The fall of the Tsar in Russia in 1917 was the culmination of many factors. It was clear since the beginning of his reign that Nicholas II was not suited to his role as Tsar, mainly due to his character and personality. Although Nicholas II issued the October Manifesto to pacify the discontent of people temporarily, he still had to face some problems after the 1905 Revolution. To regain the support from people, he needed to carry out the reforms in the October Manifesto. His reform included different aspect; such as political, social and economic.
The system of land distribution was unfair and most peasants received 4% less land than they had rented before, many received much less. In reality they had less land than when they were serfs. This was seen as unfair as they believed that, because they had worked the land for generations, it should now belong to them. The Mir still restricted peasants’ movements and as consolidation and enlargement of property was difficult, there was little incentive to improve the land and adopt modern methods, resulting in a decline in productivity The huge redemption taxes also meant that the peasants had to sell many of the crops they needed to eat and the Mir kept the peasants tied to their commune and still controlled by rules. Peasants felt disappointed and disillusioned and many rioted.
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.
The people of Russia desired to leave World War I as smoothly and as quickly as possible (Wade 29). The price of supplies were growing, as well as their young men were dying in a world war; but the Russian Provisional Government denied their wishes for peace in the war, angering its citizens. The Provisional Government took power after Tsar Nicholas II gave power to his brother, but his brother refused to accept imperial power. The Provisional Government was then created to determine the structure of the next government.
Assess the causes for the creation of the duma in 1905 During the late 19th century and the early 20th century, the nation of Russia was undergoing a period of turmoil, change, poverty and revolt. The current Tsar, Nicholas II, was a leader put in charge at the wrong time, and coupled with a few bad choices, was falling out of favour with his people. He was losing his grip on the Russian leadership and drastic change was needed to make the people happy, thus the Duma was created. The Duma was an elected parliament for Russia, with the power to make laws, and due to this Nicholas II could no longer be called an autocrat. This allowed freedom of speech in Russia, letting all males in Russia the right to vote.
Nicholas II was faced with various issues during his reign from 1894-1917. His ineffectual personality was partly to blame for his ineffectual ruling. He was not able to listen to the needs of his public, and so violent uprisings such as Bloody Sunday occurred. His response was to initiate the October Manifest and the instigation of the Russian Duma, but neither of these pleased the public and so the February revolution of 1917 occurred, which ultimately created the fall of Tsar Nicholas II. Nicholas II attempted to rule Russia as an autocrat as he believed that autocracy was the only was to save Russia from anarchy.
Before the PG came into power, the already dire economic, agrarian and social problems were getting worse and worse as the war continued and as a result, the majority of Russians opposed the war effort. This meant that from the beginning of their reign, the PGs decision to carry on with the war made them unpopular as food shortages and the economy got worse and worse. For example, by 1917, the price of bread had doubled while the rations halved from their original figures in 1914. This discontent was proven as early as April the 20th as a riot broke onto the streets demanding that Milyukov, the head of Russian foreign affairs and key war minister, was sacked. This was significant as it meant that in the times of potential danger for the PG, they couldn’t rely on the people to support them.
Also, compared to other European countries, Russian agriculture was still backward. This is because the Great Spurt under Witte focused on industrial growth and neglected agriculture. This then brought rapid growth in population in cities as peasants moved in to work in factories. As a result, working and living conditions became extremely poor, giving people more reasons to rebel and start a revolution. Furthermore, there were also political causes for the outbreak of the 1905 revolution.
They lost the free labour of their serfs and a large amount of land. As a result many were facing huge debts by 1905. A further long-term economic cause of the 1905 Revolution was the worsening conditions of both peasants and urban workers. The famines in 1897, 1898 and 1901 had led to shortage and distress in the countryside. Living and working conditions in Russia’s industrial towns were no better.
War Communism was radical and involved the militarisation of Labour which was disliked by the people and made people focus purely on the needs of the war. This contrasts greatly with the First World War (WW1) because the Tsar didn’t militarise Labour completely and so the demand for supplies in WW1 couldn’t be met by the factories. Starvation was nothing new in Russia and during WW1 the supplies couldn’t reach the troops on the front line and so many soldiers had little to eat. With War Communism the majority of the food would be taken from a household to feed an army and the result was that Russians starved, this time the household starved and there was little incentive to grow more. War Communism was introduced as the focus of Lenin was on the military and getting supplies to the soldiers of Russia quickly.