In Russia, the February Revolution (known as such because of Russia’s use of the Julian calendar) begins when riots and strikes over the scarcity of food erupt in Petrograd. One week later, centuries of czarist rule in Russia ended with the abdication of Nicholas II, and Russia took a dramatic step closer toward communist revolution.
By 1917, most Russians had lost faith in the leadership ability of the czarist regime. Government corruption was rampant, the Russian economy remained backward, and Nicholas repeatedly dissolved the Duma, the Russian parliament established after the Revolution of 1905, when it opposed his will. However, the immediate cause of the February Revolution—the first phase of the Russian Revolution of 1917—was Russia’s disastrous involvement in World War I. Militarily, imperial Russia was no match for industrialized Germany, and Russian casualties were greater than those sustained by any nation in any previous war. Meanwhile, the economy was hopelessly disrupted by the costly war effort, and moderates joined Russian radical elements in calling for the overthrow of the czar.
On March 8, 1917, demonstrators clamoring for bread took to the streets in the Russian capital of Petrograd (now known as St. Petersburg). Supported by 90,000 men and women on strike, the protesters clashed with police but refused to leave the streets. On March 10, the strike spread among all of Petrograd’s workers, and irate mobs of workers destroyed police stations. Several factories elected deputies to the Petrograd Soviet, or “council,” of workers’ committees, following the model devised during the Revolution of 1905.
On March 11, the troops of the Petrograd army garrison were called out to quell the uprising. In some encounters, regiments opened fire, killing demonstrators, but the protesters kept to the streets, and the troops began to waver. That day, Nicholas again dissolved the Duma. On March 12, the revolution triumphed when regiment after regiment of the Petrograd garrison defected to the cause of the demonstrators. The soldiers, some 150,000 men, subsequently formed committees that elected deputies to the Petrograd Soviet.
The imperial government was forced to resign, and the Duma formed a provisional government that peacefully vied with the Petrograd Soviet for control of the revolution. On March 14, the Petrograd Soviet issued “Order No. 1,” which instructed Russian soldiers and sailors to obey only those orders that did not conflict with the directives of the Soviet. The next day, March 15, Czar Nicholas II abdicated the throne in favor of his brother Michael, whose refusal of the crown brought an end to the czarist autocracy.
The new provincial government, tolerated by the Petrograd Soviet, hoped to salvage the Russian war effort while ending the food shortage and many other domestic crises. It would prove a daunting task. Meanwhile, Vladimir Lenin, leader of the Bolshevik revolutionary party, left his exile in Switzerland and crossed German enemy lines to return home and take control of the Russian Revolution.
It is my sincere desire to provide readers of this site with the best unbiased information available, and a forum where it can be discussed openly, as our Founders intended. But it is not easy nor inexpensive to do so, especially when those who wish to prevent us from making the truth known, attack us without mercy on all fronts on a daily basis. So each time you visit the site, I would ask that you consider the value that you receive and have received from The Burning Platform and the community of which you are a vital part. I can't do it all alone, and I need your help and support to keep it alive. Please consider contributing an amount commensurate to the value that you receive from this site and community, or even by becoming a sustaining supporter through periodic contributions. [Burning Platform LLC - PO Box 1520 Kulpsville, PA 19443] or Paypal
-----------------------------------------------------
To donate via Stripe, click here.
-----------------------------------------------------
Use promo code ILMF2, and save up to 66% on all MyPillow purchases. (The Burning Platform benefits when you use this promo code.)
No mention of the Joo’s ?
It is almost like the victors get to write history and report on it.
the victors here see themselves as history – as the breath of god himself – and the rest of us as their raw material.
SMH
Because “they” were behind it.
Yer fergot the “/s”.
“Why would you mention a topic that has no relation on this historical event? Odd”
Speechless
“Speechless”
exactly how they want you to be.
Yer fergot the “/s”.
WWI and its aftermath collapsed the old order and heralded a new order that was hardly predictable. Not only was the Tsarist Monarchy overthrown, but so were the Hapsburgs and Kaisers. Poland was reconstituted and Italy’s unstable democracy teetered. The Ottoman Empire collapsed. There were other history bending results of WWI, but the point being, the transition from a hundreds of years old form of government/society was upended throughout Europe, and there was no manual to reconstitute their respective civil societies. Just sayin
“Reconstituted Poland”???
You mean like when they were given the Corridor and Danzig per the Versailles agreement?
The nation of Poland didn’t exist, until reconstituted post WWI
—–
In the mid-1500s, united Poland was the largest state in Europe and perhaps the continent’s most powerful nation. Yet two and a half centuries later, during the Partitions of Poland (1772–1918), it disappeared, parceled out among the contending empires of Russia, Prussia, and Austria.
https://www.britannica.com/place/Poland
It did exist until the Partitions. My point is only that with Versailles, Germany was forced to cede lands that had been previously held. Namely, those lands became known as the Corridor and a part of (now) Poland including Danzig(Ger.)/Gdańsk( as it’s known today in Poland).
After Germany’s defeat in World War I, the Allied powers in the Treaty of Versailles decided to create the Free City of Danzig (1919) under a commissioner appointed by the League of Nations. This included the city , the seaport, and significant surrounding territory.
By the 1920s and 1930s the city’s population was over 90% German while the Polish population was at 3.7 percent of city population. So, after Versailles, there was no easy way for Germans to repatriate.
I’ll agree that the Partitions diminished Poland to zero. But is one to consider the populations and their respective cultures, or is a question of only metes and bounds?
Metes and Bounds is pretty much the history of Kingdoms and nations etc. The original post referenced that Poland didn’t exist as a separate nation/kingdom, but was reprised after WWI. My main point was that vast upheavals among the principal empires of the day resulted from WWI.
Historical facts WITH A GLARING OMMISSION.
“The pogroms will stop when the jews stop being communists.” mayor of kiev 1917
March 8th has another notable anniversary – the 50th of Ali-Frazier I.
The collapse of the Romanovs was spectacular:
It was the October Revolution that sealed the deal for the Communists. “10 Days That Shook The World ” should be compulsory viewing for all persons who hate any and all political systems which are the enemies of Freedom.
The Romanovs weren’t exactly defenders of liberty. No monarchy was.
Autocracy is “normally” the exact enemy of freedom. The serfs were enslaved in Russia until 1861. And after that they were still serfs. After 1917 they became comrades. BOth systems – Communism and monarchy -have been harsh masters for Russians and the vast majority of societies throughout human history.
It’s nothing personal, just bizness.
Yeah the biz of man lording over man.
The Communist revolution in Russia was paid for by world banking interests then, just as the communist revolution in America is being funded by them today.