The February Revolution in Petrograd

The Neva separated workers' and official areas but the movement connected them. Exam tip: link place with event.

Factory strikes spread from workers' areas. Exam tip: connect the right bank with workers' activity.

Moving towards the left bank meant pressuring centres of power. Exam tip: remember the left bank as the official area.

The lockout on 22 February intensified the existing discontent of Petrograd workers. Once work stopped, workers joined strikes and demonstrations, helping the February Revolution develop into a wider movement. The Soviet Union was created only in 1922, so it was not an immediate outcome. Exam tip: remember the lockout as an immediate trigger of the February Revolution.

The strike in many factories widened the movement. Exam tip: connect the number with the spread of protest.

Women workers were actively leading at the beginning of the movement. Exam tip: do not treat women's role as only supportive.

Women workers pushed the movement forward on International Women's Day. Exam tip: remember the date and event together.

Reaching Nevsky Prospekt made the protest more visible. Exam tip: understand the role of public spaces.

The early movement came from people's real hardships. Exam tip: remember the meaning of spontaneous movement.

Curfew shows the government's fear and attempt to control. Exam tip: write curfew as a repressive measure.

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

The governing historical concept is state repression during the February Revolution in Petrograd. When demonstrations grew, the Tsarist government called the police and cavalry to disperse crowds and restore order by force. This action shows that the authorities treated popular demands as a threat rather than responding through negotiation or reform. Therefore option B is correct: it describes an attempt to suppress the movement through coercion. Option A is the opposite of the action taken. Options C and D concern social or economic policies and do not explain the deployment of armed forces against demonstrators. The evidence is therefore a direct example of authoritarian repression.

On 25 February 1917, the Tsar suspended the Duma, which was a forum of elected representatives. This restricted political representation and sharpened the conflict between Tsarist autocracy and representative government. Land disputes were also important in Russia, but the suspension of the Duma directly worsened the crisis of political representation. Exam tip: link the suspension of the Duma with growing opposition to Tsarist rule during the February Revolution.

Opposition by Duma leaders shows the Tsar's political isolation. Exam tip: link declining support with power crisis.

The left bank was an official area so protest became stronger political pressure. Exam tip: remember the importance of location.

The slogans had both needs of life and political rights. Exam tip: identify demands as economic and political.

Working hours are an important part of labour conditions. When workers ask for better or shorter working hours, they are expressing dissatisfaction with exhausting schedules, difficult work, and the limited control they have over their daily lives. In the context of the February Revolution, workers’ demands reflected the hardships created by industrial work, low living standards, shortages, and wartime pressure.

Option A follows directly from the wording of the demand. A request for improved working hours points to long and difficult labour, not to land, royal positions, or foreign trade. The other choices concern different social or economic issues and do not explain why workers would protest about the length and difficulty of work. Thus, A correctly identifies the workers’ problem.

The demand for democracy was linked with political rights. Exam tip: understand the difference between economic and political demands.

When the army did not obey orders the government's power weakened. Exam tip: treat soldiers' attitude as a key turn.

An army can protect a ruler only when a substantial part of it accepts the ruler’s orders. During the February Revolution, the mutiny of infantry regiments meant that soldiers who were expected to control demonstrations were refusing, or becoming unwilling, to obey the Tsarist authorities. Some soldiers also joined the popular movement. This removed an important support of the regime and made repression much more difficult.

Option A is correct because the mutiny showed that army loyalty was breaking. It did not show that the Tsar’s army was becoming stronger. The event did not mean that Soviets were ending, and it cannot be explained by a general claim that peasants wanted war. The political meaning lies in the loss of military support for Tsarism.