The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire and began during the First World War. Commencing in 1917 with the fall of the House of Romanov and concluding in 1923 with the Bolshevik establishment of the Soviet Union, the Russian Revolution was a series of two revolutions: the first of which overthrew the imperial government and the second placed the Bolsheviks in power.
Beginning with the February Revolution in 1917, the first revolt focused in and around the then-capital Petrograd. After major military losses during the war, the Russian Army had reverted to mutiny. In response, members of Russia's parliament assumed control of the country, and went on to form the Russian Provisional Government. This government was dominated by the interests of prominent capitalists, as well as the Russian nobility and aristocracy.
The army's leadership believed that they did not have the means to suppress the revolution, and this caused the tsar of the Russian Empire, Nicholas II, to step down from his throne.