Development of the revolutionary movement in Russia after the outbreak of the Great WarAfter the defeat of the Russian Revolution of 1905-1907, reactionary forces were rampant and the revolution turned to a low ebb. But the task of bourgeois democratic revolution was not canceled from the agenda.In July 1907, the resolution of the Third Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party pointed out that "the basic causes determining the Russian revolution still remain: the extreme maladjustment of the domestic political system to the requirements of economic development, the bankruptcy of the peasants, the deepening of the poverty of the proletariat, and the phenomenon of unemployment still remain, and thus the objective historical tasks of the revolution have not yet been solved, while at the same time the revolutionary forces have not been completely destroyed."
On the eve of the First World War there was a new revolutionary upsurge in Russia, and the mass revolutionary struggle, already approaching the scale of 1905, had become much more organized and conscious. Workers' strikes and struggles in Petersburg, Moscow and other cities continued to take place on a large scale. According to official figures, in 1912 725,000 people took part in the strikes, while in 1913 887,000 did so. The actual number of strikers greatly exceeded the official figures. This mass revolutionary strike struggle was in direct opposition to the Tsarist autocracy. The development of the revolutionary movement was only temporarily interrupted by the outbreak of the First World War.
The First World War, which began in 1914, was an imperialist war. Tsarist Russia was involved in waging this predatory war. The war accelerated the ripening of the time for revolution. During the war, the Russian national economy was severely damaged. Russia's industrial base was already underdeveloped. in 1913, the national production of steel was only 4.2 million tons. The machine building and chemical industries were weak. There was no automobile industry. Many machines and weapons depended on foreign countries. Before the war, Russia imported 37% of the machines, and the self-sufficiency rate of important equipment and lathes was less than 1/3. The war weakened Russia's commercial ties with foreign countries, and the import of machines decreased greatly. 1914-1916, although the Russian machine industry grew, but the vast majority of its products were consumed by the war. According to statistics, during this period the products of 123 large machine-building industries increased from 200,300,000 rubles to 954,600,000 rubles. On the average, military production grew more than 13 times a year, while civilian production grew by only 40%. in 1916, the products of agricultural machinery were only 1/5 of what they had been before the war, and there was a marked decrease in the production of locomotives and carriages, with locomotives decreasing by 16% and carriages decreasing by 14%. The severe shortage of machines and lathes in turn affected the decline in the extraction of ore, coal and oil. Due to the lack of fuel and raw materials, blast furnaces ceased fire and many factories had to close. Textile mills, which before the war had produced on imported cotton, ceased production. 20% of the looms in Petrograd could not be started in 1916. At the front, there was a severe shortage of weapons and ammunition. 60,000 rifles were needed per month, while in August-December 1914 only 134,000 rifles were made. Eight hundred machine guns were needed per month, while only 860 machine guns were made in the second half of 1914 total***. Traffic and transportation were seriously blocked. The railroads could not cope with the sharply increased transportation task. in the last five months of 1916, the railroads were able to deliver only 61 percent of the grain needed for the army. In 1917, food shipments fell again, to 50 percent in January and 42 percent in February. Some wounded soldiers went days without food and gauze. Food was scarce in Petrograd, Moscow, and other industrial cities, but in Siberia, the Urals, the Caspian Sea, the Volga, and the Don, large quantities of grain, meat, and fish were rotting. in 1916, 150,000 carriages of spoiled grain were in storage. Sea transportation was not good either. The Baltic and Black Seas had long been blockaded by Germany and Austria-Hungary. Russia's contacts with the Allies were mainly through Murmansk, Arkhangelsk, and Vladivostok. But there was no railroad between the interior and Murmansk. The railroad between Arkhangelsk and Vologda was narrow-gauge (converted to broad-gauge in 1916), which made transportation inconvenient. Vladivostok was again too far from the Russian hinterland. As a result, large quantities of goods were piled up in the harbor and could not be transported into the interior. In Arkhangelsk, coal was piled up like a mountain, and boxes of lathes for the arsenal were stacked along the docks. In Murmansk, ships waited weeks and months for their cargoes to be unloaded.
After the outbreak of the Great War, agricultural production was severely affected. The conscripted population capable of working amounted to 15 million, mainly from the countryside. According to a 1917 survey, within the 50 provinces of Europe and Russia, the rural male labor force decreased by 47.4%. The area of cultivated land decreased by 10 million Russian acres. The number of farm animals decreased from 18 million in 1914 to 13 million in 1917. The grain harvest was reduced by a quarter, and the difficulties of transportation led to a virtual breakdown of the urban-rural connection. In the market there was a growing shortage of grain, meat, sugar and other agricultural products, and in December 1916 Petrograd received only 14% of the planned grain supply. Landowners, rich peasants, and merchants, however, held large quantities of the necessities of life, hoarding and speculating. Grain often disappeared from the stores only to be sold on the black market at exorbitant prices. in the summer of 1916, the price of grain in Petrograd was 1.5-3 times higher than before the war, and meat and sugar were especially expensive. The masses of people were on the line of starvation, complained and had to rise up in struggle. in 1915 in Euromaidan there were 684 peasant riots caused by hunger. in the first five months of 1916, there were 510 peasant revolts.
Russia had the longest front among the belligerents. The war was fought over 50,000 square kilometers of Russian territory. 3 million refugees were left homeless and without food and clothing. Many were killed, maimed and died of plague. By March 30, 1917, Russia*** had lost 8.4 million people. Many soldiers' families were left unsupported and life was very miserable.
To sustain the war, the military expenditure of the Tsarist government increased day by day, and by March 1917, amounted to more than 30 billion rubles. Of this, 1/3 was paid for by borrowing foreign debt, and the rest by borrowing domestic debt and indiscriminate paper money. in 1917, the official price of the ruble fell to 55 kopecks, and its purchasing power to 27 kopecks. The national debt increased from 8.8 billion rubles in 1914 to 33.6 billion rubles in January 1917. The finances of the Tsarist government faced collapse. The tsarist government, in order to meet the needs of the war, set up in 1915 four special councils for defense, food, fuel and transport to regulate the economic life of the country. However, it was not able to save the economy from bankruptcy, but practiced unparalleled cruelty in plundering the working people. Most factories lengthened working hours, increased the intensity of labor, and exploited the labor of women and teenagers in order to fulfill military orders. According to the statistical materials of 345 enterprises, the average net profit was 8.84% in 1913, increased to 16.49% in 1915, and then to 17.58% in 1916. The economic dislocation, coupled with military defeats, prompted a renewed upsurge in the national revolutionary movement. Struggles against hunger, against imperialist war and against the tsarist system combined.
In May 1915, there was a strike of Ivanovo Voznesensk workers demanding lower prices and higher wages. This was followed by a strike by the workers of Kostroma, and at the beginning of 1916 100,000 workers in Petrograd went on strike in commemoration of "Bloody Sunday". The discontent of the peasants also grew. Resistance to donations and campaigns against the requisitioning of food and horses spread throughout the country. Soldiers were also affected by the revolution, and in 1915 a revolt broke out among the sailors of the main ship Hankut in the Baltic Sea.
The oppressed peoples of Russia also fought for their national interests and liberation, and in June 1916 the revolts in Central Asia and Kazakhstan were the most important events of the year. The revolts in Turgai, Kazakhstan, lasted until after the February Revolution, and they also fought against the bourgeois Provisional Government.
Inside the ruling class, the crisis of power came to the surface. Tsar Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra, politically and militarily desperate, turned to superstition for spiritual support. G.Y. Rasputin (1872-1916) was introduced to the court posing as an "immortal" and "prophet". He used superstition to fill the spiritual void of the tsar and the empress, gained their trust, and became increasingly powerful at court, finally manipulating some of the power of the royal family. 1914-1916, under the planning of Rasputin, four cabinet ministers, six ministers of the interior, four ministers of war, three ministers of foreign affairs, four ministers of agriculture, and four ministers of justice were replaced. 1916, the ruling group was split into ministers and ministers. , the ruling clique was again split into a pro-German faction headed by the Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister of the Cabinet), Stijlmeier, and a pro-British faction represented by the Foreign Minister, Sassonov, who attacked each other. The bourgeoisie resented the inability of the Tsarist government to win the war and prevent a revolution. Alexandra was even suspected of being a German spy because she was born in Germany and reused the pro-German faction. Among the aristocracy, there was also resentment against the Tsar's incompetence, and in December 1916, Rasputin was assassinated in Petrograd by a group of royalists, including Duke Yusupov. The royalists tried to save the Romanov dynasty and prevent the outbreak of revolution. But after Rasputin's murder, rumors spread among the bourgeoisie of a kind of coup d'état, that a small group of conspirators was preparing to assemble in Petrograd, to attempt to infiltrate the Tsar's train between the Imperial Village and Petrograd, to arrest the Tsar and to send him abroad at once. All this shows that the rule of the tsarist system is faltering.
The Victory of the February Revolution
By the beginning of 1917, the time was fully ripe for revolution.On January 22(9), 1917, the workers of Petrograd went on strike at the call of the Bolsheviks. The strike was attended by 145,000 people. Mass strikes and demonstrations were also held in Moscow, Kharkov, Baku and other cities. In his report to the Minister of the Interior, the chief of the Petrograd police at the time said, "Day by day the idea of a general strike is gaining new supporters and becoming as popular as it was in 1905." At this time the bourgeoisie was panicked. The bourgeoisie appealed to the Tsar to let them participate in the regime. However, the Tsar simply ignored them and threatened to dissolve the State Duma. The Mensheviks, in order to support the bourgeoisie, invited the workers to hold a peaceful demonstration near the Tavrida Palace, the seat of the State Duma, on February 27 (14), demanding that the Duma establish a government that would "give the people a way out". This would enhance the Duma's popularity and put pressure on the Tsar.
The Bolsheviks persisted in their opposition to the Mensheviks who followed the bourgeois line. Because of the persecution by the Tsarist government, the Party Central Committee, headed by Lenin, was then abroad in what was called the Central Bureau Abroad, and the Party's work at home was led by the Central Russian Bureau.
In the beginning of 1917 the leaders who took part in the work of the Russian Bureau were V.M. Molotov, Y.G. Shlipnikov, and P.A. Zarutsky. The Russian Bureau of the Party Central Committee adopted a resolution stating that demonstrations to the Duma would inevitably blur the revolutionary consciousness of the working class. The Petrograd Committee of the Bolsheviks distributed leaflets calling on the workers to "Down with the Tsarist Monarchy!" "War against war!" "Long live the Provisional Revolutionary Government!" under the slogans "Down with the tsarist monarchy!" and "War against war! As a result, on February 27, 90,000 people went on strike, with most of the workers following the Bolsheviks and demonstrating on Neva Street, and very few going to Tavrida Palace.
The masses were further mobilized under the leadership of the Russian Bureau of the Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party.
On March 3 (February 18) the workers of the press shop of the Petrograd Putilov plant went on strike, demanding higher piece-rate wages and the recall of dismissed workers. The factory refused unreasonably and threatened with high-handedness, announcing an unscheduled closure. The Bolshevik Party organization, which already had a great influence among the workers of this plant, immediately led the workers in a tit-for-tat struggle against the factory. The strike was extended to the entire Putilov plant, and on March 7 (February 22), by order of the military authorities, the gates of the plant were closed. Unable to enter, the workers set up a strike committee and decided to ask for support from other workers. The conflict further developed into a city-wide struggle.
On March 8 (February 23), a rally was held in accordance with the decision of the Russian Bureau of the Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party and the Petrograd Committee to celebrate International Women's Day and to carry out propaganda and agitation against starvation, war, and the tsarist system. After the meeting was adjourned, the women workers took to the streets and demonstrated, followed by the men. As many as 90,000 people participated in the strike on this day. That evening, the Russian Bureau of the Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party and the Petrograd Committee discussed the situation of the day's struggle and advocated the continuation of the struggle and the advancement of the revolution.
On March 9, the number of strikers in Petrograd increased to 200,000 people. The masses assembled on Neva Street from all directions. The police attempted to separate the masses, but to no avail. The workers assembled here and there and appeared there to continue the demonstration. After the development of mass strikes and demonstrations, the Bolsheviks made it a major task to get the army to turn to the revolutionary side. The Bolsheviks organized workers to penetrate into barracks, posts, and patrols to persuade the soldiers not to shoot at the people.
On March 10, the Petrograd strike was transformed into a general strike. All kinds of businesses, stores, restaurants and cafes stopped working. Crowds filled the city center. At that time Tsar Nicholas II, who was in Mogilev, the seat of the main camp, received a report on the situation in the capital from Khabarov, the commander of the Petrograd military district, and ordered to terrorize the strike movement in Petrograd. in the evening of March 10, he signed a telegram to Khabarov: "It is ordered that the riots in the Kyoto city be stopped tomorrow." The tsarist army arrested five members of the Petrograd Committee of the Bolshevik Party during the night, filled the center of Petrograd and the main traffic routes with military police, and set up machine-guns on the rooftops and in the corner buildings.
But the revolutionary fire was not extinguished. By decision of the Central Bureau of the Party, the Vyborg Committee took the place of the Petrograd Committee and continued to lead the people in the struggle.
March 11th was a Sunday. Petrograd workers were still pouring into the streets and squares. Soldiers of the 4th Company of the Reserve Battalion of the Pavlov Regiment of the Praetorian Guard revolted and refused to shoot at the people. This uprising signaled that the soldiers had begun to turn to the side of the people. In the evening, the Bolshevik Vyborg Committee met. It decided that the situation was very favorable to the proletariat and decided to transform the strike into an armed uprising and planned to join forces with the soldiers and seize the arsenal of weapons. The time had come for the final duel between the Russian people and the tsarist system.
On March 12, thousands of workers marched to the center of Petrograd. As a result of Bolshevik propaganda and organization, a large number of soldiers in the army turned to the revolutionary side, and at 6 a.m. the soldiers of the instructional corps of the Volyn Prohibitionist Regiment revolted, killed the captain of the corps, and then took to the streets and drove to the nearby regiments of Preobrazhensky and Litovsky, uniting the soldiers of these two regiments. After organizing their ranks, the insurgent regiment drove to Vyborg to join the workers. The instructional unit of the Moscow Praetorian Guard stationed in the Vyborg district resisted and prevented the soldiers from joining the uprising. The insurgent soldiers and workers stormed the barracks, killed the captain of the instructors, seized the weapons and armed the workers. The workers and insurgent soldiers seized the General Arsenal and the Artillery Headquarters, capturing 40,000 rifles, 30,000 pistols and large quantities of bullets. The Bolsheviks led a mass storming of the prisons and released the political prisoners, and the Bolsheviks who were freed immediately ran to the workers' districts to take part in the fighting. The army's participation in the uprising was increasing. According to statistics, the army's participation in the uprising was still only 600 on the evening of March 11, but it increased to 10,200 on the morning of the 12th, 25,700 at noon, and 66,700 in the evening.
On the evening of March 12, the tsar's ministers met for the last time at the Maria Palace, but were soon arrested. Nicholas II attempted to bring back troops from the front to Petrograd to suppress the uprising. However, the army near Petrograd had already revolted. The Tsar's crusade was stopped halfway. The whole capital was in the hands of the revolting people.
On the evening of March 12, the Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party (after discussion in the Russian Bureau of the Party Central Committee) published in the form of a leaflet "Letter to All Russian Citizens", declaring that the tsarist system had collapsed and that the capital had been transferred into the hands of the insurgent people; pointing out that the main tasks of the working class and the revolutionary army were to establish a democratic **** and state, to confiscate the land of the landlords, to implement the eight-hour working day, and to unite the people of all the belligerent countries to stop the imperialist war. to stop the imperialist war. This manifesto was widely disseminated in Petrograd, read at rallies of workers and soldiers, and later reprinted. It reflected the minimum program of the Bolsheviks, was a guiding document for the introduction of a bourgeois democratic revolution, and was a testimony to the leading role of the Bolsheviks in the February Revolution.
After the victory of the revolution in the capital Petrograd, it proceeded rapidly everywhere. on March 12, the Moscow Committee of the Bolshevik Party circulated leaflets calling for strikes and demonstrations by workers and soldiers in support of the armed uprising in Petrograd. on the morning of the 13th, a general strike began in Moscow. The procession marched to Red Square and the City Duma. Armed workers threw out the guards and disarmed them. A mass meeting was held in the square opposite the City Duma. The Bolsheviks called on the workers to go into the barracks and join the soldiers. The soldiers quickly turned to the revolutionary side. on March 1, workers and insurgent soldiers occupied the Kremlin, the arsenal, the railway station, the city hall, the police station, the telegraph office, etc., and released political prisoners from jail.
The garrison and fleet near Petrograd responded enthusiastically to the armed uprising in the capital, and on March 14 the whole of Kronstadt was in the hands of the insurgent people. The sailors and soldiers of Helsinki also revolted. When the news of the Petrograd Uprising reached the front, the soldiers immediately took action and set up soldiers' committees to supervise the officers. The peasants also welcomed the revolution, the overthrow of the Tsarist regime having brought them political emancipation. They began to seize the land of the landlords and to fight for economic liberation. National liberation movements were also widespread everywhere.
In this way, the second bourgeois democratic revolution in Russia, the February Revolution, triumphed.
Formation of two regimes
In the course of the strikes and armed uprisings, the workers of Petrograd established a new organ of power, the soviets. On the morning of March 12, at a meeting of the Vyborg District Committee of the Bolshevik Party and the workers, on the proposal of V.M. Molotov, a group of initiators of the soviets of workers' deputies was set up, and in the name of the group a letter to the workers and soldiers was circulated throughout the city on the same day calling for the establishment of the soviets as a revolutionary body of power and designating the Finnish station as the meeting point for the deputies.
The Mensheviks and Social Revolutionaries, including Menshevik deputies in the State Duma, laborists, workers of local self-government bureaus, city self-government bodies and cooperatives, lawyers, journalists, members of the workers' group of the Central Military-Industrial Committee, and others, arrived at the Tavrida Palace on March 12 (February 27) at 2-3 p.m.. Some of their representatives, who were in contact with the workers and carried out legal activities, such as State Duma deputies N. Tsikhidze, M. Skobelev, Y. Kerensky, P. Bogdanov, K. Gvozdjev, N. Sokolov, I. Volkov, etc., claimed to be members of the Provisional Executive Committee of the Soviet of Workers' Deputies, and in the name of the Committee they published a circular to the public in the capital. The circular was immediately printed as a leaflet and published in the Petrograd Newsmen's Newspaper of the same day. The circular said: "The deputies of the workers, soldiers, and inhabitants of Petrograd, who are meeting in the State Duma, announce that the first meeting of their deputies is to be held tonight at 7 o'clock on the premises of the State Duma. All the troops transferred to the people's side will elect one deputy for every 1 company, one deputy for every 1,000 people in factories, and one deputy for factories with less than 1,000 people.
There were only a few hours between the publication of the circular and the meeting, and many workers were fighting in the streets and could not take part in the elections. The Mensheviks, who had been able to engage in legal activities during the Tsarist era, had convenient conditions (e.g., through the "Workers' Group" of the Military Working Committee, the Menshevik State Duma deputies) to notify their supporters to attend the meeting. As a result, most of the Soviet deputies were not directly elected by the workers, but were appointed by legitimate workers' organizations. The Bolsheviks had only a handful of delegates. The Menshevik and State Duma deputy N. Zikhze was elected chairman of the Petrograd Soviet, and the laborist, Social Revolutionary Kerensky and the Menshevik Skobelev were elected vice-chairmen. Most of the participants in the Executive Committee were also Mensheviks and Social Revolutionaries. It was only towards the end of the meeting that Molotov arrived at the Tavrida Palace. It was only through his efforts that the Bolshevik Party was able to get three deputies to the Executive Committee of the Petrograd Soviet. They were Y. G. Schlopnikov, P. A. Zarutsky, and P. A. Krasikov.
Due to the pressure of the masses, the Petrograd Soviet had to take some revolutionary measures. At the first meeting of the Soviet it was decided to set up a Military Committee to further lead the revolutionary movement in the army; to set up a Workers' Civil Police (the predecessor of the Red Guard) to maintain the revolutionary order in the capital; to set up a Grain Committee to ensure the supply of grain and other foodstuffs for the military and civilians of the capital; to appoint 10 commissioners to the districts of Petrograd for the purpose of setting up the revolutionary regime; to set up guard posts in the banks and the Mint and to deprive the old regime of the control of finance and treasury by the old regime; seized reactionary newspapers and published Soviet organs. In order to consolidate the fighting alliance of workers and peasants (from whom most of the soldiers came), the Bolsheviks advocated the establishment of soviets with the participation of soldiers' deputies. on March 13, soldiers' deputies began to come to the Tavrida Palace to attend the meetings of the soviets. on the 14th a plenary session of the unified soviet of sappers' deputies was held, and 10 deputies of the sappers, sailors (among them, two Bolsheviks) took part in the soviets' executive committees. At the same time, Order No. 1 of the Petrograd Soviet of Engineers' and Soldiers' Deputies was issued, which provided for the formation of soldiers' and sailors' committees by election in all units, and that all activities of the units were subject only to the Soviet of Engineers' and Soldiers' Deputies' Committees. Article 5 stipulated that weapons must be in the hands of the Soldiers' Councils, abolished the old military ranks, and prohibited officers from mistreating soldiers. The first order ensured that the army was in the hands of the soviets and was of great significance in consolidating the victory of the revolution.
Following the Petrograd soviets, the same authorities were established in most of the country's cities. Before the establishment of the All-Russian Soviet, the Petrograd Soviet was represented by the Petrograd Workers' Corps, which exercised its powers.
But at that time there was another government, the Provisional Government of the Bourgeoisie, in addition to the soviet of workers' and soldiers' deputies. The Russian bourgeoisie, which was inextricably linked to the feudal forces and feared the proletariat more than the reactionaries, was a counter-revolutionary class. Many of them were royalists who only demanded constitutionalism and a division of power with the Tzar, but did not want to overthrow the Tzarist system fundamentally. But at the climax of the revolution, they transformed themselves into fellow-travelers of the revolution. on the night of March 12, they hastened to set up the Provisional Committee of the State Duma in an attempt to pre-empt the seizure of power. They also sent Y.I. Guchkov, a member of the October Party, and V.V. Schürgen, a deputy of the State Duma, to Pskov to negotiate with the Czar in an attempt to preserve the monarchical system. Schürgen and Guchkov went so far as to advise the tsar that the only way to save the dynasty was to transfer the supreme administration to someone else. Nicholas II finally decided to abdicate in favor of his brother Mikhail, and at midnight on March 15 the tsar signed a declaration of abdication and, at the request of Gutchekov and Schürgen, an edict appointing the constitutional democrat, Duke Lvov, president of the Council of Ministers, and Nicholas Nikolaevich, supreme commander-in-chief.
The plot did not succeed because of the strong protest of the people. When Gutschikov, on his way back, was at Petrograd station, raising a toast to Mikhail, the workers were furious and wanted to arrest Gutschikov and have him shot. Mikhail also lacked the strength to ascend the throne and was shot in 1918.
The real power at that time was on the side of the Soviets. The key departments of the state apparatus, such as the telegraph office, the broadcasting office, the stations and the railroads, were in the hands of the soviets. The Provisional Committee of the State Duma did not even have a place to print a single statement. Without the consent of the soviets, the bourgeoisie could not form its own government. The Provisional Committee of the State Duma therefore proposed to the Executive Committee of the soviets to negotiate the formation of a new government. The Mensheviks and Social Revolutionaries, who had stolen the leadership of the soviets, pursued a capitulationist line and catered to the demands of the bourgeoisie. The Mensheviks sought to limit the scope of the revolution from an opportunistic standpoint. They believed that the legitimate masters after the overthrow of the tsarist system could only be the bourgeoisie, and that the soviets could only exert pressure on the bourgeoisie to push it to the left. The Bolsheviks were opposed to the handing over of power to the bourgeoisie. On March 15, at a plenary session of the soviets, Molotov, on behalf of the Bolshevik Party, criticized the plan of the soviets' executive committees which had come to an agreement with the deputies of the Duma, and suggested that the soviets should establish a provisional revolutionary government. The Mensheviks, in order to achieve their aims, went to great lengths to attack the proletariat as a "scattered and unorganized" force, and deceived some of the soviet deputies by advocating the use of the bourgeoisie in order to consolidate their victory over the tsarist system. As a result, the soviets adopted the recommendations of the Executive Committee by a majority, handing over power to the bourgeoisie.
On March 15, the first bourgeois provisional government was formed. The landowner G.Y. Lvov was Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior of the Provisional Government, the head of the main bourgeois party, the Constitutional-Democratic Party, B.N. Milyukov, was Minister of Foreign Affairs, the head of the bourgeois right-wing party, the October Party, Y.I. Gutchekov, was Minister of the Army and Navy, and the Social Revolutionary Party, Y.I. Gutchekov, was Minister, and Y. F. Kerensky, a Social Revolutionary, as Minister of Justice.
In this way, two regimes coexisted, the soviets and the Provisional Government.
Why did the soviets, which held the real power, voluntarily hand it over to the bourgeoisie? Why was the bourgeoisie able to steal the fruits of victory of this revolution? There are many reasons why this happened. First, Russia has the largest number of small and medium bourgeoisie in the capitalist countries. A large number of petty bourgeoisie were directly involved in the revolutionary wave and they showed great vacillation and instability. Secondly, the composition of the proletariat changed during the First World War. A large number of conscious workers were drafted to the front. In their place were a number of small private owners, craftsmen and small proprietors. They became the social base for the Mensheviks and Social Revolutionaries to influence the workers' ranks. Thirdly, during the February Revolution, the revolutionary leader Lenin and some other famous Bolsheviks lived abroad. At home, many Bolsheviks were still in prison or in exile far from the revolutionary centers. The leadership of the revolution was relatively weak. Fourthly, the bourgeoisie was economically important, and during the First World War it developed considerably organizationally, possessing legal positions such as local self-government organs, organs of national education, various national congresses, the Duma, the Military-Industrial Committee, and making use of the instruments of public opinion, such as newspapers and journals. These, in turn, gave the bourgeoisie enormous advantages. As soon as the tsarist system tumbled under the blows of the revolution, the bourgeoisie came to power next.
In eight days, from the general strike of the workers in Petrograd on March 8 to the abdication of Nicholas II on March 15, the tsarist system collapsed completely. The rapid progress of the February Revolution was rare in history. It was no accident that the February Revolution triumphed so quickly.
The brutal oppression of the tsarist system and the imperialist wars sharpened the contradictions in society and aroused the people's great resistance, which was an important factor in the victory of the February Revolution. Lenin said, "The Russian Revolution occurred so easily only because Russia was subjected to the extremely brutal oppression of the Tsarist government, and no other country was subjected to the ordeal and suffering of war so severely as Russia."
The February Revolution was also victorious because of the influence of the Russian Revolution of 1905-1907. This revolution raised the consciousness of the masses and gave them the exercise of large-scale class struggle. Lenin pointed out that "the progress of the second revolution would not have been so rapid had it not been for the extremely great class battles and the revolutionary perseverance shown by the Russian proletariat in the years 1905-1907."
In the February Revolution the proletariat was the leader and formed a close alliance with the peasants, and also the bourgeoisie speculated in revolution seeing the imminent victory of the people over the autocracy. The people's power was dominant in the comparison of class forces. The revolution met with less resistance. That is why Lenin said, "The initial victory of the February Revolution was due to the fact that not only the peasant masses but also the bourgeoisie followed the proletariat at that time. Thus we easily overcame the tsarist system and achieved what we had not achieved in 1905."
During the February Revolution, the Bolsheviks, despite their difficult situation and small numbers, did not lose touch with the masses and always stepped forward to lead the revolutionary movement at critical moments. The slogans put forward by the Bolsheviks expressed the voice of the masses and were a powerful weapon for mobilizing them. In the February Revolution, only the Bolsheviks clearly put forward the program of a thoroughgoing democratic revolution of the eight-hour working day, confiscation of the landlords' land, establishment of a democratic **** and state and an end to the imperialist war, and pointed out the way to implement this program. Neither the main bourgeois party, the Constitutional Democrats, nor any other party claiming to be socialist dared to touch openly on these social and political problems which the people most urgently needed to solve.
The February Revolution overthrew the Romanov dynasty and put an end to feudal autocracy. The victory of the February Revolution brought about a fundamental change in the Russian political system and gave impetus to the development of Russian history, "accelerating considerably the process of development of backward Russia" as if it were "catching up with Italy and England, and almost catching up with them. Italy and England, and almost caught up with France". This created favorable conditions for the struggle of the Russian proletariat against the bourgeoisie and for socialism.
The February Revolution took place during the First World War. The victory of this revolution contributed to the upsurge of the revolutionary movement of the oppressed people and oppressed nations of all European countries against the imperialist wars, against the reactionary governments of their own countries, and for democratic rights and national liberation.