The February Revolution in Petrograd

The soldiers' mutiny weakened the Tsarist government's repression. Exam tip: treat the army as a base of Tsarist power.

The unity of workers and soldiers weakened Tsarism. Exam tip: remember this unity as a decisive force of the February Revolution.

The correct answer is A, Petrograd. The February Revolution began in Petrograd, the Russian capital then known as St Petersburg and later renamed Leningrad during the Soviet period. Demonstrations by women workers demanding bread expanded into strikes, and soldiers eventually refused to suppress the crowds. Because the capital contained major factories, government institutions and military units, events there rapidly challenged the Tsarist regime. Moscow was also important in Russia but was not the main starting point of this revolution. Berlin and Paris were capitals of Germany and France, so they are geographically and historically unrelated to the main site of the 1917 Russian uprising.

The correct answer is B, workers’ quarters and factories. Petrograd was socially and spatially divided by the Neva River. The right bank contained many industrial areas and densely populated settlements of workers, while the left bank was associated more with administrative buildings, palaces and important institutions. This physical arrangement helped protests spread because large numbers of workers lived close to the factories where they worked. The answer does not mean that every worker or factory was located only on that bank, but it identifies the dominant pattern described in the textbook. Palaces and embassies, only farms and a sea port do not accurately describe its main character.

The Winter Palace and official buildings were on the fashionable left bank. Exam tip: remember place and class difference together.

The correct answer is D, shortage of bread and food. During the First World War, transport difficulties, military demands and disruption of supplies made it difficult to bring adequate food to Petrograd. Long queues formed, and workers and their families faced hunger while the government appeared unable to solve the crisis. The bread shortage therefore became a powerful immediate cause of demonstrations, especially when combined with wartime losses and poor working conditions. Excess gold and growing sea trade describe neither the crisis nor its social effects. Russia was not under foreign rule at that time; the central problem was the failure of its own Tsarist government to provide stability and supplies.

The correct answer is A, a lockout in a factory. On 22 February 1917, the management of a factory in Petrograd locked out its workers. A lockout prevents employees from entering or working, so it immediately threatened their wages and livelihoods. Instead of isolating the dispute, the action encouraged workers in other factories to express solidarity, and the unrest grew into wider strikes and demonstrations. The opening of a new parliament, a Tsar’s coronation and a peace treaty were not the events that triggered this stage of the February movement. The governing concept is that an employer’s industrial action can become a political crisis when it occurs amid severe shortages and widespread opposition to the regime.

The correct answer is B, a sympathy strike. A sympathy strike occurs when workers stop working to support employees who are facing a dispute, dismissal or lockout elsewhere. After the factory lockout in Petrograd, workers from other factories joined the protest rather than treating the matter as an isolated workplace issue. This action demonstrated solidarity and helped convert a local industrial conflict into a city-wide movement. It also shows how workers’ collective action can challenge both employers and an unpopular political regime. A soldiers’ strike, church strike and foreign-trade strike are not the terms used for this event and do not explain the workers’ organised support for one another.

On 23 February 1917, women workers in Petrograd played a leading role in strikes and demonstrations against bread shortages and the war. Other workers soon joined them, and the movement spread rapidly. Tsarist officials did not lead the protests; they were part of the ruling system. Exam tip: remember the beginning of the February Revolution through women workers’ protests for bread and peace.

The action of 23 February was linked with International Women's Day. Exam tip: remember it with women workers' activism.

The correct answer is A. At the beginning of the February Revolution, no political party had planned and actively organised the entire movement. It developed through strikes and demonstrations by workers, particularly women workers demanding bread, and then gained strength when soldiers refused to fire on the crowds. Political parties later influenced events and helped shape the new political situation, but the initial outbreak was largely spontaneous rather than a centrally directed party campaign. It is therefore inaccurate to say that every party supported the Tsar, that a church party led the revolt or that foreign parties took power. The key concept is the distinction between a spontaneous mass upsurge and a planned revolution led from the start by one organisation.

Workers moved toward the centre where official areas were located. Exam tip: connect spread of movement with place.

The correct answer is C, imposed curfew. A curfew restricts people from moving or gathering in public during specified hours, so authorities use it as a coercive measure to limit demonstrations and regain control of streets. In Petrograd, the government attempted to contain the growing unrest through such restrictions, but repression did not remove the underlying causes: food shortages, wartime hardship, factory conflict and opposition to Tsarist rule. Distributing land, raising wages and holding an election would have been policy or reform measures, not the immediate restrictive response described here. The important concept is that repression can temporarily limit public activity but may intensify anger when grievances remain unresolved.

The direct answer is D: cavalry and police. During the February Revolution in Petrograd, the government tried to control and suppress demonstrations by calling in forces such as the police and cavalry. The reasoning is: demonstrations spread; the government viewed them as a threat; it called armed state forces to restore order; therefore cavalry and police are the relevant answer. Option A, peasant council, is wrong because it was not the government’s coercive force for stopping street demonstrations. Option B, foreign teachers, is unrelated to military or police control. Option C, traders’ union, represents commercial interests and was not the force called to suppress the crowds. Option D is correct because cavalry and police were instruments of state repression. A useful history cue is to distinguish the protesters’ actions from the government’s response: protesters demonstrated and struck; the state used police and cavalry.

On 25 February 1917, Tsar Nicholas II suspended the Duma, Russia's elected legislative body. This action failed to contain the protests and political crisis in Petrograd. The Cheka, Red Army and Comintern were created after the Russian Revolution, so they did not exist at that time. Exam tip: Remember the suspension of the Duma as an important event in the February Revolution.

The suspension of the Duma increased opposition among leaders. Exam tip: treat it as political reaction against Tsarism.

The correct answer is A, they returned to the streets again. The demonstrations in Petrograd did not disappear after the government attempted to control them. On 26 February, crowds continued to occupy the streets, showing that the movement had become broad, persistent and difficult for the Tsarist authorities to suppress. Continued public action also encouraged soldiers to question orders and eventually support the protesters, which accelerated the collapse of the old regime. The alternatives describe events that did not occur: demonstrators did not all hide, become ministers or leave Russia. The governing idea is the escalation of a mass movement—repeated street action can reveal that governmental authority is losing obedience and control.

During the February Revolution, a major economic demand of demonstrators in Petrograd was bread and better wages. War, inflation, and food shortages had made life difficult for workers and ordinary people. Expanding foreign trade would not have addressed their immediate problems of hunger and low pay. Exam tip: link the February Revolution with bread shortages, rising prices, and workers’ unrest.

The February Revolution of 1917 was directed against the autocratic Tsarist system and demanded political as well as economic change. Workers and other protesters wanted an accountable government, civil freedoms and an end to arbitrary rule; therefore, the demand for democracy is the correct answer. The movement was also connected with shortages of bread, poor working conditions and the suffering caused by the First World War. Option B is opposite to the protesters’ intention because they opposed, rather than strengthened, Tsarist autocracy. Options C and D are not recognised political aims of the February Revolution. Thus, democracy best expresses its political demand.

Soldiers' mutiny was decisive because the Tsarist government depended on the army to suppress demonstrations and restore order. When soldiers refused to fire on protesters and many joined them, the government lost much of its coercive strength. This made it difficult for the authorities to control Petrograd and greatly weakened the position of the Tsar and his administration.

Option A is correct because the government's repressive power declined when soldiers stopped supporting it. Option B states the opposite. Option C is wrong because the food crisis did not end immediately, and option D confuses the role of the Duma with the military events. The mutiny helped turn the protests into a successful revolution by removing the government's main means of force. Thus, A follows directly.

Due to soldiers' mutiny the government could not suppress protesters. Exam tip: remember the breaking of soldiers' loyalty.

After the February Revolution of 1917, Tsar Nicholas II was forced to abdicate, bringing Tsarist rule to an end. A Provisional Government was then formed. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed in 1918, and the Soviet Union was formed in 1922, so neither was the immediate political result of the February Revolution. Exam tip: link the February Revolution with the fall of Tsarism and the formation of the Provisional Government.

The sequence of both revolutions is different. Exam tip: connect February with end of Tsarism and October with Bolshevik power.

The physical layout of Petrograd reflected the unequal social structure of late Tsarist Russia. Workers commonly lived in crowded industrial districts near factories, while wealthier groups occupied more comfortable and fashionable parts of the city. This separation showed that people’s living conditions, occupations and access to urban facilities differed according to social class. Therefore, option D, class division, is correct. Option A is incorrect because the city did not show complete equality; the contrast between workers’ neighbourhoods and elite areas demonstrated inequality. Options B and C do not describe the social meaning of the city’s layout: Petrograd was not simply an example of foreign rule or rural life.

Heavy snow and severe cold worsened the existing crisis in Petrograd during February 1917. Transport became difficult, supplies could not move easily, and shortages of fuel and food became more serious. Ordinary people therefore faced longer queues, hunger, cold homes and greater insecurity. These conditions increased public anger and helped turn economic hardship into mass demonstrations. Option A is correct because it combines the immediate difficulties of daily life and food supply. Option B is irrelevant to the revolutionary crisis, while option C does not describe the experience of the city’s population. Option D is also incorrect: harsh weather did not increase the Duma’s political power; the central issue was worsening hardship among the people.