Russian Revolution


In 1917, almost all Russians weren’t too happy with the leadership that they were getting from Czar Nicholas II. Czar Nicholas II ran a corrupt government and destroyed the Russian economy. Nicholas also on many occasions would dissolve the Duma, which was established by the Russian parliament after the revolt in 1905 and Nicholas would dissolve it when it didn’t agree with him. The revolution started in February and was most because of Russia’s involvement in World War I. The war destroyed their economy because of the war efforts and Russia lost more casualties in that war than any other. And they decided to overthrow the Czar.


It all started on March 8th, when people took the streets yelling for food in Petrograd or St. Petersburg. Most of the protesters were industrial workers that were on strike and even though were turmoil between the protesters and police they refused to leave. A couple days later all of the workers and protesters started to destroy police stations. The day after the Petrograd army were called in to help with the revolution. During this, they opened fire and killed many protestors. That day was also the day that Nicholas dissolved Duma again. Because of the uprising, the Petrograd army elected deputies to handle the protesters called Petrograd Soviet.


The government resigned and then Duma formed a temporary government that help the Petrograd Soviet peacefully control the revolution. It was on March 14th that the Petrograd Soviet issued an order to have the Russian soldiers obey the orders given that didn’t conflict with their new Soviet. Then the next day Czar Nicholas II stepped down from the throne and put his brother Michael in charge but since Michael refused the crown, this ended czarist autocracy.


In November of that year, Vladimir Lenin and the Bolsheviks took over the government. Lenin made Russia the world’s first Marxist state. There was a war between the Bolsheviks and the anti Bolshevik White Army in 1918. And in July of 1918, Bolshevik forces executed Nicholas II and his family and hid their mutilated bodies. It wasn’t until the late in the 70’s that his and his family’s bodies were discovered in Yekaterinburg. It wasn’t until later with DNA testing that they figured out it was Nicholas II and his family. He made peace with the German government and established the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1922.