Both soldiers and civilians blame the defeats in the war and the growing crises on the home front on Tsar. Even the Tsars only army stated it wouldn’t support him if a revolution occurred. Explain the importance/significance of World War 1 to the downfall of the Tsar WWI was a very significant event on the rule of Tsar Nicholas 11. Although it initially bolstered his position, it then became a large factor that contributed to Nicholas’ downfall. The Country was ecstatic when the Tsar made the announcement that Russia was going to fight against Germany in WWI.
How far do you agree that the main reason for the failure of the Provisional Government was the decision to continue fighting in the First World War? With only seizing to last 8 months, the Provisional Government was faced with many burdens from the very beginning of their reign. The government had economic and political problems resting on their shoulders, with having to effectively take over the running of the country, due to Nicholas leaving Russia in shambles. Political unrest, lack of authority and general discontent in the people of Russia meant the Provisional Government could be seen as doomed from the very beginning. However, although these factors were important in contributing to the decline of the Provisional Government, it was ultimately their internal decisions, one deciding to continue fighting in the war, that lead to the failure of it.
His army also consisted of millions of poor, starving peasants with bad equipment, poor supplies of rifles and ammunition. In 1916, two million soldiers were killed or seriously wounded, and one third of a million taken prisoners. The Russian population was horrified. They considered the Tsar irresponsible for taking over the army and held him responsible for everything; as a result instability was growing at an alarming rate for the Tsar who had once held himself so assuredly in power. Nicholas II took this course of action to assure himself he still had complete control of Russia.
On the other hand, it can be argued that Trotsky’s leadership of the Red Army during the Civil War was just as, or even more important in the Bolsheviks’ seizure of power, as was the image of the Bolsheviks as being patriotic heroes fighting against Tsarist leaders and foreign invaders. Obviously, it was the October Revolution which brought the Bolshevik Party into power, giving them control of Russia. It can therefore be said that, had this not occurred, then it is incredibly unlikely that the Bolsheviks would ever have come into power. The Revolution was, of course, Lenin’s major goal (though in the end it was organised by Trotsky) for his party, and it was through his leadership and staunch dedication to the fall of the Provisional Government that the Bolsheviks eventually seized power in October 1917. Had it not been for Lenin, the Bolsheviks would never have taken power in the first place, as free elections were to be held in November 1917, with the Social Revolutionaries (SRs) being the most popular at the time.
World War I began because of many obstacles that America would have to sustain in order for the war to diminish. On May 7, 1915, the German army sank a ship called the Lusitania. At this time, 1,198 people lost their lives and included 128 American people. This ship was carrying war shipments from the United States to England. The passengers on the ship knew there may be a possible attack on the ship but Woodrow Wilson condemned this attack as illegal and inhuman.
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.
However, a major contribution to the fall of the Romanov Dynasty was the views of the Tsar in regards to the war. When war was declared between germany and russia in August 1914, it seemed that the conflict would save the Romanov throne, not destroy it. At first it looked like a huge success, in the south the Austrians were pushed back in Galicia while in the north the germans were defeated at Gumbinnen. But then came the Germans response. At Tannenburg in August 1914 the Germans inflicted a heavy defeat on the Russians which resulted in masses of prisoners, stores, and guns taken off the Russians.
World War 1 was the major factor which led to the collapse of the Romanov Dynasty and put an end to Tsardom in February, 1917. Without the war and the hardship and strain on the Russian economy and moral a revolution would not have happened at this point in time. This is not to say a revolution would not have eventually happened, as many of the ingredients needed were already present. However, what World War 1 did was to heighten the discontent throughout society enough for it to revolt the upper classes in society where annoyed because Nicholas II had left Russia to be ran effectively by Rasputin whilst he was away at the front line leading to bribery and corruption plaguing the Russian political system; the lower class in Russia where angered by the total war attitude of the
Why did the Reds win the Russian Civil War? When the Bolsheviks (known as the Reds) came to power in November 1917, they started to set out new policies and make new rules such as closing the Constituent Assembly. These new ways of running Russia, were disliked by many and by the summer of 1918 Russia was in the state of the Civil War. The Reds managed to win the civil war in the end. The main reasons for why the Reds won the Civil War the geographical factors affecting the war, support for the Bolsheviks and the Red Army and crucially were the leadership of Trotsky.
If Russia’s economy was relatively healthy in early 1914, how did it manage to be in such a sad state of affairs by 1917? There are many factors that contributed to this: the decision to go to war, the direction of the Russian war effort between 1914 and 1917, economic and social factors as well as political developments. So how did the Russian Empire manage to collapse so quickly? The answer lies in the changing nature of warfare after 1914, as well as the social and economic strains that a war of that magnitude imposes. This is implying of course that the decision by Nicholas II to go to war against Germany and it’s allies in 1914 was wrong, but this is not the case.