In 1914, Russia and its empire were ruled by Tsar Nicholas II. The Russian Empire included current-day Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, parts of Poland, Ukraine, and Belarus, stretching to the Pacific and comprising today’s Central Asian states, as well as Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. The majority of the population was Russian Orthodox Christianity. The empire also included Catholics, Protestants, Muslims, and Buddhists.

Economy and Society

Agrarian Society: At the beginning of the 20th century, the Russian population was dominated by agriculturalists. 85%  of the Russian Empire’s population earned their living from agriculture which used to be cultivated for the market as well as for their own needs.

• • Peasants cultivated most of the land, but nobility, crown, and the Orthodox Church owned large properties. 
  • Nobles got power and position through their services to the Tsar. In Russia, peasants wanted land of nobles. Like workers, peasants too were divided.
  • Russian peasants were different from other European peasants i.e. They pooled their land together periodically and their commune (mir) divided it according to the needs of individual families.
• Industrial Sector: Industry was found in pockets. St Petersburg and Moscow were prominent industrial areas.
  • Craftsmen undertook much of production, but large factories existed alongside craft workshops.
  • Coal production doubled and iron and steel output quadrupled.
• Expansion of Industries: In 1890s, more factories were set up, and foreign investment in industry increased. Large factories were supervised by government to ensure minimum wages and limited hours of work. 
  • Accommodation varied from rooms to dormitories.
• Workers Groups: Workers were divided into different social groups. One was a group with strong links with villages from which they came and others were those who had settled in cities permanently.  
  • Women made up 31% of factory labor force by 1914, but they were paid less than men (between half and three-quarters of a man’s wage)
• Unity among workers: Despite divisions, workers did unite to strike work when they disagreed with employers about dismissals or work conditions. 
  • These strikes took place frequently in textile industry during 1896-1897, and in metal industry during 1902.

Socialism in Russia

Political Landscape: Political parties in Russia were legal before 1914. In 1898, socialists founded the Russian Social Democratic Workers Party, which respected Marx’s ideas. 

• • Russian socialists felt that the Russian peasant custom of dividing land periodically made them natural socialists.
• Foundation of Socialist Revolutionary Party: Throughout the 19th century, socialists were active in the countryside and formed Socialist Revolutionary Party in 1900. The party struggled for peasant’s rights and demanded land belonging to nobles be transferred to peasants.
• Division in Socialist Revolutionary Party: The Party was divided over a strategy of organization. 
  • According to Vladimir Lenin, in a repressive society like Tsarist Russia, the party should be disciplined and should control the number and quality of its members. 
  • Mensheviks thought that the party should be open to all.

A Turbulent Time: The 1905 Revolution

Autocratic Russia: Russia was an autocracy, and even at the beginning of 20th century, the Tsar was not subject to Parliament. 

• Rise of Opposition: Liberals in Russia campaigned to end this state of affairs. Together with Social Democrats and Socialist Revolutionaries, they worked with peasants and workers during the revolution of 1905 to demand a constitution. 
  • They were supported in empire by nationalists (in Poland for instance) and in Muslim-dominated areas by jadidists who wanted modernized Islam to lead their societies.
• Call for Change: During the Revolution of 1905, Russia, along with Social Democrats and Socialist Revolutionaries, worked with peasants and workers to demand a constitution. 
• Socio-Economic Unrest: For Russian workers, bad times started in 1904 as prices of essential goods rose and their real wages declined by 20%.
  • Workers went on strike demanding a reduction in working days to eight hours, an increase in wages, and an improvement in working conditions.
• Bloody Sunday: The procession was attacked by police and Cossacks when it reached the Winter Palace. The incident, known as Bloody Sunday, started a series of events that resulted in the 1905 Revolution.
• Limited Reform: During 1905 Revolution, Tsar allowed creation of an elected consultative Parliament or Duma. 
  • After 1905, most committees and unions worked unofficially since they were declared illegal.

The First World War and the Russian Empire

Outbreak of World War I: In 1914, war broke out between two European alliances – Germany, Austria, and Turkey (the Central powers) and France, Britain, and Russia (later Italy and Romania joined).

• Russian Enthusiasm: The war became popular and rallied around Tsar Nicholas II, and as it continued, Tsar refused to consult main parties in the Duma. Support wore thin.
• Eastern Front: The First World War was different on eastern front and western front. Between 1914 and 1916  Russian army lost badly in Germany and Austria.
• Wartime Shortages and Economic Collapse: The Russian army destroyed crops and buildings to prevent enemy from being able to live off the land. 
  • The country was cut off from other suppliers of industrial goods by German control of  Baltic Sea.
  • Railway lines began to break down by 1916. For people in the cities, bread and flour became scarce. By the winter of 1916, riots at bread shops were common.

The February Revolution in Petrograd

Divided Opinion: Petrograd City was divided among its people. On right bank of River Neva, worker’s quarters and factories were located, and on the left bank located fashionable areas such as Winter Palace and official buildings.

• Social Unrest: Food shortages deeply affected the workers’ quarters. On the right bank, a factory was shut down on February 22.
  • Women also led way to strikes, and this came to be called International Women’s Day. The government imposed a curfew as fashionable quarters and official buildings were surrounded by workers.
• Suspension of Duma: Duma was suspended on 25th February. The streets thronged with demonstrators raising slogans about bread, wages, better hours, and democracy. 
  • The government called out cavalry, but they refused to fire on the demonstrators.
• Birth of Petrograd Soviet and Provisional Government: Soldiers and striking workers gathered to form a ‘soviet’ or ‘council’ in same building where Duma met, and it is termed the Petrograd Soviet. 
  • Soviet leaders and Duma leaders formed a Provisional Government to run the country.
  • Russia’s future would be decided by a constituent assembly elected based on universal adult suffrage. 
  • Petrograd led February Revolution which brought down the monarchy in February 1917.

Post February

Under the Provisional Government, army officials, landowners, and industrialists were influential. Liberals and socialists worked towards an elected government. Restrictions on public meetings and associations were removed.

• Vladimir Lenin’s Demands:  In April 1917, Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin returned to Russia from his exile. Lenin demanded three things termed as ‘April Theses’.
  • He wanted war to end;
  • Land to be transferred to peasants;
  • Banks to be nationalized.
• Rise of Workers and Peasants: Lenin emphasized renaming the Bolshevik Party to Communist Party. Workers’ movement spread throughout the summer. 
  • Factory committees were formed, and trade unions grew in numbers.
• Provincial Government Response: When the Provisional Government saw its power reduced and Bolshevik influence grew, they decided to take stern measures against the spreading discontent.
  • In the countryside, peasants and their Socialist Revolutionary leaders pressed for a redistribution of land. Encouraged by the Socialist Revolutionaries, peasants seized land between July and September 1917.

The Revolution of October 1917

Growing Tensions: The conflict between the Provisional Government and the Bolsheviks grew.

• Bolshevik Seizure of Power: On 16 October 1917, Lenin persuaded the Petrograd Soviet and Bolshevik Party to agree to a socialist seizure of power. 
  • To organize the seizure, a Military Revolutionary Committee was appointed by the Soviets under Leon Trotskii.
• Consolidation of Bolshevik Control: The Military Revolutionary Committee ordered its supporters to seize government offices and arrest ministers.
  • By nightfall, the city was under the committee’s control and ministers had surrendered. At a meeting of the All Russian Congress of Soviets in Petrograd, the majority approved the Bolshevik action. 

Conclusion

February and October Revolutions marked pivotal turning points for Russia. These events catalyzed systemic changes, exposing vulnerabilities and creating opportunities. The groundwork laid in these periods will likely shape Russia’s future trajectory.