The February Revolution in Petrograd

The geographical division explains the political direction of the movement. Exam tip: do not treat location as only a map fact.

Workers' areas became the source of the movement's early energy. Exam tip: link the right bank with labour protest.

Moving to the left bank meant putting direct pressure on power. Exam tip: remember the relation between location and power.

The lockout changed unrest into action. Exam tip: identify immediate and long-term causes separately.

The strike in many factories showed the spread of the movement. Exam tip: read the number as evidence of expansion.

Women workers gave direction to the movement. Exam tip: treat women's role as active not symbolic.

Women's Day gave historical identity to women workers' action. Exam tip: study the date and social role together.

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

Spontaneity shows the depth of public unrest. Exam tip: do not undervalue it as lack of organisation.

Curfew shows both repression and the government's fear. Exam tip: identify the movement's strength from government response.

The repeated return of people to the streets on successive days indicates that the protest was not a brief or isolated disturbance. Despite attempts by the authorities to control demonstrations, workers and other residents continued to participate, showing sustained public anger and collective determination. Therefore, option A is correct. The evidence does not demonstrate loyalty to the Tsar; rather, it points to dissatisfaction with the existing autocratic order and the conditions of war, food shortage and hardship. It also does not prove that the Duma peacefully controlled the movement, nor that the food crisis had ended. In historical interpretation, repeated participation over consecutive days is evidence of continuity, widening mobilisation and revolutionary momentum.

Calling cavalry and police against protesting citizens shows that the Tsarist state treated public dissatisfaction mainly as a security problem rather than addressing its political and economic causes. The authorities relied on coercion to disperse people instead of creating meaningful dialogue about food shortages, war conditions, working conditions and representation. Thus, option A correctly identifies the limitation of autocratic rule: dependence on force and weakness of political legitimacy. The action does not show readiness to transfer power to workers, consult the public about ending the war or convene a Constituent Assembly. Those alternatives describe democratic or revolutionary developments that had not yet occurred at this stage. Repression could temporarily control streets, but it also deepened opposition to the regime.

The Duma suspension did not calm disagreement but increased it. Exam tip: remember the reverse effect of harsh steps.

The governing concept is political legitimacy: a ruler is considered legitimate when important institutions and groups accept or support his authority. During the February Revolution, disagreement among Duma leaders showed that the Tsar was losing the confidence of influential political representatives, even before the monarchy formally collapsed. This disagreement therefore revealed growing political isolation and weakened the credibility of Tsarist rule. Option A is correct because declining elite support directly damaged legitimacy. Options B, C, and D do not describe the political effect of the Duma's opposition.

The left bank was linked with official power. Exam tip: connect 26 February with intensified political pressure.

Police headquarters was a symbol of repressive state power. Exam tip: connect this event with anger against the state.

The slogans were linked with both life and rule. Exam tip: see slogans not just as words but as a set of demands.

Working hours showed the harshness of workers' lives. Exam tip: connect labour demands with living conditions.

The demand for democracy made the movement political. Exam tip: identify economic and political demands separately.

Tsarism depended heavily on the army and police to enforce orders, control crowds, and suppress opposition. When cavalry units refused to fire on demonstrators, the state could no longer rely automatically on military obedience for repression. This was more than a minor act of disobedience: it showed that the coercive machinery protecting the monarchy was beginning to fail. Option A is correct because it identifies the direct foundation of Tsarist control that was damaged. The harvest, foreign traders, and Church education in options B, C, and D were not the immediate instruments of repression in this event.