There have been many historical myths surrounding the February Revolution. As a rule, they were composed by those politicians who were temporarily thrown to the pinnacle of power by the revolutionary wave, but who were unable to maintain it. The composition of the Provisional Government changed four times (there was already some uncertainty in the name itself) until the Bolsheviks came to power. And they lingered on the crest of the wave for a long time.
The first myth of the “Februaryists,” which again became popular in the 1990s, was to contrast the supposedly “popular” February Revolution with the “anti-democratic” October Revolution. Like, everything would have been fine if not for the Bolsheviks, who dispersed the Constituent Assembly and turned the country to a totalitarian one-party system...
However, official Soviet historiography was, oddly enough, much closer to the truth in its interpretation of the nature of the February Revolution. This revolution had a strong anti-war and socialist charge from the very beginning. The movement that arose in February days, took place under the slogans of “peace, bread, land.” It was obvious that the matter would not be limited to one political revolution, that after the fall of the throne a social revolution would unfold. Only beautiful-hearted liberals could believe that the Russian people were mainly concerned with issues of political structure.
On the other hand, the February Revolution significantly to a greater extent, than Oktyabrskaya, was in the nature of a military coup. Apart from the widely propagated Petrograd garrison, no military units anywhere else took part in the events of February. The country was simply faced with the fact of a change of power. Another thing is that this change was met with very sympathy almost throughout Russia.
The sovereign was isolated from sources of objective information by his generals, primarily by the chief of staff M.V. Alekseev, who played (together with the commander Northern Front N.V. Ruzsky) played a major role in the emperor’s decision to abdicate. As it is now becoming known, plans to implement palace coup, where Alekseev was supposed to become the key coordinator, included the physical elimination of Nicholas II in the event of his refusal to relinquish power. The conspirators considered the movement inspired in Petrograd to be a convenient moment for a change of power.
Most army commanders and corps commanders expressed their readiness to march with their troops to suppress the uprising in Petrograd. But this information was not communicated to the king.
The same promoted St. Petersburg garrison became the main striking force in the October Revolution. In both cases, the legitimate cover for the change of power was a qualified elected body - first the State Duma, then the Congress of Soviets. But the latter was still a more democratic institution than the Duma. Therefore, when comparing the nature of both coups, it is necessary to note their significant identity, despite the fact that the movement that accompanied the overthrow of the Provisional Government was more massive.
Another myth concerns the alleged inability of the tsarist regime to effectively govern the country and ensure victory in the war. Here we are faced with a phenomenon that is well known to us from recent history - the skillful manipulation of public consciousness. The information capabilities of opponents of the monarchy far exceeded those of the authorities themselves. Meanwhile, history gradually opened its eyes to the background of the political legends that spread at that time. A thorough study of the events preceding February showed that Rasputin’s undivided influence on the royal couple, the emperor’s lack of will, and the queen’s preparation for a separate peace with Germany had nothing to do with reality. These were deliberate lies and slander aimed at discrediting the authorities.
It is characteristic that the first to expose these information myths was a historian of very leftist views, who was a member of the Labor People's Socialist Party in 1917, Sergei Melgunov. In a number of works that he published in exile in the 20-50s - “On the Road to a Palace Coup” (republished in Moscow in 2002), “The Legend of a Separate Peace”, etc. - he, with facts in hand, proved the complete inconsistency of Rasputin’s myth, accusations of the royal couple preparing a separate agreement with Germany and the moral and political corruption of the ruling elite.
That is, all those legends that liberal politicians in exile continued to use to justify their actions in those fateful days for Russia. Then other historians - Russian and foreign - confirmed the validity of Melgunov’s conclusions.
It is a fact that during the war years parallel contours of alternative power were created. Its structures were organizations of the liberal public - the Union of Zemstvos and Cities, Military-Industrial Committees, and the think tank, as studies of Soviet historians of the 60-80s showed, was N.N. Yakovlev and V.I. Startseva - was a Masonic lodge "Great East of the Peoples of Russia", which back in 1912 set as its task the elimination of the monarchy and the creation of a federal Russian Republic. This lodge included many prominent Russian politicians belonging to a wide party spectrum - from Octobrists to Mensheviks. It was, in fact, the coordination headquarters for the preparation of the coup d'etat.
The alternative government ultimately turned out to be stronger than the official one. Here we also see an analogy with the subsequent events of October, as a result of which another alternative structure - the Soviet - overthrew the apparatus of power built by the Provisional Government. But from the fact that the tsarist government collapsed as a result of confrontation with new structures, it does not at all follow that it coped poorly with national tasks current moment. The provisional government turned out to be completely unable to somehow organize the life of the country and defense.
The scale of Russia's military defeats in 1915 was no greater than the defeats of France in 1914 or the defeats of Austria-Hungary by Russian forces throughout the war. The “shell famine” that led to the “great retreat” in the summer of 1915 has long passed. The needs of the Russian army for weapons, equipment and food were satisfied no worse than in the armies of other large warring states, and clearly better than in Germany, where the economic blockade began to be acutely felt from the end of 1915. A general offensive on all fronts was planned for the spring of 1917.
If not in 1917, then in 1918 Russia, together with its allies, would inevitably have come to victory, if not for the Februaryists, who did not want the glory of this victory to go to the monarchical regime. That's why they rushed to stage a coup. W. Churchill wrote about this period: “Of all countries, fate treated Russia most cruelly - its ship sank when the saving harbor was already visible.”
On Churchill's part, these were, of course, crocodile tears. He, who was First Lord of the Admiralty (Naval Minister) during the First World War, and then Minister of War Supply, should have been well aware of the efforts that Great Britain made to change power in Russia and support anti-monarchist conspirators. The British Ambassador in Petrograd, Lord Buchanan, regularly advised the leaders of the “Great East of the Peoples of Russia”, was aware of their plans, and helped with financing. In fact, the post-February government of Russia received recognition as the first power of the then world even before its official creation. The British leadership abandoned its ally - the Russian monarchy - and relied on revolution.
What were they hoping for in London? Did they really believe that Russian liberals would be able to govern a huge country more effectively than the tsarist regime? This is most likely not the case. In Britain they believed that they could win without Russia final victory over Germany. Especially when the question of the United States entering the war had already been actually decided. A year earlier, a year later - what a difference. The main thing is to exclude Russia from the list of winners in advance, otherwise the question of territorial acquisitions would arise, first of all, the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits. By promoting the revolution in Russia, the British leadership got rid of a competitor.
But, obviously, those historians who claim that the monarchical system has exhausted the resource of its own modernization are also right. If we try to imagine the conditions under which the monarchy could have survived in Russia in the twentieth century, then an analogy with the system that was established in the country after the revolutionary storms suggests itself.
As experience has shown, Russia of the twentieth century did not need a parliament, it did not need a multi-party system. But Russia was in dire need of social equality, the abolition of class and national restrictions, the influx of fresh popular forces into the apparatus of power, and the modernization of the economy.
It is quite possible to imagine a system in which the tsar would simultaneously be the leader of a single but massive political party (say, the Union of the Russian People; by the way, Nicholas II was offered to officially lead this party). This party would be the main source of personnel for civil service, a mechanism for rotation of the ruling elite. There should not have been any class preferences when joining the party and pursuing a party career. It was also necessary to nationalize the most important industries and eliminate large-scale landownership, which seemed to the majority of the Russian people - the peasantry - to be an extreme form of social injustice. This could be the only one evolutionary path modernization political system Russia in the twentieth century has an original path, not according to Western patterns.
In this case, the historical alternative about which Konstantin Leontyev wrote in 1890 could come true: “The Russian Tsar ... will become the head socialist movement" An attempt to implement a socialist project in Russia was inevitable. The Russian monarchy at the end of the 19th century clearly associated itself with a capitalist project alien to Russian civilization and, by its inability to abandon it, doomed itself to historical defeat. This was the pattern of the February Revolution. But February turned out to be only a brief interlude on the way to October.
1. Napoleon was 26 years old when he captured Italy.
2. Baghdad University awarded Uday, the eldest son of Saddam Hussein, academic degree the doctors political sciences. Although he did not even have a secondary education. His dissertation was titled “The Decline of American Power by 2016.”
3. In 1938, Time magazine named Hitler “Man of the Year.”
4. While serving in the KGB, Vladimir Putin had the nickname “Mol.”
5. Hitler was a vegetarian.
6. Egyptian queen Cleopatra tested the effectiveness of her poisons by forcing her slaves to take them.
7. Cleopatra married her sibling- Ptolemy.
8. Cleopatra was not Egyptian. She had Macedonian, Iranian and Greek roots.
9. Lafayette became a general in the US Army at age 19. His full name is: Maria Joseph Paul Yves Rocher Gilbert de Motier, Marquis de Lafayette.
10. The Minister of Culture of the RSFSR in the 50s, Alexei Popov, was a famous swearer.
11. Mongol conqueror Timur (1336-1405) played something like polo with the skulls of the people he killed. He created a pyramid of their severed heads 9 meters high.
12. At the time of Lenin's death, his brain was only a quarter of its normal size.
13. Napoleon was born not in France, but on the Mediterranean island of Corsica. His parents were Italian and they had eight children.
14. The national flag of Italy was invented by Napoleon.
15. One of Napoleon's drinking cups was made from the skull of the famous Italian adventurer Cagliostro.
16. The founder of the theory of communism, Karl Marx, never visited Russia.
17. The first American Chief Justice, John Jay, bought slaves to free them.
18. The first person in history to be hit by a train was Member of the British Parliament William Haskinson.
19. Winston Churchill's maternal ancestors were... Indians.
20. US President Andrew Jackson believed that the Earth was flat.
21. During the reign of Elizabeth I there was a tax on men's beards. However, Peter the Great did not favor bearded men either.
22. Queen Ranavalona of Madagascar ordered the execution of her subjects if they appeared to her in dreams without her permission.
23. At her wedding, Queen Victoria was given a piece of cheese with a diameter of 3 meters and weighing 500 kilograms.
24. King Henry VIII of England executed two of his six wives.
25. The President of Uganda and one of the most ruthless dictators in the world, Idi Amin, served in the British Army before coming to power.
26. British Prime Minister Lord Palmerston died in 1865 on a billiard table, on which he made love to his servants.
27. At the court of King Alfonso of Spain, there was a special position - a gymnast. The fact is that the king had no ear for music at all, and he himself could not distinguish the anthem from other music. The anthem leader had to warn the king when the national anthem was played.
28. The Roman emperor Nero married a man - one of his slaves named Scorus.
29. The Roman Emperor Nero forced his teacher, the philosopher Seneca, to commit suicide.
30. The height of Peter the Great was approximately 213 cm. Despite the fact that in those days the average height of men was significantly lower than today.
31. Sir Winston Churchill smoked no more than 15 cigars a day.
32. Tom Cruise entered seminary at age 14 to become a priest, but dropped out after a year.
33. U French king Louis XIV there were 413 beds.
34. The Israeli king Solomon had approximately 700 wives and several thousand mistresses.
35. At the King of France Louis XIV, known as the “Sunny King,” had more than 400 beds.
36. Napoleon had ailurophobia - fear of cats.
37. Winston Churchill was born in the women's toilet of the Blenheim family castle. During the ball, his mother felt unwell and soon gave birth.
38. Physicist and Nobel Prize winner Niels Bohr and his brother famous mathematician Harald Bohr were football players. Harald was a member of the Danish national team and even took second place at the 1905 Olympics.
39. The phrase “The King is dead, long live the King” was uttered by Catherine de Medici when she learned of the death of her son Charles IX.
40. Swedish King Charles VII, killed in 1167, was the first king of a state named Charles! Charles I, II, III, IV, V and VI never existed, and it is unclear where he got the prefix “seventh”. And after a couple of centuries, King Charles VIII (1448-1457) appeared in Sweden.
41. Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the Sherlock Holmes stories, was an ophthalmologist by profession.
42. Attila the Barbarian died in 453 on his wedding night immediately after the wedding.
43. Beethoven always brewed coffee from 64 beans.
44. Britain's Queen Victoria (1819-1901), who ruled Britain for 64 years, spoke English with an accent. She had German roots.
45. In 1357, a dead woman was crowned Queen of Portugal. She became Princess Ines de Castro, the second wife of Pedro I. 2 years earlier, her father-in-law, Alfonso “The Proud,” who hated her for being a commoner, secretly ordered his men to kill her and her children. When Pedro became king, he ordered Ines's body to be removed from the grave and forced the nobility to recognize her as Queen of Portugal.
46. In 1849, Senator David Atchison became President of the United States for only 1 day, and for most of this day he... slept.
47. The Grand Vizier of Persia Abdul Kassim Ismail (who lived in the 10th century) never parted with his library. If he went somewhere, the library “followed” him. 117 thousand book volumes were transported by 400 camels. Moreover, the books (along with camels) were arranged in alphabetical order.
48. The great Genghis Khan died while having sex.
49. Hannibal died in 183 BC. e. taking poison when he learned that the Romans had come to kill him.
50. Hans Christian Andersen could not write almost a single word without errors.
51. Henry IV often flogged his son, the future Louis XIII.
52. Danish king Frederick IV was a bigamist. He married twice while his wife Queen Louise was alive. His first lover died during childbirth, his second mistress was queen for only 19 days after the death of Queen Louise. All the children from both of his mistresses either died at birth or in infancy, as he believed for his sinful life. Later he became extremely religious.
53. Jack the Ripper, the most famous murderer of the 19th century, always committed his crimes on weekends.
54. Dr. Alice Chace, who wrote the book “Healthy Eating” and many books about proper nutrition, died of malnutrition.
55. Once the merchant Krasnobryukhov turned to Alexander I with a request to change his surname, and he allowed him to be called... Sinebryukhov. After this, the merchant, out of grief, left for Finland and founded the famous Koff brewing company there.
56. When Russian Queen Elizabeth I died in 1762, more than 15,000 dresses were discovered in her wardrobe.
57. Mozart began composing music at age 3.
58. There is not a single living descendant of William Shakespeare left on Earth.
59. Before composing music, Beethoven poured a bucket on his head cold water, believing that it stimulates the brain.
60. While developing the electric light bulb, Thomas Edison wrote 40 thousand pages.
61. Felix Mendelssohn wrote “A Midsummer Night's Dream” at the age of 17. This became his most famous work.
62. Beria suffered from syphilis.
63. More than 100 descendants of Johann Sebastian Bach became organists.
64. In the group ZZ Top, only one member does not have a beard. And his name is Beard, which translated from English means... “beard”.
65. Since 1932, only Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush have not been elected to a second term as president.
66. Ilf and Petrov discarded ideas that came to both of their minds at once - in order to avoid cliches.
67. When Beethoven wrote the famous Ninth Symphony, he was completely deaf.
68. Composer Franz Liszt was the father-in-law of German composer Richard Wagner.
69. Paul McCartney's mother was a midwife.
70. The writer Rudyard Kipling could not write with ink unless it was black.
71. The writer Charles Dickens worked with his face turned to the north. He also always slept with his head facing north.
72. The Roman Emperor Commodus collected dwarfs, cripples and freaks from all over the Roman Empire to arrange fights between them in the Colosseum.
73. Roman Emperor Julius Caesar wore Laurel wreath on the head to hide the increasing bald spot.
74. Russian composer Alexander Borodin was also a famous chemist in St. Petersburg.
75. The smallest American president is James Madison (1.62 m), and Abraham Lincoln is the tallest (1.93 m).
76. The shortest British monarch is Charles I. His height was 4 feet 9 inches (approximately 140 cm). After his head was cut off, his height became even smaller.
77. The body of Voltaire, who died in 1778, was stolen from his grave and was never found. The loss was discovered in 1864.
78. Balzac has a whole book dedicated to... a tie.
79. The British Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603) had about 3,000 outfits.
80. American Pete Ruff knocks an apple off his own head with a boomerang.
81. American industrial magnate and billionaire John Rockefeller donated more than $550 million. to various foundations and institutions.
82. American President Benjamin Franklin advocated for the turkey to be America's national bird.
83. In 1856, the English chemist William Perkin, while trying to obtain quinine from aniline, invented the first artificial dye, mauvais.
84. In the village of Lobovskoye, Saratov region. There lives a beekeeper who can withstand 40 hours in a hive with bees completely naked.
85. Between 1952 and 1966, 5 children were born into the family of Ralph and Carolyn Cummins, and all of them had a birthday on February 20th.
86. Galileo Galilei was the first person to propose the use of a pendulum to measure time.
87. Hannibal died in 183 BC after taking poison when he learned that the Romans had come to kill him.
88. Grover Cleveland was the only US president to get married in the White House.
89. James Madison was the smallest American president (1.62 m), and Abraham Lincoln was the tallest (1.93 m).
90. Dr. Alice Chace, who wrote the book Healthy Eating and many books about proper nutrition, died of malnutrition.
91. Over 35 years, Mozart created over 600 works. But after his death, the widow did not have money for a separate place in the cemetery
92. Famous bull fighter of the 19th century. Lagarijo (born Rafael Molina) killed 4,867 bulls.
93. When he died German physicist A. Einstein, his last words left with him. Nurse, ex nearby, did not understand German.
94. Maximum amount crossword puzzles compiled by Andrian Bell. From January 1930 to 1980, he sent 4,520 crossword puzzles to The Times.
95. Robert Lincoln, son of President Lincoln, was rescued from a traffic accident by a certain Edwin Booth. As it turns out, Edwin is the brother of Abraham Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth. Father tried to kill father, and their children saved each other
96. The first American president to use a telephone was James Garfield.
97. Concept a negative number was first introduced by the Italian merchant Pisano in 1202, denoting his debts and losses.
98. The world's largest private collection of meteorites belongs to the American Robert Haag - from the age of 12 he collected 2 tons of celestial stones.
99. Thomas Edison had a bird collection of 5,000 specimens.
100. The French Jeanne Louise and Guy Bruti compiled a crossword puzzle on a sheet of paper 5 m long and 3 m wide, from 18 thousand words and 50 thousand cells.
101. Shakespeare mentioned roses more than 50 times in his poems.
102. Andrew Johnson, 17th President of the United States, was the only president to sew his own clothes.
103. Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin were born on the same day - February 12, 1809. The scientist lived almost 20 years longer than the politician.
104. Bill Clinton sent as many as two emails during his entire presidency, one of which was a test email to check that everything was working fine. I wonder who the second letter was to? Maybe Monica?
105. In 1759, Arthur Guinness leased St Gate's Brewery for 9,000 years at a rent of £45 per annum. The famous Guinness beer began to be brewed there.
106. In 1981, Deborah Ann Fountain, Ms. NY, was disqualified for excessive use of cotton padding in a swimsuit competition
107. George Washington did not shake hands when meeting - he preferred to bow
108. The only US president who is also the chairman of a union is Ronald Reagan, who heads the Screen Actors Guild.
109. If you remember a little school course physicists, then you know that there is a Richter temperature scale. So this same Charles Richter was a malicious nudist, because of which his wife left him
110. If you read the works of the writer Stephen King, you should notice that most of the actions of his stories take place in Maine. Paradoxically, this state has the lowest crime rate in the United States.
111. The founder of psychoanalysis has many oddities. Freud was terrified of the number 62. He refused to reserve a hotel room with more than 62 rooms for fear of accidentally getting a room with number 62. He used cocaine, like many of his contemporaries.
112. The famous entrepreneur Henry Ford preferred to hire people with physical disabilities - among the workers of his factories in 1919, there was one disabled person for every four healthy people.
113. Louis Pasteur's research was sponsored by a brewery. They also paid for his ticket to international congress. When Pasteur was given the floor at the congress, the first thing he did was hang advertising posters with beer on the stage. And he began his speech by saying that this beer is the best. And only then did he get down to business.
114. Madonna and Celine Dion are cousins of Prince Charles's wife, Camilla
115. The father of the famous comedian Leslie Nielsen (“The Naked Gun”, etc.) served as a police officer in Canada, and his brother worked in the Canadian Parliament
116. Tennis player Andre Agassi's father represented Iran at Olympic Games 1948 and 1952. He was... a boxer
The spring of 1917 was to be decisive in the victory of the Russian Empire over Germany and Austria-Hungary in the First World War. But history decreed otherwise. The February Revolution of 1917 not only put an end to all military plans, but also destroyed the Russian autocracy.
1. Bread is to blame
The revolution began with the grain crisis. At the end of February 1917, due to snow drifts, the schedule for freight transportation of bread was disrupted, and rumors spread about an imminent transition to bread rationing. Refugees arrived in the capital, and some bakers were drafted into the army. Lines formed at the bread shops, and then riots began. Already on February 21, a crowd with the slogan “Bread, bread” began to destroy bakery shops.
2. Putilov workers
On February 18, workers at the fire monitor stamping workshop of the Putilov plant went on strike, and workers from other workshops joined them. Just four days later, the plant administration announced the closure of the enterprise and the dismissal of 36,000 workers. Proletarians from other plants and factories spontaneously began to join the Putilovites.
3. Protopopov’s inaction
Appointed Minister of Internal Affairs in September 1916, Alexander Protopopov was confident that he had the entire situation under control. Trusting the convictions of his minister about security in Petrograd, Nicholas II left the capital on February 22 for headquarters in Mogilev. The only measure taken by the minister during the days of the revolution was the arrest of a number of leaders of the Bolshevik faction. The poet Alexander Blok was sure that it was Protopopov’s inaction that became the main reason for the victory of the February Revolution in Petrograd. "Why main site power - the Ministry of Internal Affairs - was given to the psychopathic chatterbox, liar, hysteric and coward Protopopov, maddened by this power? - Alexander Blok wondered in his “Reflections on the February Revolution”.
4. Revolt of housewives
Officially, the revolution began with unrest among Petrograd housewives forced to stand in long lines for long hours for bread. Many of them became workers in weaving factories during the war. By February 23, about 100,000 workers from fifty enterprises were already on strike in the capital. The demonstrators demanded not only bread and an end to the war, but also the overthrow of the autocracy.
5. All power is in the hands of a random person
Drastic measures were needed to suppress the revolution. On February 24, all power in the capital was transferred to the commander of the Petrograd Military District, Lieutenant General Khabalov. He was appointed to this post in the summer of 1916, without having the necessary skills and abilities. He receives a telegram from the emperor: “I command you to stop the riots in the capital tomorrow, which are unacceptable during the difficult time of the war with Germany and Austria. NICHOLAY." A military dictatorship by Khabalov was to be established in the capital. But most of the troops refused to obey him. This was logical, since Khabalov, who was previously close to Rasputin, served his entire career at headquarters and in military schools, without having the authority among the soldiers necessary at the most critical moment.
6. When did the king learn about the beginning of the revolution?
According to historians, Nicholas II learned about the beginning of the revolution only on February 25 at about 18:00 from two sources: from General Khabalov and from Minister Protopopov. In his diary, Nikolai first wrote about the revolutionary events only on February 27 (the fourth day): “Unrest began in Petrograd several days ago; Unfortunately, troops also began to take part in them. It’s a disgusting feeling to be so far away and receive fragmentary bad news!”
7. Peasants' revolt, not soldiers' revolt
On February 27, a massive transition of soldiers to the side of the people began: in the morning 10,000 soldiers rebelled. By the evening next day there were already 127,000 rebel soldiers. And by March 1, almost the entire Petrograd garrison had gone over to the side of the striking workers. Government troops were melting away every minute. And this is not surprising, because the soldiers were yesterday’s peasant recruits, not ready to raise bayonets against their brothers. Therefore, it is more fair to consider this rebellion not a soldier’s, but a peasant’s. On February 28, the rebels arrested Khabalov and imprisoned him in the Peter and Paul Fortress.
8. The first soldier of the revolution
On the morning of February 27, 1917, senior sergeant major Timofey Kirpichnikov raised and armed the soldiers subordinate to him. Staff Captain Lashkevich was supposed to come to them to send, in accordance with Khabalov’s order, this unit to quell the unrest. But Kirpichnikov persuaded the platoon leaders, and the soldiers decided not to shoot at the demonstrators and killed Lashkevich. Kirpichnikov, as the first soldier to raise his weapon against the “tsarist system”, was awarded St. George's Cross. But punishment found its hero; on the orders of the monarchist Colonel Kutepov, he was shot in the ranks of the Volunteer Army.
9. Arson of the Police Department
The police department was a stronghold in the struggle of the tsarist regime against the revolutionary movement. Capture this law enforcement agency became one of the first targets of the revolutionaries. Director of the Police Department Vasiliev, foreseeing the danger of the events that had begun, ordered in advance that all documents with the addresses of police officers and secret agents be burned. The revolutionary leaders sought to be the first to get into the Department building, not only in order to take possession of all the data on criminals in the empire and solemnly burn them, but also to destroy in advance everything in their hands former government dirt on them. Thus, most of the sources on the history of the revolutionary movement and tsarist police was destroyed during the February Revolution.
10. “Hunting season” for the police
During the days of the revolution, the rebels showed particular cruelty to police officers. Trying to escape, former servants of Themis changed clothes and hid in attics and basements. But they were still found and betrayed on the spot death penalty, sometimes with monstrous cruelty. Head of Petrogradsky security department General Globachev recalled: “The rebels scoured the whole city, looking for policemen and police officers, expressed great delight when they found new victim to quench their thirst for innocent blood, and there was no mockery, mockery, insults and torture that the animals did not try on their victims.”
11. Uprising in Moscow
Following Petrograd, Moscow also went on strike. On February 27 it was announced on state of siege, and all rallies are prohibited. But it was not possible to prevent the unrest. By March 2, train stations, arsenals and the Kremlin had already been captured. Representatives of the Committee created during the days of the revolution took power into their own hands. public organizations Moscow and the Moscow Council of Workers' Deputies.
12. “Three Powers” in Kyiv
News of the change of power reached Kyiv on March 3. But unlike Petrograd and other cities of the Russian Empire, in Kyiv it was not dual power that was established, but triple power. In addition to the provincial and district commissars appointed by the Provisional Government and the local Councils of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies that were being formed, a third force entered the political arena - the Central Rada, initiated by representatives of all parties participating in the revolution to coordinate national movement. And immediately inside the Rada, a struggle began between supporters national independence and supporters autonomous republic in federation with Russia. Nevertheless, on March 9, the Ukrainian Central Rada declared its support for the Provisional Government headed by Prince Lvov.
13. Liberal conspiracy
Back in December 1916, the idea of a palace coup had matured among liberals. The leader of the Octobrist party, Guchkov, together with cadet Nekrasov, were able to attract the future Minister of Foreign Affairs and Finance of the Provisional Government Tereshchenko, Chairman of the State Duma Rodzianko, General Alekseev and Colonel Krymov. They planned to intercept the emperor on his way from the capital to headquarters in Mogilev no later than April 1917 and force him to abdicate the throne in favor of the rightful heir. But the plan was implemented earlier, already on March 1, 1917.
14. Five centers of “revolutionary ferment”
The authorities knew not about one, but about several centers of the future revolution. The palace commandant, General Voeikov, at the end of 1916 named five centers of opposition autocratic power, as he put it, centers of “revolutionary ferment”: 1) the State Duma headed by M.V. Rodzianko; 2) Zemstvo Union led by Prince G.E. Lvov; 3) City Union headed by M.V. Chelnokov; 4) Central Military-Industrial Committee headed by A.I. Guchkov; 5) Headquarters headed by M.V. Alekseev. As shown further events, they all took a direct part in the coup d'etat.
15. Nikolai's last chance
Did Nicholas have a chance to retain power? Perhaps if he had listened to “fat Rodzianko.” In the afternoon of February 26, Nicholas II receives a telegram from State Duma Chairman Rodzianko, who reports anarchy in the capital: the government is paralyzed, food and fuel transport is in complete disorder, and there is indiscriminate shooting in the street. “It is necessary to immediately entrust a person with confidence to form a new government. You can't hesitate. Any delay is like death. I pray to God that this hour of responsibility does not fall on the Crown Bearer.” But Nikolai does not react, complaining only to the minister imperial court Fredericks: “Again this fat man Rodzianko has written to me all sorts of nonsense, to which I will not even answer him.”
16. Future Emperor Nicholas III
Back at the end of 1916, during negotiations between the conspirators, the main contender for the throne as a result of the palace coup was considered Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the army at the beginning of the First World War. In the last pre-revolutionary months, he served as governor in the Caucasus. The proposal to occupy the throne was received by Nikolai Nikolaevich on January 1, 1917, but two days later the Grand Duke refused. During the February Revolution he was in the south, where he received news of his appointment again Supreme Commander-in-Chief, but upon his arrival at Headquarters in Mogilev on March 11, he was forced to abandon his post and resign.
17. The Tsar's Fatalism
Nicholas II knew about the conspiracies being prepared against him. In the fall of 1916, he was informed about this by the palace commandant Voeikov, in December by the Black Hundred member Tikhanovich-Savitsky, and in January 1917 by the Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Prince Golitsyn, and the aide-de-camp Mordvinov. Nicholas II was afraid to act openly against the liberal opposition during the war and completely entrusted his life and the life of the Empress to the “will of God.”
18. Nicholas II and Julius Caesar
If you believe the personal diary of Emperor Nicholas II, then throughout all the days of the revolutionary events he continued to read the French book about the conquest of Gaul by Julius Caesar. Did Nicholas think that he would soon suffer the fate of Caesar - a palace coup?
19. Rodzianko tried to save the royal family
In the February days, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna was in Tsarskoye Selo with her children. After Nicholas II left for Headquarters in Mogilev on February 22, all the royal children fell ill with measles one after another. The source of the infection, apparently, were young cadets - playmates of Tsarevich Alexei. On February 27, she writes to her husband about the revolution in the capital. Rodzianko, through the empress’s valet, urged her and her children to immediately leave the palace: “Leave anywhere, and as quickly as possible. The danger is very great. When the house is on fire and sick children are carried out.” The Empress replied: “We won’t go anywhere. Let them do what they want, but I won’t leave and I won’t destroy my children.” Due to the serious condition of the children (the temperature of Olga, Tatyana and Alexei reached 40 degrees) royal family could not leave her palace, so all the guards battalions loyal to the autocracy were gathered there. Only on March 9, “Colonel” Nikolai Romanov arrived in Tsarskoe Selo.
20. Betrayal of allies
Thanks to intelligence and the ambassador in Petrograd, Lord Buchanan, the British government had full information about a conspiracy being prepared in the capital of his main ally in the war with Germany. On the issue of power in the Russian Empire, the British crown decided to rely on the liberal opposition and, through its ambassador, even financed them. By promoting the revolution in Russia, the British leadership got rid of a competitor in the post-war issue of territorial acquisitions of the victorious countries.
When on February 27, deputies of the 4th State Duma formed a Provisional Committee headed by Rodzianko, which took full power in the country for a short time, it was the allied France and Great Britain that were the first to recognize the de facto new government - on March 1, the day before the abdication still a legitimate king.
21. Unexpected renunciation
Contrary to popular belief, it was Nicholas, and not the Duma opposition, who initiated the abdication of Tsarevich Alexei. By decision of the Provisional Committee of the State Duma, Guchkov and Shulgin went to Pskov with the aim of abdicating Nicholas II. The meeting took place in the carriage of the royal train, where Guchkov suggested that the emperor abdicate the throne in favor of little Alexei, with the appointment of Grand Duke Mikhail as regent. But Nicholas II declared that he was not ready to part with his son, so he decided to abdicate in favor of his brother. Taken by surprise by such a statement from the tsar, the Duma envoys even asked Nicholas for a quarter of an hour to confer and still accept the abdication. On the same day, Nicholas II wrote in his diary: “At one o’clock in the morning he left Pskov with heavy feeling experience. There is treason and cowardice and deceit all around!”
22. Isolation of the Emperor
A key role in the emperor's decision to abdicate was played by the chief of staff, General Alekseev, and the commander of the Northern Front, General Ruzsky. The sovereign was isolated from sources of objective information by his generals, who were participants in the conspiracy to carry out a palace coup. Most army commanders and corps commanders expressed their readiness to march with their troops to suppress the uprising in Petrograd. But this information was not communicated to the king. It is now known that in the event of the emperor’s refusal to relinquish power, the generals even considered the physical elimination of Nicholas II.
23. Loyal commanders
Only two military commanders remained loyal to Nicholas II - General Fyodor Keller, who commanded the 3rd Cavalry Corps, and the commander of the Guards Cavalry Corps, General Huseyn Khan Nakhichevansky. General Keller addressed his officers: “I received a dispatch about the abdication of the Sovereign and about some kind of Provisional Government. I, your old commander, who shared with you hardships, sorrows, and joys, do not believe that the Sovereign Emperor at such a moment could voluntarily abandon the army and Russia.” He, together with General Khan Nakhichivansky, offered the king to provide himself and his units to suppress the uprising. But it was already too late.
24. Lvov was appointed by decree of the abdicated emperor
The Provisional Government was formed on March 2 after an agreement between the Provisional Committee of the State Duma and the Petrograd Soviet. But the new government, even after the abdication, required the consent of the emperor to appoint Prince Lvov at the head of the government. Nicholas II signed a decree to the Governing Senate on the appointment of Lvov as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, dated 2 o'clock in the afternoon on March 2, for the legitimacy of the document an hour earlier than the time set in the abdication.
25. Mikhail’s self-recusal on Kerensky’s initiative
On the morning of March 3, members of the newly formed Provisional Government arrived to Mikhail Romanov to decide on the issue of accepting the throne. But there was no unity among the deputation: Miliukov and Guchkov insisted on accepting the throne, Kerensky called for refusal. Kerensky was one of the most ardent opponents of the continuation of autocracy. After a personal conversation with Rodzianko and Lvov, the Grand Duke decided to renounce the throne. A day later, Mikhail issued a manifesto calling on everyone to submit to the authority of the Provisional Government until the convening of Constituent Assembly. Ex-Emperor Nikolai Romanov reacted to this news with the following entry in his diary: “God knows who advised him to sign such a nasty thing!” This was the end of the February Revolution.
26. The Church supported the Provisional Government
Dissatisfaction with the policies of the Romanovs had been smoldering in the Orthodox Church since Peter's reforms. After the first Russian revolution, discontent only intensified, since the Duma could now pass laws concerning church issues, including its budget. The Church sought to regain from the sovereign the rights lost two centuries ago and transfer them to the newly installed patriarch. During the days of the revolution, the Holy Synod did not take any active part in the struggle on either side. But the king's abdication was approved by the clergy. On March 4, the Chief Prosecutor of the Synod of Lvov proclaimed “freedom of the Church,” and on March 6, it was decided to serve a prayer service not for the reigning house, but for the new government.
27. Two anthems of the new state
Immediately after the start of the February Revolution, the question arose about a new Russian anthem. The poet Bryusov proposed organizing an all-Russian competition to choose new music and words for the anthem. But all the proposed options were rejected by the Provisional Government, which approved the “Workers' Marseillaise” as the national anthem with the words of the populist theorist Pyotr Lavrov. But the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies proclaimed the "International" as the anthem. Thus, dual power remained not only in the government, but also in the issue of the national anthem. The final decision on the national anthem, like many other issues, had to be taken by the Constituent Assembly.
28. Symbols of the new government
Change state form rule is always accompanied by a revision of all state symbols. Following the anthem that appeared spontaneously, new government was supposed to decide the fate of the double-headed imperial eagle. To solve the problem, a group of specialists in the field of heraldry was assembled, who decided to postpone this issue until the Constituent Assembly. It was temporarily decided to leave the double-headed eagle, but without any attributes royal power and without St. George the Victorious on the chest.
29. Not only Lenin “slept through” the revolution
IN Soviet time They made sure to point out that only on March 2, 1917, Lenin learned that the revolution had won in Russia, and that instead of the tsarist ministers, there were 12 members of the State Duma in power. “Ilyich lost sleep from the moment the news of the revolution arrived,” Krupskaya recalled, “and at night the most incredible plans were made.” But besides Lenin, all other socialist leaders “slept through” the February Revolution: Martov, Plekhanov, Trotsky, Chernov and others who were abroad. Only the Menshevik Chkheidze, because of his duties as head of the corresponding faction in the State Duma, found himself in the capital at a critical moment and headed the Petrograd Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies.
30. Non-existent February Revolution
Since 2015, in accordance with the new study concept national history and historical and cultural standards that establish uniform requirements for school history textbooks, our children will no longer study the events of February-March 1917 as the February Revolution. According to new concept, now there is no division into the February and October revolutions, but there is the Great Russian revolution, lasting from February to November 1917. The events of February-March are now officially called the “February Revolution,” and the October ones are called the “seizure of power by the Bolsheviks.”
A citizen journalist wrote in the “Tell Your News” section Berni777:
The revolution of 1917 is undoubtedly one of the most significant events not only in the history of our country, but also of the whole world.
It was she who changed the entire course of world history over the past 100 years.
Thousands of volumes of books have been written about this revolution; it is overgrown with myths and legends. I would like to tell you about several little-known facts that are one way or another documented.
The revolution of 1917 was prepared for a long time and very thoroughly. Huge amounts of money at that time (two hundred million dollars) were invested by American financial tycoons in preparing the revolutionary situation. The Rothschild banking house also took part in this.
Even then they had a dream to destroy Russia as a state. And destroy it from the inside. Together with its economy, culture and mentality. Money for this business came in different ways, including through Europe and directly through the New York Stock Exchange. This money was used to carry out subversive activities, publish newspapers and leaflets, and purchase weapons. Moreover, various parties and movements were financed.
The largest and at the same time the most important fighting force of that time was the Socialist Revolutionary Party, which until 1918 collaborated with the Bolshevik Party. At the time of the revolution, the Bolshevik Party had only 25,000 members.
There were rumors that Germany actively financed the October Revolution, and Lenin was German spy. But this is just a myth. Naturally, there was some funding, but small and from private sources.
They even came up with the legend of a “sealed carriage” in which Germany threw the Bolshevik leaders into Russia. But in fact, this carriage was coming from Switzerland, and not to Russia, but to German station Sassnitz, where passengers boarded a ship to Stockholm.
In addition to the Bolsheviks, the Social Revolutionaries and representatives of the Jewish Social Democratic Party “Bund” were also traveling in the carriage.
What is important is that all passengers paid for the fare out of their own pockets.
A prerequisite for the carriage to travel through Germany was the agitation of passengers in Russia for the exchange and sending of interned Germans to Germany.
The terms of this agreement were published in the Swiss and Russian press.
That is, the main expenses for preparing the revolution still lay with the Americans.
First, with the help of Germany and Japan, for an external attack on Russia, they provoked the First World War. Then they also struck an internal blow.
By 1916, it was the henchmen of American financial circles who controlled many sectors of the Russian economy. Including railways and food supplies. Which they took advantage of.
As a result of their actions, food trains going to St. Petersburg and Moscow were stopped. Although warehouses, access roads and elevators were literally filled with food, food shortages began in large cities, and their prices soared several times.
The revolutionary situation was brewing more and more. The liberal press of that time, which, as now, was the mouthpiece of American moneybags, only fueled and aggravated the situation.
As a result, there was an explosion of social protest, and the revolution was not long in coming.
Interestingly, the Soviet Union was destroyed using approximately the same method.
In the late 80s and early 90s, again through the efforts of liberals, or rather the right liberal wing of the CPSU Central Committee under the leadership of Politburo members Yakovlev and Medvedev, a severe commodity deficit was artificially created in the country. Which was literally resolved in one day by the liberalization of prices according to Gaidar.
In approximately the same way, and again through the efforts of the same liberals, this time by the economic bloc of the government, a deficit has been created today, but not in goods, but in money.
The fight against the country continues.
And then, in 1917, the February bourgeois revolution first happened, which did not bring the desired result for the organizers. And then the October Revolution, which was prepared and carried out by the Bolsheviks.
And, by the way, they prepared it perfectly. The success of the revolution was determined by the support of a significant part of the people, the inaction of the Provisional Government, and the inability of the Mensheviks and Right Socialist Revolutionaries to offer a real alternative to Bolshevism.
As you know, the main leaders of that revolution were two people - Lenin and Trotsky.
What is curious is that, for example, Ulyanov-Lenin, at the age of seven, received the rank of actual state councilor - for a moment, this is a civilian rank of the 4th class, corresponding to the military rank of major general. The rank gave the right to hereditary nobility.
And Trotsky, who was born into the family of a wealthy landowner, was generally a US citizen at the time of the revolution, and arrived in Russia after the February Revolution. Having previously met with US President Woodrow Wilson and received $20 million in gold from the American banker Jacob Schiff!
These two people were the main ideologists and drivers of the October Revolution.
It is known that they considered each other competitors and therefore were not friends. Moreover, they did not like each other.
Lenin, in some of his articles, spoke very unflatteringly about Trotsky. Trotsky, in turn, also threw mud at Lenin and said that Lenin was a dishonest and unprincipled person. Nevertheless, they organized the Revolution and won it.
While Trotsky was leading the uprising, Lenin traveled to Smolny using forged documents, wearing a wig and a bandaged cheek.
Lenin was generally a master of disguise. And he's not the only one. At the same time, fearing reprisals from the Bolsheviks, the Chairman of the Provisional Government, Kerensky, fled from the Winter Palace, changing into the clothes of a nurse. Such was the revolution.
The entire revolution lasted only three days, and the capture Winter Palace generally four hours, with six victims and almost no pogroms.
The only thing the revolutionary sailors did in the Winter Palace was that they simply plundered the wine cellar and got drunk.
A few hours later, an “Appeal to the People of Russia” was heard on the radio, in which the Petrograd Military Revolutionary Committee announced the transfer of power to the Soviets.
After the revolution, in the same 1917, Norway made a proposal to award Lenin the Nobel Peace Prize.
In the submission to the Nobel Committee it was written:
“Until now, Lenin has done most for the triumph of the idea of peace. He not only promotes peace with all his might, but also takes concrete measures to achieve it.”
The application was rejected due to the deadline for accepting applications. At the same time, the Nobel Committee stated that it would not object to the awarding of the prize if peace is established in Russia. But the outbreak of the Civil War did not allow Lenin to become a Nobel laureate.
But that's another story...
Today, November 7 (October 25, old style), the Great October Revolution took place socialist revolution. The Bolshevik revolution occurred in the Russian Empire in 1917, becoming one of the most grandiose events of the 20th century.
Despite the fact that there is a lot of historical evidence about the October Revolution, this stage Russian history yet is not yet fully understood, and there are many mysteries and misconceptions regarding this event. It's no secret that history as a science is constantly under pressure from current political forces, and therefore does not always objectively reflect the facts that took place in reality. After former Soviet idols and leaders left the political arena, information began to surface that caused bewilderment and protest among some, and made others laugh. We will tell you about the most interesting details and myths of the October Revolution, which were hushed up for a long time.
With the collapse of the USSR, a version of the course of the revolution took root in the minds of the majority, which is just as not entirely reliable, just as the facts offered by Soviet propaganda were not entirely reliable. In particular, it is now said that Germany sent the Bolsheviks to Russia in a sealed carriage. In fact, Lenin and other revolutionaries arrived in the Russian Empire in 1917 from neutral Switzerland. The sealed carriage itself is not something mysterious - even now it is a common occurrence in railway transport.
The proposal to travel through German territory in exchange for the return of interned German military personnel was put forward at a meeting on March 19, 1917, not by Lenin, but by the Menshevik leader Yuli Martov. Lenin, until the last moment, did not know exactly about the decision of the German authorities regarding the planned transfer. The head of the Bolsheviks was ready to enter the country illegally, under the guise of a deaf-mute Swede. Contacts with subjects of the German Empire were excluded, which is why the carriage was sealed. The only obligation of the emigrants in relation to the German authorities was to agitate in Russia for the exchange and sending of interned Germans to Germany. In addition to the Bolsheviks, the carriage also contained Socialist Revolutionaries and representatives of the Jewish Social Democratic Party “Bund”. Thus, everything that happened was not a special operation to infiltrate a sabotage group of oppositionists into the Russian Empire. Of course, the German side made some kind of bet on the left radicals destabilizing the state of affairs in Russia, but Lenin was not notified about this. Among other things, the Russian state itself at that moment resembled a vivid illustration of the rule “push when you fall.”
It is necessary to talk about the state of the Russian economy at that time in more detail, since this aspect has become the subject of various discussions among historians. IN currently there is a version that Russian empire on the eve of the revolution it was the most industrialized country in the world. Despite certain arguments suggesting the truth of such a statement, there are also compelling reasons to doubt the undeniable well-being Russian state. Yes, the pace economic growth in the first decade of the 20th century they could not be called impressive; during wartime (1914-1918) they became completely modest. Supporters of the Soviet regime insist that two decades after the October coup, the Soviet Union had become the world's second largest industrial power. Opponents parry this statement, saying that this result was achieved through, among other things, terror and inhumane actions towards the people of the Soviet state.
The same supporters of the anti-Soviet position claim that the Bolsheviks, after coming to power, literally destroyed a large country, and many territories were lost. However, there are also specific facts that impartially suggest that the Russian Empire may be to blame for the loss of so much land. Suffice it to mention that in 1915, Poland was lost during the German and Austro-Hungarian offensive, and in February 1917, Russia lost control over Lithuania and Latvia.
The point of view that Vladimir Lenin directly ordered the execution of Tsar Nicholas II and members of his family also took root in the consciousness of the masses. However, there is information that the destruction of the august persons was an initiative of the Urals Council, which at that time included, in addition to the Bolsheviks, also the Socialist Revolutionaries. It is the data political forces could have wanted to kill the daughters of the Russian Tsar - this measure was a provocation in order to prevent the conclusion of peace with the Germans. Lenin allegedly intended to hand over the German princesses German side, this was part of the agreement.
What about the Soviet myths, spread among the population on the initiative of the ruling circles in order to maintain the faith of the working people in their bright future? First of all, it becomes unclear why the “proletarian” government won in the Civil War of 1917-1923, because in the territory of modern Russia and some CIS countries there lived more intelligentsia and nobles than proletarians. The character of the novel A.N. expressed this well. Ostrovsky’s “How the Steel Was Tempered” Pavka Korchagin: “there were us, the Reds, and someone else who sympathized with us. And there were whites and those who sympathized with them. And then 80% of the population, which has always been with the winners..."
Soviet historians did not mention the offensive of Denikin’s troops on Moscow and its successful completion for the Whites; they were silent about the help Muslims provided during the defeat of Denikin’s army. The anarchist army of Father Makhno also took part in that battle. By order of the "top" appeared talented film Eisenstein's "October", footage from which many still consider to be a reflection of real events. In fact, about two thousand Red Guards and Baltic sailors took part in the “large-scale” assault on the Winter Palace. During the assault, both sides suffered a total loss of seven people.
Another scene from the film, when Lenin, standing on an armored car, makes a speech that later became “ April Theses", to soldiers and workers, is real. However, the point of view according to which the “Lenin armored car” was allegedly located near the Marble Palace in Leningrad is erroneous. Herself October Revolution V this moment It is considered more of an indicative act, since after the bourgeois-democratic revolution that took place in February, the “bloody tsarist regime” was overthrown. However, controversy on this issue still does not subside.