Russian Revolution

The upheaval known as the Russian Revolution began in 1917 and transformed the country’s political and social landscape. Over the course of two revolutions and a civil war, Russia ended its monarchy and established a socialist system. This event set the stage for later uprisings after World War I, like the one in Germany from 1918 to 1919, and is considered a major turning point of the 20th century. The revolution started with the February Revolution in 1917, during World War I. Russia’s army was suffering defeats by Germany, and shortages of bread and grain—made worse by logistical failures—were draining morale.

Mutinies were becoming likely. Officials believed that if Tsar Nicholas II stepped down, the unrest might calm. He abdicated, and a provisional government, formed by the Duma (the parliament), took over. At the same time, local councils called Soviets emerged in Petrograd (now Saint Petersburg).

Initially, these Soviets did not challenge the new government, but they insisted on having a say in governance and control over local militias. By March, Russia had two competing authorities: the Provisional Government handled military and foreign affairs, while the network of Soviets managed domestic matters. Crucially, the Soviets had the loyalty of workers and the urban middle class. Strikes, protests, and mutinies were widespread.

Dual power: Dvoyevlastiye

Various leftist groups—including Mensheviks, Socialist Revolutionaries, Anarchists, and the Bolsheviks, a far-left party led by Vladimir Lenin—vied for influence within both the government and the Soviets. The Bolsheviks gained popularity by promising peace, land, and bread: ending the war, giving land to peasants, and stopping famine. The Provisional Government, however, kept fighting the war despite public opposition. The Bolsheviks and other factions used this to build support.

When the government cracked down on protesters in Petrograd during the July Days, the Bolsheviks merged loyal workers’ militias into the Red Guards. Tensions peaked with the October Revolution, an armed Bolshevik uprising in Petrograd that toppled the Provisional Government. The Bolsheviks then formed their own government and declared the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR). German military pressure forced them to move the capital to Moscow.

The RSFSR began turning the old empire into the world’s first socialist state, aiming to practice soviet democracy nationally and internationally. They kept their promise to exit World War I by signing the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany in March 1918. To suppress opposition, the Bolsheviks created the Cheka, a secret police that carried out the Red Terror—targeting and eliminating those deemed “enemies of the people.” Though the Bolsheviks had strong urban support, they faced enemies at home and abroad who rejected their rule.

Russian Civil War

A bloody civil war broke out between the Reds (Bolsheviks) and various opponents: nationalist movements, anti-Bolshevik socialists, anarchists, monarchists, and liberals. The latter two groups largely backed the White movement, led by right-leaning officers who wanted to restore the imperial order. Bolshevik commissar Leon Trotsky organized loyal workers’ militias into the Red Army. Fighting raged not only in Moscow and Petrograd but in every city, including provinces of national minorities, while peasants in rural areas seized and redistributed land.

Historiography

As the civil war progressed, the RSFSR extended Soviet power into Armenia, Azerbaijan, Byelorussia, Georgia, and Ukraine. Wartime unity and foreign intervention pushed these nations to unify under one flag, forming the Soviet Union. Historians mark the revolution’s end in 1922, when the civil war concluded with the defeat of the White Army and separatist groups, prompting mass emigration. The victorious Bolshevik Party renamed itself the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) and held power for six decades.

The 1905 Russian Revolution helped set the stage for 1917. Bloody Sunday sparked nationwide protests and soldier mutinies, leading to the creation of the St. Petersburg Soviet, a workers’ council. Though the 1905 uprising was crushed and its leaders arrested, it laid the groundwork for the later Petrograd Soviet and other revolutionary movements. It also forced the creation of a Duma, which later formed the Provisional Government after February 1917.

Background

Russia’s poor performance in 1914–1915 fueled growing complaints against Tsar Nicholas II and his family. A brief wave of patriotic nationalism faded as defeats and harsh conditions on the Eastern Front mounted. The Tsar worsened matters by taking personal command of the army in 1915—a role beyond his abilities—making him personally blamed for losses. Meanwhile, Tsarina Alexandra, who ruled while he was at the front, was German-born, stirring suspicions of collusion, further inflamed by rumors about her.