Nicholas poor leadership and traditional beliefs meant that there was little change in Russia, outside Russia many countries were further advancing in industrialization where as Russia was still lacking behind. Possibly the most fatal mistake that the Tsar made was appointing himself Commander in Chief of the Russian military as he was suddenly personally responsible for the many defeats in the first world war. The most devastating being the Brusilov Offensive of June 1916, killing about 1.5 million soldiers. The people of Russia felt let down. However, it was not just the Russian people who felt let down by the Tsar’s actions, the soldiers themselves began to desert, in some cases even killing their own officers.
How far was Nicholas II responsible for the fall of the Romanovs in 1917? The fall of the Romanov dynasty in 1917 was the culmination of many factors. It is perhaps widely noted that Nicholas II was not suited to his role as Tsar, mainly due to his character and personality. Resentment of his wife and her involvement with the mystical Rasputin was also widespread and helped contribute to the collapse of the monarchy. Also the state of the country during World War One left a lot to be desired and created a lot of dissatisfaction amongst the Russian people.
This continued cycle of unjust behaviour towards the serfs led to the beginning of distrust and a lack of faith in the monarchy from the public. The people of Russia continued to lose their faith in the monarchy when Tsar Nicholas came to the throne – one of the turning points for the reputation of the Tsar was the Russo-Japanese war in 1904/1905. This war was particularly significant because of the humiliation Russia suffered in this time: They had expected to win the war easily, as Russia was considered a huge and powerful country compared to Japan. However, when they were defeated easily by the Japanese, it was seen as an embarrassment, as well as an example of how the Russian army was not as powerful as it seemed. This, although not
This in turn caused his support to wither and his opponents to build up in number. By being in control of the Army, Nicholas II left the running of the government to his German wife Alexandra. The Tsarina Alexander was unpopular for two main reasons: she was German, causing many to accuse her of being to sympathetic with the enemy of the war but also, she was under the influence of the much despised Rasputin. Rasputin was acting as Tsarina Alexandra’s confidant whilst Tsar Nicholas II was fighting in the war. Rasputin had a bad reputation for living a rather unorthodox lifestyle and was well known for his sexual promiscuity.
The prices had risen so much that transport was limited, so not much food could reach Petrograd before it was rotting. The Russians were furious losing the support for their leader. Nicholas was appointed after his father died to be the autocratic ruler of Russia. Nicholas by this time of the late 19th Century when he came into power should’ve realized that he
The Tsar himself was responsible for the fall of the Romanovs in 1917, mostly due to how he was not suited to the role as the Tsar. This was due toAYASHA IMRAN and start a revolution. Nicholas II dissolved the Duma and introduced bread rationing which caused families at home to suffer and strikes and demonstration increased due to tsars rationing threats, working conditions and inflation. The Tsar did not do anything successful to stop these strikes or to stop the inflation. His tactics were wrong which caused himself the responsible for the fall of the Romanovs in 1917.
The war caused a great deal of problems for the government, originally they had announced that their involvement would be entirely defensive but were pressured into an offensive battle by the Allies. This greatly angered the already the de-moralised soldiers, due to conscription the army was made up of mainly peasants who weren’t trained to fight and wanted to return home and gain more land for themselves. The June Offensive, which was put in place with the hope that a victory would strengthen moral, did the exact opposite. Far from strengthening Russian army morale, this offensive proved that Russian army morale no longer existed. No Russian general could now count on the soldiers under his command actually doing what they had been ordered to do.
The unpopularity on him heightened when Russia lost several battles after he became in control. The lack in faith of the Russian high command links into the low morale of the Russian army. In 1916 alone,
However, the First World War changed all this. Russia was known throughout Europe as being a ‘backwards’ country that desperately needed to industrialise. Russia’s lack of modernisation meant that their transportation systems were extremely underdeveloped, and thus getting equipment to the Front proved to be a great challenge indeed. This resulted in many shortages; for instance, in 1915, some Russian artillery units were limited to firing three shells per day. This, in turn, caused a significant number of casualties and deaths, and by the end of 1915, two million men had been wounded or taken prisoner.
To what extent was Nicholas II responsible for the fall of the Romanov Dynasty The fall of the Romanov Dynasty was greatly impacted by the influence of the Tsar Nicholas. His abortive role as a leader and his failure to provide for the people of his country were the just some of the factors that lead to the collapse of the 300 year old dynasty. The fall however was not an occurrence that happened instantaneously but instead a gradual collapse that had many contributing factors such as the influence of the Revolutionaries, the impact of WW1 which induced the detrimental rule of Alexandra and Rasputin and the role that each of these had in developing the social and economic grievances of the country. It is indisputable that Nicholas II had a substantial influence on the demise of the Dynasty. He was a had an ardent devotion to his family.