The first revolution overthrew the autocratic imperial monarchy. It began with a revolt on February 23 to 27, 1917, according to the Julian, or Old Style, calendar then in use in Russia. (On January 31, 1918, the Soviet government adopted the Gregorian, or New Style, calendar, which moved dates by thirteen days; therefore, in the New Style calendar the dates for the first revolution would be March 8 to 12. Events discussed in this article that occurred before January 31, 1918, are given according to the Julian calendar.)

The second revolution, which opened with the armed insurrection of October 24 and 25, organized by the Bolshevik Party against the Provisional Government, effected a change in all economic, political, and social relationships in Russian society; it is often designated the Bolshevik, or October, Revolution.

At first all parties except a small group within the Social Democratic Party supported the war. The government received much aid in the war effort from voluntary committees, including representatives of business and labor. The growing breakdown of supply, made worse by the almost complete isolation of Russia from its prewar markets, was felt especially in the major cities, which were flooded with refugees from the front. Despite an outward calm, many Duma leaders felt that Russia would soon be confronted with a new revolutionary crisis. By 1915 the liberal parties had formed a progressive bloc that gained a majority in the Duma.

As the tide of discontent mounted, the Duma warned Nicholas II in November 1916 that disaster would overtake the country unless the "dark" (treasonable) elements were removed from the court and a constitutional form of government was instituted. The emperor ignored the warning. Late in December a group of aristocrats, led by Prince Feliks Yusupov, assassinated Rasputin in the hope that the emperor would then change his course. The emperor responded by showing favor to Rasputin's followers at court. Talk of a palace revolution in order to avert a greater impending upheaval became widespread, especially among the upper ranks.

On February 26 the troops of the Petrograd garrison were called out to suppress the uprising. When the workers and soldiers came face to face in the streets, the workers tried to fraternize with the soldiers. In some of these encounters the troops were hostile and fired on order, killing a number of workers. The workers fled, but did not abandon the streets. As soon as the firing ceased they returned to confront the soldiers. In subsequent encounters the troops wavered when ordered to fire, allowing the workers to pass through their lines. Nicholas dissolved the Duma; the deputies accepted the decree but reassembled privately and elected a provisional committee of the State Duma to act in its place. On February 27 the revolution triumphed. Regiment after regiment of the Petrograd garrison went over to the people. Within 24 hours the entire garrison, approximately 150,000 men, joined the revolution, and the united workers and soldiers took control of the capital. The uprising claimed about 1500 victims.

The imperial government was quickly dispersed. Effective political power subsequently was exercised by two new bodies, the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies and a Provisional Government formed by the provisional committee of the Duma. The Soviet, a representative body of elected deputies, immediately appointed a commission to cope with the problem of ensuring a food supply for the capital, placed detachments of revolutionary soldiers in the government offices, and ordered the release of thousands of political prisoners. On February 28 the Soviet ordered the arrest of Nicholas's ministers and began publishing an official organ, Izvestia (Russian for "news"). On March 1 it issued its famous Order No. 1. By the terms of this order, the soldiers of the army and the sailors of the fleet were to submit to the authority of the Soviet and its committees in all political matters; they were to obey only those orders that did not conflict with the directives of the Soviet; they were to elect committees that would exercise exclusive control over all weapons; on duty, they were to observe strict military discipline, but harsh and contemptuous treatment by the officers was forbidden; disputes between soldiers' committees and officers were to be referred to the Soviet for disposition; off-duty soldiers and sailors were to enjoy full civil and political rights; and saluting of officers was abolished. Subsequent efforts by the Soviet to limit and nullify its own Order No. 1 were unavailing, and it continued in force.

After the success in Petrograd the Revolution spread throughout the country. Following the same basic course as it had in the capital, it resulted also in the creation of two parallel systems of government, in which soviets functioned side by side with authorities who were in communication with the Provisional Government.

With respect to crucial social problems, the Provisional Government claimed that, being provisional, it could not make fundamental changes such as confiscating land and distributing it to the peasants. All basic changes had to be postponed for decision by a constituent assembly, but the election of such an assembly was put off on the grounds that a large part of the country was under enemy occupation. Actually, the liberals of the Provisional Government realized that power in the constituent assembly would pass from their hands to the various socialist parties, and that their only hope of retaining it was to wait for an Allied victory in the war.

The eight months following the formation of the Provisional Government were marked by antagonism between the government and the Petrograd Soviet that eventually grew to open conflict. Essential in this development was the political transformation of the soviets, from institutions supporting parliamentary democracy into instruments for revolutionary socialism. Two principal causes of this transformation may be distinguished. The first was the government's policy of postponing for future determination by a constituent assembly the solution of such pressing problems as economic disorganization, the continued food crisis, industrial reforms, redistribution of land to peasants, and the growth of counterrevolutionary forces. The government, instead, devoted most of its energy to a continuation of the war. The second cause, a logical consequence of the first, was the growing conviction of the workers and peasants that their problems could be solved only by the soviets, a conviction that was decisively molded by Bolshevik propaganda following the April arrival in Petrograd of Lenin.

The crisis stimulated considerable growth in the Bolshevik Party, but it still held only a minority of the delegates to the first all-Russian Congress of Soviets, which convened in Petrograd on June 3. This congress was dominated by the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries. The coalition government, meanwhile, had taken office amid a deepening economic and social crisis. Failure to provide the cities with grain aggravated the danger of famine, and inflation and suffering rapidly increased. In industry, the growing power of the workers induced economic defeatism and lockouts on the part of employers. The more conservative groups demanded that the government adopt a strong policy and call a halt to the revolution. The workers responded with economic and political strikes and with demands that the government institute measures to cope with the crisis. The Congress of Soviets, which supported the government, declared in favor of state monopolies of bread and other necessary items. The government, however, like its predecessor, subordinated all problems to the prosecution of the war. On June 16 Kerensky ordered an offensive that ended in a complete defeat and the virtual disorganization of the army—all of which added credibility to Bolshevik propaganda. Discipline broke down, and millions of soldiers streamed home from the front to escape further fighting and to take part in the division of the land.

Caught by surprise, the Bolshevik leadership at first attempted to restrain the masses, but when that proved impossible, the party openly placed itself at the head of the movement, with the declared intention of keeping the demonstration peaceful. In this the Bolsheviks were largely successful. Their policy was motivated by the consideration that they could have seized power easily in the capital but could not have held it in the rest of the country without support by a majority of the soldiers at the front and of the peasants in the provinces. The executive committee of the Congress of Soviets denounced the demonstration as a counterrevolutionary Bolshevik insurrection and summoned troops from the front to disperse the demonstrators. The troops, arriving on July 5, when the demonstration had run its course, placed themselves at the disposition solely of the Congress of Soviets, in effect recognizing it as the supreme governing authority in the country. On July 10 Kerensky succeeded Lvov as prime minister, and on July 23 a second coalition government, including the Socialist and Kadet wings, was formed, with Kerensky and his political friends holding the decisive posts.

The July demonstration produced a wave of political reaction. Some land committees were dissolved by the government; the death penalty, abolished during the first days of the revolution, was restored in the fighting zones although not enforced; and the convocation of the constituent assembly was postponed to the end of November. Forceful methods were employed against the Bolsheviks. Lenin was denounced as a paid agent of German imperialism and went into hiding in Finland; Trotsky and others were arrested. Nonetheless, the Sixth Congress of the Bolshevik Party opened in Petrograd on July 26, despite the absence of some of its leaders.

Because the Kerensky government took no effective steps to overcome the steadily deteriorating economic situation, unrest continued in the cities and countryside, and Bolshevik influence again began to increase. Convinced that Kerensky could not cope with the situation, some Kadet elements and the general staff, led by Kornilov, the newly appointed commander in chief, decided to bring loyal troops to Petrograd and establish a military dictatorship. For a time Kerensky was a party to the conspiracy, but when he learned that Kornilov proposed to remove him from the government, he appealed to the Petrograd Soviet for support.

While Kornilov's forces advanced on the capital, the workers' and soldiers' militia prepared to defend it. With the approval of the Congress of Soviets, military organizations were established throughout the city, and the boldness and initiative of the Bolsheviks in these bodies made them the leaders of the defense. The railroad workers refused to transport Kornilov's force. As the troops advanced on foot, they encountered the soldiers and workers of the capital, who came out of the city to meet them with appeals to fraternize. Kornilov's army dissolved before it reached the capital; he himself was arrested. These events left the workers of Petrograd organized and armed. And now, for the first time, the Bolsheviks secured a majority in the Petrograd Soviet.

After Kornilov's defeat the Provisional Government was virtually powerless. Under growing Bolshevik pressure the All-Russian Soviet Executive Committee decided on the election of a new Congress of Soviets to convene on October 20; later it was postponed to October 25. A Bolshevik majority in the new congress was assured by the rising tide of support for Lenin's party among the soldiers and workers. Fears that the new political alignment would result in the creation of a Bolshevik government spurred Kerensky to make a half-hearted attempt to send some troops from the Petrograd garrison to the front. On October 16 the Petrograd Soviet created the Military Revolutionary Committee for the defense of the capital against the counterrevolution; on this committee the Bolsheviks obtained a commanding majority, and the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries thereupon refused to participate.

Foreseeing the course of events, Lenin, from about the end of September, pressed the central committee of the Bolshevik Party to organize an armed insurrection and seize power. After some resistance, the committee on October 10 approved Lenin's policy. It is generally believed that the insurrection was planned by the military organization of the party to coincide with the opening of the second Congress of Soviets. It was carried out during the night of October 24 to 25 and the following day by the Military Revolutionary Committee under the direction of Trotsky. Armed workers, soldiers, and sailors stormed the Winter Palace, headquarters of the Provisional Government. Although the seizure of power involved tens of thousands of men and women, it was virtually bloodless. On the afternoon of October 25 Trotsky announced the end of the Provisional Government. Several of its ministers were arrested later that day; Kerensky escaped and subsequently went into exile.

On October 25, while the insurrection was in progress, the second Congress of Soviets began its deliberation. Of the 650 delegates, 390 (60 percent) were Bolsheviks. The opening session, its speeches punctuated by rifle fire in the streets, was the scene of a stormy debate over the legality of the congress and the character of the insurrection. Most of the Menshevik and Socialist Revolutionary delegates withdrew from the congress, which continuously received declarations of support from workers' organizations and military groups; the left wing of the Socialist Revolutionaries remained in the congress and formed a short-lived coalition government with the Bolsheviks.

Making his first appearance at the Congress of Soviets on November 8, Lenin struck the keynote of its further deliberations with his opening declaration: "We shall now proceed to the construction of the socialist order." The congress then took up the three crucial issues of peace, land, and the constitution of a new government. It unanimously adopted a manifesto appealing to "all warring peoples and their governments to open immediate negotiations for a just, democratic peace." To that end the manifesto proposed an immediate armistice for a minimum of three months.

Decisions on the land question were made in the form of a decree: "The right to private property in the land is annulled forever … The landlord's property in the land is annulled immediately and without any indemnity whatever … " All landed estates and the holdings of monasteries and churches were made national property and were placed under the protection of local land committees and soviets of peasants. The holdings of poor peasants and of the rank and file of the cossacks, however, were specifically exempted from confiscation. Hired labor on the land was prohibited, and the right of all citizens to cultivate land by their own labor was affirmed. The Congress of Soviets laid down the principle that "the use of the land must be equalized, that is, the land is to be divided among the toilers according to local conditions on the basis of standards either of labor or consumption." Since most of these principles had already been put into practice by the Bolsheviks, however, the decrees were in effect a ratification of an accomplished fact rather than a new change.

The Congress of Soviets provided for a governmental structure in which supreme authority was vested in the congress itself. Execution of the decisions of the congress was entrusted to the Soviet of People's Commissars, which was made subject to the authority of the Congress of Soviets and to its Central Executive Committee. Each of the people's commissars was the chairman of a commissariat (commission) corresponding to the ministries of other governments. Lenin was elected head of the Council of People's Commissars. Among other leading Bolsheviks elected to this council were Trotsky and Stalin. With the establishment of the new government, the Congress of Soviets adjourned.

The decisions of the Congress of Soviets on peace and land evoked widespread support for the new government, and they were decisive in assuring victory to the Bolsheviks in other cities and in the provinces. In November the Council of People's Commissars also proclaimed the right of self-determination, including voluntary separation from Russia of the nationalities forcibly included in the czarist empire, but made it clear that it hoped that the "toiling masses" of the various nationalities would decide to remain with Russia. It also nationalized all banks and proclaimed the workers' control of production. Industry was nationalized gradually. The freely elected constituent assembly, which convened in Petrograd in January 1918, and in which the Bolsheviks were only a small minority, was dispersed with armed force by the newly formed government.

Lenin and the Russian Communist Party took strict control of the country. Workers' strikes, peasant uprisings, and a sailors' revolt known as the Kronstadt Rebellion were quickly crushed. In 1921 Lenin established the New Economic Policy to strengthen the country, which had been drained by seven years of turmoil and economic decline. On December 30, 1922, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was formally established when the ethnic territories of the former Russian Empire were united with the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic (RSFSR).