Day of the February Revolution 1917. February Revolution: briefly

The February Revolution of 1917 in Russia is still called the Bourgeois-Democratic Revolution. It is the second revolution (the first occurred in 1905, the third in October 1917). The February Revolution began the great turmoil in Russia, during which not only the Romanov dynasty fell and the Empire ceased to be a monarchy, but also the entire bourgeois-capitalist system, as a result of which the elite in Russia completely changed

Causes of the February Revolution

• Russia's unfortunate participation in the First World War, accompanied by defeats at the fronts and disorganization of life in the rear
• The inability of Emperor Nicholas II to rule Russia, which resulted in unsuccessful appointments of ministers and military leaders
• Corruption at all levels of government
• Economic difficulties
• Ideological disintegration of the masses, who stopped believing the tsar, the church, and local leaders
• Dissatisfaction with the tsar's policies by representatives of the big bourgeoisie and even his closest relatives

“...We have been living on the volcano for several days... There was no bread in Petrograd - transport was very bad due to the extraordinary snow, frosts and, most importantly, of course, because of the stress of the war... There were street riots... But this was, of course, not the case in the bread... That was the last straw... The point was that in this entire huge city it was impossible to find several hundred people who would sympathize with the authorities... And not even that... The point is that the authorities did not sympathize with themselves... There was no , in essence, not a single minister who believed in himself and in what he was doing... The class of former rulers was fading away...”
(Vas. Shulgin “Days”)

Progress of the February Revolution

• February 21 - bread riots in Petrograd. Crowds destroyed bread stores
• February 23 - the beginning of a general strike of Petrograd workers. Mass demonstrations with slogans “Down with war!”, “Down with autocracy!”, “Bread!”
• February 24 - More than 200 thousand workers of 214 enterprises, students went on strike
• February 25 - 305 thousand people were already on strike, 421 factories stood idle. The workers were joined by office workers and artisans. The troops refused to disperse the protesting people
• February 26 - Continued unrest. Disintegration in the troops. Inability of the police to restore calm. Nicholas II
  postponed the start of State Duma meetings from February 26 to April 1, which was perceived as its dissolution
• February 27 - armed uprising. The reserve battalions of Volyn, Litovsky, and Preobrazhensky refused to obey their commanders and joined the people. In the afternoon, the Semenovsky regiment, the Izmailovsky regiment, and the reserve armored vehicle division rebelled. The Kronverk Arsenal, the Arsenal, the Main Post Office, the telegraph office, train stations, and bridges were occupied. The State Duma
  appointed a Provisional Committee “to restore order in St. Petersburg and to communicate with institutions and individuals.”
• On February 28, night, the Provisional Committee announced that it was taking power into its own hands.
• On February 28, the 180th Infantry Regiment, the Finnish Regiment, the sailors of the 2nd Baltic Fleet Crew and the cruiser Aurora rebelled. The insurgent people occupied all the stations of Petrograd
• March 1 - Kronstadt and Moscow rebelled, the tsar’s entourage offered him either the introduction of loyal army units into Petrograd, or the creation of the so-called “responsible ministries” - a government subordinate to the Duma, which meant turning the Emperor into the “English queen”.
• March 2, night - Nicholas II signed a manifesto on the granting of a responsible ministry, but it was too late. The public demanded abdication.

“The Chief of Staff of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief,” General Alekseev, requested by telegram all the commanders-in-chief of the fronts. These telegrams asked the commanders-in-chief for their opinion on the desirability, under the given circumstances, of the abdication of the sovereign emperor from the throne in favor of his son. By one o'clock in the afternoon on March 2, all the answers from the commanders-in-chief were received and concentrated in the hands of General Ruzsky. These answers were:
1) From Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich - Commander-in-Chief of the Caucasian Front.
2) From General Sakharov - the actual commander-in-chief of the Romanian Front (the commander in chief was the King of Romania, and Sakharov was his chief of staff).
3) From General Brusilov - Commander-in-Chief of the Southwestern Front.
4) From General Evert - Commander-in-Chief of the Western Front.
5) From Ruzsky himself - Commander-in-Chief of the Northern Front. All five commanders-in-chief of the fronts and General Alekseev (General Alekseev was the chief of staff under the Sovereign) spoke out in favor of the Sovereign Emperor’s abdication of the throne.” (Vas. Shulgin “Days”)

• On March 2, at about 3 p.m., Tsar Nicholas II decided to abdicate the throne in favor of his heir, Tsarevich Alexei under the regency of the younger sibling Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich. During the day, the king decided to renounce his heir as well.
• March 4 - the Manifesto on the abdication of Nicholas II and the Manifesto on the abdication of Mikhail Alexandrovich were published in newspapers.

“The man rushed towards us - Darlings!” he shouted and grabbed me by the hand. “Did you hear that?” There is no king! There is only Russia left.
He kissed everyone deeply and rushed to run further, sobbing and muttering something... It was already one in the morning, when Efremov usually slept soundly.
Suddenly, at this inopportune hour, a loud and short sound of the cathedral bell was heard. Then a second blow, a third.
The beats became more frequent, a tight ringing was already floating over the town, and soon the bells of all the surrounding churches joined it.
Lights were lit in all the houses. The streets were filled with people. The doors of many houses stood wide open. Strangers, crying, hugged each other. A solemn and jubilant cry of steam locomotives flew from the direction of the station (K. Paustovsky “Restless Youth”)

The February Revolution of 1917 received this name because the main events began to occur in February, according to what was then relevant Julian calendar. It should be borne in mind that the transition to the Gregorian calendar occurred in 1918. Therefore, these events became known as the February revolution, although, in fact, we were talking about the March uprising.

Researchers point out that there are certain complaints about the definition of “revolution”. This term was introduced into circulation by Soviet historiography following the government, which thus wanted to emphasize the popular nature of what was happening. However, objective scientists point out that this is, in fact, a revolution. Despite loud slogans and objectively brewing discontent in the country, the broad masses were not drawn into the main events of the February revolution. The working class that was then beginning to form became the basic driving force, but it was too small in number. The peasantry was largely left out.

The day before, a political crisis was brewing in the country. Since 1915, the emperor had formed a fairly strong opposition, which gradually increased in strength. Its main goal was the transition from autocracy to a constitutional monarchy similar to Great Britain, and not what the February and October revolutions of 1917 ultimately led to. Many historians note that such a course of events would have been smoother and would have made it possible to avoid numerous casualties and sharp social upheavals, which later resulted in a civil war.

Also, when discussing the nature of the February revolution, one cannot help but note that it was affected by the First World War, which drew too much strength from Russia. People lacked food, medicine, and basic necessities. A large number of The peasants were busy at the front; there was no one to sow. Production was focused on military needs, and other industries suffered noticeably. The cities were literally flooded with crowds of people who needed food, work, and housing. At the same time, the impression was created that the emperor was simply watching what was happening and was not going to do anything, although in such conditions it was simply impossible not to react. As a result, the coup could also be called an outbreak of public discontent that had accumulated towards the imperial family over many years.

Since 1915, the role of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna in the government of the country has sharply increased, who was not particularly popular among the people, especially due to her unhealthy attachment to Rasputin. And when the emperor assumed the responsibilities of commander-in-chief and moved away from everyone at Headquarters, problems began to accumulate like a snowball. We can say that this was a fundamentally wrong move, deadly for the entire Romanov dynasty.

Russian Empire At that time I was also very unlucky with managers. Ministers were almost constantly changing, and most of them did not want to delve into the situation; some simply did not have leadership abilities. And few people understood the real threat looming over the country.

At the same time, certain social conflicts that had remained unresolved since the 1905 revolution intensified. Thus, when the revolution began, the beginning launched a huge mechanism resembling a pendulum. And he demolished the entire old system, but at the same time got out of control and destroyed a lot of things that were needed.

Grand Ducal Fronde

It is worth noting that the nobility is often accused of not doing anything. Actually this is not true. Already in 1916, even his close relatives found themselves in opposition to the emperor. In history, this phenomenon was called the “grand-ducal front.” In short, the main demands were the formation of a government responsible to the Duma and the removal of the Empress and Rasputin from actual control. The move, according to some historians, is correct, just a little late. When real action began, in fact, the revolution had already begun, the beginning of serious changes could not be stopped.

Other researchers believe that in 1917 the February revolution would have only occurred in connection with internal processes and accumulated contradictions. And the October war was already a successful attempt to plunge the country into civil war, into a state of complete instability. Thus, it has been established that Lenin and the Bolsheviks in general were supported quite well financially from abroad. However, it is worth returning to the February events.

Views of political forces

A table will help to demonstrate quite clearly the political mood that reigned at that time.

From the above it is clearly seen that the political forces that existed at that time united only in opposition to the emperor. Otherwise, they did not find understanding, and their goals were often opposite.

Driving forces of the February revolution

Speaking about what actually drove the revolution, it is worth noting several points at the same time. Firstly, political discontent. Secondly, the intelligentsia, who did not see the emperor as the leader of the nation, he was not suitable for this role. The “ministerial leapfrog” also had serious consequences, as a result of which there was no order within the country; officials were dissatisfied, who did not understand who to obey, in what order to work.

Analyzing the prerequisites and causes of the February revolution of 1917, it is worth noting: mass workers’ strikes were observed. However, a lot happened on the anniversary of “Bloody Sunday”, so not everyone wanted a real overthrow of the regime and a complete change in the country; it is likely that these were simply speeches timed to coincide with a specific date, as well as a means to attract attention.

Moreover, if you look for information on the topic “presentation of the February revolution of 1917,” you can find evidence that the most depressive mood reigned in Petrograd. Which was frankly strange, because even at the front the general mood turned out to be much more cheerful. As eyewitnesses of the events later recalled in their memoirs, it resembled mass hysteria.

Start

In 1917, the February Revolution began, in fact, with mass panic raised in Petrograd over a shortage of bread. At the same time, historians subsequently established that such a mood was created largely artificially, and grain supplies were deliberately blocked, since the conspirators were going to take advantage of the popular unrest and get rid of the king. Against this background, Nicholas II leaves Petrograd, leaving the situation to the Minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Protopopov, who did not see the whole picture. Then the situation developed incredibly rapidly, gradually getting more and more out of control.

First, Petrograd completely rebelled, followed by Kronstadt, then Moscow, and the unrest spread to other large cities. It was mainly the “lower classes” who rebelled, overwhelming them with their massive numbers: ordinary soldiers, sailors, workers. Members of one group drew the other into confrontation.

Meanwhile, Emperor Nicholas II could not make a final decision. He was slow to react to a situation that required more stringent measures, he wanted to listen to all the generals, and in the end he abdicated, but not in favor of his son, but in favor of his brother, who was categorically unable to cope with the situation in the country. As a result, on March 9, 1917, it became clear that the revolution had won, the Provisional Government was formed, and the State Duma as such ceased to exist.

What are the main results of the February revolution?

The main result of the events that took place was the end of the autocracy, the end of the dynasty, the renunciation of the emperor and his family members from the rights to the throne. Also on March 9, 1917, the country began to be governed by the Provisional Government. According to some historians, the significance of the February Revolution should not be underestimated: it was it that subsequently led to the civil war.

The revolution also showed ordinary workers, soldiers and sailors that they could seize control of the situation and take power into their own hands by force. Thanks to this, the foundation was laid for the October events, as well as the Red Terror.

Revolutionary sentiments arose, the intelligentsia began to welcome the new system, and began to call the monarchical system the “old regime.” New words began to come into fashion, for example, the address “comrade”. Kerensky gained enormous popularity, creating his own paramilitary political image, which was subsequently copied by a number of leaders among the Bolsheviks.

Causes and nature of the February Revolution.
Uprising in Petrograd on February 27, 1917
The February Revolution of 1917 in Russia was caused by the same reasons, had the same character, solved the same problems and had the same alignment of opposing forces as the revolution of 1905 - 1907. After the revolution of 1905 - 1907 The tasks of democratizing the country continued to remain - the overthrow of the autocracy, the introduction of democratic freedoms, the solution of burning issues - agrarian, labor, national. These were the tasks of the bourgeois-democratic transformation of the country, therefore the February Revolution, like the 1905-1907 revolution, was bourgeois-democratic in nature.

Although the revolution of 1905 - 1907 and did not solve the fundamental tasks of democratizing the country that faced it and was defeated, however, it served as a political school for all parties and classes and thereby was an important prerequisite for the February Revolution and the subsequent October Revolution of 1917.

But the February Revolution of 1917 took place in a different environment than the revolution of 1905 - 1907. On the eve of the February Revolution, social and political contradictions sharply worsened, aggravated by the hardships of a long and exhausting war into which Russia was drawn. The economic devastation generated by the war and, as a consequence, the exacerbation of the needs and misfortunes of the masses, caused acute social tension in the country, the growth of anti-war sentiment and general dissatisfaction not only with the left and opposition, but also with a significant part of the right forces with the policies of the autocracy. The authority of autocratic power and its bearer, the reigning emperor, dropped noticeably in the eyes of all layers of society. The war, unprecedented in its scale, seriously shook the moral foundations of society and brought unprecedented bitterness into the consciousness of people’s behavior. Millions of front-line soldiers, who saw blood and death every day, easily succumbed to revolutionary propaganda and were ready to take the most extreme measures. They longed for peace, a return to the land, and the slogan "Down with war!" was especially popular at that time. The end of the war was inevitably associated with the liquidation of the political regime that dragged the people into the war. So the monarchy lost its support in the army.

By the end of 1916, the country found itself in a state of deep social, political and moral crisis. Did the ruling circles realize the danger threatening them? Reports of the security department for the end of 1917 - beginning of 1917. full of anxiety in anticipation of a threatening social explosion. They foresaw a social danger for the Russian monarchy abroad. Grand Duke Mikhail Mikhailovich, the Tsar’s cousin, wrote to him in mid-November 1916 from London: “Intelligence Service [British intelligence service] agents, usually well informed, are predicting a revolution in Russia. I sincerely hope Nicky that you will find it possible to satisfy the just the demands of the people before it is too late." Those close to Nicholas II told him in despair: “There will be a revolution, we will all be hanged, but on which lantern it doesn’t matter.” However, Nicholas II stubbornly refused to see this danger, hoping for the mercy of Providence. A curious conversation took place shortly before the events of February 1917 between the Tsar and the Chairman of the State Duma M.V. Rodzianko. "Rodzianko: - I warn you that in less than three weeks a revolution will break out that will sweep you away, and you will no longer reign. Nicholas II: - Well, God willing. Rodzianko: - God will not give anything, the revolution is inevitable." .

Although the factors that prepared the revolutionary explosion in February 1917 had been taking shape for a long time, politicians and publicists, right and left, predicted its inevitability; the revolution was neither “prepared” nor “organized”; it broke out spontaneously and suddenly for all parties and the government. Not a single political party showed itself to be the organizer and leader of the revolution, which took them by surprise.

The immediate cause of the revolutionary explosion was the following events that occurred in the second half of February 1917 in Petrograd. In mid-February, the capital's food supply, especially bread, deteriorated. There was bread in the country in sufficient quantity, but due to the devastation of transport and the sluggishness of the authorities responsible for supply, it could not be delivered to the cities in a timely manner. A card system was introduced, but it did not solve the problem. Long queues appeared at bakeries, which caused growing discontent among the population. In this situation, any act of the authorities or owners of industrial enterprises that irritated the population could serve as a detonator for a social explosion.

On February 18, workers at one of the largest factories in Petrograd, Putilovsky, began a strike, demanding an increase in wages due to rising costs. On February 20, the plant administration, under the pretext of interruptions in the supply of raw materials, fired the strikers and announced the closure of some workshops for an indefinite period. The Putilovites were supported by workers from other city enterprises. On February 23 (New Style March 8 - International Women's Day) it was decided to start a general strike. Opposition figures in the Duma also decided to take advantage of the day of February 23; as early as February 14, from the rostrum of the State Duma, they sharply criticized the incompetent ministers and demanded their resignation. Duma figures - Menshevik N.S. Chkheidze and Trudovik A.F. Kerensky - established contact with illegal organizations and created a committee to hold a demonstration on February 23.

On that day, 128 thousand workers from 50 enterprises went on strike - a third of the capital's workers. A demonstration also took place, which was peaceful. A rally was held in the city center. The authorities, in order to reassure the people, announced that there was enough food in the city and there was no reason to worry.

The next day, 214 thousand workers were already on strike. The strikes were accompanied by demonstrations: columns of demonstrators with red flags and singing the Marseillaise rushed to the city center. Women took an active part in them and took to the streets with the slogans “Bread”!, “Peace”!, “Freedom!”, “Bring back our husbands!”.

Authorities initially treated them as spontaneous food riots. However, events grew stronger every day and became threatening for the authorities. On February 25, strikes covered over 300 thousand people. (80% of city workers). The demonstrators were already speaking with political slogans: “Down with the monarchy!”, “Long live the republic!”, rushing to the central squares and avenues of the city. They managed to overcome police and military barriers and break through to Znamenskaya Square near the Moskovsky railway station, where at the monument Alexander III a spontaneous rally began. Rallies and demonstrations took place in the main squares, avenues and streets of the city. The Cossack squads sent against them refused to disperse them. Demonstrators threw stones and logs at the mounted policemen. The authorities have already seen that the “unrest” is taking on a political character.

On the morning of February 25, columns of workers again rushed to the city center, and on Vyborg side Police stations have already been raided. A rally began again on Znamenskaya Square. Demonstrators clashed with police, resulting in several demonstrators being killed and injured. On the same day, Nicholas II received from the commander of the Petrograd Military District, General S.S. Khabalov’s report about the outbreak of unrest in Petrograd, and at 9 o’clock in the evening Khabalov received a telegram from him: “I command you to stop the riots in the capital tomorrow, which are unacceptable in the difficult times of the war with Germany and Austria.” Khabalov immediately ordered the police and reserve unit commanders to use weapons against the demonstrators. On the night of February 26, the police arrested about a hundred of the most active figures of the left parties.

February 26 was a Sunday. Factories and factories did not work. Masses of demonstrators with red banners and singing revolutionary songs again rushed to the central streets and squares of the city. There were continuous rallies on Znamenskaya Square and near the Kazan Cathedral. By order of Khabalov, the police, who sat on the roofs of houses, opened fire with machine guns on demonstrators and protesters. On Znamenskaya Square, 40 people were killed and the same number were wounded. Police fired at demonstrators on Sadovaya Street, Liteiny and Vladimirsky Avenues. On the night of February 27, new arrests were made: this time 170 people were captured.

The outcome of any revolution depends on whose side the army is on. Defeat of the revolution 1905 - 1907 was largely due to the fact that despite a series of uprisings in the army and navy, on the whole the army remained loyal to the government and was used by it to suppress peasant and worker revolts. In February 1917, there was a garrison of up to 180 thousand soldiers in Petrograd. These were mainly spare parts that were to be sent to the front. There were quite a few recruits here from regular workers, mobilized for participation in strikes, and quite a few front-line soldiers who had recovered from injuries. The concentration of a mass of soldiers in the capital, who were easily influenced by revolutionary propaganda, was a major mistake by the authorities.

The shooting of demonstrators on February 26 caused strong indignation among the soldiers of the capital's garrison and had a decisive influence on their transition to the side of the revolution. On the afternoon of February 26, the 4th company of the reserve battalion of the Pavlovsky regiment refused to take the place assigned to it at the outpost and even opened fire on a platoon of mounted police. The company was disarmed, 19 of its “ringleaders” were sent to the Peter and Paul Fortress. Chairman of the State Duma M.V. Rodzianko telegraphed to the Tsar that day: “The situation is serious. There is anarchy in the capital. The government is paralyzed. There is indiscriminate shooting in the streets. Units of troops are shooting at each other.” In conclusion, he asked the king: “Immediately entrust a person who enjoys the trust of the country to form a new government. You cannot hesitate. Any delay is like death.”

Even on the eve of the tsar's departure to Headquarters, two versions of his decree on the State Duma were prepared - the first on its dissolution, the second on the interruption of its sessions. In response to Rodzianko's telegram, the tsar sent a second version of the decree - on the break of the Duma from February 26 to April 1917. At 11 o'clock in the morning on February 27, deputies of the State Duma gathered in the White Hall of the Tauride Palace and silently listened to the tsar's decree on the break of the Duma session. The tsar's decree put the Duma members in a difficult position: on the one hand, they did not dare not fulfill the will of the tsar, on the other, they could not help but take into account the threatening unfolding of revolutionary events in the capital. Deputies from the left parties proposed not to obey the tsar’s decree and, in an “address to the people,” declare themselves the Constituent Assembly, but the majority was against such an action. In the Semicircular Hall of the Tauride Palace, they opened a “private meeting”, at which a decision was made, in fulfillment of the tsar’s order, not to hold official meetings of the Duma, but the deputies did not disperse and remained in their places. By half past three in the afternoon on February 27, crowds of demonstrators approached the Tauride Palace, some of them entered the palace. Then the Duma decided to form from its members a “Provisional Committee of the State Duma to restore order in Petrograd and to communicate with institutions and individuals.” On the same day, a Committee of 12 people, chaired by Rodzianko, was formed. At first, the Provisional Committee was afraid to take power into its own hands and sought an agreement with the tsar. On the evening of February 27, Rodzianko sent a new telegram to the Tsar, in which he invited him to make concessions - to instruct the Duma to form a ministry responsible to it.

But events unfolded rapidly. On that day, strikes covered almost all enterprises in the capital, and in fact an uprising had already begun. The troops of the capital's garrison began to go over to the side of the rebels. On the morning of February 27, a training team consisting of 600 people from the reserve battalion of the Volyn regiment rebelled. The team leader was killed. Non-commissioned officer T.I., who led the uprising. Kirpichnikov raised the entire regiment, which moved towards the Lithuanian and Preobrazhensky regiments and carried them along with him.

If on the morning of February 27, 10 thousand soldiers went over to the side of the rebels, then in the evening of the same day - 67 thousand. On the same day, Khabalov telegraphed to the tsar that “the troops refuse to go out against the rebels.” On February 28, 127 thousand soldiers were on the side of the rebels, and on March 1 - already 170 thousand soldiers. On February 28, the Winter Palace and the Peter and Paul Fortress were captured, the arsenal was captured, from which 40 thousand rifles and 30 thousand revolvers were distributed to the working detachments. On Liteiny Prospekt, the building of the District Court and the House of Pre-trial Detention were destroyed and set on fire. Police stations were burning. The gendarmerie and secret police were liquidated. Many policemen and gendarmes were arrested (later the Provisional Government released them and sent them to the front). Prisoners were released from prisons. On March 1, after negotiations, the remnants of the garrison, who had settled in the Admiralty together with Khabalov, surrendered. The Mariinsky Palace was taken and the tsar's ministers and senior dignitaries who were in it were arrested. They were brought or brought to the Tauride Palace. Minister of Internal Affairs A.D. Protopopov voluntarily came under arrest. Ministers and generals from the Tauride Palace were escorted to the Peter and Paul Fortress, the rest - to places of detention prepared for them.

Military units from Peterhof and Strelna who had gone over to the side of the revolution arrived in Petrograd through the Baltic Station and along the Peterhof Highway. On March 1, the sailors of the Kronstadt port rebelled. Commander of the Kronstadt port and military governor of Kronstadt, Rear Admiral R.N. Viren and several senior officers were shot by the sailors. Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich (cousin of Nicholas II) brought the guards crew sailors entrusted to him to the Tauride Palace at the disposal of the revolutionary power.

On the evening of February 28, in the conditions of the already victorious revolution, Rodzianko proposed to announce that the Provisional Committee of the State Duma would take over government functions. On the night of February 28, the Provisional Committee of the State Duma addressed the people of Russia with an appeal that it was taking upon itself the initiative to “restore state and public order” and create a new government. As a first measure, he sent commissioners from members of the Duma to the ministries. In order to take control of the situation in the capital and stop the further development of revolutionary events, the Provisional Committee of the State Duma tried in vain to return the soldiers to the barracks. But this attempt showed that he was unable to take control of the situation in the capital.

The soviets, revived during the revolution, became more effective revolutionary power. As early as February 26, a number of members of the Union of Workers' Cooperatives of Petrograd, the Social Democratic faction of the State Duma and other working groups put forward the idea of ​​​​forming Soviets of Workers' Deputies along the lines of 1905. This idea was also supported by the Bolsheviks. On February 27, representatives of working groups, together with a group of Duma deputies and representatives of the left-wing intelligentsia, gathered in the Tauride Palace and announced the creation of the Provisional Executive Committee of the Petrograd Council of Working People's Deputies. The Committee appealed to immediately elect deputies to the Council - one deputy from 1 thousand workers, and one from a company of soldiers. 250 deputies were elected and gathered in the Tauride Palace. They, in turn, elected the Executive Committee of the Council, the chairman of which was the leader of the Social Democratic faction of the State Duma, Menshevik N.S. Chkheidze, and his deputies were Trudovik A.F. Kerensky and Menshevik M.I. Skobelev. The majority in the Executive Committee and in the Council itself belonged to the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries - at that time the most numerous and influential left-wing parties in Russia. On February 28, the first issue of Izvestia of the Council of Workers' Deputies was published (editor: Menshevik F.I. Dan).

The Petrograd Soviet began to act as a body of revolutionary power, making a number of important decisions. On February 28, on his initiative, district council committees were created. He formed military and food commissions, armed militia, and established control over printing houses and railways. By decision of the Petrograd Council, the financial resources of the tsarist government were seized and control was established over their spending. Commissars from the Council were sent to the districts of the capital to establish people's power in them.

On March 1, 1917, the Council issued the famous “Order No. 1,” which provided for the creation of elected soldiers’ committees in military units, abolished the titles of officers and the giving of honor to them outside of service, but most importantly, it removed the Petrograd garrison from subordination to the old command. This order in our literature is usually regarded as a deeply democratic act. In fact, by subordinating unit commanders to soldier committees with little competence in military matters, he violated the principle of unity of command necessary for any army and thereby contributed to the decline of military discipline.

The number of victims in Petrograd in the February days of 1917 was about 300 people. killed and up to 1200 wounded.

Formation of the Provisional Government
With the formation of the Petrograd Soviet and the Provisional Committee of the State Duma on February 27, dual power actually began to emerge. Until March 1, 1917, the Council and the Duma Committee acted independently of each other. On the night of March 1–2, negotiations began between representatives of the Executive Committee of the Petrograd Soviet and the Provisional Committee of the State Duma on the formation of the Provisional Government. Representatives of the Soviets set the condition that the Provisional Government immediately proclaim civil liberties, amnesty for political prisoners and announce the convening of the Constituent Assembly. If the Provisional Government fulfilled this condition, the Council decided to support it. The formation of the composition of the Provisional Government was entrusted to the Provisional Committee of the State Duma.

On March 2 it was formed, and on March 3 its composition was made public. The Provisional Government included 12 people - 10 ministers and 2 chief managers of central departments equal to ministers. 9 ministers were deputies of the State Duma.

The Chairman of the Provisional Government and at the same time the Minister of Internal Affairs became a large landowner, chairman of the All-Russian Zemstvo Union, cadet, Prince G.E. Lvov, ministers: foreign affairs - leader of the Cadet Party P.N. Miliukov, military and naval - leader of the Octobrist party A.I. Guchkov, trade and industry - large manufacturer, progressive, A.I. Konovalov, communications - “left” cadet N.V. Nekrasov, public education - close to the cadets, professor of law A.A. Manuilov, agriculture - zemstvo doctor, cadet, A.I. Shingarev, Justice - Trudovik (since March 3, Socialist Revolutionary, the only socialist in the government) A.F. Kerensky, for Finnish affairs - cadet V.I. Rodichev, chief prosecutor of the Holy Synod - Octobrist V.N. Lvov, state controller - Octobrist I.V. Godnev. Thus, 7 ministerial posts, the most important ones, ended up in the hands of the Cadets, 3 ministerial posts were received by the Octobrists and 2 representatives of other parties. This was the “finest hour” of the cadets, who found themselves in power for a short time (two months). The assumption of office by the ministers of the Provisional Government took place on March 3-5. The Provisional Government declared itself for a transitional period (until the convening of the Constituent Assembly) of the supreme legislative and executive power in the country.

On March 3, the program of activities of the Provisional Government, agreed upon with the Petrograd Soviet, was also published: 1) complete and immediate amnesty for all political and religious affairs; 2) freedom of speech, press, assembly and strikes; 3) abolition of all class, religious and national restrictions; 4) immediate preparations for elections on the basis of universal, equal, secret and direct voting to the Constituent Assembly; 5) replacing the police with a people's militia with elected authorities subordinate to local government bodies; 6) elections to local government bodies; 7) non-disarmament and non-withdrawal from Petrograd military units who took part in the uprising on February 27; and 8) providing soldiers with civil rights. The program laid the broad foundations of constitutionalism and democracy in the country.

However, most of the measures declared in the declaration of the Provisional Government on March 3 were implemented even earlier, as soon as the revolution was victorious. So, on February 28, the police were abolished and the people's militia was formed: instead of 6 thousand police officers, 40 thousand people were occupied with maintaining order in Petrograd. people's militia. She took protection of enterprises and city blocks. Detachments of the native militia were soon created in other cities. Subsequently, along with the workers' militia, combat workers' squads (Red Guard) also appeared. The first detachment of the Red Guard was created in early March at the Sestroretsk plant. The gendarmerie and secret police were liquidated.

Hundreds of prisons were destroyed or burned. The press organs of Black Hundred organizations were closed. Trade unions were revived, cultural, educational, women's, youth and other organizations were created. Complete freedom of the press, rallies and demonstrations was won in person. Russia has become the freest country in the world.

The initiative to reduce the working day to 8 hours came from the Petrograd entrepreneurs themselves. On March 10, an agreement was concluded between the Petrograd Soviet and the Petrograd Society of Manufacturers on this. Then, through similar private agreements between workers and entrepreneurs, the 8-hour working day was introduced throughout the country. However, the Provisional Government did not issue a special decree on this. The agrarian question was referred to the decision of the Constituent Assembly for fear that the soldiers, having learned about the “division of the land,” would abandon the front and move to the village. The Provisional Government declared unauthorized seizures of landowner peasants illegal.

In an effort to “get closer to the people,” to study the specific situation in the country on the spot and enlist the support of the population, the ministers of the Provisional Government made frequent trips to cities, army and naval units. At first, they met such support at rallies, meetings, various kinds of meetings, and professional congresses. The ministers often and willingly gave interviews to representatives of the press and held press conferences. The press, in turn, sought to create a favorable picture of the Provisional Government. public opinion.

France and England were the first to recognize the Provisional Government as “the exponent of the true will of the people and the only government of Russia.” In early March, the Provisional Government was recognized by the United States, Italy, Norway, Japan, Belgium, Portugal, Serbia and Iran.

Abdication of Nicholas II
The transition of the troops of the capital's garrison to the side of the rebels forced Headquarters to begin taking decisive measures to suppress the revolution in Petrograd. On February 27, Nicholas II, through the Chief of Staff of General Headquarters, General M.V. Alekseev gave the order to send “reliable” punitive troops to Petrograd. The punitive expedition included the St. George battalion, taken from Mogilev, and several regiments from the Northern, Western and Southwestern fronts. General N.I. was placed at the head of the expedition. Ivanov, who was also appointed instead of Khabalov and commander of the Petrograd Military District with the broadest, dictatorial powers - to the point that all ministers were at his complete disposal. It was planned to concentrate 13 infantry battalions, 16 cavalry squadrons and 4 batteries in the Tsarskoye Selo area by March 1.

Early in the morning of February 28, two letter trains, the Tsar's and the Svitsky, set off from Mogilev through Smolensk, Vyazma, Rzhev, Likhoslavl, Bologoe to Petrograd. Upon their arrival in Bologoye on the night of March 1, news was received that two companies with machine guns had arrived in Lyuban from Petrograd in order not to miss the royal trains to the capital. When the trains arrived at the station. Malaya Vishera (160 km from Petrograd) railway authorities reported that it was impossible to move further, because the next stations Tosno and Lyuban were occupied by revolutionary troops. Nicholas II ordered the trains to be turned to Pskov - to the headquarters of the commander of the Northern Front, General N.V. Ruzsky. The royal trains arrived in Pskov at 7 pm on March 1. Here Nicholas II learned about the victory of the revolution in Petrograd.

At the same time, Chief of Staff of Headquarters General M.V. Alekseev decided to abandon the military expedition to Petrograd. Having secured the support of the commanders-in-chief of the fronts, he ordered Ivanov to refrain from punitive actions. The St. George battalion, which reached Tsarskoye Selo on March 1, retreated back to Vyritsa station. After negotiations between the commander-in-chief of the Northern Front, Ruzsky, and Rodzianko, Nicholas II agreed to the formation of a government responsible to the Duma. On the night of March 2, Ruzsky conveyed this decision to Rodzianko. However, he said that the publication of a manifesto about this was already “late,” because the course of events had set “a certain demand” - the abdication of the tsar. Without waiting for a response from Headquarters, Duma deputies A.I. were sent to Pskov. Guchkov and V.V. Shulgin. And at this time, Alekseev and Ruzsky asked all the commanders-in-chief of the fronts and fleets: the Caucasian - Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, the Romanian - General V.V. Sakharov, South-Western - General A.A. Brusilov, Western - General A.E. Evert, commanders of the Baltic fleets - Admiral A.I. Nepenin and Chernomorsky - Admiral A.V. Kolchak. The commanders of the fronts and fleets declared the need for the tsar to abdicate the throne “in the name of saving the homeland and the dynasty, consistent with the statement of the chairman of the State Duma, as the only thing apparently capable of stopping the revolution and saving Russia from the horrors of anarchy.” His uncle Nikolai Nikolaevich addressed Nicholas II from Tiflis with a telegram asking him to abdicate the throne.

On March 2, Nicholas II ordered a manifesto to be drawn up about his abdication of the throne in favor of his son Alexei under the regency of his younger brother, Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich. About this decision of the tsar was drawn up in the name of Rodzianko. However, its dispatch was delayed until new messages were received from Petrograd. In addition, Guchkov and Shulgin were expected to arrive in Pskov, which was reported to Headquarters.

Guchkov and Shulgin arrived in Pskov on the evening of March 2, reported that there was no military unit in Petrograd that could be relied upon, and confirmed the need for the Tsar to abdicate the throne. Nicholas II stated that he had already made such a decision, but now he is changing it and is already renouncing not only for himself, but also for his heir. This act of Nicholas II violated the coronation manifesto of Paul I of April 5, 1797, which provided that the reigning person has the right to abdicate the throne only for himself, and not for his glaciers.

The new version of the abdication of Nicholas II from the throne was accepted by Guchkov and Shulgin, who only asked him that before signing the act of abdication, the tsar would approve the decree on the appointment of G.E. Lvov became the Prime Minister of the new government being formed, and Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich again the Supreme Commander-in-Chief.

When Guchkov and Shulgin returned to Petrograd with a manifesto from Nicholas II, who had abdicated the throne, they encountered strong dissatisfaction among the revolutionary masses with this attempt by Duma leaders to preserve the monarchy. The toast in honor of “Emperor Michael,” proclaimed by Guchkov upon his arrival from Pskov at the Warsaw station in Petrograd, aroused such strong indignation among the workers that they threatened to shoot him. At the station, Shulgin was searched, who, however, managed to secretly transfer the text of the manifesto on the abdication of Nicholas II to Guchkov. The workers demanded that the text of the manifesto be destroyed, the Tsar be immediately arrested and a republic proclaimed.

On the morning of March 3, members of the Duma Committee and the Provisional Government met with Mikhail in the prince’s mansion. O. Putyatina on Millionnaya. Rodzianko and Kerensky argued for the need for his abdication of the throne. Kerensky said that the indignation of the people was too strong, new king may die from popular anger, and with it the Provisional Government will die. However, Miliukov insisted on Mikhail accepting the crown, proving the need for strong power to strengthen the new order, and such power needs support - “a monarchical symbol familiar to the masses.” A provisional government without a monarch, said Miliukov, is “a fragile boat that can sink in the ocean of popular unrest”; it will not live to see the Constituent Assembly, since anarchy will reign in the country. Guchkov, who soon arrived at the meeting, supported Miliukov. Miliukov, in his impatience, even offered to take the cars and go to Moscow, where he would proclaim Mikhail emperor, gather troops under his banner and march on Petrograd. Such a proposal clearly threatened civil war and frightened the rest of those gathered for the meeting. After lengthy discussions, the majority spoke in favor of Michael's abdication. Mikhail agreed with this opinion and at 4 o’clock in the afternoon signed the document drawn up by V.D. Nabokov and Baron B.E. Nolde's manifesto about his renunciation of the crown. The manifesto, published the next day, said that Mikhail “made a firm decision only if such is the will of our great people, who must establish a form of government and new fundamental laws of the state by popular vote through their representatives in the Constituent Assembly Russian". Mikhail appealed to the people to “submit to the Provisional Government, vested with full power.” All members of the royal family also made written statements of support for the Provisional Government and renunciation of claims to the royal throne. On March 3, Nicholas II sent a telegram to Mikhail.

Calling him “Imperial Majesty,” he apologized for not “warning” him about the transfer of the crown to him. The news of Michael's abdication was received by the abdicated king with bewilderment. “God knows who advised him to sign such a nasty thing,” Nikolai wrote in his diary.

The abdicated emperor went to Headquarters in Mogilev. A few hours before signing the act of abdication, Nicholas again appointed Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich to the post of Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army. However, the Provisional Government appointed General A.A. to this position instead. Brusilova. On March 9, Nicholas and his retinue returned to Tsarskoe Selo. By order of the Provisional Government, the royal family was kept under house arrest in Tsarskoye Selo. The Petrograd Soviet demanded a trial of the former tsar and even on March 8 adopted a resolution to imprison him in the Peter and Paul Fortress, but the Provisional Government refused to comply with it.

Due to the growing anti-monarchical sentiments in the country, the deposed tsar asked the Provisional Government to send him and his family to England. The Provisional Government turned to the British Ambassador in Petrograd, George Buchanan, to request the British Cabinet about this. P.N. When meeting with the Tsar, Miliukov assured him that his request would be granted and even advised him to prepare for his departure. Buchanan requested his office. He first agreed to provide refuge in England for the deposed Russian Tsar and his family. However, a wave of protest arose against this in England and Russia, and the English King George V approached his government with a proposal to cancel this decision. The Provisional Government sent a request to the French cabinet to provide asylum to the royal family in France, but was also refused, citing the fact that this would be negatively perceived by French public opinion. Thus, the attempts of the Provisional Government to send the former tsar and his family abroad failed. On August 13, 1917, by order of the Provisional Government, the royal family was sent to Tobolsk.

The essence of dual power
During the transition period - from the moment of the victory of the revolution until the adoption of the constitution and the formation of permanent authorities in accordance with it - the Provisional Revolutionary Government operates, which is entrusted with the responsibility of breaking up the old apparatus of power, consolidating the gains of the revolution by appropriate decrees and convening the Constituent Assembly, which determines the form of the future state structure of the country, approves the decrees issued by the Provisional Government, giving them the force of laws, and adopts a constitution.

The provisional government for the transitional period (until the convening of the Constituent Assembly) has both legislative, administrative and executive functions. This, for example, was the case during the French Revolution. late XVIII V. The same path of transforming the country after the revolutionary coup was envisaged in their projects by the Decembrists of the Northern Society, putting forward the idea of ​​“Temporary Revolutionary Government” for the transition period, and then the convening of the “Supreme Council” (Constituent Assembly). All Russian revolutionary parties at the beginning of the 20th century, who wrote this down in their programs, envisioned the same way for the revolutionary reorganization of the country, the destruction of the old state machine and the formation of new authorities.

However, the formation process state power in Russia, as a result of the February Revolution of 1917, it followed a different scenario. In Russia, a dual power system, which has no analogues in history, was created - in the person of the Soviets of Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Deputies, on the one hand, and the Provisional Government, on the other.

As already mentioned, the emergence of Soviets - bodies of people's power - dates back to the revolution of 1905-1907. and is its important conquest. This tradition was immediately revived after the victory of the uprising in Petrograd on February 27, 1917. In addition to the Petrograd Council, in March 1917, over 600 local Soviets arose, which elected from among themselves permanent authorities - executive committees. These were the elected representatives of the people, who relied on the support of the broad working masses. The councils performed legislative, administrative, executive and even judicial functions. By October 1917, there were already 1,429 councils in the country. They arose spontaneously - it was the spontaneous creativity of the masses. Along with this, local committees of the Provisional Government were created. This created a dual power at the central and local levels.

At that time, the predominant influence in the Soviets, both in Petrograd and in the provincial ones, was held by representatives of the Menshevik and Socialist Revolutionary parties, who were focused not on the “victory of socialism,” believing that in backward Russia there were no conditions for this, but on the development and consolidation of it bourgeois-democratic gains. Such a task, they believed, could be carried out during the transition period by a Provisional government, bourgeois in composition, which must be provided with support in carrying out the democratic transformations of the country, and, if necessary, put pressure on it. In fact, even during the period of dual power, real power was in the hands of the Soviets, because the Provisional Government could govern only with their support and carry out its decrees with their sanction.

At first, the Provisional Government and the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies acted together. They even held their meetings in the same building - the Tauride Palace, which then turned into a center political life countries.

During March-April 1917, the Provisional Government, with the support and pressure on it from the Petrograd Soviet, carried out a series of democratic reforms, which were mentioned above. At the same time, it postponed the solution to a number of pressing problems inherited from the old government until the Constituent Assembly, and among them was the agrarian question. Moreover, it issued a number of decrees providing for criminal liability for the unauthorized seizure of landowners', appanage and monastic lands. On the issue of war and peace, it took a defensist position, remaining faithful to the allied obligations accepted by the old government. All this caused growing dissatisfaction among the masses with the policies of the Provisional Government.

Dual power is not a separation of powers, but a confrontation of one power with another, which inevitably leads to conflicts, to the desire of each power to overthrow the opposing one. Ultimately, dual power leads to paralysis of power, to the absence of any power, to anarchy. With dual power, the growth of centrifugal forces is inevitable, which threatens the collapse of the country, especially if this country is multinational.

The dual power lasted no more than four months - until the beginning of July 1917, when, in the context of an unsuccessful offensive by Russian troops on the German front, on July 3-4, the Bolsheviks organized a political demonstration and attempted to overthrow the Provisional Government. The demonstration was shot, and repression fell on the Bolsheviks. After the July days, the Provisional Government managed to subjugate the Soviets, who obediently carried out its will. However, this was a short-term victory for the Provisional Government, whose position was becoming increasingly precarious. Economic devastation in the country deepened: inflation grew rapidly, production fell catastrophically, and the danger of impending famine became real. In the village, mass pogroms of landowners' estates began, peasants seized not only landowners' lands, but also church lands, and information was received about the murders of landowners and even clergy. The soldiers are tired of the war. At the front, fraternization between soldiers of both warring sides became more frequent. The front was essentially falling apart. Desertion increased sharply, entire military units were withdrawn from their positions: soldiers hurried home to be in time for the division of the landowners' lands.

The February Revolution destroyed the old government agencies, but was unable to create a lasting and authoritative government. The provisional government increasingly lost control over the situation in the country and was no longer able to cope with the growing devastation, the complete breakdown of the financial system, and the collapse of the front. The ministers of the Provisional Government, being highly educated intellectuals, brilliant speakers and publicists, turned out to be unimportant politicians and bad administrators, divorced from reality and poorly aware of it.

In a relatively short time, from March to October 1917, four compositions of the Provisional Government changed: its first composition lasted about two months (March-April), the next three (coalition, with “socialist ministers”) - each no more than one and a half months . It experienced two serious power crises (in July and September).

The power of the Provisional Government weakened every day. It increasingly lost control over the situation in the country. In a climate of political instability in the country, deepening economic ruin, and a protracted unpopular war. threats of impending famine, the masses longed for “firm power” that could “restore order.” The contradictory behavior of the Russian peasant also worked - his primordially Russian desire for “firm order” and at the same time primordially Russian hatred of any really existing order, i.e. a paradoxical combination in the peasant mentality of Caesarism (naive monarchism) and anarchism, obedience and rebellion.

By the fall of 1917, the power of the Provisional Government was virtually paralyzed: its decrees were not implemented or were completely ignored. There was virtual anarchy on the ground. There were fewer and fewer supporters and defenders of the Provisional Government. This largely explains the ease with which it was overthrown by the Bolsheviks on October 25, 1917. They not only easily overthrew the virtually powerless Provisional Government, but also received powerful support from the broad masses of the people, promulgating the most important decrees the very next day after the October Revolution - about earth and peace. It was not abstract socialist ideas, incomprehensible to the masses, that attracted them to the Bolsheviks, but the hope that they would actually stop the hated war and give the peasants the coveted land.

“V.A. Fedorov. History of Russia 1861-1917".
Library "Self-Self" http://society.polbu.ru/fedorov_rushistory/ch84_i.html

The spring of 1917 was to be decisive in the victory of the Russian Empire over Germany and Austria-Hungary in the First World War. But history decreed otherwise. The February Revolution of 1917 not only put an end to all military plans, but also destroyed the Russian autocracy.

1. Bread is to blame

The revolution began with the grain crisis. At the end of February 1917, due to snow drifts, the schedule for freight transportation of bread was disrupted, and rumors spread about an imminent transition to bread rationing. Refugees arrived in the capital, and some bakers were drafted into the army. Lines formed at the bread shops, and then riots began. Already on February 21, a crowd with the slogan “Bread, bread” began to destroy bakery shops.

2. Putilov workers

On February 18, workers at the fire monitor stamping workshop of the Putilov plant went on strike, and workers from other workshops joined them. Just four days later, the plant administration announced the closure of the enterprise and the dismissal of 36,000 workers. Proletarians from other plants and factories spontaneously began to join the Putilovites.

3. Protopopov’s inaction

Appointed Minister of Internal Affairs in September 1916, Alexander Protopopov was confident that he had the entire situation under control. Trusting the convictions of his minister about security in Petrograd, Nicholas II left the capital on February 22 for headquarters in Mogilev. The only measure taken by the minister during the days of the revolution was the arrest of a number of leaders of the Bolshevik faction. The poet Alexander Blok was sure that it was Protopopov’s inaction that became the main reason for the victory of the February Revolution in Petrograd. “Why is the main platform of power - the Ministry of Internal Affairs - given to the psychopathic chatterbox, liar, hysteric and coward Protopopov, who is maddened by this power?” - Alexander Blok wondered in his “Reflections on the February Revolution”.

4. Revolt of housewives

Officially, the revolution began with unrest among Petrograd housewives forced to stand in long lines for long hours for bread. Many of them became workers in weaving factories during the war. By February 23, about 100,000 workers from fifty enterprises were already on strike in the capital. The demonstrators demanded not only bread and an end to the war, but also the overthrow of the autocracy.

5. All power is in the hands of a random person

Drastic measures were needed to suppress the revolution. On February 24, all power in the capital was transferred to the commander of the Petrograd Military District, Lieutenant General Khabalov. He was appointed to this post in the summer of 1916, without having the necessary skills and abilities. He receives a telegram from the emperor: “I command you to stop the riots in the capital tomorrow, which are unacceptable during the difficult time of the war with Germany and Austria. NICHOLAY." A military dictatorship by Khabalov was to be established in the capital. But most of the troops refused to obey him. This was logical, since Khabalov, who was previously close to Rasputin, served his entire career at headquarters and in military schools, without having the authority among the soldiers necessary at the most critical moment.

6. When did the king learn about the beginning of the revolution?

According to historians, Nicholas II learned about the beginning of the revolution only on February 25 at about 18:00 from two sources: from General Khabalov and from Minister Protopopov. In his diary, Nikolai first wrote about the revolutionary events only on February 27 (the fourth day): “Unrest began in Petrograd several days ago; Unfortunately, troops also began to take part in them. It’s a disgusting feeling to be so far away and receive fragmentary bad news!”

7. Peasants' revolt, not soldiers' revolt

On February 27, a massive transition of soldiers to the side of the people began: in the morning 10,000 soldiers rebelled. By the evening of the next day there were already 127,000 rebel soldiers. And by March 1, almost the entire Petrograd garrison had gone over to the side of the striking workers. Government troops were melting away every minute. And this is not surprising, because the soldiers were yesterday’s peasant recruits, not ready to raise bayonets against their brothers. Therefore, it is more fair to consider this rebellion not a soldier’s, but a peasant’s. On February 28, the rebels arrested Khabalov and imprisoned him in the Peter and Paul Fortress.

8. The first soldier of the revolution

On the morning of February 27, 1917, senior sergeant major Timofey Kirpichnikov raised and armed the soldiers subordinate to him. Staff Captain Lashkevich was supposed to come to them to send, in accordance with Khabalov’s order, this unit to quell the unrest. But Kirpichnikov persuaded the platoon leaders, and the soldiers decided not to shoot at the demonstrators and killed Lashkevich. Kirpichnikov, as the first soldier to raise his weapon against the “tsarist system”, was awarded St. George's Cross. But punishment found its hero; on the orders of the monarchist Colonel Kutepov, he was shot in the ranks of the Volunteer Army.

9. Arson of the Police Department

The police department was a stronghold in the struggle of the tsarist regime against the revolutionary movement. Capture this law enforcement agency became one of the first targets of the revolutionaries. Director of the Police Department Vasiliev, foreseeing the danger of the events that had begun, ordered in advance that all documents with the addresses of police officers and secret agents be burned. The revolutionary leaders sought to be the first to get into the Department building, not only in order to take possession of all the data on criminals in the empire and solemnly burn them, but also to destroy in advance everything in their hands former government dirt on them. So, most of sources on the history of the revolutionary movement and the tsarist police were destroyed during the February Revolution.

10. “Hunting season” for the police

During the days of the revolution, the rebels showed particular cruelty to police officers. Trying to escape, former servants of Themis changed clothes and hid in attics and basements. But they were still found and put to death on the spot, sometimes with monstrous cruelty. The head of the Petrograd security department, General Globachev, recalled: “The rebels scoured the whole city, looking for policemen and police officers, expressed wild delight at finding a new victim to quench their thirst for innocent blood, and there was no mockery, mockery, insults and torture that the animals did not try on their victims."

11. Uprising in Moscow

Following Petrograd, Moscow also went on strike. On February 27, it was declared under a state of siege, and all rallies were prohibited. But it was not possible to prevent the unrest. By March 2, train stations, arsenals and the Kremlin had already been captured. Representatives of the Committee of Public Organizations of Moscow and the Moscow Council of Workers' Deputies, created during the days of the revolution, took power into their own hands.

12. “Three Powers” ​​in Kyiv

News of the change of power reached Kyiv on March 3. But unlike Petrograd and other cities of the Russian Empire, in Kyiv it was not dual power that was established, but triple power. In addition to the provincial and district commissars appointed by the Provisional Government and the local Councils of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies that were being formed, a third force entered the political arena - the Central Rada, initiated by representatives of all parties participating in the revolution to coordinate the national movement. And immediately inside the Rada, a struggle began between supporters national independence and adherents of an autonomous republic in a federation with Russia. Nevertheless, on March 9, the Ukrainian Central Rada declared its support for the Provisional Government headed by Prince Lvov.

13. Liberal conspiracy

Back in December 1916, the idea of ​​a palace coup had matured among liberals. The leader of the Octobrist party, Guchkov, together with cadet Nekrasov, were able to attract the future Minister of Foreign Affairs and Finance of the Provisional Government Tereshchenko, Chairman of the State Duma Rodzianko, General Alekseev and Colonel Krymov. They planned to intercept the emperor on his way from the capital to headquarters in Mogilev no later than April 1917 and force him to abdicate the throne in favor of the rightful heir. But the plan was implemented earlier, already on March 1, 1917.

14. Five centers of “revolutionary ferment”

The authorities knew not about one, but about several centers of the future revolution. The palace commandant, General Voeikov, at the end of 1916, named five centers of opposition to autocratic power, as he put it, centers of “revolutionary ferment”: 1) the State Duma, headed by M.V. Rodzianko; 2) Zemstvo Union led by Prince G.E. Lvov; 3) City Union headed by M.V. Chelnokov; 4) Central Military-Industrial Committee headed by A.I. Guchkov; 5) Headquarters headed by M.V. Alekseev. As subsequent events showed, they all took a direct part in the coup d'etat.

15. Nikolai's last chance

Did Nicholas have a chance to retain power? Perhaps if he had listened to “fat Rodzianko.” In the afternoon of February 26, Nicholas II receives a telegram from State Duma Chairman Rodzianko, who reports anarchy in the capital: the government is paralyzed, food and fuel transport is in complete disorder, and there is indiscriminate shooting in the street. “It is necessary to immediately entrust a person with confidence to form a new government. You can't hesitate. Any delay is like death. I pray to God that this hour of responsibility does not fall on the Crown Bearer.” But Nikolai does not react, complaining only to the Minister of the Imperial Court Fredericks: “Again this fat man Rodzianko has written to me all sorts of nonsense, to which I will not even answer him.”

16. Future Emperor Nicholas III

Back at the end of 1916, during negotiations between the conspirators, the main contender for the throne as a result of the palace coup was considered Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the army at the beginning of the First World War. In the last pre-revolutionary months, he served as governor in the Caucasus. The proposal to occupy the throne was received by Nikolai Nikolaevich on January 1, 1917, but two days later the Grand Duke refused. During the February Revolution, he was in the south, where he received news of his appointment again as Supreme Commander-in-Chief, but upon his arrival at Headquarters in Mogilev on March 11, he was forced to abandon his post and resign.

17. The Tsar's Fatalism

Nicholas II knew about the conspiracies being prepared against him. In the fall of 1916, he was informed about this by the palace commandant Voeikov, in December by the Black Hundred member Tikhanovich-Savitsky, and in January 1917 by the Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Prince Golitsyn, and the aide-de-camp Mordvinov. Nicholas II was afraid to act openly against the liberal opposition during the war and completely entrusted his life and the life of the Empress to the “will of God.”

18. Nicholas II and Julius Caesar

If you believe the personal diary of Emperor Nicholas II, then throughout all the days of the revolutionary events he continued to read the French book about the conquest of Gaul by Julius Caesar. Did Nicholas think that he would soon suffer the fate of Caesar - a palace coup?

19. Rodzianko tried to save the royal family

In the February days, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna was in Tsarskoye Selo with her children. After Nicholas II left for Headquarters in Mogilev on February 22, all the royal children fell ill with measles one after another. The source of the infection, apparently, were young cadets - playmates of Tsarevich Alexei. On February 27, she writes to her husband about the revolution in the capital. Rodzianko, through the empress’s valet, urged her and her children to immediately leave the palace: “Leave anywhere, and as quickly as possible. The danger is very great. When the house is on fire and sick children are carried out.” The Empress replied: “We won’t go anywhere. Let them do what they want, but I won’t leave and I won’t destroy my children.” Due to the grave condition of the children (the temperature of Olga, Tatiana and Alexei reached 40 degrees), the royal family could not leave their palace, so all the guards battalions loyal to the autocracy were gathered there. Only on March 9, “Colonel” Nikolai Romanov arrived in Tsarskoe Selo.

20. Betrayal of allies

Thanks to intelligence and the ambassador in Petrograd, Lord Buchanan, the British government had complete information about the impending conspiracy in the capital of its main ally in the war with Germany. On the issue of power in the Russian Empire, the British crown decided to rely on the liberal opposition and, through its ambassador, even financed them. By promoting the revolution in Russia, the British leadership got rid of a competitor in the post-war issue of territorial acquisitions of the victorious countries.

When on February 27, deputies of the 4th State Duma formed a Provisional Committee headed by Rodzianko, which took full power in the country for a short time, it was the allied France and Great Britain that were the first to recognize the de facto new government - on March 1, the day before the abdication still a legitimate king.

21. Unexpected renunciation

Contrary to popular belief, it was Nicholas, and not the Duma opposition, who initiated the abdication of Tsarevich Alexei. By decision of the Provisional Committee of the State Duma, Guchkov and Shulgin went to Pskov with the aim of abdicating Nicholas II. The meeting took place in the carriage of the royal train, where Guchkov suggested that the emperor abdicate the throne in favor of little Alexei, with the appointment of Grand Duke Mikhail as regent. But Nicholas II declared that he was not ready to part with his son, so he decided to abdicate in favor of his brother. Taken by surprise by such a statement from the tsar, the Duma envoys even asked Nicholas for a quarter of an hour to confer and still accept the abdication. On the same day, Nicholas II wrote in his diary: “At one o’clock in the morning I left Pskov with a heavy feeling of what I had experienced. There is treason and cowardice and deceit all around!”

22. Isolation of the Emperor

A key role in the emperor's decision to abdicate was played by the chief of staff, General Alekseev, and the commander of the Northern Front, General Ruzsky. The sovereign was isolated from sources of objective information by his generals, who were participants in the conspiracy to carry out a palace coup. Most army commanders and corps commanders expressed their readiness to march with their troops to suppress the uprising in Petrograd. But this information was not communicated to the king. It is now known that in the event of the emperor’s refusal to relinquish power, the generals even considered the physical elimination of Nicholas II.

23. Loyal commanders

Only two military commanders remained loyal to Nicholas II - General Fyodor Keller, who commanded the 3rd Cavalry Corps, and the commander of the Guards Cavalry Corps, General Huseyn Khan Nakhichevansky. General Keller addressed his officers: “I received a dispatch about the abdication of the Sovereign and about some kind of Provisional Government. I, your old commander, who shared with you hardships, sorrows, and joys, do not believe that the Sovereign Emperor at such a moment could voluntarily abandon the army and Russia.” He, together with General Khan Nakhichivansky, offered the king to provide himself and his units to suppress the uprising. But it was already too late.

24. Lvov was appointed by decree of the abdicated emperor

The Provisional Government was formed on March 2 after an agreement between the Provisional Committee of the State Duma and the Petrograd Soviet. But the new government, even after the abdication, required the consent of the emperor to appoint Prince Lvov at the head of the government. Nicholas II signed a decree to the Governing Senate on the appointment of Lvov as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, dated 2 o'clock in the afternoon on March 2, for the legitimacy of the document an hour earlier than the time set in the abdication.

25. Mikhail’s self-recusal on Kerensky’s initiative

On the morning of March 3, members of the newly formed Provisional Government arrived to Mikhail Romanov to decide on the issue of accepting the throne. But there was no unity among the deputation: Miliukov and Guchkov insisted on accepting the throne, Kerensky called for refusal. Kerensky was one of the most ardent opponents of the continuation of autocracy. After a personal conversation with Rodzianko and Lvov, the Grand Duke decided to renounce the throne. A day later, Mikhail issued a manifesto calling on everyone to submit to the authority of the Provisional Government until the convening of the Constituent Assembly. Ex-Emperor Nikolai Romanov reacted to this news with the following entry in his diary: “God knows who advised him to sign such a nasty thing!” This was the end of the February Revolution.

26. The Church supported the Provisional Government

Dissatisfaction with the policies of the Romanovs had been smoldering in the Orthodox Church since Peter's reforms. After the first Russian revolution, discontent only intensified, since the Duma could now pass laws concerning church issues, including its budget. The Church sought to regain from the sovereign the rights lost two centuries ago and transfer them to the newly installed patriarch. During the days of the revolution, the Holy Synod did not take any active part in the struggle on either side. But the king's abdication was approved by the clergy. On March 4, the Chief Prosecutor of the Synod of Lvov proclaimed “freedom of the Church,” and on March 6, it was decided to serve a prayer service not for the reigning house, but for the new government.

27. Two anthems of the new state

Immediately after the start of the February Revolution, the question arose about a new Russian anthem. The poet Bryusov proposed to arrange All-Russian competition to choose new music and words of the anthem. But all the proposed options were rejected by the Provisional Government, which approved the “Workers' Marseillaise” as the national anthem with the words of the populist theorist Pyotr Lavrov. But the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies proclaimed the "International" as the anthem. Thus, dual power remained not only in the government, but also in the issue of the national anthem. The final decision on the national anthem, like many other issues, had to be taken by the Constituent Assembly.

28. Symbols of the new government

Change state form rule is always accompanied by a revision of all state symbols. Following the anthem, which appeared spontaneously, the new government had to decide the fate of the double-headed imperial eagle. To solve the problem, a group of specialists in the field of heraldry was assembled, who decided to postpone this issue until the Constituent Assembly. It was temporarily decided to leave the double-headed eagle, but without any attributes of royal power and without St. George the Victorious on the chest.

29. Not only Lenin “slept through” the revolution

IN Soviet time They made sure to point out that only on March 2, 1917, Lenin learned that the revolution had won in Russia, and that instead of the tsarist ministers, there were 12 members of the State Duma in power. “Ilyich lost sleep from the moment the news of the revolution arrived,” Krupskaya recalled, “and at night the most incredible plans were made.” But besides Lenin, all other socialist leaders “slept through” the February Revolution: Martov, Plekhanov, Trotsky, Chernov and others who were abroad. Only the Menshevik Chkheidze, because of his duties as head of the corresponding faction in the State Duma, found himself in the capital at a critical moment and headed the Petrograd Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies.

30. Non-existent February Revolution

Since 2015, in accordance with the new study concept national history and historical and cultural standards that establish uniform requirements for school history textbooks, our children will no longer study the events of February-March 1917 as the February Revolution. According to the new concept, there is now no division into February and October Revolution, and there is the Great Russian Revolution, which lasted from February to November 1917. The events of February-March are now officially called the “February Revolution”, and the October ones are called the “seizure of power by the Bolsheviks.”

By the end of 1916, Russia was gripped by general discontent caused by war fatigue, rising prices, government inaction, and the obvious weakness of imperial power. By the beginning of 1917, almost everyone in the country was expecting imminent changes, but they began as unexpectedly as in 1905.

On February 23, 1917 (March 8, new style - International Women's Day), groups of women workers began to gather in different areas of Petrograd and took to the streets demanding bread. There was enough bread in the city (in any case, there was a two-week supply), but rumors leaked to the masses about a reduction in supply due to snow drifts (171 wagons of food per day instead of the norm of 330) caused panic and rushed demand. Many stocked up on bread and crackers for future use. Bakeries could not cope with such an influx. Long queues appeared at the bread shops, where people stood even at night. The government was unanimously blamed for what was happening.

In addition, on February 23, the management of the Putilov plant announced a lockout (the reason was the exorbitant economic demands of workers in a number of workshops). Putilov workers (and then workers from other factories) joined the women’s demonstration. Spontaneous pogroms of bread shops and food stores broke out. The crowd overturned trams (!!!) and fought with the police. The soldiers were persuaded not to shoot. The authorities did not dare to somehow prevent this.

The order of Nicholas II to use weapons to restore order in the capital was received by the commandant of Petrograd, General Khabalov, only on February 25, when it was already too late. Organized suppression failed. Soldiers of some units (mainly reserve battalions of the guards regiments located at the front) began to go over to the side of the demonstrators. On February 26, the elements of the riot got out of control. However, the parliamentary opposition hoped that the creation of a “responsible (to the Duma) ministry” could save the situation.

Rodzianko telegraphed to Headquarters Nicholas II: “The situation is serious. There is anarchy in the capital. The government is paralyzed... Public discontent is growing... It is necessary to immediately entrust a person enjoying the confidence of the country to form a new government.” The only response of the tsar (who clearly did not realize the true scope of the events) to this appeal was the decision to dissolve the Duma for two months. By noon on February 27, 25 thousand soldiers had already gone over to the side of the demonstrators. In some units they killed officers loyal to the tsar. On the evening of February 27, about 30 thousand soldiers come to the Tauride Palace (the seat of the Duma) in search of power, in search of government. The Duma, which so dreamed of power, had difficulty deciding to create the Provisional Committee of the State Duma, which declared that it would undertake “the restoration of government and public order.”

The Provisional Committee of the State Duma included: Chairman - Mikhail V. Rodzianko (Octobrist), V. V. Shulgin (nationalist), V. N. Lvov (center), I. I. Dmitriev (Octobrist), S. I. Shidlovsky (Octobrist), M. A. Karaulov (progressive), A. I. Konovalov (labor group), V. A. Rzhevsky (progressive) P. N. Limonov (cadet), N. V. Nekrasov (cadet), N S. Chkheidze (Social-Democratic). This choice was based on the representation of parties united in the “Progressive Bloc”.

A few hours before the creation of the Duma Committee, the first Council is organized. He appeals to the workers of Petrograd with a proposal to send deputies by evening - one per thousand workers. In the evening, the Council elects the Menshevik Nikolai S. Chkheidze as chairman, and left-wing Duma deputies Alexander F. Kerensky (a Trudovik) and M.I. Skobelev (a right-wing Menshevik) as deputies. There were so few Bolsheviks in the Council at that moment that they were not able to organize a faction (although the Bolshevik A.G. Shlyapnikov was elected to the Executive Committee of the Council).

At a time when two authorities arose in Petrograd - the Duma Committee and the Executive Committee of the Council - the Russian emperor was traveling from Headquarters in Mogilev to the capital. Detained at the Dno station by rebel soldiers, Nicholas II signed on March 2 the abdication of the throne for himself and his son Alexei in favor of his brother - Vel. book Mikhail Alexandrovich (declared his reluctance to accept the throne until the decision of the Constituent Assembly on March 3). Nicholas made this decision after his chief of staff, General Alekseev, supported by the commanders of all five fronts, declared that abdication was the only way to calm public opinion, restore order and continue the war with Germany.

Alexander I. Guchkov and Vasily V. Shulgin accepted the abdication of the Provisional Committee. Thus, the thousand-year-old monarchy fell rather quickly and quietly. On the same day (March 2), the Provisional Committee of the State Duma creates a Provisional (that is, until the convening of the Constituent Assembly) government, headed by Prince Georgy E. Lvov, close to the cadets, the former chairman of the Zemsky Union (Lvov), at the insistence of Miliukov, who pushed aside the Octobrist Rodzianko. Nicholas II approved the leadership of the Council of Ministers on March 2, at the request of the Provisional Committee; this was probably the last order of Nicholas as emperor). The leader of the cadets, Pavel N. Milyukov, became the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Octobrist A.I. Guchkov became the Minister of War and the Navy, Mikhail I. Tereshchenko (a millionaire sugar manufacturer, non-party, close to the progressives) became the Minister of Finance, A.F. Kerensky became the Minister of Justice. (lawyer involved in sensational political processes(including in the trial of M. Beilis), and as a deputy of the III and IV State. Duma (from the Trudovik faction). So, the first composition of the Provisional Government was almost exclusively bourgeois and predominantly cadet. The Provisional Government declared its goal to continue the war and convene a Constituent Assembly to decide the future structure of Russia. Actually, at this point the bourgeois parties considered the revolution complete.

However, simultaneously with the creation of the Provisional Government, the unification of the Petrograd Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies took place. N. S. Chkheidze became the chairman of the united Petrosoviet. The leaders of the Petrograd Soviet did not dare to take full power into their own hands, fearing that without the Duma they would not be able to cope with public administration in conditions of war and economic ruin. The ideological attitudes of the Mensheviks and, partly, the Socialist Revolutionaries, who predominated in the Petrograd Soviet, also played a role. They believed that the end of the bourgeois-democratic revolution was the work of the bourgeois parties united around the Provisional Government. Therefore, the Petrograd Soviet, which at that time had real power in the capital, decided to provide conditional support to the Provisional Government, subject to the proclamation of Russia as a republic, political amnesty and the convening of the Constituent Assembly. The Soviets exerted powerful pressure from the “left” on the Provisional Government and did not always take into account the decisions of the cabinet of ministers (which included only one socialist, Minister of Justice A.F. Kerensky).

Thus, despite opposition from the Provisional Committee of the State Duma, on March 1, 1917, Order No. 1 of the Petrograd Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies was adopted, calling on soldiers to create soldiers' committees in all units of the garrison, subordinate to the Council, and to transfer to them the right to control the actions of officers . The same order placed all the unit’s weapons at the exclusive disposal of the committees, which from now on “in no case” (!!!) should have been issued to officers (in practice, this led to the confiscation of even personal weapons from officers); All disciplinary restrictions outside the formation were abolished (including saluting), soldiers were allowed to join political parties and engage in politics without any restrictions. The orders of the Provisional Committee (later the Provisional Government) were to be carried out only if they did not contradict the decisions of the Council. This order, which undermined all the basic foundations of army life, was the beginning of the rapid collapse old army. Published at first only for the troops of the Petrograd garrison, it quickly reached the front and similar processes began there, especially since the Provisional Government did not find the courage to decisively resist this. This order placed all the troops of the Petrograd garrison under the control of the Council. From now on (that is, from its very creation!) The Provisional Government became his hostage.

On March 10, the Petrograd Soviet entered into an agreement with the Petrograd Society of Factories and Factories on the introduction of an 8-hour working day (this was not mentioned in the declaration of the Provisional Government). On March 14, the Council adopted a manifesto “To the peoples of the whole world,” which declared the renunciation of aggressive goals in the war, annexations and indemnities. The manifesto recognized only a coalition war with Germany. This position towards the war appealed to the revolutionary masses, but did not suit the Provisional Government, including Minister of War A.I. Guchkov and Minister of Foreign Affairs P.N. Milyukov.

In fact, from the very beginning the Petrograd Soviet went far beyond its city status, becoming an alternative socialist power. A dual power system developed in the country, that is, a kind of interweaving of powers: real power in a number of cases was in the hands of the Petrograd Soviet, while in fact the bourgeois Provisional Government was in power.

Members of the Provisional Government were divided over methods and relations with the Soviets. Some, and primarily P.N. Milyukov and A.I. Guchkov, believed that concessions to the Soviet should be minimized and everything should be done to win the war, which would give authority to the new regime. This implied the immediate restoration of order both in the army and in enterprises. A different position was taken by Nekrasov, Tereshchenko and Kerensky, who demanded the adoption of some of the measures required by the Council in order to undermine the authority of the workers' and soldiers' power and to create a patriotic upsurge necessary for victory in the war.

Political parties after February

After the February Revolution, the party and political system of Russia clearly moved to the left. The Black Hundreds and other far-right, traditionalist-monarchist parties were defeated during February. The center-right parties of the Octobrists and Progressives also experienced a severe crisis. The only large and influential liberal party in Russia were the Cadets. Their number after the February Revolution reached 70 thousand people. Under the influence of revolutionary events, the Cadets also went to the left. At the VII Congress of the Cadet Party (late March 1917), there was a rejection of the traditional orientation towards a constitutional monarchy, and in May 1917, at the VIII Congress, the Cadets spoke out for a republic. The People's Freedom Party (another name for the Cadets) set a course for cooperation with socialist parties.

After the February Revolution, there was a rapid growth of socialist parties. Socialist parties clearly dominated the national political arena, both in terms of membership and influence over the masses.

The Socialist Revolutionary Party grew significantly (up to 700-800, and according to some estimates, up to 1200 thousand people). In the spring of 1917, sometimes entire villages and companies signed up for the AKP. The leaders of the party were Viktor M. Chernov and Nikolai D. Avksentyev. The Socialist Revolutionary Party attracted people with its radical agrarian program close to the peasants, its demand for a federal republic and the heroic aura of long-standing and selfless fighters against autocracy. The Social Revolutionaries advocated Russia's special path to socialism through a people's revolution, the socialization of the land and the development of cooperation and self-government of workers. The left wing was strengthened in the AKP (Maria A. Spiridonova, Boris D. Kamkov (Katz), Prosh P. Proshyan). The left demanded decisive steps “toward the elimination of the war,” the immediate alienation of landowners’ lands, and opposed the coalition with the Cadets.

After February, the Social Revolutionaries acted in a bloc with the Mensheviks, who, although inferior to the AKP in numbers (200 thousand), nevertheless, by virtue of their intellectual potential exercised “ideological hegemony” in the bloc. Menshevik organizations remained disunited even after February. Attempts to eliminate this disunity were unsuccessful. There were two factions in the Menshevik party: the Menshevik-internationalists led by Yuli O. Martov and the “defencists” (“right” - Alexander N. Potresov, “revolutionary” - Irakli G. Tsereteli, Fedor I. Dan (Gurvich), who were leaders not only of the largest faction, but in many ways of the entire Menshevik party). There also existed the right-wing Plekhanov group “Unity” (Plekhanov himself, Vera I. Zasulich and others) and the left-wing “Novozhiznians”, who broke with the Menshevik party. Some of the Menshevik-internationalists, led by Yu. Larin, joined the RSDLP(b). The Mensheviks advocated cooperation with the liberal bourgeoisie, provided conditional support to the Provisional Government and considered socialist experiments harmful.

The Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries declared the need to wage war with the German bloc in order to protect the revolution and democratic freedoms (the majority of the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries declared themselves “revolutionary defencists”). For fear of a break with the bourgeoisie, because of the threat of civil war, they agreed to postpone the solution of fundamental socio-economic problems until the convening of the Constituent Assembly, but tried to implement partial reforms.

There was also a small (about 4 thousand people) but influential group of the so-called. "Mezhrayontsev" The group occupied an intermediate position between the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks. After returning from emigration in May 1917, Lev D. Trotsky (Bronstein) became the leader of the Mezhrayontsy. While still in the United States in March 1917, he spoke out for the transition to a proletarian revolution in Russia, relying on the Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies. At the VI Congress of the RSDLP (b), the Mezhrayontsy joined the Bolshevik Party.

The Bolshevik Party operating at the beginning of 1917 was not at all a cohesive, effective organization. The revolution took the Bolsheviks by surprise. All Bolshevik leaders known to the people were either in exile (Lenin and others) or in exile (Zinoviev, Stalin). The Russian Bureau of the Central Committee, which included Alexander G. Shlyapnikov, Vyacheslav M. Molotov and others, could not yet become an all-Russian center. The number of Bolsheviks throughout Russia did not exceed 10 thousand people. In Petrograd there were no more than 2 thousand of them. V.I. Lenin, who had been living in exile for almost ten years, was then in Zurich at the time of the February Revolution. Even in January 1917 he wrote: “We old people may not live to see decisive battles... the coming revolution...".

Being far from the epicenter of events, Lenin, however, immediately came to the conclusion that under no circumstances could the Bolshevik Party be satisfied with what had been achieved and not take full advantage of the incredibly successful moment. In Letters from Afar, he insisted on the need to arm and organize the working masses for an immediate transition to the second stage of the revolution, during which the “government of capitalists and big landowners” would be overthrown.

But among the Bolsheviks there were “moderates” who rejected almost all of Lenin’s main theoretical positions and political strategy. These were two major Bolshevik leaders - Joseph V. Stalin (Dzhugashvili) and Lev B. Kamenev (Rosenfeld). They (like the Menshevik-SR majority of the Petrograd Soviet) adhered to the position of “conditional support” and “pressure” on the Provisional Government. When on April 3, 1917, Lenin (with the assistance of Germany, who understood that his activities would be destructive for Russia) returned to Petrograd and called for an immediate socialist revolution, not only moderate socialists, but even many Bolsheviks did not support him.

Policy of the Provisional Government. The end of dual power

On April 4, 1917, Lenin outlined to the Bolshevik leaders his “April Theses” (“On the tasks of the proletariat in this revolution”), which determined a fundamentally new, extremely radical political line of the RSDLP (b). He unconditionally rejected “revolutionary defencism”, a parliamentary republic, and put forward the slogan “No support for the Provisional Government!” and spoke out for the taking of power by the proletariat in alliance with the poor peasantry, the establishment of the Republic of Soviets (in which the Bolsheviks were to achieve predominance), and called for an immediate end to the war. The article did not contain a demand for an immediate armed uprising (since the masses are not yet ready for it). Lenin saw the immediate task of the party as discrediting the authorities by all possible ways and agitation for the Soviets. The idea was extremely simple: the further, the more all the parties that took part in the government (that is, all up to and including the Socialist Revolutionaries and Mensheviks) would appear in the eyes of the people guilty of worsening their situation. Their former popularity will inevitably fade and this is where the Bolsheviks will come to the fore. G. V. Plekhanov responded to Lenin’s theses with a scathing article “On Lenin’s Theses and Why Nonsense is Sometimes Interesting.” The “Theses” were also met with bewilderment by the Bolshevik leaders of Petrograd (Kalinin, Kamenev, etc.). Nevertheless, it was precisely this extremely extremist program chosen by Lenin, coupled with extremely simple and understandable slogans (“Peace!”, “Land to the peasants!”, “All power to the Soviets!”, etc.) that brought success to the Bolsheviks. In the spring and summer of 1917, the size of the party increased significantly (by May 1917 - up to 100 thousand, and by August - up to 200-215 thousand people).

Already in March - April, the provisional government carried out broad democratic changes: the proclamation political rights and freedoms; abolition of national and religious restrictions, the death penalty, abolition of censorship (during war!); A general political amnesty was declared. On March 8, Nicholas II and his family were arrested (they were in the Alexander Palace in Tsarskoe Selo), as well as ministers and a number of representatives of the former tsarist administration. To investigate their illegal actions, an Extraordinary Commission of Inquiry was created with great fanfare (which brought scant results). Under pressure from the Soviets, the Provisional Government implemented the so-called. “democratization” of the army (in line with “Order No. 1”), which had the most destructive consequences. In March 1917, the Provisional Government announced its agreement in principle to create an independent Poland in the future. Later it was forced to agree to the broadest autonomy for Ukraine and Finland.

The Provisional Government legalized the factory committees that emerged at enterprises, which received the right to control the activities of the administration. To achieve “class peace,” the Ministry of Labor was created. In plants and factories, workers voluntarily introduced an 8-hour working day (in conditions when the war was ongoing!), although it was not decreed. In April 1917, land committees were created to prepare agrarian reform, but the solution to the land issue was postponed until the convening of the Constituent Assembly.

In order to gain local support, on March 5, 1917, by order of the head of the cabinet, provincial and district commissars of the Provisional Government were appointed in place of the removed governors and other leaders of the previous administration. In May-June 1917, a local government reform was carried out. The network of zemstvos was extended throughout Russia, their electoral system was democratized, and volost zemstvos and district city Dumas were created. However, soon local zemstvos began to be pushed out of power by the Soviets. From March to October 1917, the number of local Soviets increased from 600 to 1400. At the fronts, the analogues of the Soviets were soldiers' committees.

In these two months, the Provisional Government did a lot to democratize the country and bring it closer to world standards of democracy. However, the unpreparedness of the population for conscious freedom (which implies responsibility), the feeling of weakness of power and, consequently, impunity and, finally, the ongoing war with the inevitable deterioration of life led to the fact that the good undertakings of the liberals quickly undermined the foundations of the entire old Russian statehood, and the new principles of life we didn’t have time to get vaccinated. In this sense, we can say that February gave birth to October.

At the same time, the Provisional Government did not want to resolve the issues of eliminating landownership, ending the war, and immediately improving the financial situation of the people before the Constituent Assembly. This caused rapid disappointment. Discontent was aggravated by the lack of food (bread cards were introduced in Petrograd at the end of March), clothing, fuel and raw materials. Rapidly rising inflation (the ruble fell 7 times in value over the year) led to the paralysis of commodity flows. The peasants did not want to give away their harvest for paper money. Wages, which had already fallen by about a third by the beginning of 1917 compared to the pre-war level, continued to fall at an unprecedentedly high rate.

Transport operations and, consequently, the supply situation have worsened. An increasing shortage of raw materials and fuel forced business owners to reduce production, which led to an additional increase in unemployment due to mass layoffs. For many, dismissal meant conscription into the army. The government's attempts to take control of the situation in conditions of revolutionary anarchy led nowhere. Social tension in the country increased.

It soon became clear that the desire of the Provisional Government to continue the war did not coincide with the desires of the masses of soldiers and workers who, after the February events, became the de facto masters of Petrograd. P. N. Milyukov, who believed that victory was necessary for Russian democracy to strengthen its international prestige and resolve a number of important territorial issues in favor of Russia - the seizure of Galicia, the Austrian and German parts of Poland, Turkish Armenia, and most importantly - Constantinople and the Straits (for which Miliukov was nicknamed Milyukov-Dardanelle), on April 18, 1917, he addressed a note to Russia’s allies, where he assured them of his determination to bring the war to a victorious end.

In response, on April 20 and 21, under the influence of Bolshevik agitation, thousands of workers, soldiers and sailors took to the streets with banners and banners, with the slogans “Down with the policy of annexations!” and “Down with the Provisional Government!” The crowds of demonstrators dispersed only at the request of the Petrograd Soviet, openly ignoring the government order to disperse.

The Menshevik-SR leaders of the Petrograd Soviet obtained official clarifications that the “decisive victory” in Miliukov’s note meant only the achievement of “lasting peace.” A.I. Guchkov and P.N. Milyukov were forced to resign. To get out of the first government crisis since the revolution, several of the most prominent socialist leaders from among the moderates were persuaded to take ministerial chairs. As a result, on May 5, 1917, the first coalition government was created. The Menshevik Irakli G. Tsereteli (one of the recognized leaders of the Bolshevik-SR bloc) became Minister of Posts and Telegraphs. The main leader and theoretician of the Socialist Revolutionaries, Viktor M. Chernov, headed the Ministry of Agriculture. Tsereteli's comrade-in-arms Matvey I. Skobelev received the post of Minister of Labor. Alexey V. Peshekhonov, founder and leader of the People's Socialist Party, was appointed Minister of Food. Another People's Socialist, Pavel Pereverzev, took the post of Minister of Justice. Kerensky became Minister of War and Navy.

At the First All-Russian Congress of Soviets (June 3-24, 1917) (out of 777 delegates, 290 Mensheviks, 285 Socialist Revolutionaries and 105 Bolsheviks), a new line of behavior for the Bolsheviks appeared for the first time. The best speakers of the party - Lenin and Lunacharsky - “rushed to the offensive” on the issue of power, demanding that the congress be transformed into a “revolutionary Convention” that would assume full power. In response to Tsereteli’s assertion that there is no party capable of taking all power into its own hands, V.I. Lenin declared from the rostrum of the congress: “There is! No party can refuse this, and our party does not refuse this: every minute it is ready to take power entirely.”

On June 18, an offensive began on the Southwestern Front, which was supposed to cause a patriotic upsurge. Kerensky personally toured a huge number of soldier rallies, convincing the soldiers to go on the offensive (for which he received the ironic nickname “chief persuader”). However, after “democratization,” the old army no longer existed, and the very front that just a year ago had made the brilliant Brusilov breakthrough, after some initial successes (explained primarily by the fact that the Austrians considered the Russian army to be completely disintegrated and left only very insignificant forces at the front) strength) stopped and then fled. Complete failure was obvious. The socialists completely shifted the blame for it onto the government.

On the day the offensive began in Petrograd and others major cities Russia saw powerful demonstrations organized by the Petrograd Soviet in support of the Provisional Government, but which ultimately took place under the Bolshevik slogans: “All power to the Soviets!”, “Down with ten capitalist ministers!”, “Down with the war!”. There were approx. demonstrators. 400 thousand. Demonstrations showed the growth of radical sentiments among the masses, the strengthening of the influence of the Bolsheviks. At the same time, these trends were still clearly expressed only in the capital and a number of large cities. But even there the Provisional Government was losing support. The strikes resumed and reached a wide scale. Entrepreneurs responded with lockouts. Minister of Industry and Trade Konovalov was unable to reach an agreement between entrepreneurs and workers and resigned.

Having learned about the German counter-offensive on July 2, 1917, the soldiers of the capital's garrison, most of them Bolsheviks and anarchists, convinced that the command would take the opportunity to send them to the front, decided to prepare an uprising. His goals were: the arrest of the Provisional Government, the first priority seizure of the telegraph and train stations, connection with the sailors of Kronstadt, the creation of a revolutionary committee under the leadership of the Bolsheviks and anarchists. On the same day, a number of cadet ministers resigned in protest against the compromise agreement with the Ukrainian Central Rada (which declared the independence of Ukraine on June 10) and in order to put pressure on the Provisional Government to toughen its position in the fight against the revolution.

On the evening of July 2, rallies were held among soldiers of 26 units who refused to go to the front. The announcement of the resignation of the cadet ministers further tensed the atmosphere. The workers expressed solidarity with the soldiers. The position of the Bolsheviks was quite contradictory. Members of the Central Committee and the Bolsheviks who sat on the Executive Committee of the Council were against any “premature” speech and restrained demonstrations. At the same time, many figures (M. I. Latsis, N. I. Podvoisky, etc.), citing the mood of the masses, insisted on an armed uprising.

On July 3-4, Petrograd was engulfed in demonstrations and rallies. Some units openly called for an uprising. V.I. Lenin reached the Kshesinskaya mansion (where the Bolshevik headquarters was located) by mid-day on July 4th. 10 thousand Kronstadt sailors with their Bolshevik leaders, most of them armed and eager to fight, surrounded the building and demanded Lenin. He spoke evasively, not calling for an uprising, but not rejecting this idea either. However, after some hesitation, the Bolsheviks decide to join this movement.

Columns of demonstrators headed towards the Council. When Chernov tried to calm the demonstrators, only Trotsky's intervention saved him from death. Fights and skirmishes broke out between the Kronstadt sailors, mutinous soldiers and part of the demonstrators, on the one hand, and on the other hand, regiments loyal to the Council (not the government!). A number of historians, not without reason, consider these events to be an unsuccessful attempt at a Bolshevik armed uprising.

After the events of July 4, Petrograd was declared under martial law. Minister of Justice P. Pereverzev published information according to which Lenin not only received money from Germany, but also coordinated the uprising with the Hindenburg counter-offensive. The government, supported by the Council, spoke out for the most decisive action. Lenin, together with Zinoviev, hid near the border of Finland, in the village. Spill. Trotsky, Kamenev, Lunacharsky were arrested. The units that took part in the demonstration were disarmed, and Pravda was closed. The death penalty was restored at the front. Lenin wrote these days that the slogan “All power to the Soviets!” should be removed from the agenda while the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries, with whom the break was complete, remain in the leadership of the Council.

After the July events of 1917, Prince Lvov resigned and instructed A.F. Kerensky to form a new government. Negotiations between various political forces have been difficult: the government crisis lasts 16 days (from 6 to 22 July). The Cadets, who considered themselves victors, put forward their own conditions: war until victory, the fight against extremists and anarchy, postponing the resolution of social issues until the convening of the Constituent Assembly, the restoration of discipline in the army, the removal of Chernov, who was held responsible for the unrest in the countryside. Kerensky supported the “peasant minister” and threatened that he himself would resign. In the end, the Cadets decided to join the government, hoping to steer it in the right direction.

The second coalition government was headed by A. F. Kerensky (G. E. Lvov resigned on July 7), retaining the posts of military and naval minister. Socialists received most of the posts in the new government. The danger of the growing chaos and the need to curb it became clear to the leadership of the Council, which declared the new government the “Government for the Salvation of the Revolution” and endowed it (!) with emergency powers. Power was effectively concentrated in the hands of the government. It is generally accepted that after the events of July 3-5, dual power was ended.

On July 26 - August 3, the VI Congress of the RSDLP (b) was held, at which a resolution was adopted on the need to seize power through an armed uprising, preparation for which should be the main task of the party. At this congress, Trotsky’s “inter-district people” joined the Bolsheviks and a Central Committee was elected, which included V. I. Lenin, L. B. Kamenev, G. E. Zinoviev, I. V. Stalin, L. D. Trotsky.

General Kornilov's speech and its consequences

On July 19, in the wake of the reaction to the events of the beginning of the month, Kerensky appointed General Lavr G. Kornilov (a popular military general in the army, known for his toughness and integrity) as Supreme Commander in Chief instead of the more “liberal”, “soft” Alexei A. Brusilov. Kornilov was entrusted with the task of quickly restoring discipline and combat effectiveness of the troops.

On August 3, Kornilov, explaining that the growing economic paralysis was threatening the supply of the army, presented Kerensky with a program for stabilizing the situation in the country, which was based on the idea of ​​​​an “army in the trenches, an army in the rear and an army of railway workers,” and all three were to be subjected to iron discipline . In the army, it was planned to fully restore the disciplinary power of commanders, sharply limit the powers of commissars and soldiers' committees, and introduce the death penalty for military crimes for soldiers in rear garrisons. In the so-called The “civil section” of the program provided for the announcement railways and those working for the defense of factories and mines under martial law, prohibition of rallies, strikes and interference of workers in economic affairs. It was emphasized that “these measures must be implemented immediately with iron determination and consistency.” A few days later, he suggested that Kerensky reassign the Petrograd Military District to Headquarters (since Headquarters controlled only the Active Army, while all rear units were subordinate to the Minister of War, that is, in this case, Kerensky) in order to decisively clear it of completely decomposed units and restore order. Consent to this was obtained. From the beginning of August, the transfer of reliable military units to the outskirts of Petrograd began - the 3rd Cavalry Corps, General. A. M. Krymov, Caucasian Native (“Wild”) Division, 5th Caucasian Cavalry Division, etc.

An attempt to consolidate the forces of the socialists and the liberal bourgeoisie in order to stop the slide into chaos was made at the State Conference in Moscow on August 12-15 (the Bolsheviks did not participate in it). The meeting was attended by representatives of the bourgeoisie, high clergy, officers and generals, former deputies of the State. Dumas, leadership of the Soviets. State The meeting made obvious the growing popularity of Kornilov, for whom on August 13 Muscovites gave a triumphal welcome at the station, and on the 14th the delegates of the meeting vigorously welcomed his speech. In his speech, he once again emphasized that “there should be no difference between the front and the rear regarding the severity of the regime necessary to save the country.”

Returning to Headquarters after the Moscow meeting, Kornilov, encouraged by the “right-wing” cadets and supported by the Union of Officers, decided to attempt a coup. Kornilov believed that the fall of Riga (August 21) would be a justification for drawing troops to the capital, and demonstrations in Petrograd on the occasion of the six-month “anniversary” of the February Revolution would give him the necessary pretext to restore order.

After the dispersal of the Petrograd Soviet and the dissolution of the Provisional Government, Kornilov intended to put the People's Defense Council at the head of the country (chairman - General L. G. Kornilov, fellow chairman - A. F. Kerensky, members - General M. V. Alekseev, Admiral A. V. Kolchak , B.V. Savinkov, M.M. Filonenko). Under the Council there should have been a government with broad representation of political forces: from the Tsar’s minister N.N. Pokrovsky to G.V. Plekhanov. Through intermediaries, Kornilov negotiated with Kerensky, trying to achieve a peaceful transfer of full power to him.

On August 23, 1917, at a meeting at Headquarters, agreement was reached on all issues. On August 24, Kornilov appointed general. A. M. Krymov commander of the Separate (Petrograd) Army. He was ordered, as soon as the Bolsheviks made a speech (which was expected any day), to immediately occupy the capital, disarm the garrison and workers and disperse the Soviet. Krymov prepared an order for the Separate Army, which imposed a state of siege in Petrograd and the province, Kronstadt, Finland and Estland; it was prescribed to create military courts. Rallies, meetings, strikes, appearance on the streets before 7.00 and later than 19.00, and publication of newspapers without prior censorship were prohibited. Those found guilty of violating these measures were subject to execution on the spot. The entire plan was supposed to be put into effect on August 29.

So, from August 23, Kerensky knew about Kornilov’s plans, but mistrust and personal ambitions broke this tandem. On the evening of August 26, at a meeting of the Provisional Government, Kerensky qualified Kornilov's actions as a rebellion and demanded emergency powers, which he was granted. On August 27, an order was sent to Headquarters to remove Kornilov from office, in which he was recognized as a rebel. Kornilov did not obey this order and on the morning of August 28 broadcast a statement on the radio: “... Russian people! Our Great Motherland is dying. The hour of her death is near. Forced to speak openly, I, General Kornilov, declare that the Provisional Government, under pressure from the Bolshevik majority of the Soviets, is acting in full agreement with the plans of the German General Staff... kills the army and shakes the country internally. The heavy consciousness of the imminent death of the country commands me ... to call on all Russian people to save the dying Motherland. ... I, General Kornilov, the son of a Cossack peasant, declare to one and all that I personally do not need anything except the preservation of Great Russia and I swear to bring the people - through victory over the enemy - to the Constituent Assembly, at which they themselves will decide their destinies and will choose a way of new state life. I am unable to betray Russia... And I prefer to die on the field of honor and battle, so as not to see the shame and disgrace of the Russian land. Russian people, the life of your Motherland is in your hands!”

While Kornilov advanced his troops towards Petrograd, Kerensky, abandoned by the Cadet ministers who had resigned, began negotiations with the Executive Committee of the Soviet. The threat of rebellion once again turned Kerensky into the head of the revolution. The railway workers began to sabotage the transportation of military units, and hundreds of Soviet agitators headed there. Armed detachments of the workers' Red Guard were formed in Petrograd. Bolshevik leaders were released from prison; Bolsheviks took part in the work of the People's Defense Committee against Counter-Revolution, created under the auspices of the Soviets. By August 30, the rebel troops were stopped and scattered without firing shots. General Krymov shot himself, Kornilov was arrested (September 1).

Kerensky moved on to attempts to strengthen his position and stabilize the situation in the country. On September 1, Russia was proclaimed a republic. Power passed to the Directory of five people under the leadership of Kerensky. He tried to strengthen his position by creating the Democratic Conference (which was supposed to be the source of the new statehood), and then the Council of the Republic.

The Democratic Conference (September 14-22) was supposed to host two important decisions: exclude or leave bourgeois parties in the government coalition; determine the character of the Council of the Republic. The participation of the bourgeoisie in the third coalition government, finally formed on September 26, was approved by a slight majority. The meeting agreed to individual participation in the government by leaders of the Kadet Party (since, in general, the meeting excluded from the government parties that had compromised themselves by participating in the Kornilov speech). Kerensky introduced Konovalov, Kishkin, and Tretyakov into the third coalition government.

The Bolsheviks considered this a provocation, declaring that only the All-Russian Congress of Soviets, scheduled for October 20, had the right to form a “real government.” The meeting elected the permanent Democratic Council of the Republic (Pre-Parliament). But the situation in the country, the balance of forces after the defeat of Kornilov changed fundamentally. The most active right-wing forces that had begun to consolidate and were able to withstand the threat of Bolshevisation were defeated. Kerensky's prestige, especially among officers, fell sharply. Support for relatively moderate socialist parties also fell. At the same time (as, by the way, Lenin predicted back in April), the popularity of the Bolsheviks increased sharply, and they had to be legalized again. In September they took control of the Petrograd Soviet (Trotsky was elected chairman) and a number of councils of other large cities. On September 13, in “Historical Letters” addressed to the Central Committee of the RSDLP (b), Lenin calls for an early armed uprising. By the beginning of October, the position of the Provisional Government became hopeless.

Much later, Winston Churchill wrote: “For no country was fate as merciless as for Russia. Her ship sank when the pier was already in sight. It had already weathered the storm when the wreck came. All sacrifices had already been made, work was completed. Despair and betrayal overcame the authorities when the task was already completed..."

wiki.304.ru / History of Russia. Dmitry Alkhazashvili.