Russian Revolution (1917): from the fall of the Tsar to the birth of the USSR

Introduction

The year 1917 saw two successive revolutions sweep away the Romanov Russian Empire. The February Revolution (March 1917 in the Gregorian calendar) ended 304 years of tsarist rule and installed a provisional government. The October Revolution (November 1917) brought Lenin's Bolsheviks to power, creating the world's first communist state.

Both revolutions arose from military disaster in World War I, widespread social misery and a deep political crisis of an autocratic regime unable to reform itself. Their consequences reshaped the world for the rest of the 20th century: the birth of the USSR (1922), the communist bloc, the Cold War.

Russia before 1917

In 1914, the Russian Empire was the world's largest state by area but rested on fragile foundations. The vast majority of its population were poor, often illiterate peasants. Industrialisation was underway but uneven, concentrated in a few cities where workers lived in miserable conditions.

Tsar Nicholas II ruled as an autocrat, blocking meaningful reform. The 1905 revolution had forced the creation of a Duma (parliament), but the Tsar constantly curtailed its powers. Russia's entry into World War I proved catastrophic — 1.7 million soldiers killed, mass desertions, and by 1915 the Tsar had personally taken command of the armies, tying himself directly to military failures.

February Revolution

On 8 March 1917 (23 February in the Julian calendar then used in Russia), Petrograd women workers took to the streets demanding bread, marking the start of the February Revolution. Within days, a general strike paralysed the capital. By 12 March, entire army regiments joined the insurgents rather than fire on the crowd.

Tsar Nicholas II abdicated on 15 March 1917, ending the Romanov dynasty after 304 years.

A liberal Provisional Government, led by Kerensky, took power but fatally chose to continue the war alongside the Allies, fuelling popular discontent. Meanwhile, soviets (workers' and soldiers' councils) organised across Russia, creating an unstable dual power.

October Revolution

Returning from exile in April 1917, Lenin presented his "April Theses", calling for immediate peace, land collectivisation and all power to the soviets ("Peace, Land, Bread!"). The Bolsheviks rapidly gained support within the Petrograd and Moscow soviets.

In the night of 6-7 November 1917 (24-25 October in the Julian calendar), Bolshevik Red Guards and sailors from the cruiser Aurora seized strategic points in Petrograd. The Winter Palace was taken. The Provisional Government fell almost without resistance. The next day, the Second Congress of Soviets approved the transfer of power to the Bolsheviks and adopted the Decree on Peace and the Decree on Land.

Key figures

Civil war and birth of the USSR

Civil War (1918-1921): The Bolshevik takeover unleashed a brutal civil war between the Red Army and the White Army (royalists, liberals, foreign interventions). Lenin signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (March 1918), ceding vast territories to Germany to focus on the civil war. The imperial family was executed in Yekaterinburg on 17 July 1918. The civil war killed between 7 and 10 million people. The Red Army prevailed by 1921.

Birth of the USSR (1922): On 30 December 1922, Soviet republics formed the USSR. Lenin died on 21 January 1924. After a power struggle, Stalin established a totalitarian regime whose purges and forced collectivisation caused millions more deaths.

Global legacy: The 1917 Revolution was the first successful Marxist revolution and inspired communist parties worldwide. The USSR dissolved on 25 December 1991, 74 years after the Bolshevik seizure of power.

Timeline

• 22 janv. 1905
  "Bloody Sunday" — brutal suppression of a peaceful march in St Petersburg, first revolution
• Août 1914
  Russia enters World War I — military catastrophe to follow
• 8 mars 1917
  February Revolution — women workers demonstrate in Petrograd demanding bread
• 15 mars 1917
  Abdication of Nicholas II — end of the Romanov monarchy (304 years)
• 16 avril 1917
  Lenin returns to Petrograd from exile — "April Theses"
• 7 nov. 1917
  October Revolution — Bolsheviks seize the Winter Palace, overthrow of the Provisional Government
• 3 mars 1918
  Treaty of Brest-Litovsk — Russia exits World War I
• 17 juil. 1918
  Execution of Nicholas II and his family in Yekaterinburg
• 1918-1921
  Russian Civil War — Red Army victory
• 21 janv. 1924
  Death of Lenin — Stalin begins consolidating power
• 30 déc. 1922
  Foundation of the USSR — Union of Soviet Socialist Republics