However, the greatest humiliation came at the battle of Tsushima in May 1905. Russia lost 25-35 warships in this clash. Many mistakes were key to the loss of this war. To begin with the Japanese were far better prepared to tackle disease with medical water testing devices. As well as this the Trans-Siberian railway was still unfinished and this meant that Russia struggled to move its troops and supplies form west to east.
The months before and during the Bolshevik revolution, as well as the signing of the peace treaty at Brest-Litovsk cause turmoil among the socialists and brought Russia into civil war. The Provisional Government of Russia treated the middle and lower class citizens of Russia very poorly, ignoring their needs, as well as dragging them into World War I and two civil wars in a little over two decades. The workers of Russia wanted a democratic republic, or any government that would have allowed them to make a difference, and one that would help them as much as their current government was against them (Wade 27). In 1917, Russia was at war in World War I and was suffering economically because of it, as well as loosing the lives of many of their young men in battle. The people of Russia desired to leave World War I as smoothly and as quickly as possible (Wade 29).
To what extent did the Russo Japanese War cause the 1905 Revolution The 1905 Revolution was a series of strikes which took place all over Russia. Unlike the 1917 Revolutions this was spontaneous and took place as a result of considerable resentment about the social, economic and political situation in Russia. The Russo Japanese war was one of the main factors that caused the Revolution, however there were other significant events, such as the Bloody Sunday and long term causes that could be argued to be the outbreak of the Revolution. The Russo-Japanese War lasted from 1904 to 1905, and arose from both Japan and Russia wanting to expand and dominate in Korea and Manchuria. Allthoug the Russians saw themselves as far superior in military power and Japan was a nation that was considered inferior and was not one of the Great Powers, they suffered a humiliating defeat.
In 1904 where negotiations between Japanese and Russia broke down, Japan declared war on Russia and the Japanese Navy attacked the Russian Eastern fleet at Port Arthur. The Russian’s naval force was destroyed at Tsushima Bay and Russia’s only all year naval bases in Port Arthur were captured in January 1905. When news of these defeats reached back to Petrograd and Moscow, it stimulated the social unrest, which had already been present in Russia; a failed military campaign did look good for Nicholas II. The Russo-Japanese War was a disaster for Russia not just military but both socially and
Tsar Alexander III’s reforms were reverse ‘reaction’ of what his father, Alexander II, did before him to improve the country he ruled over. Repressive policies under Nicholas II were continued right up until early 1905 when Bloody Sunday took place outside Winter Palace and hundreds of Russian citizens were massacred by the Cossacks. It appears that there was extremely little, if any, political reform during 1881-1905. Political reform after 1905 began to rise. A clear turning point for politics in Russia was the publishing of the October Manifesto.
When Nicholas took the throne, he had some experience in Government under his belt, but due to his father's untimely death he had not fully been elevated into the higher tiers of the Russian Government. Nicholas was also very naive in his dealings with the Urban Intelligentsia, which would later hamper his reign, and plague his thoughts and actions he would take during his reign. When the Japanese took Port Arthur in the Russo - Japanese war, and the Tsar realized he must admit defeat, he also promised
This resulted in risings such as the Spartacist rising where communists fuelled by the success of the Russian revolution almost occupied nearly every major city in Germany. However, the Reichstag led by the SPD had stepped into a power that was left by the Kaiser, and as a result of this it had no real option but to accept the Versailles Treaty. The most irritating part for the German people was the to pay reparations to Britain and France. Germany's failure to pay her debt led to the invasion of the Ruhr, resulted in very little success for France but did succeed in the complete collapse of the German economy. This led to the Beer Hall Putsch in 1923 Hitler aided by General Lundendorff and a few hundred supporters marched on the Munich town hall as a pretext to a national revolution, unfortunately for Hitler this attempt failed and he was sent to prison.
Tsarina Alexandra was influenced by Gregori Rasputin, an unpopular and scruffy “holy” man, who was supposedly controlling her son’s haemophilia condition. Nicholas’s decisions at the Eastern Front caused the country's military failures; by 1917 over 1,300,000 men had been killed in battle, 4,200,000 wounded and 2,417,000 had been captured by the enemy. First World War had a disastrous impact on the Russian economy; food was in short supply and this led to rising prices. By January 1917 the price of commodities in Petrograd had increased by six times. In an attempt to increase their wages, industrial workers went on strike.
Russia focused on the Far East and in doing so, came into conflict with the Japanese who were also looking to expand. When the war broke out, it appeared to be an easy win, however it seemed that that was not the case after all. Russia’s humiliating defeat undermined the ruler of Russia, the Tsar. The Russians had faced national humiliation, which resulted in the people of Russia feeling unsettled about their government. The loss of support in the Tsar meant that more people sought to join the opposing groups, making them continuously more popular.
Also the Tsar still had the support of the Russian army and the navy which stopped any serious uprising. Some historians believe the October manifesto was important in the survival of the Tsar because of the affect it had on the liberal opposition and the peasantry. However i believe it was not so important because it did not entirely solve the problem it only weekend the threat posed. For example the October manifesto did not entirely appease the liberals, although it promised a Duma/parliament there was still a split in the party. And it was clear one group was not satisfied with what the manifesto promised.