The February Revolution was the first of two revolutions in Russia in 1917, and it overthrew the monarchy of Tsar Nicholas II. It is called February because Russia then used the Julian calendar, in which the events fell in that month, though they took place in March by the calendar used elsewhere. Strikes and demonstrations on International Women's Day in Petrograd, driven by food shortages and anger over the costly war, grew into a general uprising when soldiers refused to fire on the crowds. Nicholas abdicated, ending more than three centuries of Romanov rule. A Provisional Government took power alongside the Petrograd Soviet of workers' and soldiers' deputies, and this divided authority paved the way for the Bolshevik seizure of power in October.
Before and after
- from 1917 to 1921Ukrainian–Soviet War
- 1917Founding of Federal University of Science and Innovation of Rio de Janeiro
- 1917Russian Revolution
- 16 February 1917Death of Octave Mirbeau
- from 8 March 1917 to 16 March 1917February Revolution
- from 8 March 1917 to 11 March 1917Fall of Baghdad
- 26 March 1917First Battle of Gaza
- from 9 April 1917 to 16 May 1917Battle of Arras
- 14 April 1917Death of L. L. Zamenhof
More in Wars, politics & history
- from 25 October 1917 to 26 October 1917October Revolution
- from 7 November 1917 to 25 October 1922Russian Civil War
- 28 June 1919Treaty of Versailles
- from 18 July 1936 to 1 April 1939Spanish Civil War
- 23 August 1939Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact
- from 30 November 1939 to 13 March 1940Winter War
The era
This moment belongs to the Modern era (1914 CE to 1945 CE), world wars and a changing world. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.