The February Revolution in Petrograd

Option A is correct. During the Russian Civil War, several foreign powers intervened on the side of the anti-Bolshevik Whites because they opposed the revolution, the Bolsheviks’ withdrawal from the First World War and the threat that revolutionary ideas might spread. The Red Army was the Bolshevik force, while the Petrograd Soviet was a revolutionary institution rather than the broad foreign-backed side in this question. A peasant mir was a village commune, not a unified military camp. Although foreign intervention was varied and did not determine the final result, its general political alignment was with forces opposed to Bolshevik rule.

The Soviets were councils representing workers, soldiers and, in many areas, peasants. Their strength came from mass participation and from their close connection with workplaces, military units and local communities. After the February Revolution, Russia experienced dual power: the Provisional Government held formal governmental authority, while the Petrograd Soviet and other Soviets exercised considerable practical influence over soldiers and workers. This influence gave the Soviets political weight even without being a conventional elected government. Their power did not come from the Tsar’s hereditary claim, foreign banking, or church taxation. Therefore, option B correctly identifies the social and organisational basis of Soviet strength.

Russia's participation in the First World War intensified an already serious political and economic crisis. Military defeats caused enormous casualties and damaged confidence in the Tsarist government. The army needed more men and supplies, while transport was disrupted and cities faced shortages of grain, fuel and other necessities. Inflation reduced the value of wages, so workers and families found daily life increasingly difficult. Soldiers, many of whom were peasants, became tired of the war and less willing to defend the autocracy. These connected pressures produced strikes, demonstrations and mutinies in Petrograd in February 1917. Option A is correct because it links military failure, food crisis and army discontent. The other options are opposite to the evidence: the war did not stabilise Tsarism, stop strikes or solve the land question.

Bread was a basic necessity, so its shortage affected ordinary urban families immediately and visibly. In Petrograd, wartime transport difficulties, inflation, fuel shortages and the diversion of supplies to the army made it difficult for people to obtain bread. Long queues became public evidence that the government could not organise provisioning or protect living standards. Women workers and other residents began protesting, and their demands for bread quickly joined demands for an end to the war and the Tsarist regime. Thus an economic grievance became a political challenge: people judged the state by its failure to meet an essential need. Option A is correct because it explains how a daily problem exposed administrative and political failure. The other options are factually false and do not explain the connection between scarcity and the collapse of authority.

The correct answer is A because the February Revolution grew from the interaction of material suffering and political oppression. Workers and families wanted bread, fairer wages, relief from shortages and safer working conditions, while many citizens also demanded an end to autocratic rule, responsible government and greater political representation. Wartime inflation and food scarcity made daily life difficult, but the Tsarist system limited effective participation and failed to solve these problems. Economic grievances therefore encouraged people to protest, and political demands explained whom they blamed and what kind of change they wanted. Options B, C and D reduce the movement to narrow or unrelated demands and do not describe the broad revolutionary programme.

The correct answer is A because the Neva River was an important geographical feature of Petrograd, and its banks helped shape the city’s social and political geography. Industrial workers, factories and working-class neighbourhoods were concentrated in particular areas, while government buildings and wealthier districts lay elsewhere. When demonstrations moved through bridges, streets and public spaces, the river and its crossings affected how groups connected and how protests reached important centres of power. Geography therefore helps explain both class divisions and the route by which the movement spread. The Neva was not a border, a treaty or an army; it was a real river whose location made the events easier to understand spatially.

The correct answer is A because 27 February 1917 marked a decisive escalation of the February Revolution in Petrograd. On this date, protesters and mutinous soldiers attacked or took control of important state and police centres, including the police headquarters, while representatives of workers and soldiers organised the Petrograd Soviet. These developments showed that the old authorities were losing control and that a new revolutionary power was emerging. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk belonged to the later revolutionary period, and the Soviet Union was created only after further political developments. The Tsar did not win the war on this date. Therefore, 27 February is remembered as a major turning point in the collapse of Tsarist authority.

Food crisis and unrest made Petrograd explosive. Exam tip: remember the immediate causes of the February Revolution.

The right bank was the area of workers and factories. Exam tip: remember the geographical division of Petrograd.

The left bank had buildings linked with power and administration. Exam tip: connect the left bank with official areas.

The direct answer is D: the lockout intensified workers’ unrest. On 22 February 1917, a factory lockout left workers without normal work and income at a time of severe wartime shortages and dissatisfaction. This added a direct workplace grievance to existing anger about food, war and government. Workers were therefore pushed toward demonstrations and wider protest, helping the February Revolution begin. Option D correctly identifies the political importance of the lockout. Option A is wrong because it did not give the Tsar a new army. Option B is wrong because it did not end the Duma. Option C is wrong because no land was given to peasants through this lockout. Exam cue: connect the lockout with worker anger, strikes and the beginning of the February movement.

Direct answer: Option A, rapid spread of the workers’ movement. On 23 February 1917, according to the Russian calendar used in the textbook, women workers’ demonstrations over bread and wartime hardship expanded into strikes. When about fifty factories joined, the protest was no longer a small complaint from one workplace. Step by step: workers stopped work; more factories joined; crowds entered the streets; economic demands became political opposition; the February Revolution gathered force. Option A describes this spread. Option B is wrong because a strike was opposition to the government, not a victory of the Tsar’s army. Option C is wrong because the event was not a reduction in peasant tax. Option D is wrong because the First World War did not end on that date. Option C? No: the correct letter remains A. Memory cue: many factories striking means a mass movement, not an isolated dispute.

Women workers gave active leadership to the movement. Exam tip: remember women as a key force of the February Revolution.

Women's activity on International Women's Day intensified the movement. Exam tip: remember the date and event together.

The march towards the city centre increased pressure on the government. Exam tip: connect place with political pressure.

The early demonstrations were not fully controlled by any party. Exam tip: remember spontaneous public unrest.

Curfew was a repressive response of the government. Exam tip: link government measures with fear of mass movement.

Returning to the streets repeatedly shows the firmness of the movement. Exam tip: treat continuity as strength of the movement.

Direct answer: Option A, because the government wanted to maintain order through force. The demonstrations challenged the Tsarist government. Instead of accepting the protesters’ demands, the authorities tried to control the streets by using armed state agencies. Cavalry could disperse large crowds, while police could arrest leaders and suppress meetings. Thus the action shows an attempt at repression and forced maintenance of order. Option A is correct. Option B is wrong because calling troops was not a reward for workers. Option C is wrong because summoning cavalry and police was not the same as conducting Duma elections. Option D is wrong because peasants were not being invited to the city. The government’s decision also reveals its fear that the protest might grow into a revolution. Memory cue: police and cavalry in a protest question usually indicate suppression, not negotiation.

The Duma was a representative political body, so suspending it removed an important channel through which public grievances and political demands could be expressed. On 25 February, when strikes and demonstrations were already expanding, this action appeared to show that the Tsarist government was refusing cooperation and choosing repression. It therefore deepened mistrust and made the crisis more serious.

Option A is correct because silencing the Duma suppressed the voice of a representative institution. Option B is contradictory: suspending the Duma did not increase democracy. Option C is wrong because the war continued, and option D is wrong because it confuses the Duma with the Soviet. The suspension made compromise harder and helped intensify opposition to the government, so A is the best answer.

The disagreement of Duma leaders showed the Tsar's isolation. Exam tip: connect it with declining political support.

The left bank was linked with official areas so the protest became more political. Exam tip: understand the meaning of place.

The attack on police headquarters was anger against state repression. Exam tip: connect it with intensification of the movement.

Demand for bread and wages was linked with people's everyday problems. Exam tip: link slogans with living conditions.

Better working hours, fair wages, and safer conditions were major concerns of the working class employed in factories. Therefore, the correct answer is the working class. Landlords were mainly concerned with land and agricultural issues, not factory working hours. Exam tip: Link demands about wages or working hours with workers.