In an attempt to increase their wages, industrial workers went on strike. The Tsar’s indecisiveness, the reality of him continuing the war against Germany although there were many thousands of casualties and the rest of Russia was starving due to the bad transportation systems, and the fact that he had broken his promises from the October Manifesto after the
Many Russian citizens were displeased by Kerensky’s decision to persist the war against Germany. Russia’s economy was unable to finance a long war, there was a poor transport network and there were not enough munition factories. Therefore many citizens took part in protests against Kerensky in Saint Petersburg. Even though a treaty with Germany was signed only in 1918, it was the Bolsheviks who fostered the provisional government to have peace negotiations with Germany. More than a million soldiers had simply abandoned the army to go home or seized land from the nobility.
According to Murrell (1998) “Food shortages, the tsar’s weak leadership, and Russia’s disastrous performance in World War I heightened unrest”. During World War I Russia had overstretched herself and Russia’s economy could not meet the need of both the soldiers sent out and the people at home. In Russia there was a shortage of food and fuel as the railway carried military supplies for the army instead of supplies for cities (J.E Abbot and others, 1981, p.1059, 1060 and 1141). Although Russian forces on the front of the war were loyal, soldiers behind the lines were growing discontent as they realized they would be sent to the front, probably killed, and by 1916 nearly all educated Russians opposed the czar. (World Book, 2008 Edition, p. 553 Volume 16 Q-R).
The Weimar Republic had signed the Treaty of Versailles, 1919, which increased their unpopularity. The Germans hated the Treaty because they saw it as accepting the blame for causing the First World War and admitting defeat. Also, the Treaty came with very harsh including paying reparations of £660 million to Britain and France. The people of Germany did not understand why the government signed this questioned whether they wanted the best for Germany. The hatred for the Weimar Republic kept on growing and this led to the Kapp Putsch, 1920.
How far was the first world war the main cause of the weaken of the Tsar’s rule between 1914 and 1917? The First World War was responsible for the downfall of the Romanovs in four main ways. The loss of support to the battlefield, the war crippled the Russian economy, has a political impact on Russia and last but not least, through the war, Russia experienced great military humiliations. Firstly, the poor internal communication prevented the support to the battlefield such as agricultural workers and horses to the army. In addition, the takeover of railway lines of the army thwarted food, armours and weapons to reach the army quickly.
There were countless protests against the war with Japan and news of defeat after defeat only angered the Russian people more as they wanted a change in government. (This is all good, but to make it even better, Matteo could have added that the Russian people began to question the Tsar’s ability and that of his government to govern Russia). The trigger event that sparked the 1905 revolution was the Bloody Sunday massacre. A peaceful protest, led by Father Gapon, wanted to give a petition to the Tsar demanding fair changes in Russia. However, Cossack
In contrast the Tsar weakened the Duma and a progressive bloc was formed. This suggests that the Tsar is vulnerable to revolution whereas the Communist rule is repressive and very few ever speak out against it. Economically the Civil War had the greatest impact in shaping the Russian Government policies. This is because War Communism was introduced and later fine tuned into the New Economic Policy. 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.
To what extent does the First World War explain the outbreak of two revolutions in 1917? 27/10/2011 22:10 To a certain extent, the First World War was a major contributing factor to the two revolutions that took place in 1917. The war worsened the issues that already existed in Russia and also highlighted the incompetence of the Tsar and the Provisional Government both as competent rulers and, in the case of the Tsar, a military commander. However, World War One was not the only reason that the revolutions took place; Russia was already undergoing social, political and economical problems that largely contributed to the fall of the Tsar and later the Provisional Government. The war was a large mistake for the Tsar.
Causes of the Russian Revolution, Feb 1917 With a complex dynamic such as that of 1917 Russia there cannot be one single cause, we must examine whether it was the long term, medium term or short term causes that was the biggest catalyst in causing the revolution. The Tsarist Autocratic system had failed to industrialize Russia and prevented it from becoming a major European power. In 1905 the Russian people were not happy with every aspect of their life, which caused social unrest leading to a year of “revolution”. The war was not going well for Russia and with the Tsar in charge of the army, leaving the Tsarina to rule at home matters were only made worse. The War also had massive social and economic impacts on Russia that resulted in a strike that ended with a revolution.
Their anger was made evident during the peasant disturbances of 1902. The landowners were also unhappy with the terms of emancipation. They lost the free labour of their serfs and a large amount of land. As a result many were facing huge debts by 1905. Another long-term cause of the 1905 Revolution was the general disappointment with which many Russian people viewed the reforms of the previous decades.