Russian Revolution - Facts & Summary - HISTORY.com Google Russian Revolution: Background By 1917, most Russians had lost faith in the leadership ability of Czar Nicholas II. Government corruption was rampant, the Russian economy remained backward, and Nicholas repeatedly dissolved the Duma, the Russian parliament established after the 1905 revolution, when it opposed his will. However, the immediate cause of the February Revolution–the first phase of the Russian Revolution of 1917–was Russia’s disastrous involvement in World War I (1914-18). Militarily, imperial Russia was no match for industrialized Germany, and Russian casualties were greater than those sustained by any nation in any previous war. Meanwhile, the economy was hopelessly disrupted by the costly war effort, and moderates joined Russian radical elements in calling for the overthrow of the czar. Did You Know? After Czar Nicholas II and his family were executed by Bolshevik forces in July 1918, the killers hid the victims’ mutilated bodies. The remains were discovered and exhumed in the late 1970s near Yekaterinburg, Russia, and eventually identified through DNA testing.

February Revolution: 1917 The February Revolution (known as such because of Russia’s use of the Julian calendar until February 1918) began on March 8, 1917 (or February 23 on the Julian calendar), when demonstrators clamoring for bread took to the streets in the Russian capital of Petrograd (now called St. Petersburg). Supported by huge crowds of striking industrial workers, the protesters clashed with police but refused to leave the streets. On March 10, the strike spread among all of Petrograd’s workers, and irate mobs destroyed police stations. Several factories elected deputies to the Petrograd Soviet, or council, of workers’ committees, following the model devised during the 1905 revolution. On March 11, the troops of the Petrograd army garrison were called out to quell the uprising. In some encounters, regiments opened fire, killing demonstrators, but the protesters kept to the streets and the troops began to waver. That day, Nicholas again dissolved the Duma. On March 12, the revolution triumphed when regiment after regiment of the Petrograd garrison defected to the cause of the demonstrators.

The soldiers subsequently formed committees that elected deputies to the Petrograd Soviet. The imperial government was forced to resign, and the Duma formed a provisional government that peacefully vied with the Petrograd Soviet for control of the revolution. On March 14, the Petrograd Soviet issued Order No. 1, which instructed Russian soldiers and sailors to obey only those orders that did not conflict with the directives of the Soviet. The next day, March 15, Czar Nicholas II abdicated the throne in favor of his brother Michael (1878-1918), whose refusal of the crown brought an end to the czarist autocracy. Bolshevik Revolution: 1917 In the aftermath of the February Revolution, power was shared between the weak provisional government and the Petrograd Soviet. Then, on November 6 and 7, 1917 (or October 24 and 25 on the Julian calendar, which is why this event is also referred to as the October Revolution), leftist revolutionaries led by Bolshevik Party leader Vladimir Lenin launched a nearly bloodless coup d’état against the provisional government.

The Bolsheviks and their allies occupied government buildings and other strategic locations in Petrograd, and soon formed a new government with Lenin as its head. Lenin became the virtual dictator of the first Marxist state in the world. His government made peace with Germany, nationalized industry and distributed land, but beginning in 1918 had to fight a devastating civil war against anti-Bolshevik White Army forces. In 1920, the anti-Bolsheviks were defeated, and in 1922 the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was established. Tags Why did the Russian Revolution occur?? Position: Home > History > Why did the Russian Revolution occur?? Question: Why did the Russian Revolution occur?? Why did the revolution occur?? please help.... Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Thirty plus years of upheavel & unrest laid the ground for the Russian Revolution in 1917.

A majority of the citizens were angry with a government they felt was unresponsive to their needs, indifferent to their suffering, out of touch with their needs, unaware & uncaring of their efforts to serve 'Mother Russia,' that their government, the Autocracy of Czar Nicholas the 2nd was a rudderless ship drifting deeper into chaos & confusion, amidst the horror of a World War which was slaughtering millions of Russian soldiers and Civilians. A raw formula for success. An inept Leader and his Corrupt Administration versus a gang of smart hardened revolutionaries, in particular Leon Trotsky and Nicoli Lenin. The Russian Revolution refers to a tumultuous period when Russia nearly embraced Democracy by Western Standards, but instead was steered into 'Communism' as defined by Lenin and Trotsky and later on, Josef Stalin. Here are some links and words.. """THE MARCH REVOLUTION AND THE NOVEMBER REVOLUTION (MARCH- NOVEMBER 1917) A. THE FIRST STAGE -- THE FALL OF CZARDOM On March 8, 1917, there were waves of strikes. Hungry strikers thronged the streets in Petrograd. They demanded bread.

The Czar ordered his troops to suppress the strikers. When the Petrograd troops turned to the side of these hungry strikers on March 10, it meant that the army which had been used to preserve the autocratic monarchy would not protect the Czar. On March 12, the Czar ordered the Fourth Duma to suspend its sessions. The Duma refused. Since both the upper and lower classes did not accept the rule of the Czar, the rule of Czar Nicholas II was over. Czar Nicholas II abdicated the throne in favour of Michael, his brother, in order to pacify the discontent of his people. But his brother knew that there was widespread hatred of Czardom. He declined the throne on March 15. The Romanov dynasty, after ruling Russia for three centuries (1613-1917), came to an end. The March Revolution was a spontaneous revolution initiated by the lower classes. It came as a result of their deep-seated hatred of the Czars who deprived them of political freedom, and brought them grave economic sufferings and military defeats. The First World War brought the discontent of the Russians to a head.

The Russian masses made the revolution spontaneously without any leadership from the revolutionary parties.""" """On 8th July, 1917, Alexander Kerensky became the new leader of the Provisional Government. Kerensky was still the most popular man in the government because of his political past. In the Duma he had been leader of the moderate socialists and had been seen as the champion of the working-class. However, Kerensky, like George Lvov, was unwilling to end the war. In fact, soon after taking office, he announced a new summer offensive. Soldiers on the Eastern Front were dismayed at the news and regiments began to refuse to move to the front line. There was a rapid increase in the number of men deserting and by the autumn of 1917 an estimated 2 million men had unofficially left the army. Some of these soldiers returned to their homes and used their weapons to seize land from the nobility. Manor houses were burnt down and in some cases wealthy landowners were murdered. Kerensky and the Provisional Government issued warnings but were powerless to stop the redistribution of land in the countryside.

On 19th July, Kerensky gave orders for the arrest of leading Bolsheviks who were campaigning against the war. This included Vladimir Lenin, Gregory Zinoviev, Lev Kamenev, Anatoli Lunacharsky, and Alexandra Kollontai. The Bolshevik headquarters at the Kshesinsky Palace, was also occupied by government troops. After the failure of the July Offensive on the Eastern Front, Kerensky replaced General Alexei Brusilov with General Lavr Kornilov, as Supreme Commander of the Russian Army. The two men soon clashed about military policy. Kornilov wanted Kerensky to restore the death-penalty for soldiers and to militarize the factories. Kerensky refused and sacked Kornilov. Kornilov responded by sending troops under the leadership of General Krymov to take control of Petrograd. Kerensky was now in danger and was forced to ask the Soviets and the Red Guards to protect Petrograd. The Bolsheviks, who controlled these organizations, agreed to this request, but in a speech made by their leader, Vladimir Lenin, he made clear they would be fighting against Kornilov rather than for Kerensky.

Within a few days Bolsheviks had enlisted 25,000 armed recruits to defend Petrograd. While they dug trenches and fortified the city, delegations of soldiers were sent out to talk to the advancing troops. Meetings were held and Kornilov's troops decided not to attack Petrograd. General Krymov committed suicide and Kornilov was arrested and taken into custody. Lenin now returned to Petrograd but remained in hiding. On 25th September, Kerensky attempted to recover his left-wing support by forming a new coalition that included more Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries. However, with the Bolsheviks controlling the Soviets and now able to call on 25,000 armed militia, Kerensky's authority had been undermined. The Bolsheviks set up their headquarters in the Smolny Institute. The former girls' convent school also housed the Petrograd Soviet. Under pressure from the nobility and industrialists, Alexander Kerensky was persuaded to take decisive action. On 22nd October he ordered the arrest of the Military Revolutionary Committee. The next day he closed down the Bolshevik newspapers and cut off the telephones to the Smolny Institute.

Leon Trotsky now urged the overthrow of the Provisional Government. Lenin agreed and on the evening of 24th October, 1917, orders were given for the Bolsheviks began to occupy the railway stations, the telephone exchange and the State Bank. The following day the Red Guards surrounded the Winter Palace. Inside was most of the country's Cabinet, although Kerensky had managed to escape from the city. The Winter Palace was defended by Cossacks, some junior army officers and the Woman's Battalion. At 9 p.m. the Aurora and the Peter and Paul Fortress began to open fire on the palace. Little damage was done but the action persuaded most of those defending the building to surrender. The Red Guards, led by Vladimir Antonov-Ovseenko, now entered the Winter Palace and arrested the Cabinet ministers. On 26th October, 1917, the All-Russian Congress of Soviets met and handed over power to the Soviet Council of People's Commissars.

Vladimir Lenin was elected chairman and other appointments included Leon Trotsky (Foreign Affairs) Alexei Rykov (Internal Affairs), Anatoli Lunacharsky (Education), Alexandra Kollontai (Social Welfare), Felix Dzerzhinsky (Internal Affairs), Joseph Stalin (Nationalities), Peter Stuchka (Justice) and Vladimir Antonov-Ovseenko (War)."" Peace SparkNotes: The Russian Revolution (1917–1918): Overview The Russian Revolution (1917–1918) History SparkNotes Table of Contents Summary of Events The Russian Revolution took place in 1917, during the final phase of World War I. It removed Russia from the war and brought about the transformation of the Russian Empire into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), replacing Russia’s traditional monarchy with the world’s first Communist state. The revolution happened in stages through two separate coups, one in February and one in October. The new government, led by Vladimir Lenin, would solidify its power only after three years of civil war, which ended in 1920. Although the events of the Russian Revolution happened abruptly, the causes may be traced back nearly a century.

Prior to the revolution, the Russian monarchy had become progressively weaker and increasingly aware of its own vulnerability (and therefore more reactionary). Nicholas II—the tsar who led Russia in the years leading up to the revolution—had personally witnessed revolutionary terrorists assassinate his grandfather and, subsequently, his own father respond to the assassination through brutal oppression of the Russian people. When Nicholas II himself became tsar in 1894, he used similarly severe measures to subdue resistance movements, which were becoming bolder and more widespread every year. As Nicholas’s newly imposed oppressions in turn incited still more unrest, he was forced to make concessions after each incident: it was in this manner that Russia’s first constitution was created, as was its first parliament. These concessions continued gradually until Nicholas II’s grip on power became very tenuous. As Nicholas II grew weaker, Vladimir Lenin rose to prominence as the most powerful figure in Russia. Although this famous leader of the October Revolution was not even in Russia for the February Revolution—he had lived in self-imposed exile in Europe since 1900 and returned to Russia only in April 1917—he nonetheless exerted tremendous influence.

Whatever history’s judgment of him, few other Russian revolutionaries possessed Lenin’s decisiveness and strength of vision for Russia’s future. Born in 1870 in the provincial town of Simbirsk as Vladimir Ilich Ulyanov, the young Lenin was profoundly affected by his older brother Alexander’s 1887 execution for being involved in a plot to assassinate the tsar. As a young adult, Vladimir joined the resistance movement himself and took the pseudonym Lenin but swore that he would never engage in the sort of “adventurism” that had ended his brother’s life. Nevertheless, his actions would one day become very adventurous indeed. The revolution that Lenin led marked one of the most radical turning points in Russia’s 1,300-year history: it affected economics, social structure, culture, international relations, industrial development, and most any other benchmark by which one might measure a revolution. Although the new government would prove to be at least as repressive as the one it replaced, the country’s new rulers were drawn largely from the intellectual and working classes rather than from the aristocracy—which meant a considerable change in direction for Russia. The revolution opened the door for Russia to fully enter the industrial age.

Prior to 1917, Russia was a mostly agrarian nation that had dabbled in industrial development only to a limited degree. By 1917, Russia’s European neighbors had embraced industrialization for more than half a century, making technological advancements such as widespread electrification, which Russia had yet to achieve. After the revolution, new urban-industrial regions appeared quickly in Russia and became increasingly important to the country’s development. The population was drawn to the cities in huge numbers. Education also took a major upswing, and illiteracy was almost entirely eradicated. The Russian Revolution also had considerable international consequences. Lenin’s government immediately pulled Russia out of World War I, changing the balance of forces for the remaining participants. During the ensuing civil war in Russia, several nations, including the United States, sent troops to Russia in hopes of keeping the chaos from spreading beyond Russia’s boundaries. Over the next several decades, the Soviet Union actively sponsored and assisted Communist movements and revolutions around the world in an effort to broaden its sphere of influence. The country also played a fundamental role in the defeat of Nazi Germany during World War II.

Threatened by the possibility of revolutions in their own lands, the governments of many Western nations viewed Communism as a spreading threat and moved to isolate the Soviet Union as much as possible. Following World War II and the advent of the nuclear age, a confrontation between the Soviet Union and the United States took center stage. As this Cold War got under way, the two countries emerged as superpowers with much of the rest of the world falling in behind one or the other. A protracted nuclear arms race between the United States and Soviet Union would last until the USSR finally collapsed in 1991. The Russian Revolution - World War I World War I Russian Revolution Tsar Nicholas II on one of his tours of the front line in 1916 The effects of World War I gave rise to the Russian Revolution of 1917. By the end of 1916, two years of total war had placed enormous strain on all combatant nations. None felt this more severely than Russia, which had entered the war confident but in a precarious political, economic and social state.

The Russian economy made great industrial advances in the two decades prior to 1914, but it was still under-developed and ill-equipped to supply a prolonged war. Russia’s government was still dominated by the tsarist autocracy, which claimed political authority that was divine rather than popular. The Russian people were already fractious, dissatisfied and eager for change. In 1905 their demands had taken the empire to the brink of revolution, before tensions were eased with promises of reform – promises that were never truly fulfilled. The Russian empire rested on what historian Orlando Figes called ‘unstable pillars’, and they were unable to sustain its involvement in one of the most intense wars in history. At the epicentre of this turmoil was Nicholas II, tsar of all the Russias. Most historians agree that Nicholas was not equipped for governing Russia through difficult times. He was the son of an over-bearing autocrat and the grandson of a reformer, but was himself incapable of being either. Nicholas was determined to cling to autocratic power but he was blind to the problems this created and the threats it posed to his throne.

The tsar professed to love the Russian people, yet he turned the other way when hungry workers were shot in January 1905, and when striking miners were machine-gunned in Siberia in 1912. Nicholas instead blamed Russia’s troubles on others: on foreign liberal ideas, on anarchists, on trouble-makers in the universities and on Jews (like many Russian conservatives he was an embittered anti-Semite). The tsar drew his advice and counsel from an inner circle of ministers, military officers, aristocrats and bishops – but too often they told Nicholas whatever he wished to hear, rather than what he should. The tsar and his much taller military chief, Grand Duke Nikolai The rapid descent into war in 1914 had caught the tsar unaware. Nicholas knew the German kaiser well enough to know he was ambitious and prone to rash decisions; but he did not think Wilhelm so treacherous that he would declare war on the empire of his own cousin. Nicholas made the first of several blunders in July 1914 when he appointed his cousin, Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich, as commander-in-chief of the army.

Nikolaevich had military training as a cavalry officer but had never commanded an army in battle; he now found himself in charge of one of the largest armies in history. In August 1914 the tsar and Nikolaevich – aware that most German forces would be occupied with the Schlieffen Plan in the west – planned an invasion of East Prussia. It was a bold campaign that might have succeeded if not for poor planning and leadership. The two Russian field commanders, Alexander Samsonov and Pavel von Rennenkampf, were competent officers but were both over-confident and vainglorious. They were also bitter rivals who could barely stand the sight of one another. Their squabbling and inept decision-making contributed to a disastrous defeat at the Battle of Tannenberg in late August 1914. Unable to face reporting the loss of 150,000 troops to the tsar, Samsonov took his own life. “The declaration of war did bring a powerful, if brief, burst of patriotic support for the tsarist government.

[But] within six months, the human and economic costs of the war badly eroded whatever political capital the tsar’s government had gained by declaring war… Among the civilian population it was the peasantry who felt the pains of the war most sharply. Army mobilisations dragged away nearly a third of all the men in the villages – about one million men per month were conscripted in 1914-15. Conscription brought tragedy for hundreds of thousands of families, altered life in the villages [and] created a shortage of labor that hampered Russia’s already inefficient agrarian system.” Michael Hickey, historian This culture of unaccountability and military incompetence was ingrained in much of the Russian military. After a year of fighting and several costly defeats, the exasperated Nicholas II decided to personally take command of the army. In September 1915, against the advice of his ministers, he dismissed Nikolaevich and proceeded to the frontline. The decision proved telling for two reasons. Nicholas’ distance from the Eastern Front in 1914 and early 1915 had buffered him from much criticism; his generals had instead footed the blame for military disasters.

Now, the tsar would be responsible for every defeat, shattering the divine infallibility that many superstitious Russians believed he had. Secondly, before his departure Nicholas left the reins of domestic government with his wife, rather than a prime minister. The tsarina Alexandra was utterly devoted to her husband but was even more politically naive than he. Worse still, she was of German birth and had been given de facto political power a year into a bitter war with Germany. Grigori Rasputin, the Siberian monk whose drinking and sexual antics discredited the tsar Worsening matters was another sinister figure who was lingering on the periphery in 1916. Grigori Rasputin was a Siberian itinerant who had trekked his way to Saint Petersburg several years before. Once in the capitol he began to attract attention as an occultist, a fortune-teller and a faith-healer. Despite his appalling manners and personal hygiene, the mysterious Rasputin found his way into the parlours – and in many cases, the bedrooms – of Saint Petersburg’s aristocratic and bourgeois ladies.

He eventually received an invitation to the Winter Palace, where the deeply religious tsarina sought divine assistance for her young son Alexei, who was cursed with the genetic blood disorder haemophilia. Rasputin’s ministrations comforted the boy – and his mother – so the Siberian mystic became a regular in the royal court. He prayed with the Romanovs and treated Alexei during the day, then at night crawled the seedier parts of the city, boozing and cavorting with gypsy prostitutes. Rasputin came to exert some political sway over Alexandra, passing on ‘divine advice’ about ministerial appointments, domestic policy, even military matters. Though his influence has probably been overstated, Rasputin’s baleful presence revealed the anachronistic and corruptible nature of tsarism. In December 1916 a group of aristocrats attempted to ‘save’ the monarchy from Rasputin by murdering him. They succeeded in disposing of him but it proved too little, too late. By February 1917 the situation in Russia’s cities had become critical.

Shortages of food and fuel were dire: the capitol city, since re-named Petrograd, needed sixty railway cars of food a day but often received barely a third of this amount. Inflation had been so severe through 1916 that the rouble had just a quarter of its pre-war buying power. In February, when a women’s day march through Petrograd merged with angry bread queues, the unrest spilled over into revolution. Soldiers ordered to fire on the crowd refused and shot their officers instead. The tsarina’s response was dismissive, writing off the unrest as a “hooligan movement”. Things eventually became so dire that the tsar decided to return from the front – but he was halted along the way by striking railway workers. While waiting on train sidings in Pskov, Nicholas II was met by his generals and members of the Duma (the national parliament). All but one demanded he sign an instrument of abdication, which Nicholas eventually did. More than 300 years of Romanov rule were brought to an end with the swish of a pen in a stranded railway cart.

Russian revolutionaries on the march in 1917 In different times, the departure of tsarism might have paved the way for a brighter future for Russia. The Provisional Government that replaced the tsarist regime did introduce some liberal reforms, like freedoms of assembly and the press, and amnesties for political prisoners. But facing international pressure, it refused to end Russian involvement in the war. The defeats, military follies, casualty lists and food shortages continued, and after six months the Provisional Government’s popularity had slumped. In October 1917 a new political force, the socialist Bolshevik Party, emerged to seize control of the nation. Led by Vladimir Ulyanov, or Lenin, the Bolsheviks promised ‘peace, bread and land’ – promises that resonated with Russian workers, soldiers and sailors. Once in power the Bolsheviks commenced peace negotiations with Germany and, in March 1918, they signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, formally ending Russia’s involvement in the war. It would prove a costly peace: Russia had to surrender large amounts of territory, people and fertile farmland.

World War I had killed off one of Europe’s oldest monarchies and gave birth to a new political phenomenon: socialist dictatorship – which later came to deliver its own share of death, deprivation and human suffering. 1. At the start of the war, Russia was a vast empire with a large army – but was politically and industrially backward. 2. Its leader, Tsar Nicholas II, adhered to principles of autocracy but was not competent to govern autocratically. 3. Russia’s disastrous 1914 campaigns saw Nicholas take personal command of the army, a politically dangerous step. 4. The tsar and his wife were also discredited by their involvement with the meddling faith healer Grigori Rasputin. 5. By the start of 1917, Russia’s domestic economy had collapsed and both food and fuel were critically scarce in Russian cities. This triggered the February Revolution, an uprising that led to the abdication of the tsar and, by the end of 1917, the rise of a socialist government in Russia. © Alpha History 2014. Content on this page may not be republished or distributed without permission. For more information please refer to our Terms of Use .

This page was written by Jennifer Llewellyn, Jim Southey and Steve Thompson. To reference this page, use the following citation: J. Llewellyn et al, “Russian Revolution” at Alpha History, 2014, accessed [date of last access]. Search this site Translate World War I live To mark the centenary of World War I, Alpha History authors live-tweet press reports on the war - as they appeared 100 years ago. Russian Revolution of 1917 Updated August 29, 2016. What Was the Russian Revolution of 1917? In 1917, two revolutions completely changed the fabric of Russia. First, the February Russian Revolution toppled the Russian monarchy and established a Provisional Government. Then in October, a second Russian Revolution placed the Bolsheviks as the leaders of Russia, resulting in the creation of the world's first communist country. The February 1917 Revolution Although many wanted a revolution , no one expected it to happen when it did and how it did. On Thursday, February 23, 1917, women workers in Petrograd left their factories and entered the streets to protest.

It was International Women's Day and the women of Russia were ready to be heard. An estimated 90,000 women marched through the streets, shouting "Bread" and "Down With the Autocracy!" and "Stop the War!" These women were tired, hungry, and angry. They worked long hours in miserable conditions in order to feed their families because their husbands and fathers were at the front, fighting in World War I . continue reading below our video Profile of Joseph Stalin They wanted change. They weren't the only ones. The following day, more than 150,000 men and women took to the streets to protest. Soon more people joined them and by Saturday, February 25, the city of Petrograd was basically shut down -- no one was working. Although there were a few incidents of police and soldiers firing into the crowds, those groups soon mutinied and joined the protesters. Czar Nicholas II , who was not in Petrograd during the revolution, heard reports of the protests but did not take them seriously. By March 1, it was obvious to everyone except the czar himself that the czar's rule was over.

On March 2, 1917 it was made official when Czar Nicholas II abdicated. Without a monarchy, the question remained as to who would next lead the country. Provisional Government vs. The Petrograd Soviet Two contending groups emerged out of the chaos to claim leadership of Russia. The first was made up of former Duma members and the second was the Petrograd Soviet. The former Duma members represented the middle and upper classes while the Soviet represented workers and soldiers. In the end, the former Duma members formed a Provisional Government which officially ran the country. The Petrograd Soviet allowed this because they felt that Russia was not economically advanced enough to undergo a true socialist revolution. Within the first few weeks after the February Revolution, the Provisional Government abolished the death penalty, granted amnesty for all political prisoners and those in exile, ended religious and ethnic discrimination, and granted civil liberties. What they did not deal with was an end to the war, land reform, or better quality of life for the Russian people. The Provisional Government believed Russia should honor its commitments to its allies in World War I and continue fighting. V.I. Lenin did not agree.

Lenin Returns From Exile Vladimir Ilyich Lenin , leader of the Bolsheviks, was living in exile when the February Revolution transformed Russia. Once the Provisional Government allowed back political exiles, Lenin boarded a train in Zurich, Switzerland and headed home. On April 3, 1917, Lenin arrived in Petrograd at the Finland Station. Tens of thousands of workers and soldiers had come to the station to greet Lenin. There were cheers and a sea of red, waving flags. Not able to get through, Lenin jumped on top of a car and gave a speech. Lenin at first congratulated the Russian people for their successful revolution. However, Lenin had more to say. In a speech made just hours later, Lenin shocked everyone by denouncing the Provisional Government and calling for a new revolution. He reminded the people that the country was still at war and that the Provisional Government had done nothing to give the people bread and land. At first, Lenin was a lone voice in his condemnation of the Provisional Government. But Lenin worked ceaselessly over the following few months and eventually people began to really listen.

Soon many wanted "Peace, Land, Bread!" The October 1917 Revolution By September 1917, Lenin believed the Russian people were ready for another revolution. However, other Bolshevik leaders were not yet quite convinced. On October 10, a secret meeting of the Bolshevik party leaders was held. Lenin used all his powers of persuasion to convince the others that it was time for an armed insurrection. Having debated through the night, a vote was taken the following morning -- it was ten to two in favor of a revolution. The people themselves were ready. In the very early hours of October 25, 1917, the revolution began. Troops loyal to the Bolsheviks took control of the telegraph, power station, strategic bridges, post office, train stations, and state bank. Control of these and other posts within the city were handed over to the Bolsheviks with barely a shot fired. By late that morning, Petrograd was in the hands of the Bolsheviks -- all except the Winter Palace where the leaders of the Provisional Government remained. Prime Minister Alexander Kerensky successfully fled but by the following day, troops loyal to the Bolsheviks infiltrated the Winter Palace.

After nearly a bloodless coup, the Bolsheviks were the new leaders of Russia. Nearly immediately, Lenin announced that the new regime would end the war, abolish all private land ownership, and would create a system for workers' control of factories. Civil War Unfortunately, as well intended as Lenin's promises might have been, they proved disastrous. After Russia pulled out of World War I, millions of Russian soldiers filtered home. They were hungry, tired, and wanted their jobs back. Yet there was no extra food. Without private land ownership, farmers began to grow just enough produce for themselves; there was no incentive to grow more. There were also no jobs to be had. Without a war to support, factories no longer had vast orders to fill. None of the people's real problems were fixed; instead, their lives became much worse. In June 1918, Russia broke out in civil war. It was the Whites (those against the Soviets, which included monarchists, liberals, and other socialists) against the Reds (the Bolshevik regime).

Near the beginning of the Russian Civil War, the Reds were worried that the Whites would free the czar and his family, which would not only have given the Whites a psychological boost but might have led to the restoration of the monarchy in Russia. The Reds were not going to let that happen. On the night of July 16-17, 1918, Czar Nicholas, his wife, their children, the family dog, three servants, and the family doctor were all woken up, taken to the basement, and shot . The Civil War lasted over two years and was bloody, brutal, and cruel. The Reds won but at the expense of millions of people killed. The Russian Civil War dramatically changed the fabric of Russia. The moderates were gone. What was left was an extreme, vicious regime that was to rule Russia until the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

SparkNotes: The Russian Revolution (1917–1918): The October Revolution The Russian Revolution (1917–1918) History SparkNotes The October Revolution, page 2 page 1 of 3 August 31, 1917 Bolsheviks achieve majority in the Petrograd Soviet September 5 Bolsheviks achieve majority in the Moscow Soviet October 10 Lenin and the Bolshevik Central Committee decide to proceed with revolution October 23 Provisional government acts to shut down all Bolshevik newspapers October 24 Provisional government deploys junkers Bolshevik troops begin to take over government buildings in the city October 25 Kerensky escapes Petrograd Bolsheviks struggle all day long to capture Winter Palace Second Congress of Soviets convenes October 26 Provisional government is arrested early in the morning Lenin issues Decree on Peace and Decree on Land Congress approves Soviet of the People’s Commissars, with all-Bolshevik membership, as new provisional government Key People Vladimir Lenin - Bolshevik leader; became leader of Russia after October Revolution; issued Decree on Peace and Decree on Land Lev Kamenev - Bolshevik leader who resisted Lenin’s plans for a prompt revolution Grigory Zinoviev - Bolshevik leader who

 sided with Kamenev, voting against revolution Alexander Kerensky - Prime minister of provisional government; fled Russia during revolution to live in Europe and then the United States The Red Resurgence During late August and September, the Bolsheviks enjoyed a sudden growth in strength, following their failures during the summer.

On August 31, they finally achieved a majority in the Petrograd Soviet, and on September 5, they won a similar victory in the Moscow Soviet. Lenin, fearing arrest after the events of July, continued to hide in rural areas near the Finnish border. As time went on, he become more and more impatient and began calling urgently for the ouster of the provisional government. Although Prime Minister Alexander Kerensky’s authority was faltering, the provisional government was coming closer to organizing the Constituent Assembly, which would formally establish a republican government in Russia. Elections for the assembly were scheduled for November 12. Lenin knew that once this process started, it would be far more difficult to seize power while still preserving the appearance of legitimacy. If there were to be another revolution, it had to take place before then. Internal Opposition Before a revolution could happen, Lenin faced considerable opposition from within his own party. Many still felt that the timing was wrong and that Lenin had made no serious plans for how the country would be administered after power was seized. On October 10, shortly following Lenin’s return to Petrograd, the Bolshevik Party leadership (the Central Committee) held a fateful meeting.

Few details of this meeting have survived, but it is known that Lenin delivered an impassioned speech in which he restated his reasons for staging the uprising sooner rather than later. Most of those present—only twelve men in all—initially were reluctant. Nevertheless, by the end of the meeting, Lenin had talked all but two of them into approving an armed uprising to oust the provisional government. What had yet to be decided was precisely when the revolution would happen. Final Plans During the next two weeks, Lenin’s followers remained holed up in their headquarters at the Smolny Institute, a former school for girls in the center of Petrograd, where they made their final plans and assembled their forces. A Second Congress of Soviets was now in the works, scheduled for October 25, and the Bolsheviks were confident that they would have its overwhelming support, since they had taken pains to invite only those delegates likely to sympathize with their cause. Just to be sure, however, the Bolsheviks decided to hold the revolution on the day before the meeting and then to ask the Congress to approve their action after the fact.

The two Bolshevik leaders who had voted against the uprising after the October 10 meeting, Lev Kamenev and Grigory Zinoviev, continued to protest the plan and resist Lenin’s preparations. However, at the last moment, they suddenly reversed their position so as not to be left out. By this point, the Bolsheviks had an army of sorts, under the auspices of the Military Revolutionary Committee, technically an organ of the Petrograd Soviet. Lenin and the other Bolshevik leaders, however, knew that these troops were unreliable and had a tendency to flee as soon as anyone fired at them. However, they expected that at least the main Petrograd garrison would support them once they saw that the Bolsheviks had the upper hand. 1 1917 Russian Revolution 1917 Russian Revolution 8 1917 Russian Revolution The 1917 Russian Revolution was not, as many people suppose, one well organised event in which Tsar Nicholas II was overthrown and Lenin and the Bolsheviks took power.

It was a series of events that took place during 1917, which entailed two separate revolutions in February and October (with a great deal of political wranglings inbetween), and which eventually plunged the country into Civil War before leading to the founding of the Communist State. Growing Unrest The first major event of the Russian Revolution was the February Revolution, which was a chaotic affair and the culmination of over a century of civil and military unrest. The causes of this unrest of the common people towards the Tsar and aristocratic landowners are too many and complicated to neatly summarise, but key factors to consider were ongoing resentment at the cruel treatment of peasants by patricians, poor working conditions experienced by city workers in the fledgling industrial economy and a growing sense of political and social awareness of the lower orders in general (democratic ideas were reaching Russia from the West and being touted by political activists). Dissatisfaction of the proletarian lot was further compounded by food shortages and military failures. In 1905 Russia experienced humilating losses in the Russo-Japanese war and, during a demonstration against the war in the same year, Tsarist troops fired upon an unarmed crowd - further dividing Nicholas II from his people.

Widespread strikes, riots and the famous mutiny on the Battleship Potemkin ensued. Such was the climate in 1905 in fact that Tsar Nicholas saw fit, against his will, to cede the people their wishes. In his October Manifesto, Nicholas created Russia's first constitution and the State Duma, an elected parliamentary body. However Nicholas's belief in his divine right to rule Russia meant that he spent much of the following years fighting to undermine or strip the Duma of its powers and to retain as much autocracy as possible. (Modern historians might note that Russian rulers haven't come a long way in the last hundred years!). When Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated by political activists in Serbia in 1914, the Austro-Hungarian empire declared war on its neighbours. Serbia turned to Russia for help. Tsar Nicholas II saw a chance to galvanise his people against a common enemy, and to atone for the humiliations suffered in the Russo-Japanese war. It didn't quite work out however... World War I In many ways Russia's disastrous participation in World War I was the final blow to Tsarist rule.

In the very first engagement with the Germans (who had sided with the Austro-Hungarian Empire), the Battle of Tannenberg, the Russian army was comprehensively beaten suffering 120,000 casualties to Germany's 20,000. A continuing series of losses and setbacks meant that Nicholas left St. Petersburg in the autumn of 1915 to take personal control of the army. By this time Russia was sending conscripts and untrained troops to the front, with little or no equipment and fighting in an almost continual retreat. In 1916 morale reached an all time low as the pressure of waging the war fell hardest on prolaterian families, whose sons were being slaughtered at the front and who severe suffered food and fuel shortages at home. The Tsar and the Imperial regime took the blame as civil unrest heated up to boiling point. The February Revolution (1917) On 23rd February 1917 the International Women's Day Festival in St. Petersburg turned into a city-wide demonstration, as exasperated women workers left factories to protest against food shortages.

Men soon joined them, and on the following day - encouraged by political and social activists - the crowds had swelled and virtually every industry, shop and enterprise had ceased to function as almost the entire populace went on strike. Nicholas ordered the police and military to intervene, however the military was no longer loyal to the Tsar and many mutinied or joined the people in demonstrations. Fights broke out and the whole city was in chaos. On October 28th over 80,000 troops mutinied from the army and looting and rioting was widespread. Faced with this untenable situation Tsar Nicholas abdicated his throne, handing power to his brother Michael. However Michael would not accept leadership unless he was elected by the Duma. He resigned the following day, leaving Russia without a head of state. The Provisional Government After the abdication of the Romanovs a Provisional Government was quickly formed by leading members of the Duma and recognised internationally as Russia's legal government. It was to rule Russia until elections could be held. However it's power was by no means absolute or stable. The more radical Petrograd Soviet organisation was a trade union of workers and soldiers that wielded enormous influence.

It favoured full-scale Socialism over more moderate democratic reforms generally favoured by members of the Provisional Government. After centuries of Imperial rule Russia was consumed with political fervour, but the many different factions, all touting different ideas, meant that political stability was still a long way off directly after February Revolution. Lenin Returns to Russia One person keen to take advantage of the chaotic state of affairs in St. Petersburg was Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov - aka Lenin. Lenin had spent most of the 20th Century travelling and working and campaigning in Europe - partly out of fear for his own safety, as he was known Socialist and enemy of the Tsarist regime. However with the Tsar under arrest and Russian politics in chaos, Lenin saw the opportunity to lead his party, the Bolsheviks, to power. From his home in Switzerland he negotiated a return to Russia with the help of German authorities. (As a proponent of withdrawing Russia from the Great War, the Germans were willing to facilitate Lenin's passage back via a 'sealed train'.) Lenin's return in April of 1917 was greeted by the Russian populace, as well as by many leading political figures, with great rapture and applause.

However, far from uniting the fractious parties, he immediately condemned the policies and ideologies of both the Provisional Government and the Petrograd Soviet. In his April Theses, published in the Bolshevik newspaper Pravda, he advocated non-co-operation with the liberals (ie. non-hardline Communists) and an immediate end to the war. At first his uncompromising stance served to isolate Lenin and the Bolsheviks, however with powerful slogans like 'Peace, land and bread,' Lenin begin to win the hearts of the Russian people - who were increasingly unable to stomach war and poverty. Summer of 1917 During the summer of 1917 Lenin made several attempts to invoke another revolution the likes of which had taken place in February, with the aim of overthrowing the Provisional Government. When the Machine Gun Regiment refused to leave Petrograd (as St. Petersburg was then known) for the frontline Lenin sought to manoeuvre them instead into making a putsch. However Kerensky, arguably the most important figure of the time - a member of both the Provisional Government and Petrograd Soviet - adeptly thwarted the coup.

Experienced troops arrived in the city to quell any dissidents and the Bolsheviks were accused of being in collusion with the Germans. Many were arrested whilst Lenin escaped to Finland. Despite this PR disaster Lenin continued plotting and scheming. Meanwhile Kerensky suffered his own political setbacks and even had to appeal to the Bolsheviks for military aid when he feared his Minister of War, Kornilov, was aiming for a military dictatorship. By autumn the Bolsheviks were climbing into the ascendency, winning majority votes within the Petrograd and Moscow Soviets. Leon Trotsky was elected as president of the former. The October Revolution (Nb. By the Julian Calendar used in Russia at the time, the revolution took part in November 1917, and is therefore often referred to as the November Revolution) With Russian politics still in a state of constant flux Lenin realised that now was the time to capitalise on his party's popularity. He planned a coup d'etat that would overthrow the increasingly ineffective Provisional Government and replace them with the Bolsheviks. On October 10th he held a famous meeting with twelve party leaders, and tried to persuade them that a revolution was required. Despite receiving the backing of only 10 of them plotting went ahead.

October 24th was the date decided upon, and on that day troops loyal to the Bolsheviks took up crucial positions in the city, such as the main telephone and telegraph offices, banks, railroad stations, post offices, and major bridges. Guards commissioned by the Provisional Government, who had got wind of the plot, fled or surrendered without a fight. By the 25th October every key building in St. Petersburg was under Bolshevik control, except the Winter Palace where Kerensky and the other Ministers were holed up with a small guard. At 0900 of that day Kerensky fled the Palace by car, never to return to Russia. On the 26th the Palace was taken with barely a shot fired, and Lenin's October Revolution had been achieved with the bare minimum of drama or bloodshed. Aftermath and Consequences Despite being allowed to seize power so easily Lenin soon discovered that his support was far from absolute. His Peace Policy with the Germans was particularly unpopular as it ceded large amounts of Russian territory.

Shortly after the October Revolution, the Russian Civil War broke out between the 'Reds' (Communists) and the 'Whites' (Nationalists, Conservatives, Imperialists and other anti-Bolshevik groups). After a bloody four year struggle Lenin and the Reds won, establishing the Soviet Union in 1922, at an estimated cost of 15 million lives and billions of roubles. In 1923 Lenin died and Stalin took over the Communist Party, which continued to rule Russia until 1991 when the USSR was dissolved. Enjoyed it? The Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution WHAT WERE THE CAUSES FOR THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION? WHAT WERE THE CIRCUMSTANCES IN RUSSIA AS THE REVOLUTION OCCURRED? WHAT WAS THE OUTCOME OF THE REVOLUTION? WHY DID THE REVOLUTION BECOME SO PROFOUNDLY REACTIONARY? HOW WAS MARXISM RELATED TO THE REVOLUTION? WHAT WERE THE PHASES OF THE REVOLUTION? Russia was slowly industrializing during the last half of the 19th century and this process continued into the 20th century.

A small middle class and a small working class was growing in Russian cities, primarily in association with the railroad industry and financed, in large part, by western capital. As is usually the case in the early stages of industrialization, working conditions were horrendous and the working class terribly exploited. The largest part of the population, the peasantry, was also terribly opressed in spite of some improvements since the abolition of serfdom. An impatient intelligentsia, motivated by the western European example, desired rapid change while the Czarist government, following in the centuries-old pattern of authoritarian centralized power, set itself firmly in opposition to political change while encouraging the process of industrialization. This was an explosive combination which ensured that a political revolution would occur, driven by the irresistable forces of modernization. The only questions were when and under what circumstances it would occur. Early indications of the unstable political situation were dramatically displayed in the events known as the Revolution of 1905. In some sense this was the beginning of the Russian Revolution When the Cossacks guarding the Winter Palace in Petrograd fired upon thousands of peaceful demonstrators, the shock triggered nationwide strikes which paralyzed the economy.

Political leaders emerged from underground, where they had taken refuge from the Russian Police, and organized a common front against the government, making demands for the establishment of a Constitution and a legislature. These leaders were primarily from middle class and some aristocratic backgrounds, making the moderate demands that usually accompany the opening phase of a revolution. The Czar's government reluctantly gave in to those demands because it was the only way that they could regain control. Once the strike was called off, another crisis could not be manufactured at will in order to resume the strike. In other words, the government was then free to subvert the new Constitutional government by controlling the electoral rules and assuring that a rubber-stamp legislature was created. This was done, and Russia missed the chance to develop a stronger, more stable, more representative political system. Russia was left, in the aftermath of the Revolution of 1905, with the same inept, authoritarian government that it had had before. World War I created a crisis of such proportions that the monarchy could not meet the challenge. The war precipitated the revolution earlier than it would otherwise have occurred, and under circumstances of great instability and breakdown.

The usual middle class leadership of the liberal revolution had not had time to mature in its experiences and its institutions. That leadership, therefore, soon lost control of the revolution and was not able to re-assert itself. The Czarist monarchy dramatically demonstrated the weaknesses to which a hereditary system is prone. A male heir to the throne was necessary to assure the continuation of the dynasty. The son of the Czar and Empress, Alexis, was a frail boy who suffered from the crippling hereditary disease of hemophilia. The empress, and through her, a good-natured but weak-willed Czar, came under the influence of a religious charlatan, Rasputin, whom they came to believe was the only person who could save their son. To be so completely out of touch with reality when Russia was experiencing the devastating crisis of World War I was to assure the collapse of the Romanov dynasty after 300 years of rule. The war placed demands upon the Russian economy which could not be met. Industry could not produce the weapons needed by the Russian army. Railroads were inadequate to the task of delivering supplies to the army, and food to people in the cities.

Mounting lists of casualties eroded away the initial support for the war effort. As the crisis grew, Rasputin gained increasing influence over the Czar's government, hiring and firing ministers at his whim. The government became so discredited that even relatives of the royal family participated in the assassination of Rasputin. The government's authority became so discredited that it became vulnerable to total collapse if a challenge arose. The challenge came in March, 1917 (February under the Russian calendar) when a spontaneous demonstration arose in the streets of Petrograd. People clamoring for bread poured into the streets for 3 days in succession. On the third day, when the Petrograd army garrison was ordered to put down the demonstration, the soldiers turned on their officers and joined the demonstrators. The successful challenge to authority led to efforts by members of the Duma, the Russian legislature, to form a government. A moderate leadership, mainly of middle class background, joined by some aristocrats, formed a Provisional Government which intended to govern until a Constituent Assembly, whose job it was to write a new Constitution, could be elected.

Meanwhile, there was an atmosphere of complete freedom in which exiled or imprisoned political activists were returning to Petrograd and other cities and participating in grass roots political organizing. Soviets (councils) were formed, as they had done in 1905. As they made political decisions, they constituted a separate governing body from that of the Duma. As word spread about the overthrow, peasants began to rise up and seize the land, while soldiers, most of whom were peasants, began to desert the army in increasing numbers. A revolution on the land, which was beyond the control of city authorities, was occurring. As Lenin said, the Russian people were voting with their feet. The Provisional Government and the Soviets represented different elements of the people, and their decisions sometimes contradicted one another. While the leadership of the Provisional Government were trying to carry on the war effort, the Soviets issued General Order #1, authorizing soldiers to question the orders of their officers. While the Provisional Government were the moderate leaders attempting to carry out a liberal revolution, the majority of the Soviets were members of the Social Democratic Party, a Marxist party expecting the socialist revolution to follow the liberal revolution.

The Social Democratic Party had split into two groups in 1903, during a meeting of party leaders in exile in London. At that time, one faction, the Bolsheviks, led by Lenin, split from the Mensheviks in dispute over the role of the party in the Marxist revolution. Lenin's Bolsheviks took the activist position that the Party must act as the vanguard or leadership of the working class, while the Mensheviks believed that the revolution must await the right circumstances in which capitalism would fail because of its inherent contradictions. When Lenin returned to Russia in April, 1917, he galvanized the Bolsheviks with a consistent plan of action to which they adhered unswervingly. This plan can be summed up in the slogans used by Lenin in his speeches:"All power to the Soviets", and "Peace, land and bread". "All Power to the Soviets" was a call to the Soviets to seize power fromthe Provisional Government, a call which, especially in time of war, and under otherwise more normal circumstances might have been construed as treasonous.

But in Russia after the March revolution, there was complete freedom to speak and act; more freedom, in fact, than existed in the United States where Eugene Debs, the American socialist leader, was sent to prison for ten years for violation of the Sedition Act because of his opposition to the war. "Peace, land, and bread", expressed the overwhelming yearning of the Russian people for an end to the Great War, the act of seizing the land then being carried out by the peasantry, and the need for food to be brought to Russian cities. The effort by the Provisional Government to continue the war effort steadily eroded the support they had as a succession of political leaders tried their hand. A member of the Social Revolutionary Party, an attorney by the name of Kerensky, managed to hold power for several months while support for the government deteriorated. A Russian offensive in July, beaten back decisively by the Germans, provoked an uprising which was put down, a circumstance which temporarily required that Lenin and other Soviet leaders flee into hiding. In August, an effort by General Kornilov to lead his army corps on Petrograd and overthrow the Provisional Government led Kerensky to arm all those who opposed this reactionary attack.

This included the Bolsheviks, who were able to acquire arms and form a Red Guard. They also achieved greater control over the Soviets. The collapse of Kornilov's attempted overthrow thus set the stage for the Bolsheviks to plan and carry out their successful seizure of power in November, 1917. This was a planned seizure of power, the second phase of the revolution, which forced Kerensky to flee into exile. Following the coup, the Bolsheviks consolidated their control over the Soviets, and rival factions began to abandon the Soviets to the Bolsheviks. This left the apparatus of the Soviets, which had been organizing in different towns and cities across Russia, as an instrument to be used by the Bolsheviks to extend their rule. Meanwhile, the process set in motion by the Provisional Government had resulted in the election of a Constituent Assembly. The Bolsheviks were in the minority in the Constituent Assembly. Therefore, the Red Guard prevented the Assembly from meeting. This represented the end of the moderate phase of the revolution. The radical phase, which began with the Bolshevik seizure of power, involved a power struggle between the Bolsheviks and several rival groups which took up arms against them.

Meanwhile the war effort against Germany collapsed and the new Soviet government was forced to accept from the Germans the terms of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk which involved extensive loss of territory including Ukraine and a large part of western Russia. This treaty would, however, become null and void after the German defeat in the west. Russia then faced three years of devastating civil war as the Bolsheviks, the "Reds" defended themselves against several so-called "white" armies. The war was accompanied by foreign intervention by the English, the French, the Japanese, and the United States. In the end, although the Russian economy was disrupted and the Russian people faced a massive famine, the Bolsheviks held power. During the civil war, the radical phase, the Bolsheviks formed a secret police and purged any dissenters from their ranks. Lenin held power with ruthless determination, establishing a one-party dictatorship. This had little to do with Marxist ideology, although the party leadershipbelieved they were carrying out a Marxist or Communist revolution. While they called themselves revolutionaries, Lenin and his followers set practical limits to the establishment of a socialist society in order to do what had to be done to remain in power and to encourage the economy to recover.

As a result the Bolshevik Party continued to rule Russia as the Revolution entered its counter-revolutionary phase. Russian Revolution Timeline Russian Revolution Timeline Russian Revolution Timeline A Timeline Covering the Events Leading Up to the 1917 Russian Revolution Soldiers, sailors and civilians march under one banner extolling the values of freedom and industry in the Russian Revolution. (October 1917). (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images) Share By Jennifer Rosenberg The Russian Revolution of 1917 deposed the czar (in the February Revolution ) and installed the Bolsheviks in power (in the October Revolution ). After winning the civil war in Russia, the Bolsheviks established the Soviet Union in 1922. Follow the events as they unfolded in this timeline of the Russian Revolution. Please Note: Timelines of the Russian Revolution are often confusing because up until February 1918 Russia used a different calendar than the rest of the Western world. In the 19th century , the Julian calendar, used by Russia, was 12 days behind the Gregorian calendar (used by most of the Western world) until March 1, 1900 when it became 13 days behind.

In this timeline, the dates are in the Julian "Old Style," with the Gregorian "New Style" ("NS") date in parentheses, until the change in 1918. Thereafter, all dates are in the Gregorian.

Timeline of the Russian Revolution 1887 May 8 (May 20 NS) - Lenin's brother, Alexander Ulyanov, is hanged for plotting to kill Czar Alexander III continue reading below our video What are the Seven Wonders of the World 1894 October 20 (November 1 NS) - Czar Alexander III dies after a sudden illness and his son, Nicholas II , becomes the ruler of Russia November 14 (November 26 NS) - Czar Nicholas II marries Alexandra Fedorovna 1895 December 8 (December 20 NS) - Lenin is arrested, kept in solitary confinement for 13 months, and then exiled to Siberia for three years 1896 May 14 (May 26 NS) - Nicholas II crowned czar of Russia 1903 July 17 - August 10 (July 30 - August 23 NS) - The Russian Social-Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP) meeting in which the Party splits into two factions: Mensheviks ("minority") and Bolsheviks ("majority") 1904 July 30 (August 

12 NS) - After having four girls, Czarina Alexandra gives birth to a son, Alexei 1905 January 9 (January 22 NS) - Bloody Sunday in St.

Petersburg begins the 1905 Russian Revolution October 17 (October 30 NS) - The October Manifesto, issued by Czar Nicholas II , brings an end to the 1905 Russian Revolution by promising civil liberties and an elected parliament (Duma) 1906 April 23 (May 6 NS) - A constitution (the Fundamental Laws of 1906) is created, reflecting the promises made in the October Manifesto 1914 July 15 (July 28 NS) - World War I begins 1915 September 5 (September 18 NS) - Czar Nicholas II assumes supreme command of the Russian Army 1916 December 17 (December 30) - Rasputin is murdered 1917 February 23-27 (March 8-12 NS) - The February Revolution begins with strikes, demonstrations, and mutinies in Petrograd (also called the March Revolution if following the Gregorian calendar) March 2 (March 15 NS) - Czar Nicholas II abdicates and includes his son.

The following day, Nicholas' brother, Mikhail announced his refusal to accept the throne.

Provisional Government formed April 3 (April 16 NS) - Lenin returns from exile and arrives in Petrograd via a sealed train July 3-7 (July 16-20 NS) - The July Days begin in Petrograd with spontaneous protests against the Provisional Government; after the Bolsheviks unsuccessfully try to direct these protests into a coup, Lenin is forced into hiding July 11 (July 24 NS) - Alexander Kerensky becomes Prime Minister of the Provisional Government August 22-27 (September 4-9 NS) - The Kornilov Affair, a failed coup by General Lavr Kornilov, commander of the Russian Army October 25 (November 7 NS) - The October Revolution - the Bolsheviks take over Petrograd (also called the November Revolution if following the Gregorian calendar) October 26 (November 8 NS) - The Winter Palace , the last holdout of the Provisional Government, is taken by the Bolsheviks; the Council of People's Commissars (abbreviated as Sovnarkom), led by Lenin, is now in control of Russia 1918 February 1/14 - The new Bolshevik government converts

 Russia from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar turning February 1 into February 14 March 3 - The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk , between Germany and Russia, is signed and takes Russia out of World War I March 8 - The Bolshevik Party changes its name to the Communist Party March 11 - The capital of Russia is changed from St.

Petersburg to Moscow June - Russian civil war begins July 17 - Czar Nicholas II and his family are executed August 30 - An assassination attempt leaves Lenin seriously wounded 1920

Question: The Russian Revolution occurred in which year?
Answer: 1917