Before the war.
Before the war, there were lots of problems
which led up to the revolution and we call them
the long term causes. The peasants working and
living conditions were very bad but the
government made it even worse by its own
policies. Russia needed to develop its industries,
so that it was a modern agricultural country
instead of a backward one and also to remain in
an important military power. To aid this dilemma
the government invested in enormous amounts of
money in improving Russia’s industries. Where
did most of this money come from? From the
pockets of the people in Russia!
To do this, the peasants had to pay huge taxes
not only on grain but on nearly all everyday items
such as alcohol and
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Politically, Russia was very unstable as the
people had lost a lot of respect for the
government and the Tzar. When the Tzar started
to use the Dumas people began to wonder
whether they would have any real power. By the
Dumas first meeting it was clear. They could not
pass laws, they could not appoint ministers and
they could not control finance in such important
areas as defence. Was there much point in them
if the Tzar did not like what they were doing or
proposing to do, he could dissolve them?? So, no.
In my opinion the peoples views were not being
heard through the Dumas. There are lots of
opinions as whether the Tzar was fit to rule
Russia. In my opinion, the Tzar was not fit to rule
Russia but this was by no means his own fault.
He was taught as a soldier and he was not taught
to act and behave like a king so it was his
statesmanship that was at fault, not him himself!!
The War.
The war did not only effect the army but the
people at home. Food was getting short, all the
male peasants had to be taken off to the army so
only women and invalids were left to tend the
farms, shops .etc. All the working trains were
being put to use for the war effort so food was
not getting through from other places. Nearly all
unnecessary factories in the cities were closed
so that furthed in another massive
unemployment. People were not getting coal and
wood to burn because the
This downfall came due to the amount of soldier and horses being placed into the war leaving the peasants at home with a loss of man power to continue a, "standard of living"( Causes of the Russian Revolution 2). Due to the decrease in man power, and materials to use at the home front, prices increased and a hunger endemic began. With hunger increasing and inflation of prices continuing strikes began, which eventually stopped transportation. When the transportation stopped supplies and food did not get to the soldiers at war decreasing the amount of people who believed in the czar. The goal of the peasants of the Russian Revolution of 1917, was to gain a new leader and for their voices to be heard. In March 1917, a riot of peasants, and soldiers stormed the streets with the support of the Duma, a group of government officials, forcing Nicolas II out of power.
Changes in the economy were Essential to making Russia great again. In the late 18th century, Russia's economy was agricultural and mainly utilized serfdom. It was Far behind the already industrialized Western European countries. Major changes were going to have to be made to compete with the
In October 1905 he published the October Manifesto, accepting the creation of a legislative parliament or duma, which pleased the liberals. However, then in April 1906, he published the fundamental laws which stated that he still had overall control over Russia. Also, throughout the years 1905-1917 there were a number of dumas, all set up and subsequently dissolved by the Tsar when he believed they were getting to powerful. Also, in early 1917 236 of the duma's 422 deputies formed the 'Progressive Bloc' along with other supporters of the Tsar, such as the Kadets, Octobrists, Nationalists. The Bloc tried to persuade the Tsar to make concessions in order to retain his power but typically he was unwilling to listen. Listening to the Bloc at this point could have saved Nicholas and therefore the rule of Tsarism but his inability to trust his ministers and take their advice meant he his supporters quickly became opposers, weakening his rule at this crucial time.
This led to instability in the government and resulted in people seeing reformist groups as an easy way to create change. And therefore people resulted in violence and uprisings put pressure on the Tsar creating a tense revolutionary ready Russia.
Russia grappled with deep-rooted issues that hindered its progress and stability, along with its irrational decision of World War 1, which ultimately caused worker strikes. Russia remained mainly agrarian, with the vast majority of the population residing in rural areas and working in agriculture. However, the agricultural sector was plagued by inefficiency, outdated farming techniques, and land allocation concerns left over from the feudal era. Russia experienced a slower rate of industrialization than Western European countries. Despite the government's efforts to foster industrial growth, which included the establishment of state-sponsored companies and infrastructure projects, the process was hampered by issues such as a lack of capital, technological backwardness, and aristocracy resistance to modernization.
The actions of the Czar were clearly not in the best interest of his country or himself for that matter. The decisions he made clearly appeased his ego and were not made by a man who was experienced in leading a nation through a time of transition. His inability to help in Russian military development by allowing those who understood what needed to be fixed and what plans needed to be made are what eventually led to Russian ineffectiveness in the war and his own downfall.
Without this course of action, the prospects of the Bolshevik's survival seemed slim. There was strong opposition to them both inside and outside the country. Lenin justified his action with the following speech: 'To hand over power to the Constituent Assembly would again be compromising with the malignant bourgeoisie. The Russian
The Russian and Chinese revolution both may perhaps have been no more different, each both with the establishment of two different concepts that lead to the shifting of their countries. These both experienced encounters with foreign influences and connections. The ways of the both were oddly different due to one wanting the end of interactions with the West and China who actually wanted to adopt more to their ways of the West. The Russian revolution was essentially led with two different revolutions, the February and the October Revolution. The Chinese was experiencing many revolts throughout the revolution. In the effort for the 1911 revolution of
Politically, Russia was in a lot of danger as a result of the 1905 revolutions, and there were strong divisions. This put major stress of the government to stabilise and calm down strong revolutionary groups. One of the major ways in which this was done, was through the introduction of the ‘Dumas’s’ the first was in 1906. The problem with this was having elected
The October Manifesto 1905 gained the Tsar back some of his support by promising reform; however the Tsar failed to abide by his promises and did not satisfactorily address the problems of Russia. To ensure his long-term survival the Tsar needed to address the problems that had caused the 1905 revolution. The action of Nicholas II to introduce reform saved his position in the throne s, though not for long as he took the wrong approach and chose to please some groups in Russian society and ignored the demands of others. Some changes were made that did temporarily satisfy his people such as the creation of a duma and the cancellation of the redemption payments. The creation of a duma meant the Tsar now had to delegate authority to parliament and could no longer consider himself an autocrat, however although it may of appeared that the Tsar now did not have ‘absolute’ power he didn’t really give the duma much power at all and he restricted their influence on the Russian government.
The fall of the Romanov Dynasty in 1914 proved that the Tsar could not handle the problems of Russia. Ironically, he would have been ideal as a constitutional monarch, but was adamant against the idea. As the First World War started Russia’s problems arises, from short-term and long-term causes. The war brought back inflation which led to “demonstrations over food shortages combined with workers’ grievances,” (Hosking, 2012, p. 91) thus this destroyed Nicholas’s image as Father of Russia. Military became ineffective as the transport system was not adequate, thus leading to food supplies decreasing in key cities such as Petrograd. Historians believe the impacts of the First World War led to Russian society becoming unstable and was ultimately the main reason of the downfall of the Tsar. However other factors, such as the Tsarina placing large amounts of trust into Rasputin who was notorious for his reputation as an alcoholic and a womanizer (Westwood, 2002, p. 215) and the role of the revolutionaries due to Lenin promising peace, land and bread, eventually leading to the growth of the Bolsheviks Party. Although, it can most rightfully be deemed that the impact of the war was the main reason for the fall of Tsar Nicholas II in 1917.
Russia's overthrows and shortage caused revolutionary upheaval and massive inflation, which led to deprived infrastructure. During World War I, Russian society naturally caused great dissatisfaction among the serfs. As the revolution wore on, numerous reform and Tsar Nicholas II, a ruler, tried to change Russia's social structure and government. Among the masses, there was discontentment with Russia's social system and living conditions. Laborers worked and lived in horrendous conditions, which played a crucial role in aggravating the condition of workers and peasants. As a result, peasants starved and Russia’s armies were overpowered on the battlefield because much of its terrain was occupied by enemies. Hence, Imperial Russia was a
The Russian Revolution is a widely studied and seemingly well understood time in modern, European history, boasting a vast wealth of texts and information from those of the likes of Robert Service, Simon Sebag Montefiore, Allan Bullock, Robert Conquest and Jonathan Reed, to name a few, but none is so widely sourced and so heavily relied upon than that of the account of Leon Trotsky, his book “History of the Russian Revolution” a somewhat firsthand account of the events leading up to the formation of the Soviet Union. There is no doubt that Trotsky’s book, among others, has played a pivotal role in shaping our understanding of the events of The Revolution; but have his personal predilections altered how he portrayed such paramount
During the 1900’s the Russian Government made it extremely hard for the Bolsheviks to progress which made them revolt against the government making this a prime matter for the start of the Revolution. The Czarist government was ostracized by the common people of Russia so Tsar Nicholas II was overthrown by the Provisional Government, whom later on were overthrown by Lenin and shortly after the Bolsheviks took control over Russia. Russia was hard to develop because of the major leaders who had control; Lenin, Stalin, Trotsky. Almost overnight an entire society was destroyed and replaced with one of the most radical social experiments ever seen. Poverty, crime, privileged and class-divisions were to be eliminated, a new era of socialism
Russia struggled to provide food for its populations. Citizens took control into their own hands, Ludovic Naudeau wrote in October 1917, “One morning recently I was awakened by the cries of my neighbor in the next room. His boots had been stolen. The same day the manager of a newspaper office told me that he had been robbed six of pairs of pantaloons, … “Four hundred thefts every night!” he cried; that is the average for the last two weeks,”(One Aspect of Bolshevist Liberty). Russia could not even uphold itself because the economy was not successful compared to other countries. This led people to desire a change in the government; therefore this led to the Russian Revolution. People went to different maters to get what they wanted such as stealing since they were not getting the aid that they needed and they needed financial support. This caused them to protest against their government because many people from the lower class could not take care of their families. This cause led to a greater impact compared to Tsarist weak authority.