The tipping point came in 1917 when Russia was in the midst of World War I. The Russian military was suffering massive casualties, and the economy was in ruins. By February 1917, food shortages, inflation, and the burden of war had pushed the Russian population to the brink. Strikes and protests broke out in Petrograd (now St. Petersburg), fueled by anger over the hardships caused by the war and the incompetence of the Tsarist government.

On February 23, 1917 (March 8 in the Gregorian calendar), International Women's Day protests turned into massive demonstrations as workers, soldiers, and peasants joined the call for an end to the war, food shortages, and political corruption. The protests quickly escalated, and by February 27, the situation reached a boiling point. Soldiers, who had once been loyal to the Tsar, mutinied and sided with the protesters.

Faced with the collapse of his authority, Tsar Nicholas II abdicated the throne on March 2, 1917. The Romanov dynasty came to an end, and Russia was left without a monarch. In the wake of the abdication, a provisional government was established, led by liberal and moderate socialist leaders. However, this government faced numerous challenges, including maintaining control over a country in chaos, continuing the war effort, and addressing the demands for land reform and workers' rights.

The October Revolution: The Rise of the Bolsheviks

While the provisional government struggled to maintain stability, the more radical factions of Russian society were growing in influence. Among them were the Bolsheviks, a Marxist revolutionary party led by Vladimir Lenin. The Bolsheviks argued that the provisional government was insufficient and that true revolution could only come through the overthrow of the capitalist system and the establishment of a workers' state.

Lenin, who had been exiled for his revolutionary activities, returned to Russia in April 1917. He soon gained support among workers, soldiers, and peasants, promising "peace, land, and bread." The Bolsheviks' appeal was particularly strong among those who had been disillusioned with the provisional government’s failure to end the war and address the pressing social issues of the day.

The key moment of the October Revolution came on October 25 (November 7 in the Gregorian calendar), when Bolshevik forces, led by Lenin and his lieutenant Leon Trotsky, seized key government institutions in Petrograd. The provisional government was toppled without much resistance, and the Bolsheviks took control of the government.

The overthrow of the provisional government was not without its critics, and Russia quickly descended into civil war. The Bolsheviks, now in control, established a one-party state under the leadership of Lenin. A series of decrees were issued, including the nationalization of land and the redistribution of wealth, but the country was far from stable. The ensuing Russian Civil War (1917–1923) pitted the Bolshevik Red Army against the White Army, a loose coalition of monarchists, liberals, and anti-Bolshevik socialists. shutdown123