Food was scarce and prices soared. Middle classes, the proletariat, peasants and ethnic minorities were all dissatisfied with the Tsarist system of Government. All of which led to the fall of the Tsarist Regime. The first sixth months of the war saw both successes and failures. In the early stages of the war the Army saw success at Galacia, but they saw heavy losses at Tannenburg and the Masurian Lakes.
The Tsar was desperate to get Russia back in control so in December the Tsar’s loyal army was used to demolish what was left of the working class strikers. This sent many of the revolutionaries in to exile. This restored order once again in the cities. What was a general
The months before and during the Bolshevik revolution, as well as the signing of the peace treaty at Brest-Litovsk cause turmoil among the socialists and brought Russia into civil war. The Provisional Government of Russia treated the middle and lower class citizens of Russia very poorly, ignoring their needs, as well as dragging them into World War I and two civil wars in a little over two decades. The workers of Russia wanted a democratic republic, or any government that would have allowed them to make a difference, and one that would help them as much as their current government was against them (Wade 27). In 1917, Russia was at war in World War I and was suffering economically because of it, as well as loosing the lives of many of their young men in battle. The people of Russia desired to leave World War I as smoothly and as quickly as possible (Wade 29).
The military leadership was terrible and the Tsar took it upon himself to have the role of personal command in 1915 (as told to him by Rasputin). This had put a great strain on Russia. Transport dislocation occurred because of fuel shortages, which made it hard to send troops and food to the front. Because of this neither the military nor the civilians had enough food to eat. Revolution occurred because of the rise of the opposition, which consisted of the army, protestors and civilians.
This resulted in risings such as the Spartacist rising where communists fuelled by the success of the Russian revolution almost occupied nearly every major city in Germany. However, the Reichstag led by the SPD had stepped into a power that was left by the Kaiser, and as a result of this it had no real option but to accept the Versailles Treaty. The most irritating part for the German people was the to pay reparations to Britain and France. Germany's failure to pay her debt led to the invasion of the Ruhr, resulted in very little success for France but did succeed in the complete collapse of the German economy. This led to the Beer Hall Putsch in 1923 Hitler aided by General Lundendorff and a few hundred supporters marched on the Munich town hall as a pretext to a national revolution, unfortunately for Hitler this attempt failed and he was sent to prison.
The crushing of Russian’s military added movement to the 1905 Revolution, as it made the people of Russia aware of the weakness of their military, making many people become un-patriotic. They were losing to a nation very few had heard of and it was humiliating. However, many of the defeats to the Russian military occurred after the Revolution had started, not causing its outbreak, but merely adding to the opposition to autocratic rule by the Tsar and prolonging the Revolution. The Russo-Japanese War also brought about economic problems for Russia, and this therefore meant there was a significant lack of money to solve any other problems present Russia, hence partly being responsible for
How Accurate is it to Say that the Growth of Reformist Groups in the Years from 1881 was the Main Cause for the 1905 Revolution? Following Alexander II’s assassination in 1881, Russia was faced with their worst nightmare which was faced with their worst nightmare which was a truly repressive Tsar, Alexander III. His unpopularity was caused by his extremely backwards ideology that left the Russian population dissatisfied without their ‘Tsar Liberator.’ Alexander III found himself battling with millions of people who wanted their previous freedom restored and autocracy destroyed. I personally feel that the main cause for the 1905 revolution was Alexander III himself in the long term. Alexander was hopelessly out of touch with the emerging realities of a modern Russia.
These events highlighted the weakness of the military and caused national humiliation, thus contributing to the outbreak of the 1905 Revolution. The crushing of Russian’s military added impetus to the 1905 Revolution, as it made the people of Russia aware of the weakness of their military and ashamed to be Russian. They were losing to a nation very few had heard of and it was embarrassing to the nation. The Russo-Japanese War produced economic
As well as this the Trans-Siberian railway was still unfinished and this meant that Russia struggled to move its troops and supplies form west to east. At the end of the war Russia lost the southern half of Sakhalin and Port Arthur. The Russian people were humiliated and ultimately blamed Nicholas II for their loss of pride as well as territory. Even the Tsars most supportive biographer concluded that this ‘disastrous and unnecessary
Russias humiliation in the war undermined support for the Tsar. This therefore caused the Russo-Japanese War to be partly responsible for the outbreak of the 1905 Revolution and it also helped prolong the Revolution as many of the events of the war took place after the Revolution had begun. The Russo Japanese War also brought economic problems to Russia, there was a significant lack of money to solve any other problems present in Russia which was another imprtant factor for the outbreak of the