Russia’s February Revolution: Road to a 100-Year Tragedy

Russia’s February Revolution: Road to a 100-Year Tragedy
Rebels in St. Petersburg firing on Imperial Russian police in the first days of the February Revolution. Public Domain
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A hundred years ago, World War I was in its final, brutal years. Millions of men had died in the unprecedented slaughter made possible by the latest advances in modern technology.

For imperial Russia, heavy casualties and humiliating defeats meant economic hardship and social disorder on the home front. And in March 1917, the people of St. Petersburg, the imperial capital, rose up in armed revolt.