The February Revolution in Petrograd

The government chose repression not negotiation. Exam tip: write it as an example of state response.

The governing concept is the relationship between representative institutions, executive repression and political legitimacy. The Duma was a representative body, so suspending it during a period of growing protest reduced an institutional channel through which grievances could be expressed. The decision indicated that the Tsarist government was trying to control the crisis by limiting representative participation rather than resolving the underlying shortages and unrest. Therefore option A is correct. Option B reverses the meaning of suspension: closing a representative institution is not the introduction of full democracy. Option C describes an event that had not occurred merely because the Duma was suspended, while option D is an anachronistic conclusion and did not follow immediately from this action.

Opposition by Duma leaders shows the isolation of Tsarism. Exam tip: see it as a sign of political support breaking.

Returning to the streets on 26 February, despite repression and restrictions, demonstrates that ordinary people continued to participate in the struggle. This persistence shows both continuity and determination. It contradicts the claim that the movement collapsed or was confined to the palace. The Duma’s alleged abandonment is not the evidence described, so option C is correct.

The police headquarters was a symbol of repression so its fall showed weakness of rule. Exam tip: treat 27 February as a turning point.

These demands were linked with both common life and workers' exploitation. Exam tip: write economic and labour causes together.

The demand for democracy gave the movement the form of a political revolution. Exam tip: write the link between economic and political demands.

Once army loyalty broke the regime's grip weakened. Exam tip: connect soldiers' mutiny with the fall of monarchy.

Soldiers' mutiny weakened the government from within. Exam tip: write the army's role in power crisis.

The Petrograd Soviet was more than an office or committee because it represented striking workers and soldiers who had become important political actors during the February Revolution. Through the Soviet, these groups could discuss demands, organise collective action and influence decisions about authority, food, war and public order. Its existence created a second centre of power alongside the Provisional Government, producing the situation often called dual power. Option A is correct because it identifies this new popular political authority. Options B and D are absurd institutions, while option C is incorrect because the war continued after the Soviet was formed.

The formation of the Soviet in the Duma building signalled a new form of power. Exam tip: remember the symbolism of place.

Nicholas II’s abdication must be understood as the outcome of a broad political and social crisis, not as a private character defect. In Petrograd, workers protested against shortages, inflation and war conditions; soldiers increasingly refused to suppress the crowds and many joined the uprising. The Duma and other political forces also lost confidence in the Tsar’s government, leaving him isolated. These combined pressures made continued autocratic rule impossible. Option A is correct because it identifies mass action, military mutiny and political isolation together. The other options are historically false or irrelevant: the Tsar did not seek peasant life, Brest-Litovsk came later, and the USSR was not created that day.

The two revolutions brought different immediate political outcomes. The February Revolution of 1917 overthrew the Romanov monarchy after mass protests, strikes and the loss of military support. A Provisional Government was then formed, while the Petrograd Soviet also exercised influence, creating dual power. The October Revolution occurred later, when the Bolsheviks led an armed uprising and removed the Provisional Government, claiming power in the name of the soviets. Therefore option A is correct: February ended Tsarist rule, whereas October brought the Bolsheviks to power. Options B, C and D confuse the sequence or deny the major political changes.

The Provisional Government had formal administrative authority after the Tsar’s fall, but it did not control political life by itself. Soviets continued to represent workers and soldiers and possessed strong influence over public action and military opinion. This created competing centres of authority. The government had to function alongside the Soviets, so its decisions were contested and its power remained limited. The resulting arrangement made the new order unstable.

Option A is correct because continuing Soviet influence produced dual power. The Tsar did not immediately recover complete authority, workers did not leave politics, and Petrograd did not become empty. The problem was not the absence of a government but the presence of another powerful political centre beside it. This explains why the February settlement did not bring lasting stability.

Bread queues turned daily crisis into public political unrest. Exam tip: connect food crisis with crisis of rule.

Factories produced collective worker action. Exam tip: treat factories as centres of labour politics.

The role of women workers gave the movement a broad social base. Exam tip: write women as active participants.

Economic demands concern the conditions in which people live and work. In Petrograd, demands connected with bread, wages, shortages, and relief from hardship expressed the immediate suffering of workers and families. Political demands concerned rights, representation, and a change in the form of government. When these demands came together, the movement challenged both the material causes of dissatisfaction and the political system that people believed was unable or unwilling to solve them.

Option A is correct because it explains this combined character: the life crisis and the demand for a change in rule were connected. The movement was not religious, so B is irrelevant. It did not stabilise Tsarist rule; rather, it weakened that rule, making C wrong. The workers were active in political events, so D reverses the historical meaning. The best interpretation is that the revolution had several connected causes.

Soldiers changing sides weakened repression. Exam tip: write the army people relation as decisive.

On one side a symbol of repression broke and on the other a new people's council formed. Exam tip: treat 27 February as a decisive turning point.