ABSTRACT
The popular uprising that led to the disappearance of tsarist rule after three hundred years of the Romanov dynasty took place 24–28 February 1917, according to the old-style calendar then in use in Russia and is known in Soviet and most Western historiography as the February Revolution. The February Revolution spread quickly throughout the Russian empire. The Provisional government promised independence to the Poles and full autonomy to the Finns but could not agree on policy toward the other national minorities. Both the Provisional government and the Soviet backed expanded civil liberties, immediate elections to the Constituent Assembly, and lifting of restrictions against religious minorities and Jews. The Soviet government survived as much because of the deficiencies of its opponents as its own strengths. Finally, the revolutionary years provided remarkable evidence that a single individual can affect the course of history.
