The February Revolution occurred in the fateful year for Russia in 1917 and became the first of many coups d'etat, which step by step led to the establishment of Soviet power and the formation of a new state on the map.
Causes of the February Revolution of 1917
The protracted war created many difficulties and plunged the country into a severe crisis. Most of society opposed the monarchical system; a liberal opposition against Nicholas II even formed in the Duma. Numerous meetings and speeches under anti-monarchist and anti-war slogans began to take place in the country.
1. Crisis in the army
At that time, more than 15 million people were mobilized into the Russian army, of which 13 million were peasants. Hundreds of thousands of victims, killed and maimed, terrible front-line conditions, embezzlement and incompetence of the army's high command undermined discipline and led to mass desertion. By the end of 1916, more than one and a half million people were deserters from the army.
On the front line, there were often cases of “fraternization” between Russian soldiers and Austrian and German soldiers. The officers made many efforts to stop this trend, but among ordinary soldiers it became the norm to exchange various things and communicate in a friendly manner with the enemy.
Discontent and mass revolutionary sentiment gradually grew in the ranks of the military.
2. Threat of famine
A fifth of the country's industrial potential was lost due to the occupation, and food products were running out. In St. Petersburg, for example, in February 1917, there were only a week and a half of bread left. The supply of food and raw materials was so irregular that some military factories were closed. Providing the army with everything necessary was also at risk.
3. Crisis of power
At the top, everything was also complicated: during the war years, there were four prime ministers with a lot of strong personalities who could stop the crisis of power and lead the country, at that time there were no in the ruling elite.
The royal family always sought to be closer to the people, but the phenomenon of Rasputinism and the weakness of the government gradually deepened the gap between the tsar and his people.
In the political situation, everything pointed to the proximity of revolution. The only question that remained was where and how it would happen.
February Revolution: overthrow of the centuries-old monarchical system
Starting in January 1917, there were massive strikes throughout the Russian Empire, in which a total of more than 700 thousand workers took part. The trigger for the February events was the strike in St. Petersburg.
On February 23, 128 thousand were already on strike, the next day their number grew to 200 thousand, and the strike took on a political character, and already 300 thousand workers took part in it in St. Petersburg alone. This is how the February Revolution unfolded.
The troops and police opened fire on the striking workers, and the first blood was shed.
On February 26, the tsar sent troops to the capital under the command of General Ivanov, but they refused to suppress the uprising and actually sided with the rebels.
On February 27, the rebel workers seized more than 40 thousand rifles and 30 thousand revolvers. They took control of the capital and elected the Petrograd Council of Workers' Deputies, which was headed by Chkheidze.
On the same day, the Tsar sent an order to the Duma for an indefinite break in its work. The Duma obeyed the decree, but decided not to disperse, but to elect a Provisional Committee of ten people headed by Rodzianko.
Soon the tsar received telegrams about the victory of the revolution and calls from the commanders of all fronts to cede power in favor of the rebels.
On March 2, the establishment of the Provisional Government of Russia was officially announced, the head of which Nicholas II approved Prince Lvov. And on the same day, the king abdicated the throne for himself and for his son in favor of his brother, but he wrote the abdication in exactly the same way.
So the February Revolution stopped the existence of the monarchy for
After this, the Tsar, as a civilian, tried to obtain permission from the Provisional Government to travel with his family to Murmansk in order to emigrate from there to Great Britain. But the Petrograd Soviet resisted so decisively that Nicholas II and his family were decided to be arrested and taken to Tsarskoe Selo for imprisonment.
The former emperor would never be destined to leave his country.
February Revolution of 1917: results
The provisional government survived many crises and was able to last only 8 months. The attempt to build a bourgeois-democratic society was unsuccessful, since a more powerful and organized force claimed power in the country, which saw only the socialist revolution as its goal.
The February Revolution revealed this force - workers and soldiers, led by the Soviets, began to play a decisive role in the history of the country.
By the evening of February 27, almost the entire composition of the Petrograd garrison - about 160 thousand people - went over to the side of the rebels. The commander of the Petrograd Military District, General Khabalov, is forced to inform Nicholas II: “Please report to His Imperial Majesty that I could not fulfill the order to restore order in the capital. Most of the units, one after another, betrayed their duty, refusing to fight against the rebels.”
The idea of a “cartel expedition”, which provided for the removal of individual military units from the front and sending them to rebellious Petrograd, also did not continue. All this threatened to result in a civil war with unpredictable consequences.
Acting in the spirit of revolutionary traditions, the rebels released from prison not only political prisoners, but also criminals. At first they easily overcame the resistance of the “Crosses” guards, and then took the Peter and Paul Fortress.
The uncontrollable and motley revolutionary masses, not disdaining murders and robberies, plunged the city into chaos.
On February 27, at approximately 2 o'clock in the afternoon, soldiers occupied the Tauride Palace. The State Duma found itself in a dual position: on the one hand, according to the emperor’s decree, it should have dissolved itself, but on the other, the pressure of the rebels and the actual anarchy forced it to take some action. The compromise solution was a meeting under the guise of a “private meeting.”
As a result, a decision was made to form a government body - the Temporary Committee.
Later, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Provisional Government P. N. Milyukov recalled:
“The intervention of the State Duma gave the street and military movement a center, gave it a banner and a slogan, and thus turned the uprising into a revolution, which ended with the overthrow of the old regime and dynasty.”
The revolutionary movement grew more and more. Soldiers seize the Arsenal, the Main Post Office, the telegraph office, bridges and train stations. Petrograd found itself completely in the power of the rebels. The real tragedy took place in Kronstadt, which was overwhelmed by a wave of lynching that resulted in the murder of more than a hundred officers of the Baltic Fleet.
On March 1, the chief of staff of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, General Alekseev, in a letter begs the emperor “for the sake of saving Russia and the dynasty, put at the head of the government a person whom Russia would trust.”
Nicholas states that by giving rights to others, he deprives himself of the power given to them by God. The opportunity to peacefully transform the country into a constitutional monarchy had already been lost.
After the abdication of Nicholas II on March 2, a dual power actually developed in the state. Official power was in the hands of the Provisional Government, but real power belonged to the Petrograd Soviet, which controlled the troops, railways, post office and telegraph.
Colonel Mordvinov, who was on the royal train at the time of his abdication, recalled Nikolai’s plans to move to Livadia. “Your Majesty, go abroad as soon as possible. “Under current conditions, even in Crimea there is no way to live,” Mordvinov tried to convince the tsar. "No way. I wouldn’t like to leave Russia, I love it too much,” Nikolai objected.
Leon Trotsky noted that the February uprising was spontaneous:
“No one outlined the path for a coup in advance, no one from above called for an uprising. The indignation that had accumulated over the years broke out largely unexpectedly for the masses themselves.”
However, Miliukov insists in his memoirs that the coup was planned soon after the start of the war and before “the army was supposed to go on the offensive, the results of which would radically stop all hints of discontent and would cause an explosion of patriotism and jubilation in the country.” “History will curse the leaders of the so-called proletarians, but it will also curse us, who caused the storm,” wrote the former minister.
British historian Richard Pipes calls the actions of the tsarist government during the February uprising “fatal weakness of will,” noting that “the Bolsheviks in such circumstances did not hesitate to shoot.”
Although the February Revolution is called “bloodless,” it nevertheless claimed the lives of thousands of soldiers and civilians. In Petrograd alone, more than 300 people died and 1,200 were injured.
The February Revolution began the irreversible process of collapse of the empire and decentralization of power, accompanied by the activity of separatist movements.
Poland and Finland demanded independence, Siberia started talking about independence, and the Central Rada formed in Kyiv proclaimed “autonomous Ukraine.”
The events of February 1917 allowed the Bolsheviks to emerge from underground. Thanks to the amnesty declared by the Provisional Government, dozens of revolutionaries returned from exile and political exile, who were already hatching plans for a new coup d'etat.
By January 1917 in Russia, both bourgeois opposition and workers' revolutionary forces were unanimous in their opposition to the tsar and the few senior bureaucrats who remained loyal to him. Any mistake by the authorities hit it like a boomerang with tenfold force. Everyone, even the tsar’s loyal supporters, imagined the betrayals and machinations of the Germans all around.
Two fateful events preceded the start of the revolution. At a meeting with ministers on February 21, Nicholas II suddenly announced that he was going to appear in the Duma and announce the granting of a responsible ministry. Perhaps he was influenced by the visits to Tsarskoye Selo by the Chairman of the 2nd Duma N.V. Rodzianko, who more than once asked the Tsar to create a ministry immediately responsible to the Duma. On his last visit on February 10, Rodzianko predicted that refusal would threaten revolution and such anarchy “that no one can stop” and expressed his firm conviction that this was his last visit to the autocrat and that in three weeks he would no longer reign. And so it happened: on the evening of February 22, literally on the eve of the revolution, before leaving for Headquarters, Nicholas 2 changed his mind and informed N.D. Golitsyn about changing his decision.
On February 22, at the Putilov plant, a meeting of workers was held with economic demands addressed to the administration. This led to a massive lockout. All participants were counted out, and a crowd of 30,000 workers was thrown onto the streets for several days, which instantly revolutionized all the workers of the capital. When the large plenary session of the IV State Duma opened on February 23, the center of revolutionary events moved to the streets.
The course and main events of the February Revolution of 1917
The events of the revolution began on February 23 (March 8), 1917. At the call of the Russian Bureau of the Central Committee of the RSDLP(b), the St. Petersburg Committee of the RSDLP(b) and the Interdistrict Committee of the RSDLP, a women's anti-war demonstration began in honor of International Women's Day. It grew into a large city strike, in which 128 thousand people took part, a third of all the city’s workers. Already on this day, the characteristic features of the revolution that had begun appeared: a combination of organizational spontaneous actions. The next day, the number of strikers reached 214 thousand, and demonstrations and rallies became the predominant form of the movement. On February 25, 305 thousand were already on strike. At city enterprises, especially on the Vyborg and Petrograd sides, strike committees began to be created - prototypes of future factory committees.
The nature of the events on February 26 was already significantly different from the previous three days of the revolution. The evening before, Nicholas 2, after receiving reports on the events, sent a telegram to the Commander-in-Chief of the Petrograd Military District, General Khabalov, demanding “tomorrow,” that is, the 26th, to stop the unrest in the capital. In pursuance of these instructions from the tsar, on the night of February 26, the police arrested over 100 members of revolutionary parties, including five members of the Petrograd Committee and the Russian Bureau of the Central Committee of the RSDLP(b). members of the Vyborg district party committee took over the functions of the citywide party center. It was Sunday. The soldiers received live ammunition and for the most part complied with the order to use their weapons. One of the companies of the Pavlovsk Guards Regiment refused to shoot at the people and fired a volley at a platoon of mounted police guards on the Catherine Canal.
February 27 is considered the day of the February bourgeois-democratic revolution. Its events were truly of a turning point. On the night of February 27, soldiers from many guards regiments in the capitals discussed the results of yesterday and agreed not to shoot at the people. The first such soldier’s “conspiracy” was carried out by the training team of the reserve battalion of the Volyn Guards Regiment. During the morning check, they killed their company commander, dismantled the weapon and took it out onto the city street. On that day, the number of rebel soldiers reached a quarter of the total number in St. Petersburg, by the evening of the next day - half, and by March 1 there were no law-abiding troops in the capital. At the same time, on February 27, soldiers and workers set fire to the building of the District Court near Orudiyny and Petrogradsky Party, stormed the building of the Pre-trial Detention House located behind the District Court, releasing all the defendants. The soldiers of the outpost of the reserve battalion of the Moscow Guards Regiment refused to shoot at the 20,000-strong demonstration and let it through to the Vyborg side. Some of the soldiers went to the largest city prison, Kresty, took it by storm, and released all the prisoners. On this day, bridges, train stations, the courthouse, and the most important government institutions were taken; the next day, the Peter and Paul Fortress, the Winter Palace and the Admiralty. The crew of the cruiser Aurora rebelled. The uprising in Petrograd was victorious.
“The fact was that in this entire huge city it was impossible to find several hundred people who would sympathize with the authorities... The fact was that the authorities themselves did not sympathize... There was, in essence, not a single minister who believed in himself ..."
Establishment of dual power
On the morning of February 27, 1917, the official meeting of the 4th Duma began in the Tauride Palace. Standing, its participants listened to the royal decree about a break in work until April. The Duma members, obedient to the tsar, decided not to disperse temporarily and, in order to emphasize the informal nature of their meeting, moved from the White Hall to the Semicircular Hall of the palace. But at that moment, a large crowd approached the Tauride Palace, led by armed soldiers and members of the Menshevik Working Group of the Central Military Commission, which had just been liberated from “Krestov”. The Bolsheviks were unable to delay the procession at the Finlyandsky Station, where they intended to organize a revolutionary center in the person of the Council of Workers' Deputies. The call of the Menshevik guards to go to the Duma evoked a warm response from the rebels, for the authority of the Duma since the end of 1916 was great among the soldiers and petty-bourgeois segments of the population. The clash between the rebels and the Duma guard was effectively prevented by the chairman of the Trudovik faction A.F. Kerensky, who stood between the parties and announced that he was removing the old guard and appointing a new one from the approaching soldiers. They carried him in their arms into the palace, which from that moment, unexpectedly for the Duma members, turned into a revolutionary center.
At 3 o'clock in the afternoon the culmination of the country's political life came. All left forces gathered in the halls of the Budget and Financial Commissions of the Duma: members of the Menshevik and labor factions of the Duma, members of the working group of the Central Military Commission, several Bolsheviks, workers, representatives of the press. In the course of a rapid and spontaneous discussion, an appeal was adopted to organize a temporary executive committee of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' Deputies. The created executive committee immediately called for the election of one deputy from 1,000 workers and one deputy from a company of soldiers and to send them to a meeting of the Council in the Tauride Palace by 20 o'clock on the same day.
At the same time, in the Semicircular Hall of the palace, members of the 4th Duma decided to form a Provisional Committee of the State Duma for relations with institutions and individuals. M.V. was elected chairman of the committee, which included almost all members of the Progressive Bloc and one representative each from the Menshevik (N.S. Chkheidze) and Trudovik (A.F. Kerensky) factions. Rodzianko. This is how two centers of power emerged.
Late in the evening of February 27, thousands of people filled the headquarters of the revolution. All the royal ministers were brought here, and A.D. Protopopov came and surrendered himself. The Preobrazhensky Regiment approached the Tauride Palace in full force and announced its transition to the side of the revolution. All these events prompted the Provisional Committee of the Duma to decide to take executive power in the country into its own hands. Duma emissaries were sent to all the most important government institutions and to the railways.
The Petrograd Council, simultaneously and in the same building, opened its first meeting, to which elected deputies continued to arrive throughout the night. It immediately showed itself as a real organ of revolutionary people's power.
On February 28, the soldiers' section of the Petrograd Soviet was formed. It was the executive commission of this section that, on the night of March 1-2, compiled and published the famous “Order No. 1” the next day, which actually removed the soldiers of the Petrograd garrison from under the command of the officers and subordinated them to the Petrograd Soviet.
The old power of officers over soldiers came to an end, along with it army discipline collapsed and the foundation for the future anarchy of the liberals was laid.
The end of autocracy in Russia
Once in power, the Russian bourgeoisie had no intention of losing its monarchical cover. She was not satisfied with the “old despot”; with hope, she turned her gaze to the heir to the throne, 12-year-old Tsarevich Alexei. Only as a last resort were liberals ready to sacrifice the dynasty.
At the height of the Petrograd uprising, on the night of February 28, the tsar, accompanied by a train of loyal troops, set out towards the capital. But, fearing arrest, he was forced to do so before reaching 160 km. to St. Petersburg, turn to Pskov, where the headquarters of the commander-in-chief of the Northern Front, General N.V., was located. Ruzsky. On March 1, the tsar was already in Pskov. After negotiations via direct wire N.V. Rodzianko with N.V. Ruzsky and N.V. Alekseev’s generals put pressure on Nicholas 2 and he agreed to hand over a manifesto on the formation of a government of trust in the country headed by Rodzianko, responsible to the Duma. But in a conversation with Ruzsky, Rodzianko rejected the manifesto and raised the question of Nicholas 2’s abdication of the throne in favor of his son. Ruzsky reported the contents of the negotiations to Alekseev at the Mogilev headquarters, and he conveyed to all the commanders-in-chief of the dandies and fleets Rodzianko’s demands to send 2 requests to Nikolai in Pskov for his abdication from the throne in favor of his son.
On the morning of March 2, telegrams began to be received in Pskov from front commanders, who unanimously joined in the demand for abdication. Under their influence and at the insistence of Ruzsky and the generals, the tsar announced his abdication of the throne in favor of his son. Nicholas 2 renounces both for himself and for his son. This was a violation of Peter 1’s manifesto on succession to the throne, according to which the tsar had the right to abdicate only for himself. This fact made it possible in the future to declare the renunciation invalid. Guchkov and Shulgin, not anticipating a complex combination, agreed to this option, although they had strict instructions regarding abdication in favor of their son.
The completion of the discussion on the fate of the Russian monarchy took place in St. Petersburg at Putyatin’s apartment, where Mikhail Alexandrovich, the younger brother of Nicholas 2, who was scheduled to become regent for the young Alexei Nikolaevich, his nephew, then lived. But cadet lawyers V.D. Nabokov and B.E. The Nolde drew up an act of Michael’s refusal to accept supreme power. It stated that he would agree to accept the crown only if this was the decision of the Constituent Assembly, elected on the basis of general elections. Thus ended the February Revolution.
Results of the February Revolution of 1917
The most important result of the revolution was the overthrow of the autocracy in Russia, which the revolutionary forces of the country had so dreamed of since the very beginning of the 20th century. A unique political situation developed in the country: two political forces coexisted simultaneously, different in character, but not yet able to establish themselves in an understanding of their difference. Time and concrete actions were needed to make the demarcation of positions possible. Both of them had never been in power and had to learn to rule. For the first time in history, the working masses felt their real strength, and there was no turning back to submission, even in relation to their temporary political ally, the liberals. Therefore, the search for compromises on both sides became so important. But as history has shown, the ability to compromise was not developed on either side. The aggravation of contradictions led the country to a new historical milestone.
The February Revolution is a new starting point for Russian history. During this event, the main goal of the first revolution was achieved - the hated tsarist power was overthrown. Who were its participants? What are the causes of this conflict? And what happened next?
Causes of the February Revolution of 1917
What led to the start of a new revolution? Of course, the unresolved labor and agrarian question. These questions have remained pressing and problematic since the very beginning of the 20th century. But no one was in a hurry to solve them. Stolypin's attempt caused indignation among many, for which the prime minister paid with his life. Another reason for the revolution can be called the socio-economic crisis in the country. The First World War also influenced the beginning of the new Russian revolution. And the food crisis and lack of any stability intensified the divisions in society.
February Revolution: nature, driving forces and tasks
By its nature, the second Russian revolution was bourgeois-democratic. The driving forces remained the working class along with the peasant population. The participation of the intelligentsia made the revolution nationwide. What were the tasks of the revolutionaries? These tasks were standard for the first two Russian revolutions. The people who were in power at that time were in no hurry to solve them, because they were afraid of losing this very power. So,
- it was necessary to get out of the war;
- come to a common solution to the agrarian and labor issue;
- get rid of the autocratic hated tsarist power;
- convene a constituent assembly;
- move to a new state structure: democratic republic + adoption of a constitution.
February Revolution: developments
The reason for the new conflict was the dismissal of a mass of workers in St. Petersburg from the Putilov plant. The growth of social tension in society has reached its global proportions. At this time, the Tsar travels outside of St. Petersburg and information about the situation in the city does not reach him. The February revolution unfolded too quickly: the very next day after the dismissal, a mass of people appeared on the streets with the slogans “Down with the Tsar.” And within two weeks, Nicholas II, on the advice of his generals, renounces the Russian throne, and also for his son. The next day, the brother of Nicholas II, Mikhail, signed the same document. The Romanov dynasty ceases to exist on the Russian throne. At this time, dual power was established in the country in the person of the Petrograd Soviet and a new government body - the Provisional Government.
Results
The February Revolution of 1917 led to such results as the overthrow of autocratic power, the emergence of democratic freedoms and the spread of democratic values in society, as well as the establishment of dual power in the country. This difficult period in the history of our state brought dramatic changes. It became the crown of all the suffering of the early 20th century, because the main goal was achieved - the monarchy was overthrown.
Russia in conditions of a national crisis
The authority of the tsarist government was rapidly declining. To a large extent, this was facilitated by rumors about scandals at court, about Rasputin. Their credibility was confirmed by the so-called “ ministerial leapfrog”: in two years of war, four chairmen of the Council of Ministers and six ministers of internal affairs were replaced. The population in the Russian Empire did not have time not only to get acquainted with the political program, but also to see the face of the next prime minister or minister.
As the monarchist wrote V.V. Shulgin about Russian prime ministers, “Goremykin cannot be the head of government due to his callousness and old age.” In January 1916, Nicholas II appointed Stürmer, and V.V. Shulgin writes this: “The fact is that Stürmer is a small, insignificant person, and Russia is waging a world war. The fact is that all powers have mobilized their best forces, and we have a “Yuletide grandfather” as prime minister. And now the whole country is furious.”
Everyone felt the tragedy of the situation. Prices rose, and food shortages began in cities.
The war required enormous expenses. Budget expenditures in 1916 exceeded revenues by 76%. Taxes were sharply increased. The government also resorted to issuing internal loans and went for the mass issue of paper money without gold backing. This led to a fall in the value of the ruble, disruption of the entire financial system in the state, and an extraordinary increase in prices.
Food difficulties that arose as a result of the general collapse of the economy forced the tsarist government in 1916 to introduce forced grain requisitioning. But this attempt did not yield results, since the landowners sabotaged government decrees and hid the grain in order to later sell it at a high price. The peasants also did not want to sell bread for depreciated paper money.
Since the autumn of 1916, food supplies to Petrograd alone accounted for only half of its needs. Due to a lack of fuel in Petrograd, already in December 1916, the work of about 80 enterprises was stopped.
The food crisis that sharply worsened in the fall of 1916, the deterioration of the situation at the fronts, the fear that workers would demonstrate and “are about to burst into the streets,” the inability of the government to lead the country out of the deadlock - all this led to the question of the removal of Prime Minister Stürmer. .
Octobrist leader A.I. Guchkov saw the only way out of the situation in a palace coup. Together with a group of officers, he hatched plans for a dynastic coup (the abdication of Nicholas II in favor of an heir under the regency of Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich).
Positions of the Cadet Party expressed by P.N. Miliukov, speaking in November 1916 in the IV State Duma with sharp criticism of the economic and military policies of the government, accusing the tsarina’s entourage of preparing a separate treaty with Germany and provocatively pushing the masses to revolutionary uprisings. He repeatedly repeated the question: “What is this - stupidity or treason?” And in response, the deputies shouted: “stupidity,” “treason,” accompanying the speaker’s speech with constant applause. This speech, of course, was prohibited for publication, but, reproduced illegally, it became famous at the front and in the rear.
The most imaginative description of the political situation in Russia on the eve of the impending national catastrophe was given by one of the cadet leaders V.I. Maklakov. He compared Russia to “a car speeding along a steep and narrow road. The driver cannot drive because he does not control the car at all on descents, or he is tired and no longer understands what he is doing.”
In January 1917, Nicholas II, under pressure from public opinion, removed Stürmer, replacing him with the liberal Prince Golitsyn. But this action could not change anything.
February 1917
1917 began in Petrograd with new workers' speeches. The total number of strikers in January 1917 was already more than 350 thousand. For the first time during the war, defense plants (Obukhovsky and Arsenal) went on strike. Since mid-February, revolutionary actions have not stopped: strikes were replaced by rallies, rallies by demonstrations.
On February 9, Chairman of the IV State Duma M.V. Rodzianko arrived in Tsarskoye Selo with a report on the situation in the country. “The revolution will sweep you away,” he told Nicholas II. “Well, God willing,” was the emperor’s answer. “God doesn’t give anything, you and your government have ruined everything, revolution is inevitable,” stated M.V. Rodzianko.
Two weeks later, on February 23, unrest began in Petrograd, on February 25, the strike in Petrograd became general, soldiers began to go over to the side of the demonstrators, and on February 26-27, the autocracy no longer controlled the situation in the capital.
As V.V. wrote Shulgin, “in the entire huge city it was impossible to find a hundred people who would sympathize with the authorities.”
On February 27 - 28, the Petrograd Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies was formed. (Chrestomathy T7 No. 13) It was composed of socialists, the majority - Socialist Revolutionaries and Mensheviks. The Menshevik N.S. became the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Council. Chkheidze, and his deputies - A.F. Kerensky, one of the most radical speakers of the IV Duma, and M.I. Skobelev.
Almost simultaneously with the formation of the Council, the State Duma, at an unofficial meeting (on February 26, it was dissolved by decree of the Tsar for two months), created a “Temporary Committee for restoring order and for relations with persons and institutions” as the governing body of the country.
The two authorities, born of the revolution, were on the verge of conflict, but, in the name of maintaining unity in the fight against tsarism, they made a mutual compromise. With the sanction of the Executive Committee of the Council, the Duma Provisional Committee formed the Provisional Government on March 1.
The Bolsheviks demanded that a government be formed only from representatives of the parties included in the council. But the Executive Committee rejected this proposal. The Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries who were members of the Executive Committee had a fundamentally different point of view on the composition of the government than the Bolsheviks. They believed that after the victory of the bourgeois-democratic revolution, power should be formed by the bourgeoisie under the control of the Council. The leadership of the Council refused to participate in the government. The support of the Provisional Government from the Executive Committee was accompanied by the main condition - the government would pursue a democratic program approved and supported by the Council.
By the evening of March 2, the composition of the government was determined. Prince G.E. was appointed Chairman of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Internal Affairs. Lvov, cadet, Minister of Foreign Affairs - leader of the Cadet Party P.N. Miliukov, Minister of Finance - M.I. Tereshchenko, cadet, Minister of Military and Naval Affairs - A.I. Konovalov, Octobrist, A.F. Kerensky (representative of the Executive Committee of the Petrograd Soviet) took the post of Minister of Justice. Thus, the government was mainly Cadet in composition.
Notified of these events, Nicholas II received a proposal to abdicate in favor of his brother, Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich, and on March 2, he handed over the text of the abdication to two emissaries of the Duma, Guchkov and Shulgin, who arrived in Pskov, where the emperor was. (Reader T 7 No. 14) (Reader T7 No. 15) But this step was already late: Michael, in turn, abdicated the throne. The monarchy in Russia fell.
A dual power actually emerged in the country - the Provisional Government as a body of bourgeois power and the Petrograd Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies as a body of working people.
Political situation in Russia (February - October 1917)
“Dual power” (February - June 1917)
The Provisional Government did not set as its goal to carry out revolutionary changes in the economic and social order. As government representatives themselves stated, all major issues of government structure will be resolved constituent Assembly, but for now it’s “temporary”, it is necessary to maintain order in the country and, most importantly, win the war. There was no talk about reforms.
After the collapse of the monarchy, the opportunity to come to power opened up for all political classes, parties and their political leaders for the first time in Russian history. More than 50 political parties fought for the period from February to October 1917. A particularly noticeable role in politics after February 1917 was played by the Cadets, Mensheviks, Socialist Revolutionaries, and Bolsheviks. What were their goals and tactics?
Central place in cadet program were occupied by the ideas of Europeanization of Russia through the creation of a strong state power. They assigned the leading role in this process to the bourgeoisie. The continuation of the war, according to the Cadets, could unite both conservatives and liberals, the State Duma and the commanders-in-chief. The Cadets saw the unity of these forces as the main condition for the development of the revolution.
Mensheviks viewed the February Revolution as a nationwide, nationwide, class-wide one. Therefore, their main political line in the development of events after February was the creation of a government based on a coalition of forces not interested in the restoration of the monarchy.
The views on the nature and tasks of the revolution were similar right socialist revolutionaries(A.F. Kerensky, N.D. Avksentyev), as well as from the leader of the party, who occupied centrist positions, V. Chernov.
February, in their opinion, is the apogee of the revolutionary process and liberation movement in Russia. They saw the essence of the revolution in Russia in achieving civil harmony, reconciling all layers of society, and, first of all, reconciling supporters of war and revolution to implement a program of social reforms.
The position was different left socialist revolutionaries, its leader M.A. Spiridonova who believed that the popular, democratic February in Russia marked the beginning of a political and social world revolution.
Bolsheviks
The Bolsheviks—Russia's most radical party in 1917—saw February as the first stage of the struggle for socialist revolution. This position was formulated by V.I. Lenin in the “April Theses”, where the slogans “No support for the Provisional Government” and “All power to the Soviets” were put forward.
The April Theses also formulated the economic platform of the party: workers' control over social production and distribution of products, the unification of all banks into one national bank and the establishment of control over it by the Soviets, the confiscation of landowners' lands and the nationalization of all land in the country.
The relevance of the theses became more and more obvious as crisis situations in the country grew in connection with the specific policies of the Provisional Government. The mood of the Provisional Government to continue the war and delay the decision on social reforms created a serious source of conflict in the development of the revolution.
First political crisis
During the 8 months the Provisional Government was in power, it was repeatedly in a state of crisis. The first crisis erupted in April When the Provisional Government announced that Russia would continue the war on the side of the Entente, this caused a massive protest of the people. On April 18 (May 1), the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Provisional Government, Miliukov, sent a note to the Allied Powers, which confirmed that the Provisional Government would comply with all treaties of the tsarist government and continue the war to a victorious end. The note caused indignation among wide sections of the population. Over 100 thousand people took to the streets of Petrograd demanding peace. The result of the crisis was the formation first coalition government, which consisted not only of bourgeois, but also of representatives of socialist (Mensheviks, Socialist Revolutionaries) parties.
Ministers P.N. left the government. Miliukov and A.I. Guchkov, the new coalition government included the leaders of the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries V.M. Chernov, A.F. Kerensky, I.G. Tsereteli, M.I. Skobelev.
The power crisis was temporarily eliminated, but the causes of its occurrence were not eliminated.
Second political crisis
The offensive at the front undertaken in June 1917 also did not meet with the support of the popular masses, who increasingly actively supported the Bolshevik slogans about the Soviets taking power and ending the war. It was already second political crisis Provisional Government. Workers and soldiers took part in demonstrations under the slogans “Down with 10 capitalist ministers”, “Bread, peace, freedom”, “All power to the Soviets” in Petrograd, Moscow, Tver, Ivanovo-Voznesensk and other cities.
Third political crisis
And a few days later a new (July) political crisis in Russia broke out in Petrograd. It was already third political crisis, which became a new stage on the path to a national crisis. The reason was the unsuccessful offensive of Russian troops at the front and the disbandment of revolutionary military units. As a result, on July 2 (15), the Cadets left the Provisional Government.
By this time, the socio-economic situation, especially the food situation, had deteriorated sharply. Neither the creation of land committees, nor the introduction of a state monopoly on bread, nor regulation of food supplies, nor even meat allocation with a double increase in purchase prices for basic food products could alleviate the difficult food situation. Imported purchases of meat, fish and other products did not help. About half a million prisoners of war, as well as soldiers from rear garrisons, were sent to agricultural work. To forcibly confiscate grain, the government sent armed military detachments to the village. However, all the measures taken did not produce the expected results. People stood in queues at night. For Russia, the summer and early autumn of 1917 was characterized by the collapse of the economy, closing enterprises, unemployment, and inflation. The differentiation of Russian society has sharply increased. Conflicting opinions clashed on the problems of war, peace, power, and bread. There was only one consensus: the war must be ended as soon as possible.
Under the current conditions, the Provisional Government was unable to maintain the level of political dialogue and July 4 - 5, 1917. turned to violence against the workers' and soldiers' demonstration in Petrograd. A peaceful demonstration in Petrograd was shot and dispersed by the armed forces of the Provisional Government. Following the shooting and dispersal of the peaceful demonstration, there was a government order granting the Minister of War and the Minister of Internal Affairs broad powers, giving the right to prohibit meetings and congresses, and to impose brutal censorship.
The newspapers Trud and Pravda were banned; The editorial office of the newspaper “Pravda” was destroyed, and on July 7 an order was issued for the arrest of V.I. Lenin and G.E. Zinoviev - Bolshevik leaders. However, the leadership of the Soviets did not interfere with the actions of the government, fearing the increased political influence of the Bolsheviks on the masses.
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