John Redmond congratulates Russians on their revolution

Dublin, 3 April 1917 - John Redmond’s message of congratulations to the Russian people on their revolution has brought a warm response from Petrograd.

The President of the Duma, M. Rodzianko, has replied:

‘Please accept my heartiest thanks for your kind congratulations on the liberation of the Russian people from autocratic rule, which enables our country to become really the sincerest champion of national emancipation, as well in its war ends as in its internal policy.’

In an editorial, the Freeman’s Journal writes that Ireland has a better appreciation for the Russian Revolution than the British government, being ‘in the shadow of a prison-house’ herself:

‘Were English statesmanship endowed with even a hint of the imaginative insight of Russia’s new rulers, it would have realised long ago that only by conciliation can the memory of old unhappy things be obliterated and the foundations laid of an enduring friendship between nations.’

Meanwhile, workers’ and soldiers’ deputies to the new assembly in Petrograd have released a manifesto calling for the proletariat of Europe to cast off the yoke of autocratic ‘Tsardom’ as they have.

The Provisional Government issued a proclamation recognising the nationhood of Poland, which has been occupied by Germany.

It has also pledged to continue the war with Germany until victory has been obtained.

The pledge comes as the 50 Petrograd victims of the revolution were buried together. More than 1 million people took part in the funeral, with every buttonhole reported to be sporting a red emblem.

Judith Devlin, UCD, discusses the factors involved in the build up to the February Revolution in Russia in 1917 and how this led to collapse of the Romanov dynasty.

[Editor's note: This is an article from Century Ireland, a fortnightly online newspaper, written from the perspective of a journalist 100 years ago, based on news reports of the time.]