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KF5JRV > TODAY 08.03.19 13:36l 60 Lines 3166 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 32386_KF5JRV
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Subj: Today in History - Mar 08
Path: IW8PGT<IR2UBX<SR1BSZ<F1OYP<ON0AR<VE2PKT<N3HYM<KF5JRV
Sent: 190308/1234Z 32386@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA BPQ6.0.18
In Russia, the February Revolution (known as such because of Russia’s
use of the Julian calendar) begins when riots and strikes over the
scarcity of food erupt in Petrograd. One week later, centuries of
czarist rule in Russia ended with the abdication of Nicholas II, and
Russia took a dramatic step closer toward communist revolution.
By 1917, most Russians had lost faith in the leadership ability of the
czarist regime. Government corruption was rampant, the Russian economy
remained backward, and Nicholas repeatedly dissolved the Duma, the
Russian parliament established after the Revolution of 1905, when it
opposed his will. However, the immediate cause of the February
Revolution–the first phase of the Russian Revolution of 1917–was
Russia’s disastrous involvement in World War I. Militarily, imperial
Russia was no match for industrialized Germany, and Russian casualties
were greater than those sustained by any nation in any previous war.
Meanwhile, the economy was hopelessly disrupted by the costly war
effort, and moderates joined Russian radical elements in calling for the
overthrow of the czar.
On March 8, 1917, demonstrators clamoring for bread took to the streets
in the Russian capital of Petrograd (now known as St. Petersburg).
Supported by 90,000 men and women on strike, the protesters clashed with
police but refused to leave the streets. On March 10, the strike spread
among all of Petrograd’s workers, and irate mobs of workers destroyed
police stations. Several factories elected deputies to the Petrograd
Soviet, or “council,ö of workers’ committees, following the model
devised during the Revolution of 1905.
On March 11, the troops of the Petrograd army garrison were called out
to quell the uprising. In some encounters, regiments opened fire,
killing demonstrators, but the protesters kept to the streets, and the
troops began to waver. That day, Nicholas again dissolved the Duma. On
March 12, the revolution triumphed when regiment after regiment of the
Petrograd garrison defected to the cause of the demonstrators. The
soldiers, some 150,000 men, subsequently formed committees that elected
deputies to the Petrograd Soviet.
The imperial government was forced to resign, and the Duma formed a
provisional government that peacefully vied with the Petrograd Soviet
for control of the revolution. On March 14, the Petrograd Soviet issued
“Order No. 1,ö which instructed Russian soldiers and sailors to obey
only those orders that did not conflict with the directives of the
Soviet. The next day, March 15, Czar Nicholas II abdicated the throne in
favor of his brother Michael, whose refusal of the crown brought an end
to the czarist autocracy.
The new provincial government, tolerated by the Petrograd Soviet, hoped
to salvage the Russian war effort while ending the food shortage and
many other domestic crises. It would prove a daunting task. Meanwhile,
Vladimir Lenin, leader of the Bolshevik revolutionary party, left his
exile in Switzerland and crossed German enemy lines to return home and
take control of the Russian Revolution.
73 de Scott KF5JRV
Pmail: KF5JRV@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA
email: KF5JRV@ICLOUD.COM
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