over the course of the spring, public dissatisfaction with the Provisional Government and the war, in particular among workers, soldiers and peasants, pushed these groups to radical parties. Despite growing support for the Bolsheviks, buoyed by maxims that called most famously for "all power to

6532-404: The Provisional Government, transferring all its authority to the Bolsheviks. The Bolsheviks, acting in the framework of the soviet councils, established their own government and later proclaimed the establishment of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR). Under pressure from German military offensives, the Bolsheviks soon relocated the national capital to Moscow . The RSFSR began

6674-445: The Provisional Government. As minister of war and later Prime Minister, Kerensky promoted freedom of speech , released thousands of political prisoners , continued the war effort, even organizing another offensive (which, however, was no more successful than its predecessors). Nevertheless, Kerensky still faced several great challenges, highlighted by the soldiers, urban workers, and peasants, who claimed that they had gained nothing by

6816-424: The Red Army split the Don and Volunteer armies , forcing evacuations in Novorossiysk in March and Crimea in November 1920. After that, fighting was sporadic until the war ended with the capture of Vladivostok in October 1922, but anti-Bolshevik resistance continued with the Muslim Basmachi movement in Central Asia and Khabarovsk Krai until 1934. There were an estimated 7 to 12 million casualties during

6958-431: The Republic: Great plan! Finish it with Dzerzhinsky. While pretending to be the "greens" (we will blame them later), we will advance by 10–20 miles (versts) and hang kulaks, priests, landowners. Prize: 100.000 rubles for each hanged man. Leonid Kannegisser , a young military cadet of the Imperial Russian Army , assassinated Moisey Uritsky on August 17, 1918, outside the Petrograd Cheka headquarters in retaliation for

7100-421: The Romanov monarchy openly well before the turmoil of World War I. Dissatisfaction with Russian autocracy culminated in the huge national upheaval that followed the Bloody Sunday massacre of January 1905, in which hundreds of unarmed protesters were shot by the Tsar's troops. Workers responded to the massacre with a crippling general strike, forcing Nicholas to put forth the October Manifesto , which established

7242-417: The SR Nikolai Avksentiev and some followers were arrested for organizing a conspiracy. This was the first time Bolsheviks used this kind of repression against a socialist party. Izvestia said the arrest was not related to his membership in the Constituent Assembly. On January 4, 1918, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee made a resolution saying the slogan "all power to the constituent assembly"

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7384-404: The Soviets", the party held very little real power in the moderate-dominated Petrograd Soviet. In fact, historians such as Sheila Fitzpatrick have asserted that Lenin's exhortations for the Soviet Council to take power were intended to arouse indignation both with the Provisional Government, whose policies were viewed as conservative, and the Soviets themselves, which were viewed as subservients to

7526-438: The St. Petersburg branch of the security police, the Okhrana , in October 1916, warned bluntly of "the possibility in the near future of riots by the lower classes of the empire enraged by the burdens of daily existence." Tsar Nicholas was blamed for all of these crises, and what little support he had left began to crumble. As discontent grew, the State Duma issued a warning to Nicholas in November 1916, stating that, inevitably,

7668-406: The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and opposed Trotsky's insistence that no one try to attack German troops in Ukraine. According to historian Marcel Liebman , Lenin's wartime measures such as banning opposition parties was prompted by the fact that several political parties either took up arms against the new Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic , or participated in sabotage, collaboration with

7810-413: The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk: the United Baltic Duchy , Duchy of Courland and Semigallia , Kingdom of Lithuania , Kingdom of Poland , the Belarusian People's Republic , and the Ukrainian State . Following Germany's Armistice in World War I in November 1918, the states were abolished. Finland was the first republic that declared its independence from Russia in December 1917 and established itself in

7952-433: The Tsar commanded at the front, was German born, leading to suspicion of collusion, only to be exacerbated by rumors relating to her relationship with the controversial mystic Grigori Rasputin . Rasputin's influence led to disastrous ministerial appointments and corruption, resulting in a worsening of conditions within Russia. After the entry of the Ottoman Empire on the side of the Central Powers in October 1914, Russia

8094-426: The Tsar or the government. Russia's first major battle of the war was a disaster; in the 1914 Battle of Tannenberg , over 30,000 Russian troops were killed or wounded and 90,000 captured, while Germany suffered just 12,000 casualties. However, Austro-Hungarian forces allied to Germany were driven back deep into the Galicia region by the end of the year. In the autumn of 1915, Nicholas had taken direct command of

8236-430: The Tsar ordered the army to suppress the rioting by force, troops began to revolt. Although few actively joined the rioting, many officers were either shot or went into hiding; the ability of the garrison to hold back the protests was all but nullified, symbols of the Tsarist regime were rapidly torn down around the city, and governmental authority in the capital collapsed – not helped by the fact that Nicholas had prorogued

8378-415: The Tsar. Many sections of the country had reason to be dissatisfied with the existing autocracy. Nicholas II was a deeply conservative ruler and maintained a strict authoritarian system. Individuals and society in general were expected to show self-restraint, devotion to community, deference to the social hierarchy and a sense of duty to the country. Religious faith helped bind all of these tenets together as

8520-474: The US did not face shortages, however public appeals were made for citizens to voluntarily reduce consumption so that goods could be sent to Europe. For example an appeal issued by the newly founded United States Food Administration for the public to eat more maize bread was successful, and more wheat could be exported to their European allies. Also the War Purchase and Finance Board was established with an American chairman. This met in Paris and London to arrange

8662-429: The US, 1914, the figures were 18%, 47% and 35% respectively). World War I added to the chaos. Conscription across Russia resulted in unwilling citizens being sent off to war. The vast demand for factory production of war supplies and workers resulted in many more labor riots and strikes. Conscription stripped skilled workers from the cities, who had to be replaced with unskilled peasants. When famine began to hit due to

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8804-423: The White Guard (Бѣлая гвардія / Белая гвардия, Belaya gvardiya ) or White Guardsmen (Бѣлогвардейцы / Белогвардейцы, Belogvardeytsi ). When the White Army was created, the structure of the Russian Army of the Provisional Government period was used, while almost every individual formation had its own characteristics. The military art of the White Army was based on the experience of World War I, which, however, left

8946-423: The abdication of Tsar Nicholas II during the February Revolution , and Russia was in a state of political flux. A tense summer culminated in the October Revolution , where the Bolsheviks overthrew the provisional government of the new Russian Republic . Bolshevik seizure of power was not universally accepted, and the country descended into civil war. The two largest combatants were the Red Army , fighting for

9088-436: The allocation of credits for American purchases. Each nation appointed its respective ministers (or delegates) in charge of shipping to the council. The representatives were: The Council held six meetings: The AMTC had a Main Executive Committee chaired by James Arthur Salter alongside Jean Monnet , (France), Bernardo Attolico (Italy) with the later addition of George Rublee. Salter and Monnet called their business in

9230-414: The army, personally overseeing Russia's main theatre of war and leaving his ambitious but incapable wife Alexandra in charge of the government. Reports of corruption and incompetence in the Imperial government began to emerge, and the growing influence of Grigori Rasputin in the Imperial family was widely resented. In 1915, things took a critical turn for the worse when Germany shifted its focus of attack to

9372-486: The authority of an institution that claimed to represent the will of workers and soldiers and could, in fact, mobilize and control these groups during the early months of the revolution – the Petrograd Soviet Council of Workers' Deputies. The model for the Soviets were workers' councils that had been established in scores of Russian cities during the 1905 Revolution. In February 1917, striking workers elected deputies to represent them and socialist activists began organizing

9514-439: The authority of the Provisional Government but also of the moderate socialist leaders of the Soviets. Although the Soviet leadership initially refused to participate in the "bourgeois" Provisional Government, Alexander Kerensky , a young, popular lawyer and a member of the Socialist Revolutionary Party (SRP), agreed to join the new cabinet, and became an increasingly central figure in the government, eventually taking leadership of

9656-410: The autumn of 1914, he had insisted that "from the standpoint of the working class and of the labouring masses the lesser evil would be the defeat of the Tsarist Monarchy"; the war must be turned into a civil war of the proletarian soldiers against their own governments, and if a proletarian victory should emerge from this in Russia, then their duty would be to wage a revolutionary war for the liberation of

9798-409: The battlefields. The soldiers did not feel as if they were valuable, rather they felt as if they were expendable. By the spring of 1915, the army was in steady retreat, which was not always orderly; desertion , plundering , and chaotic flight were not uncommon. By 1916, however, the situation had improved in many respects. Russian troops stopped retreating, and there were even some modest successes in

9940-404: The bloodthirsty kulaks and that we will continue to do so ... Yours, Lenin. P.S. Find tougher people. In a mid-August 1920 letter, having received information that in Estonia and Latvia, with which Soviet Russia had concluded peace treaties, volunteers were being enrolled in anti-Bolshevik detachments, Lenin wrote to E. M. Sklyansky, deputy chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council of

10082-505: The cities, owing to a lack of food in response to the disruption of agriculture. Food scarcity had become a considerable problem in Russia, but the cause of this did not lie in any failure of the harvests , which had not been significantly altered during wartime. The indirect reason was that the government, in order to finance the war, printed millions of rouble notes, and by 1917, inflation had made prices increase up to four times what they had been in 1914. Farmers were consequently faced with

10224-419: The conservative government. By some other historians' accounts, Lenin and his followers were unprepared for how their groundswell of support, especially among influential worker and soldier groups, would translate into real power in the summer of 1917. Russian Civil War [REDACTED] White movement The Russian Civil War was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by

10366-516: The cost of living). At the same time, urban industrial life had its benefits, though these could be just as dangerous (in terms of social and political stability) as the hardships. There were many encouragements to expect more from life. Acquiring new skills gave many workers a sense of self-respect and confidence, heightening expectations and desires. Living in cities, workers encountered material goods they had never seen in villages. Most importantly, workers living in cities were exposed to new ideas about

10508-467: The country as a one-party state with all opposition parties outlawed. A simultaneous demonstration in favor of the Constituent Assembly was dispersed with force, but there was little protest afterwards. The first large Cheka repression involving the killing of libertarian socialists in Petrograd began in April 1918. On May 1, 1918, a pitched battle took place in Moscow between the anarchists and

10650-539: The country, leading to a situation of dual power . The Russian Republic was proclaimed in September of the same year. The Provisional Government, led by Socialist Revolutionary Party politician Alexander Kerensky , was unable to solve the most pressing issues of the country, most importantly to end the war with the Central Powers. A failed military coup by General Lavr Kornilov in September 1917 led to

10792-647: The deposed Tsarists, or made assassination attempts against Lenin and other Bolshevik leaders. Liebman noted that opposition parties such as the Cadets and Mensheviks who were democratically elected to the Soviets in some areas, then proceeded to use their mandate to welcome in Tsarist and foreign capitalist military forces . In one incident in Baku , the British military, once invited in, proceeded to execute members of

10934-536: The elections with the majority of the seats, after which Lenin's Theses on the Constituent Assembly argued in Pravda that formal democracy was impossible because of class conflicts, conflicts with Ukraine and the Kadet-Kaledin uprising. He argued the Constituent Assembly must unconditionally accept sovereignty of the soviet government or it would be dealt with "by revolutionary means". On December 30, 1917,

11076-437: The end of 1914, only five months into the war, around 390,000 Russian men had lost their lives and nearly 1,000,000 were injured. Far sooner than expected, inadequately trained recruits were called for active duty, a process repeated throughout the war as staggering losses continued to mount. The officer class also saw remarkable changes, especially within the lower echelons, which were quickly filled with soldiers rising up through

11218-656: The ensuing Finnish Civil War between pro-independence White Guards and pro-Russian Bolshevik Red Guards from January–May 1918. The Second Polish Republic , Lithuania , Latvia and Estonia formed their own armies immediately after the abolition of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty and the start of the Soviet westward offensive and subsequent Polish-Soviet War in November 1918. In the European part of Russia

11360-591: The establishment of a Bolshevik-led socialist state headed by Vladimir Lenin , and the loosely allied forces known as the White Army , which functioned as a political big tent for right - and left-wing opposition to Bolshevik rule. In addition, rival militant socialists, notably the Ukrainian anarchists of the Makhnovshchina and Left Socialist-Revolutionaries , were involved in conflict against

11502-766: The events that would officially catalyze the Red Terror , Vladimir Lenin had sent telegrams "to introduce mass terror" in Nizhny Novgorod in response to a suspected civilian uprising there, and to "crush" landowners in Penza who resisted, sometimes violently, the requisitioning of their grain by military detachments: Comrades! The kulak uprising in your five districts must be crushed without pity ... You must make example of these people. Do all this so that for miles (versts) around people see it all, understand it, tremble, and tell themselves that we are killing

11644-523: The execution of his friend and other officers. On August 30, the SR Fanny Kaplan unsuccessfully attempted to assassinate Lenin, who sought to eliminate political dissent, opposition, and any other threat to Bolshevik power. As a result of the failed attempt on Lenin's life, he began to crack down on his political enemies in an event known as the Red Terror . More broadly, the term is usually applied to Bolshevik political repression throughout

11786-464: The front, he arrived in Petrograd in April 1917. On the way to Russia, Lenin prepared the April Theses , which outlined central Bolshevik policies. These included that the Soviets take power (as seen in the slogan "all power to the Soviets") and denouncing the liberals and social revolutionaries in the Provisional Government, forbidding co-operation with it. Many Bolsheviks, however, had supported

11928-795: The goal to liberate the country from the "Germano-Bolshevik" yoke. On May 7, 1918, the Eighth Party Council of the Socialist Revolutionary Party commenced in Moscow and recognized the Union's leading role, putting aside political ideology and class for the purpose of Russia's salvation. They decided to start an uprising against the Bolsheviks with the goal of reconvening the Russian Constituent Assembly. While preparations were under way,

12070-493: The government returned to the requisitioning system. France had a more varied range of imports and did not face serious shortages until later. Some ships were requisitioned on a bare-boat basis – where the Government recruited and supplied the crew, a somewhat inefficient charter system with much trade continuing on a pre-war basis. However the British Time-charter requisitioning method was gradually introduced and

12212-465: The government to heed Dzerzhinsky's lobbying for greater terror against opposition. The campaign of mass repressions would officially begin thereafter. The Red Terror is considered to have officially begun between 17 and 30 August 1918. Protests against grain requisitioning of the peasantry were a major component of the Tambov Rebellion and similar uprisings; Lenin's New Economic Policy

12354-516: The government, including an increased participation of workers in revolutionary parties. Liberal parties too had an increased platform to voice their complaints, as the initial fervor of the war resulted in the Tsarist government creating a variety of political organizations. In July 1915, a Central War Industries Committee was established under the chairmanship of a prominent Octobrist , Alexander Guchkov (1862–1936), including ten workers' representatives. The Petrograd Mensheviks agreed to join despite

12496-509: The main committee The Tonnage Sub-Committee was responsible for implementing any decisions of the council concerning the co-operative use or programming of tonnage. It also gathered information about the amount and disposition of the tonnage under the control of each Ally and examined any proposals made by them as regards any improvements made by them in this area as well as doing their best to see that any agreed improvements were carried out. Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution

12638-682: The main goal of retaining the territory they had received in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Soviet Russia. The Bolsheviks initially consolidated control over most of the former empire. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was an emergency peace with the German Empire , who had captured vast swathes of the Russian territory during the chaos of the revolution. In May 1918, the Czechoslovak Legion in Russia revolted in Siberia. In reaction,

12780-414: The masses throughout Europe. An elementary theory of property , believed by many peasants, was that land should belong to those who work on it. At the same time, peasant life and culture was changing constantly. Change was facilitated by the physical movement of growing numbers of peasant villagers who migrated to and from industrial and urban environments, but also by the introduction of city culture into

12922-468: The middle of 1915, and so did crime, but, for the most part, people suffered and endured, scouring the city for food. Working-class women in St. Petersburg reportedly spent about forty hours a week in food lines, begging, turning to prostitution or crime, tearing down wooden fences to keep stoves heated for warmth, and continued to resent the rich. Government officials responsible for public order worried about how long people's patience would last. A report by

13064-706: The most ruthless and systematic persecution. Their suppression by the Bolsheviki began already in 1918, when — in the month of April of that year — the Communist Government attacked, without provocation or warning, the Anarchist Club of Moscow and by the use of machine guns and artillery "liquidated" the whole organisation. It was the beginning of Anarchist hounding, but it was sporadic in character, breaking out now and then, quite planless, and frequently self-contradictory. On 11 August 1918, prior to

13206-426: The network of Soviets held more power concerning domestic affairs. Critically, the Soviets held the allegiance of the working class , as well as the growing urban middle class. During this chaotic period, there were frequent mutinies, protests and strikes. Many socialist and other leftist political organizations were struggling for influence within the Provisional Government and the Soviets. Notable factions included

13348-474: The objections of their leaders abroad. All this activity gave renewed encouragement to political ambitions, and in September 1915, a combination of Octobrists and Kadets in the Duma demanded the forming of a responsible government, which the Tsar rejected. All these factors had given rise to a sharp loss of confidence in the regime, even within the ruling class, growing throughout the war. Early in 1916, Guchkov discussed with senior army officers and members of

13490-428: The offensives that were staged that year, albeit at great loss of life. Also, the problem of shortages was largely solved by a major effort to increase domestic production. Nevertheless, by the end of 1916, morale among soldiers was even worse than it had been during the great retreat of 1915 . The fortunes of war may have improved, but the fact of war remained which continually took Russian lives. The crisis in morale (as

13632-461: The ongoing social movement taking place on the streets of Russia's cities, factories, shops, barracks, villages, and in the trenches. A series of political crises – see the chronology below – in the relationship between population and government and between the Provisional Government and the Soviets (which developed into a nationwide movement with a national leadership). The All-Russian Central Executive Committee of Soviets (VTsIK) undermined

13774-749: The overthrowing of the liberal-democratic Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution , as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. It resulted in the formation of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and later the Soviet Union in most of its territory. Its finale marked the end of the Russian Revolution , which was one of the key events of the 20th century . The Russian monarchy ended with

13916-649: The people " in campaigns called the Red Terror , consciously modeled on those of the French Revolution . Although the Bolsheviks held large support in urban areas, they had many foreign and domestic enemies that refused to recognize their government. Russia erupted into a bloody civil war , which pitted the Reds (Bolsheviks), against their enemies, collectively referred to as the White Army . The White Army comprised independence movements , monarchists , liberals , and anti-Bolshevik socialist parties. In response,

14058-507: The population of the capital, Saint Petersburg, nearly doubled from 1,033,600 to 1,905,600, with Moscow experiencing similar growth. This created a new 'proletariat' which, due to being crowded together in the cities, was much more likely to protest and go on strike than the peasantry had been in previous times. One 1904 survey found that an average of 16 people shared each apartment in Saint Petersburg, with six people per room. There

14200-410: The population, not the whole nation. They also believed Russia was not ready for socialism. They viewed their role as limited to pressuring hesitant " bourgeoisie " to rule and to introduce extensive democratic reforms in Russia (the replacement of the monarchy by a republic, guaranteed civil rights, a democratic police and army, abolition of religious and ethnic discrimination, preparation of elections to

14342-416: The possibility that Communist revolutionary ideas would spread (a concern shared by many Central Powers). Hence, many of the countries expressed their support for the Whites, including the provision of troops and supplies. Winston Churchill declared that Bolshevism must be "strangled in its cradle". The British and French had supported Russia during World War I on a massive scale with war materials. After

14484-556: The prestige that Russia had lost amid the debacles of the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905). Nicholas also sought to foster a greater sense of national unity with a war against a common and old enemy. The Russian Empire was an agglomeration of diverse ethnicities that had demonstrated significant signs of disunity in the years before the First World War. Nicholas believed in part that the shared peril and tribulation of

14626-503: The prevalent social and political protests, focusing hostilities against a common external enemy, but this patriotic unity did not last long. As the war dragged on inconclusively, war-weariness gradually took its toll. Although many ordinary Russians joined anti-German demonstrations in the first few weeks of the war, hostility toward the Kaiser and the desire to defend their land and their lives did not necessarily translate into enthusiasm for

14768-524: The process of reorganizing the former empire into the world's first socialist state , to practice soviet democracy on a national and international scale. Their promise to end Russia's participation in the First World War was fulfilled when the Bolshevik leaders signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany in March 1918. To secure the new state, the Bolsheviks established the Cheka , a secret police and revolutionary security service working to uncover, punish, and eliminate those considered to be " enemies of

14910-400: The ranks. These men, usually of peasant or working-class backgrounds, were to play a large role in the politicization of the troops in 1917. The army quickly ran short of rifles and ammunition (as well as uniforms and food), and by mid-1915, men were being sent to the front bearing no arms. It was hoped that they could equip themselves with arms recovered from fallen soldiers, of both sides, on

15052-458: The rebellion as orchestrated by the SRs, there is actually no evidence that they were involved into peasant violence, which they deemed as counterproductive. The Western Allies armed and supported opponents of the Bolsheviks . They were worried about a possible Russo-German alliance, the prospect of the Bolsheviks making good on their threats to default on Imperial Russia's massive foreign debts and

15194-411: The reorganization of the Red Guards into a Workers' and Peasants' Red Army in order to create a more effective fighting force. The Bolsheviks appointed political commissars to each unit of the Red Army to maintain morale and to ensure loyalty. In June 1918, when it had become apparent that a revolutionary army composed solely of workers would not suffice, Trotsky instituted mandatory conscription of

15336-508: The revolution: The political group that proved most troublesome for Kerensky, and would eventually overthrow him, was the Bolshevik Party , led by Vladimir Lenin . Lenin had been living in exile in neutral Switzerland and, due to democratization of politics after the February Revolution, which legalized formerly banned political parties , he perceived the opportunity for his Marxist revolution. Although return to Russia had become

15478-546: The rural peasantry into the Red Army. The Bolsheviks overcame opposition of rural Russians to Red Army conscription units by taking hostages and shooting them when necessary in order to force compliance. The forced conscription drive had mixed results, successfully creating a larger army than the Whites, but with members indifferent towards communist ideology . The Red Army also utilized former Tsarist officers as "military specialists" ( voenspetsy ); sometimes their families were taken hostage in order to ensure their loyalty. At

15620-565: The second Revolution of 1917. The initial stage of the October Revolution which involved the assault on Petrograd occurred largely without any human casualties . Despite the Bolsheviks' seizure of power, they lost to the Socialist Revolutionary Party in the 1917 Russian Constituent Assembly election , and the Constituent Assembly was dissolved by the Bolsheviks in retaliation. The Bolsheviks soon lost

15762-535: The social and political order. The social causes of the Russian Revolution can be derived from centuries of oppression of the lower classes by the Tsarist regime and Nicholas's failures in World War I. While rural agrarian peasants had been emancipated from serfdom in 1861, they still resented paying redemption payments to the state, and demanded communal tender of the land they worked. The problem

15904-479: The start of the civil war, former Tsarist officers formed three-quarters of the Red Army officer-corps. By its end, 83% of all Red Army divisional and corps commanders were ex-Tsarist soldiers. The White movement (Russian: pre–1918 Бѣлое движеніе / post–1918 Белое движение , romanized : Beloye dvizheniye , IPA: [ˈbʲɛləɪ dvʲɪˈʐenʲɪɪ] ) also known as the Whites ( Белые , Beliye ),

16046-424: The successor-organisation of the old Imperial Russian Army , started to disintegrate; the Bolsheviks used the volunteer-based Red Guards as their main military force, augmented by an armed military component of the Cheka (the Bolshevik state secret police ). In January 1918, after significant Bolshevik reverses in combat, the future Russian People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs Leon Trotsky headed

16188-824: The support of other far-left allies, such as the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries , after their acceptance of the terms of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk presented by the German Empire. Conversely, a number of prominent members of the Left Socialist Revolutionaries had assumed positions in Lenin's government and led commissariats in several areas. This included agriculture ( Kolegaev ), property ( Karelin ), justice ( Steinberg ), post offices and telegraphs ( Proshian ) and local government (Trutovsky). The Bolsheviks also reserved

16330-583: The treaty, it looked like much of that material would fall into the hands of the Germans. To meet that danger, the Allies intervened with Great Britain and France sending troops into Russian ports. There were violent clashes with the Bolsheviks. Britain intervened in support of the White forces to defeat the Bolsheviks and prevent the spread of communism across Europe. The German Empire created several short-lived buffer states within its sphere of influence after

16472-593: The ultimate authority of the crown. Despite constant oppression, the desire of the people for democratic participation in government decisions was strong. Since the Age of Enlightenment , Russian intellectuals had promoted Enlightenment ideals such as the dignity of the individual and the rectitude of democratic representation. These ideals were championed most vociferously by Russia's liberals, although populists, Marxists, and anarchists also claimed to support democratic reforms. A growing opposition movement had begun to challenge

16614-489: The ultra-nationalist Black Hundreds on the right. The Russian Constituent Assembly had been a demand of the Bolsheviks against the Provisional Government, which kept delaying it. After the October Revolution the elections were run by the body appointed by the previous Provisional Government. It was based on universal suffrage but used party lists from before the Left-Right SR split. The anti-Bolshevik Right SRs won

16756-593: The unrest would subside. Nicholas agreed and stepped down, ushering in a new provisional government led by the Russian Duma (the parliament). During the civil unrest, soviet councils were formed by the locals in Petrograd that initially did not oppose the new Provisional Government; however, the Soviets did insist on their influence in the government and control over various militias. By March, Russia had two rival governments . The Provisional Government held state power in military and international affairs, whereas

16898-740: The uprising in Vladivostok . At the Fifth All–Russian Congress of Soviets of July 4, 1918, the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries had 352 delegates compared to 745 Bolsheviks out of 1132 total. The Left SRs raised disagreements on the suppression of rival parties, the death penalty, and mainly, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. The Bolsheviks excluded the Right SRs and Mensheviks from the government on 14 June for associating with counterrevolutionaries and seeking to "organize armed attacks against

17040-536: The village through material goods, the press, and word of mouth. Workers also had good reasons for discontent: overcrowded housing with often deplorable sanitary conditions, long hours at work (on the eve of the war, a 10-hour workday six days a week was the average and many were working 11–12 hours a day by 1916), constant risk of injury and death from poor safety and sanitary conditions, harsh discipline (not only rules and fines, but foremen's fists), and inadequate wages (made worse after 1914 by steep wartime increases in

17182-527: The war was fought across three main fronts: the eastern, the southern and the northwestern. It can also be roughly split into the following periods. The first period lasted from the Revolution until the Armistice, or roughly March 1917 to November 1918. Already on the date of the Revolution, Cossack General Alexey Kaledin refused to recognize it and assumed full governmental authority in the Don region, where

17324-551: The war, mostly civilians. The Russian Empire fought in World War I from 1914 alongside France and the United Kingdom ( Triple Entente ) against Germany, Austria-Hungary and Ottoman Empire ( Central Powers ). The February Revolution of 1917 resulted in the abdication of Emperor Nicholas II of Russia . As a result, the social-democratic Russian Provisional Government was established, and soviets , elected councils of workers, soldiers, and peasants, were organized throughout

17466-536: The war, the Provisional Government chose to continue fighting to support its allies , giving the Bolsheviks and other socialist factions a justification to advance the revolution further. The Bolsheviks merged various workers' militias loyal to them into the Red Guards , which would be strong enough to seize power. The volatile situation reached its climax with the October Revolution , a Bolshevik armed insurrection by workers and soldiers in Petrograd that overthrew

17608-499: The workers and peasants" (though Mensheviks had not supported them), while the Left SRs advocated forming a government of all socialist parties. The Left SRs agreed with extrajudicial execution of political opponents to stop the counterrevolution, but opposed having the government legally pronouncing death sentences, an unusual position that is best understood within the context of the group's terrorist past. The Left SRs strongly opposed

17750-441: The workers in the streets and at public meetings. To quell the riots, the Tsar looked to the army. At least 180,000 troops were available in the capital, but most were either untrained or injured. Historian Ian Beckett suggests around 12,000 could be regarded as reliable, but even these proved reluctant to move in on the crowd, since it included so many women. It was for this reason that on 11 March [ O.S. 26 February], when

17892-483: Was a loose confederation of anti-communist forces that fought the communist Bolsheviks , also known as the Reds , in the Russian Civil War and that to a lesser extent continued operating as militarized associations of rebels both outside and within Russian borders in Siberia until roughly World War II (1939–1945). The movement's military arm was the White Army (Бѣлая армія / Белая армия, Belaya armiya ), also known as

18034-523: Was a period of political and social change in Russia , starting in 1917. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government following two successive revolutions and a civil war . It can also be seen as the precursor for the other revolutions that occurred in the aftermath of World War I , such as the German Revolution of 1918–1919 . The Russian Revolution

18176-515: Was also no running water, and piles of human waste were a threat to the health of the workers. The poor conditions only aggravated the situation, with the number of strikes and incidents of public disorder rapidly increasing in the years shortly before World War I. Because of late industrialization, Russia's workers were highly concentrated. By 1914, 40% of Russian workers were employed in factories of 1,000+ workers (32% in 1901). 42% worked in 100–1,000 worker enterprises, 18% in 1–100 worker businesses (in

18318-592: Was appointed to the duty of rooting out counter-revolutionary threats to the Soviet government . He was the director of the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission (aka Cheka ), a predecessor of the KGB that served as the secret police for the Soviets. The Bolsheviks had begun to see the anarchists as a legitimate threat and associate criminality such as robberies , expropriations and murders with anarchist associations. Subsequently,

18460-622: Was argued by Allan Wildman, a leading historian of the Russian army in war and revolution) "was rooted fundamentally in the feeling of utter despair that the slaughter would ever end and that anything resembling victory could be achieved." The war did not only devastate soldiers. By the end of 1915, there were manifold signs that the economy was breaking down under the heightened strain of wartime demand. The main problems were food shortages and rising prices. Inflation dragged incomes down at an alarmingly rapid rate, and shortages made it difficult for an individual to sustain oneself. These shortages were

18602-658: Was closed by a workers' strike. The next day, a series of meetings and rallies were held for International Women's Day , which gradually turned into economic and political gatherings. Demonstrations were organised to demand bread, and these were supported by the industrial working force who considered them a reason for continuing the strikes. The women workers marched to nearby factories bringing out over 50,000 workers on strike. By 10 March [ O.S. 25 February], virtually every industrial enterprise in Petrograd had been shut down, together with many commercial and service enterprises. Students, white-collar workers, and teachers joined

18744-523: Was counterrevolutionary and equivalent to "down with the soviets". The Constituent Assembly met on January 18, 1918. The Right SR Chernov was elected president defeating the Bolshevik supported candidate, the Left SR Maria Spiridonova (she would later break with the Bolsheviks and after the decades of gulag , she was shot on Stalin's orders in 1941). The Bolsheviks subsequently disbanded the Constituent Assembly and proceeded to rule

18886-491: Was deprived of a major trade route to the Mediterranean Sea , which worsened the economic crisis and the munitions shortages. Meanwhile, Germany was able to produce great amounts of munitions whilst constantly fighting on two major battlefronts. The conditions during the war resulted in a devastating loss of morale within the Russian army and the general population of Russia itself. This was particularly apparent in

19028-638: Was established the Russian Revolution had occurred, and therefore Russia was not involved. However with the American entry into World War I on 2 April 1917 and increasing problems in handling supplies particularly in France and Italy made re-organisation essential. The system of control was based on that previously developed in the British Empire . Originally Italy had adopted a similar system by Royal Decree in 1915, where by ships were requisitioned for

19170-551: Was executed in Alexander Garden . The order was carried out by the commander of the Kremlin, the former Baltic sailor P. D. Malkov and a group of Latvian Bolsheviks on September 3, 1918, with a bullet to the back of the head. Her corpse was bundled into a barrel and set alight. The order came from Yakov Sverdlov , who only six weeks earlier had ordered the murder of the Tsar and his family. These events persuaded

19312-551: Was further compounded by the failure of Sergei Witte 's land reforms of the early 20th century. Increasing peasant disturbances and sometimes actual revolts occurred, with the goal of securing ownership of the land they worked. Russia consisted mainly of poor farming peasants and substantial inequality of land ownership, with 1.5% of the population owning 25% of the land. The rapid industrialization of Russia also resulted in urban overcrowding and poor conditions for urban industrial workers (as mentioned above). Between 1890 and 1910,

19454-555: Was initially chaired by a liberal aristocrat, Prince Georgy Yevgenievich Lvov , a member of the Constitutional Democratic Party (KD). The socialists had formed their rival body, the Petrograd Soviet (or workers' council) four days earlier. The Petrograd Soviet and the Provisional Government competed for power over Russia. The effective power of the Provisional Government was challenged by

19596-535: Was introduced as a concession. The policies of "food dictatorship" proclaimed by the Bolsheviks in May 1918 sparked violent resistance in numerous districts of European Russia : revolts and clashes between the peasants and the Red Army were reported in Voronezh , Tambov , Penza , Saratov and in the districts of Kostroma , Moscow , Novgorod , Petrograd , Pskov and Smolensk . The revolts were bloodily crushed by

19738-594: Was one of the key events of the 20th century . The Russian Revolution was inaugurated with the February Revolution in early 1917, in the midst of World War I . With the German Empire dealing major defeats on the war front, and increasing logistical problems in the rear causing shortages of bread and grain, the Russian Army was steadily losing morale, with large scale mutiny looming. High officials were convinced that if Tsar Nicholas II abdicated,

19880-476: Was reunited with his family at the Alexander Palace at Tsarskoye Selo . He was placed under house arrest with his family by the Provisional Government. The immediate effect of the February Revolution was a widespread atmosphere of elation and excitement in Petrograd. On 16 March [ O.S. 3 March], a provisional government was announced. The center-left was well represented, and the government

20022-490: Was stopped on 14 March [ O.S. 1 March], by a group of revolutionaries at Malaya Vishera . When the Tsar finally arrived at Pskov , the Army Chief Nikolai Ruzsky , and the Duma deputies Alexander Guchkov and Vasily Shulgin suggested in unison that he abdicate the throne. He did so on 15 March [ O.S. 2 March], on behalf of himself, and then, having taken advice on behalf of his son,

20164-533: Was these views of Martov that predominated in a manifesto drawn up by Leon Trotsky (at the time a Menshevik) at a conference in Zimmerwald , attended by 35 Socialist leaders in September 1915. Inevitably, Vladimir Lenin supported by Zinoviev and Radek , strongly contested them. Their attitudes became known as the Zimmerwald Left . Lenin rejected both the defence of Russia and the cry for peace. Since

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