Preview

The February Russian Revolution

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
815 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The February Russian Revolution
The February Russian Revolution in 1917 saw the downfall of Tsar Nicholas II, the last Tsar in Russia’s history. There were many contributing factors that led to Tsar Nicholas II'S abdication and the fall of his autocratic government, including economical aspects. However, economical problems were one of many complications facing Russia, such as the destruction that was occurring to Russians in World War I, and the lack of organisation in the government. All of these factors, and more, had an equal impact on the February Revolution, rather than giving the blame to only the economical aspects. In saying this, economical problems did cause mayhem in Russia, and can be to blame for the February Revolution, but other aspects need to be taken into …show more content…
Russia had a great number of people, which according to the Tsar, was all they needed to do well in the war. However, the millions of men that were sent off to war were ill-equipped. As Russia had not yet had their industrial revolution, unlike the other major countries, the guns and other weapons Russia had were outdated and were in little supply. On frequent occasions Russian soldiers were forced to hold back their fighting as they were not equipped with a weapon, only being able to join the fight when other Russian soldiers were either killed or injured and had dropped their weapons. As the war continued, the Russian soldiers started to refuse to fight and disobey their officials, as they were being heavily defeated in all aspects. The destruction of the Russians in the war played a role in the February Revolution, just as the lack of organisation within the Russian Government …show more content…
Tsar Nicholas II did not like to listen to his advisers, just as he was advised not to take part in World War I, yet ignored them. He lived in a bubble where Tsar Nicholas II thought that his people were happy, because he ignored all signs of anything other than this. Tsar Nicholas II was always against having a Duma, but agreed to having one simply so people would stop hassling him. Even after the formation of the Duma, the Russian people were not happy as only richer Russians were able to be apart of it. These people were mostly landowners who had different views to the peasants. Even though the Duma consisted of a more “civilised” part of the Russian population, Tsar Nicholas II still ignored their propositions, and made decisions for his benefit and for what he believed to be right. By ignoring his associates and his people, the hatred for Tsar Nicholas II grew, with more and more people seeing him as a leader who did not care for his people.

Although the situation Russia was in during World War I and the lack of organisation within the government, some may say that these factors were not as involved in the February Revolution as the economical factors were. The terrible working conditions and little pay that peasants received led to famine, riots and death. The destruction Russians faced in World War I and the lack of organisation within the government were results

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In 1855, opposition to the Tsarist Government lacked an effective unifying ideology. This remained the case throughout the 1855-1964 period, even once the communists had taken power. A key contributing factor towards this was the lack of unity opposition possessed. Opposition throughout the period came from several sources, however it was dominated by division in opinion and ideology, only fully uniting in the February revolution of 1917 which brought down Nicholas II and the Romanov dynasty. Even then opposition still differed in opinion, however it was unified by one common cause. Throughout the period, the peasantry were providing opposition to Russian Government. However opposition was repeatedly ineffective. The Polish revolt of 1863 during Alexander II's reign was crushed by the army in much the same way as the 1953 East German revolt and the 1956 Hungarian rebellion were crushed under Khrushchev's tenure. A continuing feature throughout the period is the key role which the army played in limiting opposition from the peasantry, with military force frequently being deployed throughout the period. Lenin used it in the Civil War against the Green armies of the peasantry and Stalin used a similar style of brute force in the assault on the peasantry during the collectivisation process, albeit on a much grander scale. The army was very important to the state and their loyalty to Nicholas II during the 1905 revolution was vital in ensuring he was not deposed then instead of twelve years later. The peasantry also lacked a shared ideology and there were several other factors which meant that a full scale peasant revolt was never likely to occur. The demographic and general backwardness of Russia, whose weakness was repeatedly shown by failures in war throughout the period, meant that the peasantry were never going to unify because poor communications and transport links simply…

    • 1167 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    While this was happening, World War 1 was not going well for Nicholas, who had still not won a large battle which he could tell the people about. This meant that most of the Russian moral had gone and the war effort had lost all of its momentum first gained. Also the severe winter did not help, it meant that there was a shortage of food for all classes of people, and the means of transport were disabled.…

    • 735 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The February Revolution of 1917 brought the 300-year-old Romanov dynasty to an end. I believe that the immediate cause of the February Revolution of 1917 was the collapse of the Tsarist regime under the gigantic strain of World War I. The underlying cause was the backward economic condition of the country, which made it unable to sustain the war effort against powerful, industrialized Germany. All the other contributing factors only had a slight impact, I believe that they were not as important as the Great War.…

    • 1065 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The February revolution was a big turning point in Russian history; demolishing the Tsarist autocracy and breaking the Romanov dynasty that had ruled Russia for hundreds of years. Due to many factors, involved in the war or long standing issues before the war, Tsar Nicholas II was forced to abdicate to Grand Duke Michael, desperate to keep the rule of Russia in the Romanov family. Grand Duke Michael stated he did not want to rule, therefore ending the absolute monarchy. This essay will explore the main reason for the February revolution of 1917, questioning whether the war started the revolt among the Russian people or simply acted as a catalyst for a result of long standing issues and opinions dating back to the previous revolution of 1905.…

    • 1389 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    By 1917, the Russian economy was in poor shape and near complete destruction because of the war effort. Food shortages were rampant which brought about civil unrest.…

    • 3026 Words
    • 18 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Essay On Tsarist Autocracy

    • 1209 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Many Russians were infuriated by the government because the Tsar did not take action when the country was deteriorating. In addition, he failed to carry his people during the war. With this catastrophe, the Russians demanded for their voices to be heard and for a change in the government and as a result, war occurred within the country. Selfish people, like Nicholas II who kept all the power to himself, often affect others deeply, or foster terrible consequences. For example, one may take all the credit for working on a group project. Other group members will feel injustice and demand for credit to be given to them since they worked as hard as all the others did. Likewise, the Tsar’s decision to maintain power led to citizens rioting and the fall of his power. People should always think about their actions before executing them, or else the aftermath would be…

    • 1209 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    LALALA

    • 1173 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Tsarism in Russia survived the revolution of 1905 but not that of March 1917 due to the difference in support it had in both years. It faced many difficulties throughout much of its late history; from the assassination of Alexander II and the similar attempts on Alexander III, to the downfall of the Romanov dynasty and the final abdication of Tsar Nicholas II on the 2nd of March. The way the country was being run and the strongly Slavophile views within Russian society made it difficult for any kind of revolt to occur at any time. There were, however, two main revolts against the Tsarist government; these were the 1905 revolution and the March revolution of 1917. The first of these predominantly failed to make any major changes to the government for lack of organisation and coordination of the Tsarist regime’s opponents and the persistently loyal attitude of the armed forces towards The Tsar. The March 1917 revolution, however, resulted in major political revolution and a brand new government due to the impact of the First World War and social and economic discontent within Russian society. The attitudes of the regime’s Liberal opposition greatly varied from 1905 in 1917, and this also played a significant part in pressuring the Tsar Nicholas II to abdicate.…

    • 1173 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The First World War was indeed a major cause of the Tsar's overthrow in the February Revolution. However, it was not the sole factor – rather, it was a catalyst and a focus that allowed all the other preexisting factors to boil over into revolution.…

    • 967 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the Revolution of 1905, Russians gained new political freedom. However, Russia was still plagued with problems. The famine from previous years still raged on. In 1914, Russia joined World War I. To pay for the war, Russia raised taxes, secured foreign loans, and printed more money. This combined with many other factors, left the people of Russia wanting change. They needed the government to change, the famine to end, and economic stability.…

    • 715 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    For his part, Nicholas did not see any grievances or resentment from his people. Letters to his wife, the Tsarina Alexandra, reveal the delight of the “good peasants” as he passed through. Thus, Nicholas’s view was certainly clouded by a belief in his own mythic status and more importantly, the invincibility of it. Indeed, so certain was he that Russia’s success lay in following a strict system of autocracy, that he dismissed any attempts at democratic reform as “senseless dreams.”…

    • 1052 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A Nationwide Revolution

    • 1615 Words
    • 7 Pages

    In 1905 the massacre of innocent people during a peaceful protest outside the winter palace in St Petersburg sparked the start of a nationwide revolution. This mass murder of the innocent protestors became known as ‘Bloody Sunday’. During the revolution strikes occurred across the nation involving more than 400,000 people, peasants attacked and raided the homes of their landlords and the Tsar’s uncle, the Grand Duke Sergei, was assassinated. Although Bloody Sunday was the immediate reason for the revolution, there were several causes which had caused long term grievances towards the Tsarist regime among the population of Russia leading up to 1905. These include the developments in the countryside and the lives of the peasants, the treatment of the inner-city working class and ethnic minorities, the repression and growth of the political opposition and the impact of the Russo Japanese war. Although all these factors contributed to the initiation of a revolution in Russia, I believe that the attitudes towards and treatment of the working class and the peasants was the most prominent reason for the uprising in 1905.…

    • 1615 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    History

    • 1023 Words
    • 5 Pages

    I believe that one of the main reasons for the Tsar’s abdication and the collapse of the Romanov rule was the poor state which Russia was in. Russia’s economy was at the worst it had ever been. The economy was far worse than other countries in the War. There were millions of peasants in Russia who had very limited amount of money. With such a limited amount of money, many peasants were unable to buy food, and drink to help them to survive. Peasants believed that they weren’t getting rewarded fairly for the work which they were doing. The upper classes’ benefit greatly due to work done by the Peasants. This created a negative atmosphere around Russia and helped fuel the need for a change. Peasants wanted change; they wanted to be rewarded more for their efforts at work. Russia was in an economic crisis. They had borrowed a huge amount of money from capital countries in order to fuel Russia’s war effort. This was a problem for Russia because they simply didn’t have the money to repay these countries. During the war the country had suffered inflation. Prices had risen dramatically for everyday items such as bread. The country was suffering and the Russian people’s families were dyeing in a war which wasn’t being funded. The Russian people were bound to be discontent and they only had one person to blame and that was the Tsar.…

    • 1023 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Russian Revolution Causes

    • 687 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Russian Revolution was one of the most important revolutions in history. Just like the French people, Russians got tired of being treated unfairly by the Higher classes, and so decided to revolt against them. However unlike the French, they could not be satisfied, or entertained for long by a single revolution, reason why they did many revolts. Each time retreating at its middle, until they finally were annoyed and determined enough to overthrow the Government and change their lives as they knew it. Even so, that wasn’t the only cause of the Russian Revolution, along the many revolts came various relevant causes and events, but only few of them stood out, with such importance to today’s history of the causes for the Russian…

    • 687 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Why did Revolution break out in Russia in 1905? In 1905, thousands of people gathered outside the Winter Palace, demanding change and immediate reform. Although their revolt was ultimately unsuccessful, it is important to wonder why many people were disgruntled with the Tsarist regime. It can be argued that 1905 revolution resulted in both long-term and crucial short term factors: the long-term factors which will be discussed are peasant land-hunger, the declining economy and the exploitation of Jews. For the first factor, I will begin by discussing the reign of Alexander II to Nicholas II; this will allow us to show the developments in time of peasant outrage. Secondly, the essay will discuss the reign of Alexander III who began terrible pogroms towards Jews and continued by Nicholas II, specifically the great pogroms of the early 1900’s. For the third area, the deteriorating economy created high unemployment and instability within the country. The key short term areas to discuss are: the disgruntlement of the working classes, Russo-Japanese war affected the social classes; it made people realise that Russia was possibly still a backward country because she lost the war; the trigger factor was Bloody Sunday which was the limit for many Russians because the protesters were shot dead by the Red Guard. It is also important to understand why each Tsar introduced certain policies, for a larger context. Thus, there are a variety of long-term and short-term factors to discuss. Let us firstly consider the long-term problem of peasant land hunger which led to the 1905 revolution. To understand this fully, it is crucial we look at the reign of Alexander II, Alexander III and Nicholas II which will allow us to analyse the changes and developments in time. The historian Maureen Perrie argues that the origins of the 1905 revolution can be traced back to the reign of Alexander II; she specifically points to the role of the peasantry arguing the involvement of the peasantry…

    • 4215 Words
    • 17 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    In 1905 all the tensions in Russia culminated in a revolution that nearly swept the Tsar from power. He had started a war with Japan in the hope that a quick victory would bring a surge of patriotism; however a series of humiliating defeats brought just the opposite. There were strikes in the factories and street demonstrations. In January 1905 a demonstration was fired on by the Cossacks and many were killed, this day is now known as Bloody Sunday. There were mutinies within the navy. Revolutionaries, including Lenin and Trotsky, returned from exile. Workers councils were formed in the cities. Whilst in the countryside, peasants murdered landlords and took over their land.…

    • 429 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays