Why did the Tsarist regime fall in February 1917, and how did the Bolsheviks seize power by October?
The revolutions of 1917: the fall of the Tsar in February, the failures of the Provisional Government and dual power, and the Bolshevik seizure of power in October.
A focused guide to the Russian revolutions of 1917 for AQA A-Level History (Russia, Tsarism to Communism). Covers the fall of the Tsar in February, the failures of the Provisional Government and dual power, and the Bolshevik seizure of power in October.
Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed
Have a quick question? Jump to the Q&A page
Jump to a section
What this dot point is asking
You need to explain why the Tsarist regime fell in February 1917, why the Provisional Government failed under dual power, and how the Bolsheviks seized power in October 1917.
The fall of the Tsar
Dual power
This left the Provisional Government with the formal authority but the Soviet with the real power, since Soviet Order Number 1 instructed soldiers to obey their officers only when the orders did not contradict the Soviet. The government could not move without the Soviet's cooperation, a structural weakness that lasted until October.
The failures of the Provisional Government
The government's fatal errors compounded each other:
- Continuing the war. Bound by obligations to the Allies and a belief in national honour, it launched the disastrous June Offensive (1917), which collapsed and discredited the government and the moderate socialists who had joined it.
- Delaying land reform. It postponed the redistribution of land to a future Constituent Assembly, leaving impatient peasants to seize estates themselves and undermining its authority in the countryside, while alienating the soldiers (peasants in uniform) who wanted to go home to claim land.
- Mishandling the Kornilov affair (August 1917). When General Kornilov appeared to march on Petrograd, Kerensky armed the Bolsheviks (the Red Guards) to defend the capital. The threat evaporated, but the Bolsheviks kept the weapons and the credit for "saving" the revolution, while Kerensky was tainted as either Kornilov's accomplice or his dupe.
The cumulative effect was that by autumn 1917 the government had lost the support of the army, the workers and the peasantry alike.
The Bolshevik seizure of power
Lenin had to overcome doubters within his own party (Kamenev and Zinoviev opposed an immediate rising), and Trotsky shrewdly timed the takeover to coincide with the Second Congress of Soviets so it could be presented as the Soviet, not just the Bolsheviks, assuming power. The Bolsheviks seized the bridges, telegraph and Winter Palace with little fighting, then established their own government, the Sovnarkom, and immediately issued the Decrees on Peace and Land to lock in popular support. Historians divide between a "history from below" reading (Sheila Fitzpatrick), stressing genuine working-class support, and an older view (Pipes) of a narrow coup by a determined minority.
Try this
Q1. What was dual power? [2 marks]
- Cue. The shared authority of the Provisional Government and the Petrograd Soviet after February 1917.
Q2. What were the Bolsheviks' key slogans in 1917? [2 marks]
- Cue. "Peace, Land, Bread" and "All Power to the Soviets".
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of AQA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
AQA 201820 marks'The Provisional Government's own failures were the main reason the Bolsheviks took power in October 1917.' Assess the validity of this view. (Component 2, depth essay, rescoped from 25)Show worked answer →
Weigh the government's failures against Bolshevik strengths, and rank them.
Argue for the claim: the Provisional Government chose to continue an unpopular war (the disastrous June Offensive), delayed land reform until a Constituent Assembly, governed without an electoral mandate under dual power, and fatally armed the Bolsheviks to resist Kornilov in August, restoring their prestige.
Weigh the other side: Lenin's leadership and the April Theses, the slogans "Peace, Land, Bread" and "All Power to the Soviets", Trotsky's control of the Petrograd Soviet and its Military Revolutionary Committee, and a disciplined party able to seize the moment.
Reach a judgement. Markers reward ranking, for example that government failure created the opportunity but Bolshevik organisation was needed to exploit it, so the factors are interdependent. A top level answer sustains that argument.
AQA 20206 marksWith reference to a source written by a member of the Petrograd Soviet in 1917 and your own knowledge, explain the value of such a source for studying dual power. (Component 2, source skill)Show worked answer →
A short source question rewards using provenance, content and context to judge value, not just spotting bias.
Provenance: a Soviet member writes from inside one half of dual power, so the source gives privileged insight into how the Soviet saw its relationship with the Provisional Government, but with an obvious partisan stake.
Content and tone: weigh what it claims about Soviet Order Number 1, soldiers' loyalties and the limits on government authority, testing it against your knowledge of the period.
Judgement: say what a historian could reliably learn (the Soviet's self-understanding and practical power) and where caution is needed (its tendency to overstate its own legitimacy). Markers reward a clear value judgement grounded in context.
Related dot points
- Lenin in power 1917 to 1924: consolidating the one-party state, winning the Civil War, War Communism and its failures, and the introduction of the New Economic Policy.
A focused guide to Lenin in power and the Russian Civil War for AQA A-Level History (Russia). Covers the consolidation of the one-party state, the Civil War and Red victory, War Communism and its failures, and the introduction of the New Economic Policy.
- Stalin's rule 1924 to 1953: the rise to power, collectivisation and the Five Year Plans, the Great Terror and the cult of personality, and the impact of the Second World War.
A focused guide to Stalin and the USSR from 1924 to 1953 for AQA A-Level History (Russia). Covers his rise to power, collectivisation and the Five Year Plans, the Great Terror and the cult of personality, and the impact of the Second World War.
- The USSR 1953 to 1982: de-Stalinisation and Khrushchev's reforms and failures, the Brezhnev era of stability and stagnation, and Soviet society and the Cold War context.
A focused guide to the USSR under Khrushchev and Brezhnev for AQA A-Level History (Russia). Covers de-Stalinisation and Khrushchev's reforms and failures, the Brezhnev era of stability and stagnation, and Soviet society and the Cold War context.
- The end of the USSR 1985 to 1991: Gorbachev's perestroika and glasnost, the loosening of the bloc and nationalism, the 1991 coup, and the collapse of the Soviet Union.
A focused guide to Gorbachev and the collapse of the Soviet Union for AQA A-Level History (Russia). Covers perestroika and glasnost, the loosening of the Eastern bloc and rising nationalism, the August 1991 coup, and the dissolution of the USSR.
- The structure of Component 1 (breadth) and Component 2 (depth), the three assessment objectives, the marks and timing of each question, and how source, interpretation and essay tasks differ.
A clear map of the AQA A-Level History (7042) papers: what Component 1 and Component 2 contain, how the three assessment objectives are split, the marks and timing of each question, and how the source, interpretation and essay tasks differ.
Sources & how we know this
- AQA A-level History (7042) specification — AQA (2015)