Bread riots broke out in Petrograd in late February 1917, rapidly escalating into revolution. (a) Describe the events of the February Revolution in Petrogra...

The February Revolution of 1917 was a largely spontaneous uprising that destroyed the Romanov dynasty after 304 years. Understanding both the immediate events and their underlying causes is essential for this question.

(a) Events of the February Revolution in Petrograd [4 marks]

• On 23 February 1917 (8 March in the Western calendar, International Women's Day), women textile workers in Petrograd's Vyborg district struck over bread shortages, marching through the streets demanding food.
• By 25 February, the strike had spread across the city. Over 200,000 workers were on strike, with demonstrators carrying banners reading 'Bread!' and 'Down with the Tsar!'
• On 27 February, soldiers of the Petrograd garrison, including the Volynsky Regiment, mutinied and joined the demonstrators instead of firing on them. This was the decisive turning point, as the regime lost control of its own armed forces in the capital.
• The Duma formed a Provisional Committee to restore order, which became the Provisional Government. On 2 March (15 March), Tsar Nicholas II abdicated at Pskov, ending 304 years of Romanov rule. He initially abdicated in favour of his brother Grand Duke Michael, who refused the throne.

(b) Why the Petrograd garrison refused to suppress the demonstrators [6 marks]

• Social composition: Many garrison soldiers were recent conscripts drawn from the urban working class and peasantry. They sympathised with the demonstrators, who were their own families, neighbours and social class.
• Refusal to fire on crowds: Some soldiers had received or heard about orders to fire on unarmed civilians, including women. This provoked revulsion and disobedience, especially in units that had not yet been sent to the front.
• War-weariness: By February 1917, the war had dragged on for over two and a half years. Military discipline and loyalty to the Tsar had been eroded by defeats, shortages and the knowledge that millions of Russian soldiers had died or been wounded.
• Cascade of mutiny: The Volynsky Regiment's mutiny on 27 February triggered a rapid cascade of defections across the garrison. Once the first units joined the demonstrators, others followed rather than risk fighting both civilians and mutinous soldiers.
• Loss of officer control: Officers lost authority as soldiers formed their own committees. The gap between the officer class (largely drawn from the nobility and gentry) and the ordinary soldiers reflected the same class divisions that fuelled the revolution.
• Fear of the front: Garrison soldiers feared that if they suppressed the demonstrations, they would be rewarded by being sent to fight on the front lines. Joining the revolution offered a way to avoid the trenches.

(c) Long-term weaknesses vs short-term wartime crises [10 marks]

Long-term weaknesses of the Tsarist system:

• The autocratic system resisted meaningful reform for decades. The October Manifesto (1905) promised a constitution and civil liberties, but Nicholas II never genuinely shared power with the Duma.
• Peasant land hunger was a century-old grievance. The emancipation of the serfs in 1861 left peasants with inadequate land and heavy redemption payments. The Stolypin land reforms (1906-11) benefited only a minority.
• Revolutionary parties, including the Bolsheviks, Mensheviks and Social Revolutionaries, had been building underground organisations and popular support since the late nineteenth century.
• Industrialisation from the 1890s created harsh conditions for workers concentrated in large factories, providing fertile ground for revolutionary agitation.
• The 1905 Revolution demonstrated the regime's vulnerability: strikes, mutinies (the Potemkin), the formation of soviets, and peasant uprisings had nearly overthrown the government.

Short-term wartime crises:

• Military defeats destroyed confidence in the government's competence and the Tsar's personal leadership.
• Food shortages in Petrograd, caused by transport breakdown and conscription of farmers, directly triggered the bread riots of February 1917.
• The Rasputin scandal and the rapid turnover of incompetent ministers discredited the monarchy in the eyes of all social classes, including conservatives.
• The disintegration of army discipline removed the force that had saved the regime in 1905.

Conclusion: Both long-term and short-term factors were necessary. The long-term weaknesses of the Tsarist system (autocracy, land hunger, industrial exploitation, revolutionary movements) created a society primed for revolution. However, the regime survived these pressures for decades. It was the First World War that provided the catalyst: military defeats, economic collapse, the Rasputin scandal, and the mutiny of the garrison combined to overwhelm a system that could no longer rely on repression or reform. The February Revolution was fundamentally spontaneous, not planned by any political party, but the conditions that made it possible had been building for generations.