Date confusion—The February Revolution actually

took place in early March. Because the Russian Em-

pire followed the Julian Calendar, which is 13 days

behind the Gregorian Calendar, the events are referred

to as the February Revolution. Likewise, the October

Revolution actually took place in early November.

Soviet—The word means “council” in Russian. Soviets

were workers’ councils made up of various socialist

parties at the end of the Russian Empire. After seizing

control, Bolsheviks banned all other political parties.

The soviets governed the republics that emerged from

the Russian Civil War, thus the name “Soviet Union.”

Bolsheviks—The radical socialist party that seized

control during the October Revolution. The Marxist

Russian Social Democratic Labor Party split in 1903,

forming the Bolsheviks (derived from the word

“bolshinstvo,” meaning majority) and the more moder-

ate Mensheviks (minority).

Revolution in Russia and the Formation of the Soviet Union

The Russian Revolution often refers to two events that took

place in 1917. The first, known as the February Revolution,

forced Tsar Nicholas II to abdicate and led to the formation of a

provisional government. During the second event, commonly

known as the October Revolution or Bolshevik Revolution, Vla-

dimir Lenin’s Bolshevik Party seized power and began seven

decades of one-party rule. Some scholars and Soviet critics

have argued that the second event was actually a coup by

Lenin and his supporters and not a true revolution.

February Revolution protests in Russia.

In the early 1900s, cracks were beginning to appear in the tsar’s control

over the Russian Empire. An attempted revolution in 1905, which saw

mass worker strikes and peasant revolts, shook the monarchy and forced

Tsar Nicholas II to implement political reform, including the establishment

of a parliament and a new constitution.

Reform temporarily quieted the unrest, but the new policies proved inef-

fective and the parliament, known as the State Duma, was largely unable

to override the Tsar’s decrees.

When World War I broke out in 1914, the tsar enthusiastically entered the

Russian Empire into the conflict to fight against Germany and the Austro-

Hungarian Empire. The war proved popular in its first months throughout

much of the empire, but enthusiasm soon gave way to unrest as the Im-

perial Russian Army suffered heavy losses and humiliating retreats in a

conflict against the better equipped and better trained armies of the in-

dustrialized nations to the west.

Protests and workers’ strikes broke out, especially in the capital, Petro-

grad (known as St. Petersburg until it was renamed in 1914 to sound less

German). The growing unrest and opposition to the war overwhelmed

domestic politics as food shortages became common and the army suf-

fered defeat after defeat against Germany and the Central Powers.

On March 8, 1917, as loyalists began abandoning the embattled mon-

arch, Tsar Nicholas II abdicated, ending nearly 300 years of rule by the

Romanov family. A provisional government entered a power-sharing

agreement with workers’ councils, known as “soviets,” which had formed

in cities throughout the country during the unrest.

Updated: June 2017

C L A S S R O O M C O U N T R Y P R O F I L E S

The Russian Empire in 1914.

USEFUL LINKS

CIA World Factbook:

BBC Country Page:

National Geographic:

Kyiv Post English

News

Throughout the spring and summer of 1917, the workers councils, or soviets, and

the provisional government jockeyed for power and influence over the empire. The

more moderate parties of the provisional government, which largely represented

the country’s middle class, struggled to find support among workers and peasants,

who tended to support the socialist parties that made up the soviets.

In the soviets, radical socialist parties were gaining momentum. In the summer,

the moderate Socialist Revolutionaries were the largest faction, followed by the

moderate Mensheviks, and then the Bolsheviks—the most radical socialist party.

But by autumn, Bolsheviks were gaining support among soldiers and others who

were becoming increasingly frustrated with the ongoing economic crisis and the

provisional government’s refusal to withdraw from the war.

In the early morning hours of November 7 (October 25 in the Julian Calendar),

Bolsheviks, supported by armed militia members, surrounded government build-

ings in Petrograd and captured the Winter Palace, forcing members of the provi-

sional government to abandon their posts. Many of the of the provisional govern-

ment leaders were arrested.

A congress of soviets convened to vote on the actions of the Bolsheviks. Socialist

Revolutionaries and Mensheviks refused to participate. Nevertheless, the Bolshe-

viks set up a new Russian government with Lenin as its chairman and Leon Trot-

sky as foreign minister. Believing they could consolidate power through a nation-

wide vote, the Bolsheviks held an election to choose members of a new Russian

Constituent Assembly, but they came in second to the Socialist Revolutionaries,

who gained a clear majority. Shortly after its first meeting in early 1918, Lenin or-

dered the assembly dissolved and declared the soviets the sole leadership of the

country. Opposition parties were banned later that year.

Traditional Ukrainian Easter Eggs

CL ASSROOM COUNTRY PROFILES

More resources for educators are available

on the Henry M. Jackson School of International

Studies website.

Brest-Litovsk Treaty—The treaty that ended

hostilities between Russia and the Central

Powers. Russia was forced to surrender large

parts of its former imperial territory, something

Lenin called “dismemberment.”

Soviet Union—Established in 1922, the Union

of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), was ini-

tially composed of four nominally independent

republics: The Russian Soviet Federative So-

cialist Republic, the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist

Republic (SSR), the Byelorussian SSR, and

the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Sovi-

et Republic. By the end of World War II, the

Soviet Union would consist of 15 republics.

Petrograd—Known as St. Petersburg until

1914, Petrograd was the capital of the Rus-

sian Empire and the Russian Republic. The

capital was moved to Moscow in 1918 to make

it more difficult for foreign and White Army

forces to reach the Bolshevik government.

The Orthodox Church—The dominant reli-

gion in the Russian Empire. When Bolsheviks

seized control, they declared Russia a secular

state. Religious persecution became wide-

spread in the ensuing years and churches

were burned in the frenzy.

Traditional Ukrainian Easter Eggs

Vladimir Lenin addresses a crowd during the October Revolution of 1917.

USEFUL LINKS

CIA World Factbook:

BBC Country Page:

National Geographic:

Kyiv Post English

News

When the tsar abdicated in March 1917, the Russian Empire was replaced by a

quickly formed Russian Republic, which was only officially declared in September.

Following the Bolshevik takeover in the autumn, the country was renamed the Rus-

sian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.

By early 1918 the new Bolshevik leadership was desperate to end Russia’s partici-

pation in the disastrous world war. The Bolsheviks hastily signed a truce with Ger-

many and the Central Powers, known as the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Although it

stopped the bloodshed, Russia was forced to surrender huge swaths of the former

empire’s territory, including Poland, the Baltics, Ukraine, and Georgia.

By late spring unrest was again enveloping Russia and opposition to Bolshevik rule

was growing. Moderates, liberals, army officers, and supporters of the monarchy

began to organize, soliciting support from abroad. Violence began to break out as

pockets of resistance to Bolshevik control took up arms.

In July Russia’s new leaders, anxious to consolidate power and forever bury the

House of Romanov, gathered Nicholas II and his family and shot them in the base-

ment of the home where they were being held under house arrest. The execution-

ers attempted to destroy their remains and buried them unceremoniously in a forest

near Yekaterinburg.

When Germany was defeated by the Allied Powers in November 1918, Bolshevik

forces, known as the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army, attempted to recapture

territories lost during the war. The Red Army fanned out across Russia and its for-

mer territories to try and wrest control from nationalists and the White Army, a

loose alliance of monarchists, moderates, and others opposed to Bolshevik rule.

War raged until 1922, leading to the deaths of more than 7 million people, most of

them civilians. After the Red Army defeated the White Army and recaptured some

of the Russian Empire’s former territories, including Ukraine and Georgia, the war

ended. However, Bolsheviks were unable to gain control of Poland and the Baltics,

which remained independent until World War II.

At the end of the war, Lenin and the Bolshevik leadership signed a new constitution

that cut up Russia’s territories into a federation of four nominally independent so-

cialist republics to be led by soviets represented exclusively by members of the

Communist Party. The Soviet Union was born.

Foreign powers, including Britain and the United States, had attempted to intervene

in the Russian Civil War on the side of the anti-Bolshevik White forces. Thus, rela-

tions between the victorious Bolsheviks and Western powers were complicated

from the start. Britain established diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union in

1924. The United States waited until 1933.

Traditional Ukrainian Easter Eggs

CL ASSROOM COUNTRY PROFILES

More resources for educators are available

on the Henry M. Jackson School of International

Studies website.

Traditional Ukrainian Easter Eggs

Was the October Revolution a revolution or a

coup? Discuss the difference and ask stu-

dents to debate whether the event classifies

as a revolution.

What caused the Russian Civil War? Discuss

the factors that led to years of violence

throughout the former Russian Empire.

Could the Soviet Union have avoided one-

party rule?

How were the Russian Revolutions viewed in

the West? What was the legacy of the Octo-

ber Revolution in the United States?

“October: Ten Days That Shook the World.”

— 1928 Silent film by Soviet filmmaker Sergei

Eisenstein.

McMeekin, Sean. The Russian Revolution: A

New History.” Basic Books, 2017.