February Revolution and the Birth of the USSR
February Revolution
As the war dragged on, unrest spread among the population, and the prestige of the Tsar and his regime collapsed. Because of failures in transport and production, ammunition and food did not reach the front; factories stopped because they had no raw materials or fuel, and the inhabitants suffered hunger and cold. The defeats and the enemy's advance caused disillusionment. Increasingly, Tsarism accused Nicholas II of being responsible for the disasters. Opposition to remaining in the war grew. Since 1915 the liberal and socialist opposition resurfaced with force; discontent in the army multiplied and protests increased in cities because of shortages.
In February 1917 there were spontaneous demonstrations in Petrograd, especially by women. Striking workers joined them and the police were powerless to control the unrest. The government sent the army but acted with little firmness. The chairman of the Duma asked the Tsar to appoint a new government that enjoyed the confidence of the country; Nicholas II responded by closing the Duma. Some of the troops sent against the demonstrations joined the protestors; the city thus came into the hands of the rebels, and ministers and military commanders were arrested. The next day the government resigned.
The vacuum created by this resignation led deputies of the Duma to form the so-called Interim Committee of the Duma, while workers' and soldiers' soviets were created in Petrograd as an interim executive committee. Thus two centers of power arose: the Duma and the Petrograd Soviet. Soviets were formed all over Russia. In March, the Duma and the Petrograd Soviet reached an agreement to form a provisional government. It was composed mostly of members of the Constitutional Democratic Party and was chaired by Prince Lvov. Only one socialist, Alexander Kerensky, was part of it. Moderate socialists supported this government. Nicholas II abdicated in favor of his brother, but his brother refused, and so Russia became a republic. Tsarism was dead.
Civil War and Birth of the USSR
Between 1918 and 1920 the new regime faced a civil war that ravaged the country, promoted by anti-revolutionary forces and foreign intervention. France, the United Kingdom and Japan wanted to stop the spreading revolution and to punish the new regime that had not paid its debts. They provided funds and weapons to anti-revolutionary armies, known as the Whites, who faced the revolutionary Red Army led by Trotsky, which defeated the White armies by late 1919. The Soviets recovered Ukraine, the Caucasus and Central Asia.
The consolidation of Soviet power was reinforced by the creation in 1922 of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and by the suppression of all political opposition. The main problem faced by the communist government was supply: farmers were forced to surrender some of their crops.