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2 March 1917 (abdication); strikes began 22 February O.S. / 8 MarchReputable source · 2 sourcesWell documented

The February Revolution topples the Romanov dynasty

Bread strikes turn into mutiny, and within a week 300 years of Romanov rule ends with a signature.

On the timeline · around 2 March 1917 (abdication); strikes began 22 February O.S. / 8 March · The Year of Two RevolutionsWar and Collapse, 1914-1917The Year of Two RevolutionsThe February Revolution topples the Romanov dynasty1917

Quick facts

Strikes begin
22 February O.S. / 8 March 1917
Abdication
2 March 1917
Protesters in Petrograd
About 200,000

What happened

On 22 February 1917 (8 March by the modern calendar), metalworkers in Petrograd went on strike. The next day, International Women's Day, women protesting food rationing joined them, and the crowd grew to around 200,000 people demanding the Tsar's removal and an end to the war. Nicholas II ordered the Petrograd garrison commander to put down the unrest by force, but the troops refused and mutinied, joining the protesters instead. Having lost the army's support, and on the advice of his own generals and ministers, Nicholas II abdicated on 2 March 1917, for himself and his son Alexei both. His brother Grand Duke Michael declined the throne the next day, ending three centuries of Romanov rule.

Why it matters

The February Revolution happened almost by accident, a bread-and-women's-day protest that snowballed once the army sided with the crowd rather than the crown, and it left no plan for what came next. Power split immediately between a self-appointed Provisional Government of Duma politicians and the Petrograd Soviet the workers and soldiers had reformed, a standoff historians call dual power that lasted until the Bolsheviks ended it in October.

How we know

Imperial War Museums documents the strike's escalation day by day, the garrison's mutiny, and the terms of Nicholas II's abdication for himself and Alexei.

Sources

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Part of a timelineThe Russian Revolution29 events · How three centuries of Romanov rule collapsed in a single year, and how the party that caught power in the wreckage never let go.View all →