joined the movement the next day ( February). Revolution of Abdication of Tsar The government used the troops to break the strike. But soon mutinies broke out in the barracks. The Tsar ordered a declaration of martial law.
But his order was not broadcast in the city, as there was no one to do this job. The Tsar then tried to return to Petrograd. The railway workers stopped his train. The generals at the front and some leaders in Petrograd, frightened by these developments pleaded with the Tsar to abdicate.
On March, Nicholas II abdicated. The revolutionary Tamil poet Bharathiyar cheerfully welcomed the revolution in Russia by penning these poetic lines….. The Mother Great, the Power supreme, Turned her glance benign towards Russia, The Revolution of the Age, Behold the wonder, rises high The tyrant howling falls down limp, The shoulders of the heavenly gods, Are swelling now with joy and pride, Eyes hot with unshed tears, the demons, Perish. O people of the world, Behold this mighty change!
Provisional Government There were two parallel bodies to take on government functions. One was of the bourgeois politicians of the old state Duma, comprising propertied classes. On the other there were workers’ delegates drawn together in a workers’ council, or Soviet. Those in the Duma were able to form a provincial government with the consent of the Soviets.
The Soviet was dominated by Mensheviks and the minority Bolsheviks were timid and undecided. The situation changed with the arrival of Lenin. Failure of Provisional Government Lenin was in Switzerland when the revolution broke out. Lenin wanted continued revolution.
His slogan of ‘All power to the Soviets’ soon won over the workers’ leaders. Devastated by war time shortages, the people were attracted by the slogan of ‘Bread, Peace and Land.’ But the Provisional government made two grave mistakes. First, it postponed a decision on the demand for the redistribution of land and the other was government decided to continue with the war. Frustrated peasant soldiers deserted their posts and joined those who had resorted to land grabbing.
This intensified the rising