Troops fire on Petrograd demonstrators

Nearly half of Petrograd’s industrial workforce stopped work as economic demands developed into calls against autocracy and war. The source date is 2/24/1917 Old Style.

Demonstrators appealed to armed troops not to suppress them. These contacts weakened the government’s ability to rely on military force. The source date is 2/24/1917 Old Style.

Militant workers entered police stations and disrupted government communications as the strike movement became an open challenge to imperial rule. The source date is 2/25/1917 Old Style.

The commander of the Petrograd Military District announced that force would be used to end street protests. The source date is 2/25/1917 Old Style.

Authorities detained more than one hundred activists in an attempt to decapitate the movement before another day of demonstrations. The source date is 2/26/1917 Old Style.

Soldiers of the Pavlovsky Regiment confronted forces that had fired on workers. Some refused disarmament and joined the uprising. The source date is 2/26/1917 Old Style.

Soldiers killed an officer associated with the previous day’s repression, armed themselves and carried rebellion into other regiments. The source date is 2/27/1917 Old Style.

Mutinous regiments captured the arsenal and distributed tens of thousands of rifles, transforming the strike movement into an armed revolution. The source date is 2/27/1917 Old Style.

Armed workers and soldiers opened the prison and released political detainees held by the imperial state. The source date is 2/27/1917 Old Style.

Delegates representing workers and soldiers gathered at the Tauride Palace and created a new institution of popular power. The source date is 2/27/1917 Old Style.