The First Russian Revolution of 1917
On February (March) 8, 1917, according to the Julian calendar that the Russians used in that time, the first Russian Revolution broke out on the streets of Petrograd. This revolution was a step towards a new government and leading power in Russia. The revolution started with the collapse of Russian Empire because Emperor Nicholas II abdicated his throne. After this, Russia replaced this regime with a provisional government. This revolution was caused by the middle-class citizens. They were originally upset with the monarchy, but it later turned into protests regarding food rations, and many other problems. Each day, the revolution grew larger in size due to the vigor that the citizens portrayed. The revolution
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There were five days, called the Critical Days, where the a simple protest about food rations grew into a revolution of the working class. The first day, March 8, 1917, marked the beginning of the February Revolution. It began with lockouts at local industrial plants. These small disturbances did not seem to make an impact on the government. On March 9, the small revolts grew in size and became more intense.The government, however, kept disregarding these protests because they did not believe that they would turn into anything bigger. “There had been numerous outbursts of fighting between the Cossacks, and the workmen and students. … Policemen had fired into a crowd in the course of suppressing a bread demonstration over on the Petersburg side.” The military was given orders on March 11, 1917, saying that they had permission to open fire on anyone who refused to put an end to their protesting. This resulted in multiple casualties after the demonstrators desisted to end the revolts. The government was pleased at the apparition of success in stopping the revolts on the streets. Little did they know that this was just the beginning of the revolution. The success of the first Russian Revolution was determined when the Russian soldiers refused to continue to fire on the protesters. The Russian Revolution was paving the way for another power to come into rule of