Pavel Milyukov
leader of the cadet party

Alexander Protopopov, who at that time held the post of Minister of Internal Affairs, as is clear from the memoirs of contemporaries, and from the transcripts of his interrogations in the investigative commission, was a man of mental abilities clearly insufficient for such a position. And according to some reports, he even suffered from a psychiatric illness.

Georges Maurice Paleologue quoted Foreign Minister Nikolai Pokrovsky in his diary: “I would attach only secondary importance to these riots if my dear colleague still had even a glimmer of reason. But what can you expect from a man who has lost all sense for many weeks now? reality and who confers every night with the shadow of Rasputin? That night he again spent two hours summoning the ghost of the old man."

A mediocre, if not crazy, minister, Protopopov made significant efforts to provoke a procession of workers to the Duma on February 14 (27) and shoot this procession with machine guns. However, the leader of the Cadet Party, Pavel Miliukov, addressed the workers in the press with an open letter, in which he urged them not to fall for Protopopov’s provocations, and the march did not take place. But this was only a delay in the explosion.

Literally the day before the storm broke out, on February 22 (March 7), Emperor Nicholas II left Tsarskoe Selo for Headquarters in Mogilev, as Miliukov wrote, “preserving only telegraph and even less reliable railway communications between himself and the capital.”

The Petrograd garrison of more than 150,000 at that time consisted mostly of reservists and conscripts of the second wave, mostly peasants.

Finally, these days it has sharply warmed up by almost 20 degrees, as if nature itself was pushing people to take to the streets.

The city has conditions for a “perfect storm.”

On February 23 (March 8), International Women's Day, thousands of workers took to the streets of Petrograd. They shouted "Bread!" and "Down with hunger!" On this day, about 90 thousand workers from fifty enterprises took part in the strike. Without fuel, the factories stopped one after another. The next day there were almost 200 thousand workers on strike, and the next day, according to various sources, from 240 to 300 thousand, that is, up to 80% of the total number of workers in the city. Classes at the university also stopped, and students joined the protesters.

Residents of working-class areas, in particular the Vyborg side, flocked to the city center. At rallies, for example on Znamenskaya Square (which is now called Vosstaniya Square), red flags were raised and political slogans were shouted: “Down with autocracy!” and “Down with the war!”, and also sang revolutionary songs.

Read Close

The Petrograd authorities tried to avoid the use of force, since they saw that the soldiers and Cossacks were not in the mood to disperse the crowds of protesters. “I strongly did not want to resort to shooting,” General Khabalov recalled during interrogation at the investigative commission.

The beginning of the revolution on February 23, 1917. It happened in Petrograd. As a result, the monarchy was overthrown in Russia and dual power was established between the Provisional Government and the Petrograd Soviet.

Causes: 1) Incompleteness of modernization; the need to overcome backwardness: continue industrialization, democratization, rebuild the agricultural sector, introduce general education.

2) specific contradictions of Russia: peasants-landowners, workers-entrepreneurs, center-outskirts, Russians-others. nationality, Orthodoxy - other confessions

3) crisis of power \ discredit of the monarchy

4) the first world war

Events: The first unrest began with a strike by workers at the Putilov plant on February 17, whose workers demanded an increase in prices by 50% and the hiring of laid-off workers. The administration did not satisfy the stated demands. As a sign of solidarity with the Putilov workers, many enterprises in Petrograd went on strike. They were supported by the workers of the Narva outpost and the Vyborg side. Demonstrations that began in Petrograd demanding bread escalated into clashes with the police, who were taken by surprise by the events. On the evening of February 25, Nicholas II gave the order to stop the unrest in the capital. The State Duma was dissolved. On the night of February 26-27, rebel soldiers joined the workers, On February 27, the Arsenal and the Winter Palace were captured. The autocracy was overthrown. On the same day, the Executive Committee of the Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies of Petrograd was formed, and members of the Progressive Bloc created Provisional Committee of the Duma, taking the initiative to “restoration of state and public order.”

Results: So, the result of the February revolution of 1917 was the overthrow of the autocracy, the abdication of the tsar, the emergence of dual power in the country: the dictatorship of the big bourgeoisie represented by the Provisional Government and the Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, which represented the revolutionary-democratic dictatorship of the proletariat and peasantry. The February Revolution of 1917 became the first victorious revolution in Russia and turned Russia, thanks to the overthrow of tsarism, into one of the most democratic countries.

Several political groups have emerged in the country, proclaiming themselves the government of Russia:

1) The Provisional Committee of State Duma members formed the Provisional Government, headed by the compromise Prince G. E. Lvov, whose main task was to win the trust of the population. The provisional government declared itself legislative and executive powers

2) Organizations of persons who declared themselves authorities. The largest of them was the Petrograd Council, which consisted of moderate left-wing politicians and proposed that workers and soldiers delegate their representatives to the Council. The Council declared itself a guarantor against a return to the past, against the restoration of the monarchy and the suppression of political freedoms. The Council also supported the steps of the Provisional Government to strengthen democracy in Russia.

3) In addition to the Provisional Government and the Petrograd Soviet, other local bodies of actual power were formed: factory committees, district councils, national associations, new authorities on the “national outskirts”, for example, in Kyiv - the Ukrainian Rada.”

March 2 - declaration of the provisional government. It grants all civil liberties and a complete amnesty to all political parties. To prisoners, abolition of police censorship. The fall of the revolution is not the end of the revolution, but the beginning.

The February Revolution of 1917 formally began on February 18. On this day, more than 30 thousand workers of the Putilov plant went on strike. The government responded to this by immediately closing the Putilov plant. People found themselves unemployed and on February 23, crowds of demonstrators took to the streets of St. Petersburg to protest. By February 25, these unrest had developed into a real strike. People opposed the autocracy. The February Revolution of 1917 entered its active phase.

On February 26, the fourth company of the Peter and Paul Regiment joined the rebels. Gradually, all the troops of the Peter and Paul Regiment joined the ranks of the protesters. Events moved quickly. Nicholas 2, under pressure, was forced to abdicate the throne in favor of his brother Mikhail (March 2), who also refused to lead the country.

Provisional Government of 1917

On March 1, the creation of a Provisional Government was announced, headed by G.E. Lviv. The provisional government worked, and on March 3 it issued a manifesto with tasks for the development of the country. The February Revolution of 1917 continued with a mass amnesty for prisoners. The provisional government, wanting to inspire people's trust, announced the imminent end of the war and the transfer of land to the people.

On March 5, the Provisional Government dismissed all governors and officials who served Emperor Nicholas 2. Instead of provinces and districts, commissariats were created, which resolved issues locally.

In April 1917, the Provisional Government experienced a crisis of people's distrust. The reason for this was the statement of the Minister of Foreign Affairs P.N. Miliukov, who told Western countries that Russia would continue the First World War and would participate in it until the very end. People poured into the streets of Moscow and St. Petersburg, expressing disagreement with the actions of the authorities. As a result, Miliukov was forced to resign. The leaders of the new government decided to recruit the most influential socialists among the people, whose positions were still extremely weak. The new Provisional Government made a statement in mid-May that it would begin negotiations on concluding peace with Germany and would immediately begin resolving the land issue.

In June, a new crisis occurred that shook the Provisional Government. The people were dissatisfied that the war was not over and the land was still in the hands of the chosen ones. As a result, on June 18, a demonstration in which about 400 thousand people took part poured into the streets of Petrograd, chanting Bolshevik slogans en masse. At the same time, large movements took place in Minsk, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Kharkov and many other cities.

In July, a new wave of popular movements swept Petrograd. This time people demanded the overthrow of the provisional government and the transfer of all power to the Soviets. On July 8, the socialists who headed individual ministries issued a decree declaring Russia a republic. G.E. Lvov resigned in protest. Kerensky took his place. On July 28, the creation of a coalition provisional government was announced, which included 7 socialists and 8 cadets. This government was headed by Kerensky.

On August 23, a representative of the Provisional Government arrived at the headquarters of Commander-in-Chief Kornilov, who conveyed Kerensky’s request to send the 3rd Cavalry Corps to Petrograd, since the Provisional Government feared possible actions of the Bolsheviks. But Kerensky, seeing the troops near Petrograd, was afraid that Kornilov’s troops would want to put their boss in power, and declared Kornilov a traitor, ordering his arrest. This happened on August 27. The general refused to admit guilt and sent troops to Petrograd. Residents of the city stood up to defend the capital. Ultimately, the townspeople managed to resist the onslaught of Kornilov’s troops.

These were the results of the February Revolution of 1917. Then the Bolsheviks came to the fore, wanting to completely subjugate power to themselves.

The main political event of February could well be the resumption of meetings of the State Duma, scheduled for February 14.

The State Duma of the fourth convocation was elected in September-October 1912; its composition was, of course, bourgeois-landowner. After the defeats in the war in the spring-summer of 1915 and in connection with the growth of the labor movement in the State Duma, criticism of the government, calls and even demands for the creation of a “responsible government”, a government enjoying the “confidence of the country,” began to be increasingly heard. The State Duma met irregularly. So, in September 1915, it was dissolved for vacation, which lasted until February 1916. In November 1916, the Progressive Bloc demanded the resignation of the Stürmer government, then the new head of the government, Trepov. On December 16, the deputies were again sent on leave until January, which was “extended” until February 14.

The State Duma included 13 Social Democrats (7 Mensheviks and 6 Bolsheviks (later there were 5 of them, since R. Malinovsky was exposed as an agent of the secret police). In November 1914, all five Bolshevik Duma members participated in the Bolshevik conference in Ozerki, all participants in the conference , including the Bolshevik Duma members, were arrested. Their trial took place on February 10-13, 1915 and all 5 deputies were found guilty of participating in an organization aimed at overthrowing tsarism, and were sentenced to exile to a settlement in Eastern Siberia (Turukhansky Territory In 1916, many enterprises in the capital held meetings in connection with the anniversary of the verdict of the Bolshevik deputies, at which resolutions were passed demanding their release. In 1917, the Bolsheviks called for marking this date with demonstrations and a one-day strike “as a sign of readiness to give... their lives in the struggle for slogans that openly sounded in the mouths of our exiled deputies.”

The Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries made calls to “demonstrate” on February 14 at the Tauride Palace in order to express confidence and support in the State Duma, which on that day was supposed to resume work after the “vacation”.

February 8-9 strikes at a number of factories in Petrograd and Kolpin (Izhora plant) forced the commander of the Petrograd military district, General Khabalov, to issue an appeal to the workers demanding not to strike and threatening to use weapons.

February 10 Some factories were idle, others only worked until lunchtime. Rallies took place, the Bolshevik Party distributed 10 thousand leaflets. The workers' protests, which began on February 10, lasted for several days.

On February 10, 1917, the actual state councilor, chamberlain M.V. Rodzianko, who had presided over the State Duma for many years (since March 1911), arrived in Tsarskoe Selo with his last most loyal report. While assessing very little the actions of the government, especially the Minister of Internal Affairs Protopopov, he argued that Russia was on the eve of huge events, the outcome of which could not be foreseen. According to Rodzianko, it was necessary to immediately resolve the issue of extending the powers of the State Duma. He referred to the fact that such a measure - the extension of powers for the entire duration of the war - was recognized as naturally necessary not only by members of the State Duma, but also by the allies. If this is not done, Rodzianko emphasized, then the country, “exhausted from the hardships of life, due to the existing troubles in governance, can itself begin to defend its legal rights. This cannot be allowed in any way; it must be prevented in every possible way.”

Nicholas II did not agree with the report and to Rodzianko’s words: “You cannot put all the Rasputins at the forefront, you, sir, will reap what you sow” - he replied: “Well, God willing.”

Rallies and strikes at factories began (or rather, continued, as well as the distribution of leaflets calling “Down with autocracy!”) already in early February.

The 14th of February(on the opening day of the State Duma meeting), more than 80 thousand workers of 58 enterprises went on strike (Obukhovsky plant, Thornton factory, Atlas, factories: Aivaz, Old Lessner and New Lessner, etc.). Workers from many factories took to the streets with red banners and slogans: “Down with the government!”, “Long live the republic!”, “Down with the war!” Demonstrators broke through to Nevsky Prospekt, where clashes occurred with the police. Several attempts were made to arrest the demonstrators, but the crowd violently repulsed them. Gatherings took place in a number of higher educational institutions - University, Polytechnic, Forestry, Psychoneurological Institutes, etc.

At the call of the St. Petersburg Bolshevik Committee, workers of the Izhora plant in Kolpino held rallies in the workshops on February 13 and 14. Speeches were made by representatives of the Russian Bureau of the Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party and the factory workers themselves.

The head of the security department, Lieutenant Colonel Prutensky, reporting to the Petrograd Gendarmerie Directorate about strikes and rallies at the Izhora plant, noted the helplessness of the administration: “It should be noted that the Cossacks and lower ranks were friendly towards the workers and, apparently, recognized that the workers’ demands were fundamental and that measures should be taken in The authorities should not have anything to do with the emerging movement; in general, the impression was created that the Cossacks were on the side of the workers.”

Events showed that the “impression” did not deceive the royal servant. The atmosphere became tenser every day. The Bolsheviks called for open struggle. In a new leaflet issued after February 14, they wrote:

From a leaflet
Petersburg Committee of the RSDLP

TO ALL WORKERS,

FOR WOMEN WORKERS

PETROGRAD

Together, comrades, keep up!
Let us strengthen our spirit in the fight,
The road to the kingdom of freedom
Let's pierce our chests!

Comrades! Confess to each other that many of you have been waiting with curiosity for February 14th. Confess also and tell us what you had at your disposal, what forces you had mustered, what desires you had, clear and decisive, so that the day of February 14 would bring you what the entire working class longs for, what the entire suffering, hungry people of Russia are waiting for. Were the vague speeches that were heard in defense of the workers’ action at the Tauride Palace on the opening day of the State Duma enough? Is there really anyone among us who thinks that freedom can be obtained by beating the thresholds of palaces? No! The workers paid a high price for their enlightenment, and it would be an irreparable, shameful mistake to forget the dearly acquired science. But the tsarist government really wanted the St. Petersburg workers to be as blind and gullible as they were twelve years ago. After all, what a treat the royal ministers had prepared for the gullible! In each alley, a machine gun, a hundred policemen, wild, dark people were brought for this day, ready to rush at us at the first word. The bourgeois liberals, to whose support some bewildered workers were calling on the working class, seemed to have taken water in their mouths: they hid, not knowing what the St. Petersburg workers would do with the State Duma; and when there were none of them at the Tauride Palace, liberals in the Duma and in the newspapers whispered: of course, the workers of St. Petersburg could not do anything unpleasant to us, since the workers are at one with us, they want to wage the war to the end. Yes, comrades!

We want to fight the war to the end, and we must end it with our victory! But not the war that has been ruining and tormenting peoples for three years now. We want to wage war against this war. And our first weapon should be a clear consciousness of where our enemies are and who our friends are.

Thirty-one months of human carnage gave the people the death of many millions of lives, millions of cripples, the insane and the sick, military bondage in factories, serfdom in the countryside, flogging and abuse of sailors, lack of food, high prices, hunger. Only a handful of ruling capitalists and landowners are shouting about the war to the end and making hefty profits from the bloody deed. Suppliers of all sorts celebrate their feast on the bones of workers and peasants. The royal power stands guard over all the predatory brethren.

You can no longer wait and remain silent. ...There is no other outcome other than the people's struggle!

The working class and democracy should not wait until the tsarist government and the capitalists want to make peace, but now fight against these predators in order to take the fate of the country and the issues of the world into their own hands.

The first condition for real peace must be the overthrow of the tsarist government and the establishment of a Provisional Revolutionary Government to establish:

1. Russian Democratic Republic!

2. Carrying out an 8-hour working day!

3. Transfer of all landowners' lands to the peasantry!

The time has come for open struggle!

The workers' speeches were supported by students. On February 10, a student meeting took place at Petrograd University, the participants of which unanimously declared that they “join their protest in the form of a one-day strike and demonstration to the voice of the proletariat.” Student gatherings took place at the Polytechnic and Psychoneurological, Forestry and Medical Institutes, at the Lesgaft courses and the Higher Women's Courses. Several student gatherings advocated a two-day strike. And, naturally, the students “demonstrated” on Nevsky Prospekt.

On February 14, several hundred people came to rally at the Duma itself, responding to the call of the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries. Both the police barriers and the position of the cadets, who called for refraining from demonstrations and maintaining order, interfered.

State Duma deputies discussed current bills, some speakers demanded the resignation of incapable ministers.

“How can you fight with legal means against someone who has turned the law itself into a weapon of mockery of the people? How can you cover up your inaction by implementing the law, when your enemies do not hide behind the law, but, openly mocking the entire country, mocking us, violate the law every day "With lawbreakers, there is only one way to physically eliminate them..."

The next key date in February for manifestations of public rally and demonstration activity could be February 23 (old style, and March 8 according to the new style), that is, International Women's Day, however...

February 17 In 1917, the fire monitor and stamping workshop of the Putilov plant went on strike. The workers demanded a 50% increase in prices for the return of recently fired comrades to the plant. On February 18, rallies took place in all workshops. The workers elected a delegation to present demands to the management. The director threatened settlement. On March 20, 4 more workshops went on strike, and rallies were held in others. Then on February 21, the entire plant stopped working and the Putilov shipyard went on strike. Only soldiers assigned to the plant continued work. On February 22, the plant was closed. The next day, 20 thousand Putilovites moved into the city. The day before, there were strong food riots in Petrograd. The appearance of the Putilovites seemed to add fuel to the fire. The Bolsheviks called for strikes in solidarity with the Putilovites. At several enterprises of the Vyborg and Narva outposts, strikes began in protest against the lack of food, bread and high prices.

February 22 Nicholas II went to headquarters in Mogilev. And now - the irony of fate - interruptions in the sale of bread have become completely intolerable.

February 23(according to the old calendar style, March 8) was International Women's Day. The Bolsheviks once again called on the workers to strike. About 90 thousand workers went on strike. During the day, the outskirts of Petrograd were dominated by demonstrators. The crowd was dominated by working women. Women abandoned lines where they had stood for hours for bread and joined the strikers. The demonstrators not only went on strike themselves - they removed others from work.

A huge crowd of workers surrounded the cartridge factory, where they removed five thousand people from work. The performances were held under the slogan “Bread!” There were already quite a few red banners with revolutionary slogans, especially in the Vyborg region, where the Bolshevik committee began vigorous activity. According to a police report, at about 3 pm, up to four thousand people broke through from the Vyborg side through the Sampsonievsky Bridge and occupied Trinity Square. Speakers appeared in the crowd. Policemen on horseback and on foot dispersed the demonstrations. Not yet strong enough to repel the police, the workers responded to the repression by smashing bakeries and beating up the most zealous policemen.

In the evening the Bolshevik Committee of the Vyborg District met. They decided to continue the strike and turn it into a general strike.

Events developed in several dimensions - on the one hand, strikes organized with the participation of the Bolsheviks, on the other hand, spontaneous street protests.

From the REPORT of the prosecutor of the Petrograd Judicial Chamber to the Minister of Justice on the strike movement of Petrograd workers. 24 February.

RAPORT

On the morning of February 23, the artisans of the Vyborg region who came to the factories gradually began to stop work and go out into the streets in crowds, openly expressing protest and dissatisfaction about the lack of bread. The movement of the masses for the most part was of such a demonstrative nature that they had to be broken up by police squads.

Soon, news of the strike spread to enterprises in other areas, whose workers also began to join the strikers. Thus, by the end of the day, 43 enterprises with 78,443 workers were on strike.

Note. According to some estimates, the number of strikers was more than 128 thousand people.

Late in the evening of February 23, in the Vyborg district, at the apartment of worker I. Alexandrov, a meeting of the leadership core of the Petrograd Bolsheviks took place. It recognized the need to continue the strike, organize demonstrations on Nevsky, intensify agitation among the soldiers, and take measures to arm the workers.

24 February Over 200 thousand workers were already on strike, that is, more than half of the St. Petersburg proletariat.

Up to 10,000 workers from the Vyborg side out of 40,000 who gathered at the Liteyny Bridge and several thousand workers from other areas broke through, despite police cordons, into the city center - onto Nevsky Prospekt. There were rallies at the Kazan Cathedral and on Znamenskaya Square.

Military units were sent to help the police, but the Cossack soldiers evaded orders.

Strike on the 25th in Petrograd it turned into a universal political one. On this day, according to an intelligence report to the police department, a meeting of the St. Petersburg Committee of the RSDLP took place.

From a note from the security department dated February 24, intended for the information of police bailiffs

On February 23, from 9 a.m., in protest over the shortage of black bread in bakeries and small shops, at factories in the Vyborg part of the region, strikes of workers began, which then spread to some factories located in the Petrograd, Rozhdestvenskaya and Foundry parts, and During the day, work was stopped in 50 factories and factory enterprises, where 87,534 workers went on strike.

The strikers, energetically dispersed by police squads and requested military units, scattered in one place, soon gathered in others, showing particular tenacity in this case, and only by 7 o’clock in the evening was order restored in the area of ​​the Vyborg part. Attempts by workers of the Vyborg region to cross in crowds to the central part of the city were prevented throughout the day by police guards guarding bridges and embankments, but by 4 o’clock in the afternoon some of the workers nevertheless crossed one by one over the bridges and along the ice of the Neva River, along a large length of it, and reached the embankment of the left bank, where workers managed to group in the side streets adjacent to the embankment and then almost simultaneously remove workers from 6 factories from work in the areas of the 3rd section of the Rozhdestvenskaya part, the 1st section of the Liteinaya part and then carried out demonstrations on Liteiny and Suvorovsky prospects, where the workers were soon dispersed. Almost simultaneously with this, at 4 and a half o'clock in the afternoon, on Nevsky Prospekt, near Znamenskaya Square, part of the striking workers, who entered there in tram cars, as well as individually and in small groups from side streets, made several attempts to delay the movement of trams and cause riots *, but the demonstrators were immediately dispersed, and tram traffic was restored. By 7 pm normal traffic on Nevsky Prospekt was established. In the area of ​​the Petrograd part, the striking workers made several attempts to remove non-striking workers from work, but these attempts were prevented and the demonstrators were dispersed.

In addition, at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, the public waiting in line for bread, having heard that it had been sold, broke the mirror glass in Filippov’s bakery, at number 61 on Bolshoy Prospekt, and then fled. In other parts of the city there were no strikes or demonstrations by workers.

During the pacification of the unrest, 21 workers were detained... On the morning of February 23, the Putilov shipyard was closed by order of the administration, and a settlement was announced to the workers.

* The police assessment of any political speech is one: chaos.

From the note
Head of the Security Department, Major General Globachev
the Minister of Internal Affairs, the mayor, the prosecutor's office,
director of the police department and commander of the troops
on the evening of February 24

The strike of workers that took place yesterday over a shortage of bread continued today, with 131 enterprises with 158,583 people not working during the day.

Among the demonstrators there was a significant number of students.

From the note
police department about the meeting
Petersburg Committee of the Bolshevik Party on February 25, 1917

The Petrograd organization of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party, during the two days of unrest in Petrograd, decided to use the emerging movement for party purposes and, taking the leadership of the masses participating in it into its own hands, give it a clearly revolutionary direction.

For this purpose, the named organization proposed:

2) tomorrow, February 26, in the morning, convene a committee to resolve the question of the best and expedient procedure for managing the already excited, but not yet sufficiently organized masses of striking workers; at the same time, it was proposed, if the government does not take energetic measures to suppress the ongoing unrest, on Monday, February 27, to begin setting up barricades, cutting off electricity, damaging water pipes and telegraphs *;

3) immediately form a number of factory committees at the factories, the members of which should select representatives from their composition to the “Information Bureau”, which will serve as a link between the organization and the factory committees and will manage the latter, transmitting to them the directives of the Petrograd Committee. This “Information Bureau,” according to the conspirators’ assumption, should subsequently be formed into the “Council of Workers’ Deputies,” similar to the one that functioned in 1905;

4) from the Bureau of the Central Committee of the same organization (Petrograd), delegates that have not yet been clarified were sent to Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod on party assignments.

As for other revolutionary organizations, individual representatives of the Socialist Revolutionary Party existing in Petrograd (there are no organizations of this party in Petrograd), fully sympathizing with the movement that has begun, believe to join it in order to support the revolutionary action of the proletariat. Among students in higher educational institutions there is complete sympathy for the movement; Meetings led by speakers take place within the walls of institutions. Students take part in riots in the streets. In order to suppress such plans of revolutionary elements, it is planned to make up to 200 arrests tonight among the most active revolutionary figures and student youth...

* Leningrad researcher Yu. S. Tokarev suggested that the provocateur, on the basis of whose reports the note was drawn up, deliberately exaggerated the story in order to inflate himself with the police authorities, because the assertion that the Bolsheviks intended to disrupt telephone communications and deprive the city of water and electricity hardly legal. These measures were not dictated by the current situation and were alien to Bolshevik tactics.

From a leaf
Petersburg Committee of the Bolshevik Party,
published on February 25

Russian

It became impossible to live. There's nothing to eat. There is nothing to wear. There is nothing to heat it with. At the front there is blood, mutilation, death. Set after set. Train after train, like herds of cattle, our children and brothers are sent to human slaughter.

You can't be silent!

To hand over brothers and children to slaughter, while you yourself die of cold and hunger and remain silent endlessly, is cowardice, senseless, criminal, and vile. ...The time of open struggle has arrived. Strikes, rallies, demonstrations will not weaken the organization, but will strengthen it. Take advantage of every opportunity, every convenient day. Always and everywhere with the masses and with their revolutionary slogans.

Call everyone to fight. It is better to die a glorious death fighting for the workers’ cause than to lay down your life for the profits of capital at the front or to wither away from hunger and overwork. A single protest can grow into an all-Russian revolution, which will give impetus to revolution in other countries. There is a struggle ahead, but certain victory awaits us. All under the red banners of the revolution! Down with the royal monarchy! Long live the democratic republic! Long live the eight-hour workday! All the land of the landowners to the people! Long live the All-Russian General Strike! Down with the war! Long live the brotherhood of the workers of the whole world! Long live the Socialist International!

The employee's nickname is Stoker.
Lieutenant Colonel Tyshkevich received the information

Statement of information. Today, the agitation has taken on even greater proportions, and one can already note the leadership center from where directives are received... If decisive measures are not taken to suppress the unrest, then barricades may be erected by Monday. It should be noted that among the military units called to pacify the riots, flirting with the demonstrators is observed, and some units, even being patronizing, encourage the crowd with appeals: “Push harder.” If the moment is missed and the leadership moves to the top of the revolutionary underground, then events will take on the widest dimensions.

On the Vyborg side, workers destroyed police stations and interrupted telephone communications with the Petrograd city authorities. The Narva outpost actually came under the control of the rebels. At the Putilov plant, workers created a temporary revolutionary committee, which headed the fighting squad. The first armed clashes with the police occurred. The dead and wounded appeared. Near the Kazansky Bridge, demonstrators fired several shots at policemen, wounding two of them. Near the Anichkov Bridge on Nevsky Prospekt, a hand grenade was thrown at a group of mounted gendarmes. On Nizhegorodskaya Street, demonstrators killed the police chief of the Vyborg unit, and on Znamenskaya Square - a bailiff. Dozens of police were beaten. The outcome of the struggle largely depended on the behavior of the army. In a number of cases, soldiers and even Cossacks sent to disperse demonstrators refused to shoot at workers, and there were cases of fraternization. On Vasilievsky Island, the Cossack hundred refused to carry out the officer’s order to disperse the demonstration. At the Kazan Cathedral, the Cossacks of the 4th Don Regiment recaptured those arrested from the policemen. On Sadovaya Street, soldiers joined the demonstrators.

From the memoirs of P. D. Skuratov, a worker at the Putilov plant:

“We organized ourselves at the end of the Bogomolovskaya small group, about 300-400 people, and then, when we reached the Peterhof Highway, a huge mass of workers joined us. We tied red scarves onto sticks - a red banner appeared - and with the singing of “La Marseillaise” we moved towards the Narva Gate. When we reached Ushakovskaya Street, a mounted detachment of police rushed towards us and began whipping us left and right, and we were forced to run away... Thousands of Putilovites and chemical plant workers again gathered at the Narva Gate. We decided to give the procession an organized character. Those in front took hands and moved in this way... As soon as they turned from Sadovaya to Nevsky, a cavalry squadron gallops towards them with drawn sabers from the Anichkov Palace. We parted and they drove between us. We shouted “hurray” in an organized manner, but there was no response from them.

Having reached Liteiny, we met with the workers of the Vyborg district and continued the joint procession to Znamenskaya Square. A general meeting was held there. At this time, a mounted police detachment flew out from behind the Balabinskaya hotel, and the bailiff riding ahead hit the woman on the shoulder with a saber carrying a banner, who worked in the hospital cash desk of our plant. He didn’t have to leave - we pulled him off his horse, carried him down and threw him into the Fontanka. The Cossacks were galloping from the Central Hotel along Ligovka, then the policemen turned and drove back along Suvorovsky Prospekt, and the Cossacks followed us. We discussed among ourselves what it meant, that there was a discrepancy between the troops, and concluded: it means the revolution has won.”.

Priceless, beloved treasure! 8°, light snow - I’m sleeping well so far, but I miss you unspeakably, my love. Strikes and riots in the city are more than provocative (I am sending you a letter from Kalinin* to me). It is, however, not worth much, since you will probably receive a more detailed report from the mayor. This is a hooligan movement, boys and girls running around and shouting that they have no bread, just to create excitement, and workers who prevent others from working. If the weather had been very cold, they would all probably have stayed indoors. But this will all pass and calm down, if only the Duma behaves well. The worst speeches are not published**, but I think that anti-dynastic speeches must be immediately and very severely punished, especially since it is wartime... The strikers must be told directly not to organize strikes, otherwise they will be sent to the front or punish severely.

* This is what the Romanovs called the Minister of Internal Affairs A.D. Protopopov.

** This refers to the debate in the State Duma on the food issue. Some of the speeches, according to the written order of the Minister of War, were prohibited from publication.

From a telegram from the commander of the Petrograd Military District, General S. S. Khabalov, to the headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief

I report that on February 23 and 24, due to a lack of bread, a strike occurred in many factories. On February 24, about 200 thousand workers went on strike and forcibly removed those working. The tram service was stopped by workers. In the middle of the day on February 23 and 24, some of the workers broke through to Nevsky, from where they were dispersed... Today, February 25, the workers’ attempts to penetrate Nevsky were successfully paralyzed. The part that broke through is dispersed by the Cossacks... In addition to the Petrograd garrison, five squadrons of the 9th reserve cavalry regiment from Krasnoe Selo, a hundred of the Life Guards of the combined Cossack regiment from Pavlovsk are taking part in suppressing the unrest, and five squadrons of the guards reserve cavalry regiment are called to Petrograd.

Announcement
Commander of the Petrograd Military District Khabalov,
prohibiting demonstrations and speeches

In recent days, there have been riots in Petrograd, accompanied by violence and attacks on the lives of military and police officials. I prohibit any gathering on the streets. I preface the population of Petrograd that I have confirmed to the troops to use weapons, stopping at nothing to restore order in the capital.

Telegram from the Tsar to General Khabalov

To the General Staff Khabalov

I command you to stop the riots in the capital tomorrow, which are unacceptable during the difficult times of the war with Germany and Austria.

Telegram from Khabalov to the headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief

I report that during the second half of February 25, crowds of workers gathering on Znamenskaya Square and near the Kazan Cathedral were repeatedly dispersed by police and military officials. Around 5 p.m. near Gostiny Dvor, demonstrators sang revolutionary songs and threw out red flags with the inscription: “Down with the war!”... On February 25, two hundred and forty thousand workers went on strike. I have issued an announcement prohibiting the gathering of people on the streets and confirming that any manifestation of disorder will be suppressed by force of arms. Today, February 26, the city is calm in the morning.

Telegram
Chairman of the State Duma M.V. Rodzianko Nicholas II

Your Majesty! The situation is serious. There is anarchy in the capital. The government is paralyzed. Transport, food and fuel were in complete disarray. Public discontent is growing. There is indiscriminate shooting on the streets. Troop units shoot at each other. It is necessary to immediately entrust a person enjoying the confidence of the country to form a new government. You can't hesitate. Any delay is like death. I pray to God that at this hour the responsibility does not fall on the crown bearer.

To help the garrison units and the Cossacks of the 1st Don Regiment, who, in the opinion of the ruling circles, were too hesitant in dispersing the demonstrators, five squadrons of the 9th reserve cavalry regiment from Krasnoe Selo, a hundred of the Life Guards of the consolidated Cossack regiment from Pavlovsk and five squadrons were called guards reserve regiment. At about 9 pm on February 25, the commander of the Petrograd Military District, General Khabalov, received a telegram from Nicholas II, who ordered the unrest in the capital to immediately stop. Having gathered the chiefs of the sections and commanders of the units located in Petrograd, Khabalov read out the text of the emperor’s telegram, giving instructions to shoot at the demonstrators after three warnings.

On the morning of February 26, arrests of representatives of revolutionary organizations began. In total, about a hundred people were captured.

On the afternoon of February 26, Sunday, crowds of workers from all proletarian districts of the capital began to move towards the center. In many places their path was blocked by military patrols. On Znamenskaya Square, on Nevsky, Ligovskaya Street, on the corner of 1st Rozhdestvenskaya and Suvorovsky Prospekt, military outposts, on the orders of officers, shot at demonstrators. According to a certificate from the security department, on Znamenskaya Square alone the police collected about 40 dead and approximately the same number of wounded that day, not counting those whom the demonstrators carried away with them. In total, during the February revolutionary events in Petrograd, 169 people were killed and about a thousand were wounded. The largest number of deaths occurred on February 26.

From the memoirs of a soldier of the training team of the Volyn regiment about the participation of Volyn residents in the execution of a workers’ demonstration:

“The team is already in place. The workers occupied the entire area of ​​the Nikolaevsky station. The soldiers still hope that they were called only for appearances, to instill fear. But when the hour hand on the station clock moved towards twelve, the soldiers’ doubts were dispelled - they were ordered to shoot. A volley rang out. The workers rushed in all directions. The first volleys were almost without defeat: the soldiers, as if by agreement, fired upwards. But then a machine gun, aimed at the crowd by officers, began to crackle, and workers’ blood stained the snow-covered square. The crowd rushed into the courtyards in disorder, crushing each other. The mounted gendarmerie began to pursue the “enemy” who had been shot down from the position, and this pursuit continued until late at night. Only then were the military units separated into barracks. Our team, under the leadership of Staff Captain Dashkevich, returned to the barracks exactly at one in the morning.”

Pagetnykh K.I.
Volyntsi in February days. Memories
IGV Manuscript Fund, No. 488

Leaflet
Petersburg Committee of the Bolshevik Party
with an appeal to the soldiers to go over to the side of the rebel workers
to overthrow the autocracy

Russian
Social Democratic Labor Party

Workers of all countries, unite!

BROTHER SOLDIERS!

For the third day, we, the workers of Petrograd, openly demand the destruction of the autocratic system, the culprit of the shed blood of the people, the culprit of the famine in the country, dooming your wives and children, mothers and brothers to death. Remember, comrade soldiers, that only the fraternal alliance of the working class and the revolutionary army will bring liberation to the enslaved people and an end to the fratricidal senseless massacre.

Down with the royal monarchy! Long live the fraternal alliance of the revolutionary army with the people!

Petersburg Committee
Russian Social Democratic
workers' party

The employee's nickname is Matveev.
Lieutenant Colonel Tyshkevich received information

In the Vasileostrovsky district, the Social Democrats (Social Democrats) are conducting widespread campaigning for the continuation of the strike and street demonstrations. At the ongoing rallies, decisions were made to use terror on a large scale against those factories and factories that would begin work. Today, in the apartment of worker Grismanov, who lives on the 14th line of Vasilievsky Island in house No. 95, apt. 1, a meeting of Bolsheviks and Unitedists took place, at which about 28 people were present. At the meeting, appeals to the soldiers were handed over to those present for distribution among the lower ranks, and, in addition, the following resolution was adopted: 1) continuation of the strike and further demonstrations, taking them to extreme limits; 2) forcibly force cinema entrepreneurs and billiard room owners to close them in order to force workers to work on the street rather than engage in festive entertainment; 3) collect weapons for the formation of fighting squads and 4) engage in the disarmament of policemen through unexpected attacks.

The employee's nickname is Limonin.
Lieutenant Colonel Belousov received information

Statement of information. The general mood of the non-party masses is this: the movement broke out spontaneously, without preparation and solely on the basis of the food crisis. Since the military units did not interfere with the crowd, and in some cases even took measures to paralyze the initiatives of the police officials, the masses gained confidence in their impunity, and now, after two days of unhindered walking through the streets, when revolutionary circles put forward slogans: “Down with the war” and “Down with the government,” the people became convinced that a revolution had begun, that success belonged to the masses, that the government was powerless to suppress the movement due to the fact that the military units were not on its side, that a decisive victory was close, since the military units would not march today tomorrow it is open on the side of the revolutionary forces that the movement that has begun will not subside, but will grow without interruption until the final victory and coup d'etat. Water supply and power plants are expected to cease operations. It should be borne in mind that tomorrow the workers will go to the factories, but with the sole purpose of getting together, uniting and moving out into the streets again in an organized and planned manner to achieve complete success. At the moment, factories play the role of grand clubs, and therefore a temporary closure of factories for at least 2-3 days would deprive the masses of information centers where experienced speakers electrify the crowd, coordinate the actions of individual factories and give coherence and organization to all speeches. The question of creating a Council of Workers' Deputies has been raised, which is expected to be created in the near future. The mood of the masses is fueled by news of certain successes of the crowd in certain areas of the capital and by information received about the emergence of a movement in the provinces. Nowadays they say that in Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod there is already a complete repetition of the Petrograd events and that in a number of provincial cities there are also riots.

They say that a great movement has begun among the sailors of the Baltic Fleet and that the sailors are ready any minute to penetrate here and act on land as a major revolutionary force. The situation is aggravated by the fact that bourgeois circles also demand a change of government, i.e. the government remains without support from anyone, but in this case there is also a gratifying phenomenon: bourgeois circles only demand a change of government and are in favor of continuing the war to a victorious end , and the workers put forward slogans: “Bread, down with the government and down with the war.” This last point creates discord between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie, and only because of this they do not want to support each other. This difference of views is a good circumstance for the government, which fragments the forces and disperses the initiatives of individual circles. Nowadays everything depends on the line of conduct of the military units: if the latter do not go over to the side of the proletariat, then the movement will quickly decline, but if the troops turn against the government, then nothing will save the country from a revolutionary coup. Only decisive and immediate action can weaken and stop the emerging movement. The election to the Council of Workers' Deputies will take place at the factories, probably tomorrow morning, and the Council of Workers' Deputies tomorrow evening. dep. can already begin its functions. This circumstance once again speaks for the need to prevent factory meetings tomorrow morning by closing all factories.

This was the last message that the security department received. From February 27, only two telephone messages from the polling stations were preserved, reporting on the performance of the Volynians, Lithuanians, Preobrazhentsev and other military units.

At about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, the 4th company of the reserve battalion of the Pavlovsk regiment, outraged by the participation of the training team of its regiment in the execution of workers, went out into the street with the goal of returning fellow soldiers to the barracks and along the way fired at a mounted detachment of policemen. Khabalov ordered the battalion commander and the regimental priest to take the oath of office and place the company in barracks, taking away their weapons. When, having returned to the barracks, the company handed over its weapons, it was discovered that 21 soldiers, taking their rifles, went over to the side of the demonstrators. The battalion command arrested 19 people, they were sent to the Peter and Paul Fortress, they were subject to a military court, as the main instigators. The performance of the Pavlovians was a harbinger of the uprising, but not yet the uprising itself.

On the evening of February 26, the Vyborg District Committee of the Bolshevik Party gathered at the Udelnaya station along with representatives of the Russian Bureau of the Central Committee and members of the St. Petersburg Committee who had survived arrest. The Bolshevik leadership decided to transform the strike into an armed uprising. A plan was outlined: fraternization with the soldiers, disarming the police, seizing weapons warehouses, arming the workers, issuing a manifesto on behalf of the Central Committee of the RSDLP.

But activists of worker cooperatives, trade unions, Mensheviks, and Socialist Revolutionaries were preparing for a revolutionary development of events

.

The February Revolution is a new starting point for Russian history. During this event, the main goal of the first revolution was achieved - the hated tsarist power was overthrown. Who were its participants? What are the causes of this conflict? And what happened next?

Causes of the February Revolution of 1917

What led to the start of a new revolution? Of course, the unresolved labor and agrarian question. These questions have remained pressing and problematic since the very beginning of the 20th century. But no one was in a hurry to solve them. Stolypin's attempt caused indignation among many, for which the prime minister paid with his life. Another reason for the revolution can be called the socio-economic crisis in the country. The First World War also influenced the beginning of the new Russian revolution. And the food crisis and lack of any stability intensified the divisions in society.

February Revolution: nature, driving forces and tasks

By its nature, the second Russian revolution was bourgeois-democratic. The driving forces remained the working class along with the peasant population. The participation of the intelligentsia made the revolution nationwide. What were the tasks of the revolutionaries? These tasks were standard for the first two Russian revolutions. The people who were in power at that time were in no hurry to solve them, because they were afraid of losing this very power. So,

• it was necessary to get out of the war;
• come to a common solution to the agrarian and labor issue;
• get rid of the autocratic hated tsarist power;
• convene a constituent assembly;
• move to a new state structure: democratic republic + adoption of a constitution.

February Revolution: developments

The reason for the new conflict was the dismissal of a mass of workers in St. Petersburg from the Putilov plant. The growth of social tension in society has reached its global proportions. At this time, the Tsar travels outside of St. Petersburg and information about the situation in the city does not reach him. The February revolution unfolded too quickly: the very next day after the dismissal, a mass of people appeared on the streets with the slogans “Down with the Tsar.” And within two weeks, Nicholas II, on the advice of his generals, renounces the Russian throne, and also for his son. The next day, the brother of Nicholas II, Mikhail, signed the same document. The Romanov dynasty ceases to exist on the Russian throne. At this time, dual power was established in the country in the person of the Petrograd Soviet and a new government body - the Provisional Government.

Results

The February Revolution of 1917 led to such results as the overthrow of autocratic power, the emergence of democratic freedoms and the spread of democratic values ​​in society, as well as the establishment of dual power in the country. This difficult period in the history of our state brought dramatic changes. It became the crown of all the suffering of the early 20th century, because the main goal was achieved - the monarchy was overthrown.