Latest / The Romanov Dynasty: Rise, Power, and Bloody End — Fexingo History / The Romanovs and the 1917 February Revolution
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've talked about Nicholas II before — the 1905 Revolution, the Russo-Japanese War, the Tercentenary in 1913. But the end came so fast. By early 1917, the Romanov dynasty had ruled for over three hundred years, and then in about a week, it was gone. Luna: A week? I always thought it was a longer process. Lucas: That's what's so striking. The February Revolution — and remember, that's February in the old Russian calendar, so March by our calendar — it wasn't planned by any political party. It started with bread queues in Petrograd. Seriously. Women, mostly, standing in line for hours in the bitter cold, and then they'd had enough. International Women's Day was February 23rd, and tens of thousands of women poured into the streets shouting for bread. That was the spark. Luna: So it was a food riot that turned into a revolution? Lucas: Exactly. But the conditions had been building for years. World War I was a disaster for Russia. By 1917, they'd suffered millions of casualties. The Brusilov Offensive in 1916 was actually the most successful Allied offensive of the war — it broke the Austro-Hungarian army — but it cost Russia over a million men. And the army was running out of shells, rifles, boots. The economy was a mess. Inflation was rampant. And Nicholas II had made a fatal decision in 1915: he took personal command of the army and moved to the front at Mogilev. That left the government in Petrograd in the hands of his wife, Alexandra, and Grigori Rasputin. You know how that went over. Luna: Yeah, not well. Rasputin was murdered in December 1916, right? Lucas: That's right. A group of conservative nobles, including Prince Felix Yusupov, killed him — partly to save the monarchy. But it was too late. The damage to the dynasty's prestige was done. By early 1917, even conservative politicians in the Duma were turning against the tsar. They formed something called the Progressive Bloc, which demanded a responsible ministry — basically a government that answered to the Duma, not just to the tsar. Nicholas refused. Luna: And this is the Duma that was created after 1905? Lucas: Same one. He'd already weakened it after the 1905 revolution. But now, with the war going badly, the Duma became the only platform for opposition. The chairman was Mikhail Rodzianko — a huge man, very blunt. He kept warning Nicholas that the country was on the verge of collapse. Nicholas ignored him. Luna: So when the bread riots started, the government had no idea how to respond. Lucas: Right. And here's where it gets interesting. The protests grew day by day. On February 24th and 25th, more workers joined. The police tried to break it up, but the crowds just got bigger. On the 26th, Nicholas ordered the army to restore order by force. Some units fired on the crowd — there were casualties. But then something unexpected happened. The next day, the Volynsky Regiment mutinied. They shot their own commanding officer and marched into the streets, calling for other regiments to join them. By the end of the day, 60,000 soldiers had gone over to the revolution. Luna: Wow. The army turned on the tsar. That's the moment everything changed. Lucas: Precisely. Without the army, the regime had no muscle. The Duma, meanwhile, was in a panic. They didn't want a revolution — they wanted reform. Rodzianko sent telegram after telegram to Nicholas at army headquarters, begging him to make concessions. 'The last hour has come,' he wrote. 'The fate of the dynasty is being decided.' But Nicholas was completely out of touch. He ordered the Duma to dissolve. Instead, the Duma disobeyed. They formed a temporary committee to restore order. Luna: And that became the Provisional Government? Lucas: Eventually, yes. But at the same time, workers and soldiers in Petrograd were forming their own council — the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies. So you had this dual power from the very beginning: the Provisional Government, which claimed national authority, and the Soviet, which had the real power in the capital because it controlled the troops. It's a fascinating dynamic. We should talk about that another time. Luna: I'd love that. But first, how did Nicholas actually abdicate? Lucas: It happened on March 2nd — or February 15th by the old calendar, wait no, it was March 2nd Western, February 15th? Let me check. Actually, the abdication was on March 2nd, 1917, which was February 15th in the Julian calendar still used in Russia at that time. But anyway, Nicholas was on a train trying to get back to Petrograd from Mogilev. His train was diverted to Pskov, the headquarters of the Northern Front. There, his generals told him the situation was hopeless. They advised him to abdicate. He initially wanted to abdicate in favor of his son, the Tsarevich Alexei, who was hemorrhagic and very sick. But his doctor said Alexei wouldn't survive separation from his parents. So Nicholas changed his mind and abdicated for himself and for Alexei, naming his brother, Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich, as the next tsar. Luna: But Mikhail didn't take the throne, right? Lucas: He didn't. He was a decent man, but he knew the situation was impossible. The next day, after meeting with representatives of the Duma — including Alexander Kerensky, who was a charismatic lawyer and socialist — Mikhail issued a manifesto saying he would only accept the throne if it were offered by a Constituent Assembly. That effectively ended the Romanov dynasty. By March 3rd, Russia was a republic in all but name. Nicholas was arrested and sent back to Tsarskoye Selo, where his family was already under guard. The revolution had triumphed with almost no bloodshed in Petrograd — though that would change. Luna: It's incredible how fast it happened. Three hundred years, gone in a week. Lucas: It really shows how fragile autocracy can be when it loses legitimacy. And it's a reminder — if you've been following these conversations with us, you've seen how the Romanovs built this vast empire, but also how they failed to adapt. And if you value these deep dives, well, listener support is what keeps Fexingo History ad-free and independent. If you'd like to help, you can find us at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. That's buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. No pressure, just know that every little bit helps us keep bringing you stories like this. Luna: Yeah, it's a small way to say thanks for the hours of research that go into each episode. Lucas: Exactly. So back to 1917. After the abdication, the Provisional Government under Prince Georgy Lvov tried to continue the war effort, which was hugely unpopular. They also had to share power with the Petrograd Soviet, which issued 'Order No. 1' — that gave soldiers the right to elect their own committees and basically undermined officer authority. The army started to disintegrate. And that set the stage for Lenin and the Bolsheviks to seize power in October. But that's another story. Luna: We'll have to save that for next time. But it's amazing how one week in February changed everything. Lucas: Absolutely. And it's a powerful lesson about how revolutions are rarely planned — they happen when a government loses its grip and people realize they have the power to say 'enough.' The Romanovs had weathered crises before, but 1917 was different. The combination of war, economic collapse, and the tsar's own stubbornness proved fatal. Luna: Well, I'm glad we finally got to this episode. It's a crucial piece of the puzzle. Lucas: Me too. And there's so much more to explore — the role of the railroads, the impact of propaganda, the personalities involved. But I think we've given a good overview today. Thanks for joining us.