The article addresses the fate of the soldiers of the Petrograd garrison in the events of the February revolution of 1917. Analyzing the role of the army in the life of the Imperial Russia, the changes brought about in the minds of the soldiers of the First world war as well as the specific social situation and the attitudes of those soldiers who did not take part in military operations, the author concludes that the position «in reserve» predetermined the active role of soldiers in the February revolution. Also described is the process of turning some anti-government soldiers to the mass street terror.
February revolution, Petrograd garrison, the First World War, peasantry, V.B. Shklovsky, Z.N. Hippius, B.V. Stankevich.