Women played both decisive and important roles in the Russian Revolution. The February Revolution began in Petrograd on International Women’s Day, February 23rd 1917, when thousands of women took to the streets demanding bread and increased rations for soldiers’ families. There is, however, disagreement as to whether the women-led demonstrations were spontaneous, or whether they were a result of conscious political action. This view tends to downplay the role of women in the Revolution, painting them as being impulsive and politically backward.
The Women’s Day demonstrations are often referred to as the only real example of women’s involvement in the Revolution but in the months that led up to the October Revolution groups of both working class