On March 8, 1917, Russia's February Revolution (so named because of the Julian calendar that Russians still used at the time) began with rioting and strikes in St. Petersburg (Petrograd). The unrest was triggered primarily by food shortages in the city, which were caused by the wider problems of a worsening economy and repeated failures on the battlefields of World War I. When the strikes and riots began, they did not appear to pose a threat to the Russian monarchy headed by Czar Nicholas II. The New York Times ran a dispatch to The London Daily News with a March 9 dateline. Its reporter attested, "A number of causes, working together, brought the crisis momentarily to a head, although I do not personally believe there can be serious trouble while the Duma [the Russian legislature] is sitting." However, in the ensuing days, the protests grew and began to take on a different tone. In "The History of the Russian Revolution," Bolshevik leader Leon Trotsky recounted, "The slogan "Bread!" is crowded out or obscured by louder slogans: "Down with autocracy!" "Down with the war!"" Czar Nicholas, who had survived a revolution in 1905, did not have the widespread support of the Russian people. He ordered Russian troops to suppress the protests, but many refused and instead joined the protesters. On March 15, having lost control over his people and his authorities, the czar abdicated his throne to his brother, who refused to accept it. With the monarchy out of power, leaders of the Duma formed a provisional government. It reached an agreement with the Petrograd Soviet of Workers" and Soldiers" Deputies to rule the country together, but it was an uneasy alliance. The provisional government, first under Georgy Lvov and later under Alexander Kerensky, made the unpopular choice of keeping Russia in the war, further weakening its power. Marxist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin returned from exile in April and his Bolshevik Party gained influence through the summer. Riots in July, which the Bolsheviks attempted to take control of, nearly toppled the government. In November, the Bolsheviks easily overthrew the provisional government in a coup known as the October Revolution or Bolshevik Revolution and transferred power to the Petrograd Soviet. The October Revolution along with the February Revolution comprised the Russian Revolution of 1917, and led to the creation of the world's first socialist state and the formation of the Soviet Union in 1922. The February Revolution was largely spontaneous and unorganized. With no clear leaders and no prepared replacement for the monarchy, Russia endured eight months of disorder and unrest before a second revolution brought the Bolsheviks to power, which in turn brought about a five-year civil war. Like the Russia Revolution, the Arab Spring revolutions of 2011 began with simple protests and quickly developed into revolutions that overthrew governments. In Egypt, the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak has not brought about the changes many of the revolutionaries had hoped, as the country has struggled to form an adequate replacement government. As the Times Topics: Egypt News - Revolution and Aftermath overview explains, "Now, more than a year after the initial uprising, Egypt is still under martial law, with the ruling military council acting as the highest authority ... The new Parliament remains subordinate to the ruling military council." It also notes that many Egyptians are wondering "whether they had traded one military regime for another." Do you think violence is inevitable during times of revolutionary transition? How can countries struggling to change their political paradigms avoid replacing one repressive regime with another? In general, what do you think makes a revolution successful? Learn more about what happened in history on March 8