March Revolution

The government during the March Revolution was the Imperial monarchy. The Revolution of 1917 grew out of a mounting wave of food and wage strikes in Petrograd during February. On February 8, meetings and demonstrations in which the principal slogan was a demand for bread were held, supported by the 90,000 men and women on strike in the national capital. Encounters with the police were numerous, but the workers refused to disperse and continued to occupy the streets. Tension steadily increased but no casualties resulted. Agitation grew the following day, February 9, until it involved about half the workers of Petrograd. The slogans now were bolder: "Down with the war!" "Down with autocracy!" On March 10, the strike became general throughout the capital. During these two days, violent encounters took place with the police, with casualties on both sides. The dreaded Cossack troops, however, which had been called out to support the police, showed little enthusiasm for breaking up the demonstrations. The workers captured several police stations, seized the small arms inside, and then burned the stations to the ground; the police went into hiding. The first elections to the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' Deputies were held in several factories, on the model of the Soviet of 1905. On March 11, the troops of the Petrograd garrison were called out to suppress the uprising. When the workers and soldiers came face to face in the streets, the workers tried to fraternize with the soldiers. In some of these encounters, the troops were hostile and fired on order, killing a number of workers. The workers fled, but did not abandon the streets. As soon as the firing ceased, they returned to confront the soldiers. In subsequent encounters the troops wavered when ordered to fire, allowing the workers to pass through their lines. On March 12, the revolution triumphed. Regiment after regiment of the Petrograd garrison went over to the people. Within 24 hours, the entire garrison, approx. 150,000 men, joined the revolution, and the united workers and soldiers took control of the capital. The uprising claimed about 1500 victims.

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