What were the causes of the 1917 Revolution?

Various circumstances led to two revolutions in Russia. These occurred in February and October of 1917. 

The weather left soldiers defending Petrograd and the Tsarina cold and hungry. This made the already inexperienced soldiers weaker. Officers were newly trained or disabled by war injuries. However, to make matters worse it was not only the soldiers that were hungry. 

Piles of snow froze railways. The trains supplied fuel and food to the main cities. People queued for hours outside shops to buy food. Factory Workers went on strike. Fuel shortages had caused factories to stop working. Bakeries closed down due to a lack of supplies and people who had been queuing for hours were told bread had sold out. On February 23 demonstrations became aggressive bakeries proclaimed 'Down with the German Women' (Tsarina Alexandra). 

Tsar Nicholas ordered that General Khabalov stop the disorder. Khabalov ordered his troops to take action. Bridges across the river Neva were closed. This was to prevent demonstrators from grouping too near the Petrograds' center. People began to walk across the river, which was still frozen over. The outcome was unforeseen. Soldiers shot about before refusing to obey orders. The Soldiers who were originally peasants (muzhiks) turned against the Tsar. They joined the mobs yelling 'Land and Freedom'. The Duma Deputy Rodzianko saw the situation was getting worse and urged the Tsar that a new government was needed to stop the February Revolution. 

Fearing for his life the Tsar left his headquarters in Mogilev and boarded his royal train to return to his family home. He decided he had a better chance of winning the war if he abdicated. No one wanted to be Tsar and Russia was left without a monarch. This left the governing of the country to the Provincial Government and Soviet Council 

The Government was made up of 12 Duma Deputies and The Council consisted of soldiers, workers, and sailors of Petrograd. They were a weak combination. They couldn't agree on administrative matters. The Soviets wanted the Provisionals to withdraw from the War against the Germans and Austrians. In May Socialists joined the Provincial Government. Kerensky became War Minister and wanted to continue the war. 

He inspired the country to support the army in a fresh attack on the Austrians. Bread rations were reduced more causing railway workers to strike. Kerensky later became Prime Minister and appointed General Kornilov as Army Leader. Kornilov tried to seize power. Kerensky attempted to release the Bolsheviks but was arrested before he reached Petrograd. This created anger amongst his followers and his soldiers deserted him. As Kerensky became more unpopular a revolutionary group that followed the principles of the Philosopher Karl Marx was emerging. 

Revolutionaries such as Lenin, Trotsky, Stalin, and Kamenev returned to Russia after the February Revolution. Stalin edited the Bolshevik newspaper Pravda. It spread their ideas to the people. Stalin ran the Bolsheviks until Lenin arrived. 

Lenin returned to Russia aided by the Germans and Austrians who provided him with a train in which to return to Russia. When he tried to speak in Petrograd he was heckled. Many people including his own wife thought he was out of touch when he tried calling off the Revolution. This meant he could plan to overthrow the Provincial Government. 

He planned to do this in his April thesis. He wanted to, end the war; give all power to the soviets; all property and land to belong to the people; he wanted to incite his ideas worldwide. He summed it up as 'Peace, Bread, Land'. Slowly but certainly the Bolsheviks secretly started to take over public buildings in Moscow and Petrograd. 

Trotsky turned Lenin's words into actions. He armed factory workers forming The Red Guard. His troops easily laid siege to the winter palace and after a longer than expected siege the Provisional Government surrendered. The Bolsheviks arrested the remainders of the Provisional Government and Lenin was able to set himself up as a dictator. To prove his point the Bolsheviks executed the Tsar and his family. 

The Bolsheviks used the people's suffering to gain power. In a clever and manipulative way, Lenin was able to convince them by promising them fairer and more successful lives under his regime. The main reason why the Ruling Family and Provincial Government lost power was that it upset the army by focusing its attention on a lengthy war against foreign powers instead of maintaining order within its own country.