Question

During the long winter, the harsh restrictions provoked anger and outrage in the public. Is this an independant or dependant clause?

Answer 1

"the harsh restrictions provoked anger and outrage in the public," is an independent clause. An independent clause is a clause that can stand alone as a sentence and does not need any other parts.
"During the long winter" is an adverbial clause, which means it is describing how something is before the sentence. It could be more closely compared to a dependent clause because it cannot act alone in a sentence.