1917: February Revolution begins

In Russia, the February Revolution (known as such because of Russia's use of the Julian calendar) begins when riots and strikes break out in Petrograd over the scarcity of food. Within three days, the strike was general in the capital, and the Petrograd army garrison was called out to restore order. The army, demoralized after three years of fighting along the Eastern Front in World War I, defected to the cause of the revolutionaries. On March 15, Czar Nicholas II was forced to abdicate. A coalition of workers' and soldiers' committees known as the Soviet joined with moderate provisional leaders in forming a new government, and an end to violent revolutionary activity was urged. Meanwhile, Vladimir Lenin, leader of the Bolshevik revolutionary party, left his exile in Switzerland and crossed German enemy lines to return home and take control of the revolution.