The February Revolution in Petrograd

The Petrograd Soviet of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies was formed on 27 February 1917 during the February Revolution. A soviet was a council representing workers and, in this case, soldiers, and it became an important centre of political authority alongside the Provisional Government. Therefore, option A is correct. The council was not based in London, nor was it a church assembly or an organisation of nobles. Remembering the date and the groups represented by the Petrograd Soviet helps distinguish this revolutionary institution from older imperial bodies and from later developments associated with the October Revolution.

The correct answer is A because the Petrograd Soviet was a council formed to represent workers and soldiers during the crisis of the February Revolution in 1917. Workers expressed demands about wages, food, working conditions and political change, while soldiers represented the armed forces and increasingly opposed the Tsarist government. It was therefore a popular revolutionary body, not an institution of kings, foreign merchants or church officials. The word “Soviet” means a council, and in this context it refers to organised representatives of ordinary working people and soldiers. This distinction also helps separate the Petrograd Soviet from the Duma and from the old autocratic administration.

The February Revolution of 1917 ended the rule of the Tsar in Russia. Strikes, demonstrations, food shortages, wartime hardship, and the refusal of many soldiers to suppress the protesters created a crisis that Nicholas II could not control. He abdicated, and a Provisional Government was formed. Thus, the biggest political result was the fall of the monarchy, making option A correct.

The revolution did not increase the Tsar’s authority, begin rule by the Church, or create a foreign monarchy. It removed the Romanov autocracy, although it did not immediately solve Russia’s problems. The Provisional Government and the Soviets then existed together in a tense situation, leading eventually to the October Revolution.

The February Revolution overthrew Tsarism but Bolshevik power came in October. Exam tip: remember the sequence of both revolutions.

Workers' quarters and fashionable areas were separate. Exam tip: connect city layout with social division.

The correct answer is A because severe cold and heavy snow made an already serious wartime crisis worse in Petrograd. Transport and supplies were disrupted, food became more difficult to obtain, and long queues for bread reflected the hardship faced by urban workers and their families. The weather did not itself end the First World War, make factories prosperous or automatically strengthen the Duma; instead, it intensified public anger against the Tsarist government. These immediate difficulties combined with inflation, shortages, poor working conditions and dissatisfaction with the war, helping turn protests into a wider revolutionary movement. Thus the snow and cold were important aggravating conditions, not the only cause of the revolution.

In a sympathy strike workers stop work in support of other workers. Exam tip: remember it after the 22 February lockout.

The direct answer is A: strikes in many factories after one factory lockout. Workers’ unity means that workers in different workplaces act together for a common demand or in support of one another. In the February Revolution, a lockout at one factory helped trigger sympathy and protest among workers in other factories. Step by step, one workplace faced a dispute; workers elsewhere learned of it; many joined strikes; the protest therefore became a wider movement instead of remaining local. Option A is correct because several factories participated together, clearly showing solidarity. Option B is wrong because decorating the Tsar’s palace did not represent workers’ protest or unity. Option C is wrong because silence by the Duma would show inaction, not collective worker action. Option D is wrong because the arrival of foreign soldiers was not the event that demonstrated unity among Petrograd workers. Exam cue: a local labour dispute becoming a city-wide strike shows class solidarity.

The demand for bread was linked with the life crisis of common people. Exam tip: connect economic demands with mass movement.

Workers wanted better working conditions and shorter hours. Exam tip: connect workers' demands with labour reform.

The city centre had official and important buildings. Exam tip: connect place with political impact.

With soldiers' mutiny the government's repressive power began to break. Exam tip: treat army role as decisive.

The direct answer is A: a policy of suppressing the representative institution. The Duma was a representative body, meaning that it gave at least some elected or representative participation in government. When the Tsar suspended it, he reduced the role of this institution instead of allowing it to discuss public problems freely. This shows the autocratic and repressive character of Tsarism. Option A is correct because suspending the Duma directly means limiting representative politics. Option B is wrong because a completely democratic government would respect representative institutions rather than silence them. Option C is wrong because suspending the Duma did not give land to peasants. Option D is wrong because it did not end the war; it was a political action against representation. The action increased dissatisfaction and helped reveal the crisis of Tsarist rule. Memory cue: Duma suspended means representation suppressed.

The Petrograd Soviet emerged as a new council of the people. Exam tip: understand Soviet as a new centre of power.

Mass movement and breaking army support forced the Tsar to abdicate. Exam tip: remember both causes together.

After the February Revolution, Tsar Nicholas II abdicated and a Provisional Government was established. It was called provisional because it was intended to govern temporarily until a more permanent political arrangement could be decided. It was not a restored monarchy, foreign administration, or exclusively peasant government. Hence option B is correct.

Strikes and movement began from factories. Exam tip: connect factory workers with the beginning of the Revolution.

The government wanted soldiers to suppress the movement. Exam tip: understand that the regime weakened when army loyalty broke.

The direct answer is A: autocratic Tsarism. Autocracy means that supreme power is concentrated in one ruler, with very limited public control or democratic accountability. Before the February Revolution, the Tsarist government restricted political freedoms, used repression, and did not properly respond to the hardships caused by war, food shortages, and economic problems. Therefore, protesters opposed the autocratic rule of the Tsar. Option A is correct because it names the actual political system they challenged. Option B is wrong because protesters were not fighting a democratic republic that already existed; they were demanding change from autocratic rule. Option C is wrong because workers’ councils, or soviets, were organisations that emerged in the revolutionary situation, not the old government being opposed. Option D is wrong because a peasant council was not the central ruling system in Petrograd. Memory cue: February Revolution means opposition to Tsarist autocracy.

Direct answer: Option A, industrial workers. The February Revolution began in Petrograd amid food shortages, inflation, war suffering and anger against the Tsarist government. Industrial workers, especially women workers in textile factories, started strikes and demonstrations; other workers and soldiers later joined, making the movement much larger. Option A is correct because workers were the first major social group to move onto the streets on a large scale. Option B, the royal family, represented the ruling system and did not lead the demonstrations against it. Option C, big landlords, generally belonged to the privileged social order and were not the initiating mass force in Petrograd. Option D, foreign bankers, were not the group organising the street protests. This does not mean only workers participated; soldiers and other citizens joined later. The important sequence is worker protest, wider public unrest, soldiers’ support, and collapse of Tsarist authority. Remember: February Revolution began with strikes, bread protests and workers.

The movement grew from lockout to strikes and soldiers' mutiny. Exam tip: remember the sequence of events.

The direct answer is A: Saint Petersburg. The city now known as Saint Petersburg had different names at different times. It was called Petrograd from 1914 to 1924, and this was the name used during the February Revolution of 1917. Later it was called Leningrad from 1924 to 1991, and it became Saint Petersburg again in 1991. Option A is correct because modern Saint Petersburg is the same city historically referred to as Petrograd. Option B, Moscow, is a different major Russian city and became the capital after the revolution. Option C, Warsaw, is in Poland, not the Russian city meant here. Option D, Berlin, is the capital of Germany and is also unrelated to Petrograd. The question tests historical names, not a change in the city’s location. Memory cue: Petrograd–Leningrad–Saint Petersburg are successive names of the same city.

The correct answer is A because the February Revolution involved broad participation by several sections of society rather than a small conspiracy or a palace decision. Women workers began important demonstrations over bread and shortages, industrial workers joined strikes and marches, and soldiers increasingly refused to fire on protesters or supported the uprising. Other ordinary residents also took part in the unrest. This combination gave the movement a mass character and weakened the Tsarist state across the capital. The Tsar, foreign diplomats and a narrow elite could not by themselves represent such a broad mobilisation. Option D directly contradicts the historical evidence, since popular action was central to the fall of the monarchy.

Both the Provisional Government and Soviets became influential. Exam tip: connect dual power with instability of 1917.

Workers' unity helped the movement spread quickly. Exam tip: connect sympathy strikes with expansion of the movement.