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This Russian Revolution timeline lists significant events and developments in Russia in 1917. This timeline has been written and compiled by Alpha History authors. Note: Russia used the Julian or Old Style calendar until January 24th 1918, when this system was replaced by the Gregorian or New Style calendar. Dates in this calendar are Julian or ...
- Overview
- World War I and the decline of the Russian Empire
Corruption and inefficiency were widespread in the imperial government, and ethnic minorities were eager to escape Russian domination. Peasants, workers, and soldiers finally rose up after the enormous and largely pointless slaughter of World War I destroyed Russia’s economy as well as its prestige as a European power.
Russian Revolution of 1905
Learn about the uprising that laid the foundation for the 1917 revolution.
World War I
Learn about World War I, an important catalyst for the Russian Revolution of 1917.
Why is it called the October Revolution if it took place in November?
Centuries of virtually unchecked Russian expansion in Asia ended with an embarrassing defeat in the Russo-Japanese War (1904–05). This military reverse shattered Russia’s dreams of establishing hegemony over the whole of Asia, but it also contributed to a wave of domestic unrest. The Revolution of 1905 compelled Nicholas II to issue the October Manifesto, which ostensibly transformed Russia from an unlimited autocracy into a constitutional monarchy. The tsar’s reactionary policies, including the occasional dissolution of the Duma, or Russian parliament, the chief fruit of the 1905 revolution, had spread dissatisfaction even to moderate elements of the nobility. The Russian Empire’s many ethnic minorities grew increasingly restive under Russian domination.
Despite some reforms that followed the Russo-Japanese War, the Russian army in 1914 was ill-equipped to fight a major war, and neither the political nor the military leadership was up to the standard required. Nevertheless the army fought bravely in World War I, and both soldiers and junior officers showed remarkable qualities. The Russian invasion of East Prussia in August 1914 was defeated by Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff at Tannenberg, but it required the Germans to send reinforcements from the Western Front and so saved France from defeat and made possible the victory on the Marne. The campaigns of 1915 and 1916 on the Eastern Front brought terrible casualties to the Russian forces, which at times did not even have sufficient rifles. As late as July 1916, however, the Russian army was capable of making a successful offensive under Gen. Aleksey Brusilov in Volhynia and Bukovina.
Britannica Quiz
Plots and Revolutions Quiz
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Jennifer Rosenberg
- The February 1917 Revolution. Although many wanted a revolution, no one expected it to happen when it did and how it did. On Thursday, February 23, 1917, women workers in Petrograd left their factories and entered the streets to protest.
- Provisional Government vs. The Petrograd Soviet. Two contending groups emerged out of the chaos to claim leadership of Russia. The first was made up of former Duma members and the second was the Petrograd Soviet.
- Lenin Returns From Exile. Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, leader of the Bolsheviks, was living in exile when the February Revolution transformed Russia. Once the Provisional Government allowed back political exiles, Lenin boarded a train in Zurich, Switzerland and headed home.
- The October 1917 Russian Revolution. By September 1917, Lenin believed the Russian people were ready for another revolution. However, other Bolshevik leaders were not yet quite convinced.
Eastern Front. Russian troops fighting in a village in Volhynia, northwestern Ukraine, during World War I. In the early spring of 1917 the initiative was definitely with the Allies. A simultaneous offensive by all the Allies was planned, with the intention of preventing the Germans from transferring reserves from one front to another.
Two revolutions took place in 1917. The first was commonly referred to as the February Revolution. It overthrew the imperial government. The second, the Bolshevik Revolution, brought the Bolsheviks to power. These events are referred to collectively as the Russian Revolution.
Jun 20, 2022 · 1917 Oct The Bolsheviks overthrow the Provisional government on the eve of the meeting of 2nd All-Russia Congress of Soviets. 1917 26/27 Oct Soviet proclamations on land and peace. Death Penalty abolished. 1917 30 Oct Kerensky repulsed outside Petrograd. 1917 2 Nov Bolsheviks gain Moscow.
Apr 16, 2024 · 1917 - 1923. Russian Revolution. The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government following two successive revolutions and a bloody civil war.
