The February revolution

Under the strain of the war the tsarist empire reached the stage of collapse. On February 23, 1917 hunger riots broke out in Petrograd. When the rioters gained the support of striking workers, the garrison of the capital mutinied, and the Petrograd Soviet of Workers and Soldiers Deputies began its meetings. The State Duma refused to defer to the tsar's authority any longer, and its Provisional Committee formally requested his abdication. After some hesitation, Nicholas II acquiesced, thus ending the three-century-long reign of the Romanov dynasty, and indeed monarchy in Russia. Supreme authority passed into the hands of the Provisional Government that was to remain in office until the democratically elected Constituent Assemby should convene at a future date.

One of the first acts of the new regime was to repeal all legislation restricting the rights of Russian citizens on the basis of religion or national origin. The Provisional Government also acted promptly to overhaul the administration of the ethnically non-Russian regions with a view toward giving a larger share of local power to representatives of the native populations. In Transcaucasia the Grand Duke Nicholas Nicholaevich was forced to resign his post despite his declaration of loyalty to the revolutionary regime. On March 9, civilian authority over the provinces beyond the Caucasus Mountains and the occupied territory of Turkey was transferred to the newly created Special Committee for Transcaucasia, known under the acronym Ozakom.