The Tsar made many failures as Commander in chief of the army especially at the battle of Tannenburg where the majority of the Russian second army was destroyed which forced the Russian army to retreat. This coupled with other military defeats led to mass desertions towards cities. It also led to many soldiers knowing of the Tsars failures which would have supported the claim for a revolution. The war effort also caused the Zemstva and the Congress of Representatives of Industry and Trade to grow which were used to help stimulate production and provide medical facilities. The government failed to efficiently incorporate these into the war effort which resulted in them becoming a symbol for the shortcomings in the war effort.
Conscripted peasants had begun to lose interest, and their welfare was harmed with the conscription of animals, meaning beasts of burden and the like were deposed to military use. Most of the officers had bought their positions for reasons of prestige and glory, meaning that they were inexperienced and not fit to lead armies into war. He, despite the warnings of his advisors, joined the front ranks. Nicholas believed he was doing the right thing, rather than realizing the incompetence of his own aggressive nationalism. This led to Russia being in the control of the German Alexandria, who was hated by the Russian people because of her inability to speak Russian, her reliance on Grigory Rasputin, a mystic who claimed to heal her son, her antisocial, depressed attitude and a general political incompetence to rival Nicholas’s.
There were a lot of different factors in 1917 which were not there in 1905 some of these factors strongly suggest why Tsarism was abolished in 1917 but not the years before. Some of the events that occurred where World War One which had a catastrophic impact on Russia at the time, the lack of Faith in the Tsar as he had lost one war before and was losing another, the lack of faith in reforms such as the October Manifesto as that was revoked after only a few years and the lack of military conduct as the Cossacks the Tsars most loyal and ruthless troops left him as they wanted change like everybody else. World War One was defiantly one of the main factors that caused the fall of the Tsar as it truly showed to everyone that he was a terrible Country leader as people were dying in the city’s, because they had no food, fuel in 1905 life never got that tough for the people as they had enough to survive but as all the transport links where being used for moving the military so food was left on the docks to rot, as the people in the city’s had no food people started to start Bread riots to try to get the Tsars attention as they really had no food and it was there last resort. Furthermore people had no clean Living and working conditions a lot worse than before. These Factors started to turn everyone against the Tsar as they could see how terrible he really was and how much he wasn’t helping the country or its people which finally lead the end of the Tsar.
Russian train infrastructure was relatively new and underdeveloped, when war broke out the rail lines were used to transport troops and supplies for war, food shortages in cities were afflicting the masses, this caused discontent at home. The decision of Tsar Nicholas II to lead his troops on the front line is a debateable one, however I believe that due to his lack in military training and knowledge on how to lead troops, coupled with the fact he left the Tsarina to rule in his absence with the assistance of Rasputin , that this decision was a terrible one. Tsar Nicholas II dismissed his uncle as the head of the military and made the fateful decision of leading his troops himself. He believed that his presence would inspire the troops, however his lack of military expertise proved disastrous for the Russian war efforts. The Tsar left his wife to rule in his stead with the aid of Rasputin who was an advisor to the Romanov family.
He was a bad decision maker, people thought of him as weak. If a tsar was likely to be over-throned it would be because he did not put enough effort in maintaining his position and fulfilling the people’s wishes. Which was exactly what Nicholas did, he failed to understand his people, failed to make political, economic and social changes for improvement, refused to accept advice, and eventually lost respect and control of his people, especially because the average working hour was 11 hours on week days and 10 on Saturdays. Because Nicholas had little knowledge and no intelligence of how to operate such a large empire, he could barley manage it at all. He had always listened to his wife Alexandra and occasionally asked advice from her.
How far was the impact of World War One the crucial factor in the fall of the Romanovs in February 1917. This essay will argue that the impact of World War One was a very crucial factor in the fall of the Romanovs in February 1917. The events in the Revolutions of 1905 and 1917 also show that Nicolas II was not a good leader and these events led to the fall of the Romanovs. World War One caused many problems for the Government, the army and the people at home. Having a war caused inflation, government spending rose from 4-30 million, taxation increased, and money became practically worthless and the price of food and fuel quadrupled.
The failure of foreign policy in the years 1514-1525 can be attributed to many things. The combination of Henry's isolation from European affairs and the fact that his attempts to raise tax were ultimately unpopular failures, meant that he had no way to impose himself upon Europe. Even when he did manage to scrape together the finances needed for a strong foreign policy his reliance on his allies led to disaster. As soon as Henry took the throne in 1509, it was obvious that he was a king that wanted to fight a war. However, wars generally led to very expensive costs to the country.
The people are aware of the ‘barrier that exists’ between the Tsar and the masses which is indicative of the increasing unrest in Russia. The barrier has been caused by his pre-occupation with his family and the consequent neglect of his public duties. The nature of the source as a petition shows that the people are trying to personally communicate with the Tsar, something that has been lacking until 1905.
The war was a large mistake for the Tsar. Although Russia obtained some successes at the beginning, they were facing one of the most advanced military powers in the world and were being led by incompetent Generals as well as being badly equipped Nicholas II made a grave error, when he fired the military commander and took command of the army. This was a mistake in the fact that he had no military experience whatsoever and from then on, the Tsar was seen as responsible for every failure and defeat that Russia suffered. It saw the loss of 200,000 men and around 15 million peasants were enrolled in the army from the farms. This would lead to the army losing their faith in the Tsar which was extremely vital, for as long as the army remained loyal to the him, they were able to put down any threat of revolution however, the poor conditions eventually led to them refusing to fire upon rioters.
The other people were middle class people, who were more educated and wealthier than the worker class, but still minor against the tsar. Nicholas II wasn’t a good ruler: he avoided important decisions, neglected the importance of the policy and suppressed any resistance. He tried to crush any fears of a revolution by entering a war and consequently uniting his country, but his war tactics weren’t glorious. Russia’s people, the ones who accepted the life for many years, started to stir up, for example workers were striking, but their actions were brutally wiped out. As long as the tsar had his army he was unconquerable.