1917: The February Revolution and Emperor Nicholas II's abdication

During the February Revolution of 1917 Emperor Nicholas II was with the General Staff in the city of Mogilev (Belorussia). Late in the night of (15) March 1917 Nicholas II signed a deed of abdication for himself and his son, in favour of his brother Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich. This took place in the Imperial train, which could not reach Petrograd (the name of St Petersburg between 1914 and 1924 as a reaction against the Germanic name Sankt-Peterburg) and stood in a siding at the station of Dno, near Pskov. Grand Duke Mikhail refused to ascend to the throne without the support of the public and the army and a decree was issued making Prince Georgiy Lvov Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the new Provisional Government that possessed absolute power until the creation of the Constituent Assembly.
On 20 March the Provisional Government took the decision to arrest the former Emperor and Empress. On 22 March the former Emperor Nicholas II was sent to the Alexander Palace in Tsarskoye Selo, where the members of his family were also put under arrest.
As part of the Imperial Court, the Hermitage was very much affected by the political upheavals. Nonetheless, the staff of the museum accepted the February Revolution and work continued as before with the exception of a temporary suspension of public access.

Portrait of Emperor Nicholas II with Remarque-
Portrait of Tsarevich Alexei Nikolayevich
Rundaltsov, Mikhail Victorovich
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Portrait of Tsarevich Alexei Nikolayevich
Rundaltsov, Mikhail Victorovich
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Cadets in the Winter Palace
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