In 1917, Russian Tsar Nicholas II was forced to abdicate from the throne after the March Revolution. I think that the main reason he abdicated was not because of the opposition of the people, but Russia’s failures in World War One, however there are many reasons considered for why he did it. The top four are: the opposition of the town workers, Russia’s poor performance in WW1, the weakness of Tsar Nicholas II, and the events in St Petersburg in February 1917. The opposition of the peasant and town workers were a very important factor in bringing down the Tsar. When Nicholas was first crowned Tsar in 1894, the whole country rejoiced and had a new hope for a brighter future, that things would be better than they were before.
Many historians have said Alexander II was considering the formation of a parliament in Russia. Furthermore, the assassination caused Alexander III to rule in reactionary nature in which many counter-reforms were created to limit the impact of the Great Reforms done by his father. This supports the view that the People’s Will were highly unsuccessful, even in the taking out of Alexander II. It can be said that the only example in this period of effective political opposition was the October 1917 revolution, where, unquestionably, the Bolsheviks took power and let their political vision be known. They were extremely successful in both the short term and the long term.
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.
Romanov essay Romanov family had ruled Russia since 1613 and under a autocratic government, during the time between 1904-1918 Nicholas the 2nd had ruled taking all the responsibilities of the major collapse of the tsarist regime. There were many contributing factors that lead to the eventual collapse of the Romanov regime. The major events that affected Romanov rule included the many social, economic and political problems. Particular events which also acted as a catalyst for the collapse of the dynasty included the 1905 revolution/Bloody Sunday, the Russo – Japanese war, the October Manifesto, Industrialisation strikes and unrest and ultimately resulting in the outbreak of World War 1. As a result of these combination of factors, WWI was the ‘straw that broke the camels back’ and resulted in the downfall of the tsarist regime in 1917.
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.
Extended Response 1 At the turn of the year 1905 Russia was in a state of social, political and economic turmoil. The entire system, political, social and economic was manufactured by the ruling classes to support their own privileges. Russia’s economy was imbalanced to the extent that the majority of the country lived in poverty while the Romanov’s and the Orthodox church controlled a vast fortune. In Russian society, human rights and personal freedoms for citizens didn’t exist. Instead, the Romanov’s had created a police state where capital punishment and discrimination were tolerated and even encouraged by the government so, not surprisingly, many Russians feared the absolute power of the Romanov dynasty.
The Germans, who continued making territorial gains (marked 2), eventually began aiding the pro-Tsarist White Russian forces, attempting to stem the very revolt they had helped to foster. However the damage to the Russian infrastructure was too great, and the "White" Russians were eventually forced from power by the "Red" Communists. The treaty of Brest-Litovsk was finally concluded with the new Bolshevik government on March 3, 1918, stripping their country of all provinces west of the Ukraine. That treaty was annulled by the Armistice of November 11, and the new government in Moscow eventually re-established its presence in all of the previously held lands. Ironically, one of the lasting actions by the Bolsheviks was the attempted indoctrination of German prisoners-of-war.
Many of the people looked up to the Tsar like a father, not because he was inspirational or because he was exceptional but because 85% of the country, the Peasants were uneducated and so were very easily controlled and influenced. If one is uneducated and knows nothing else except solid Russian traditions like Tsarism then no one will question it and ask if it really is the best option for a country like Russia, for every country has a political system that suits it. However as the peasants and proletariat became better educated they did ask questions and realised that they were under complete authoritarian control. Not only would they query Tsarism as a whole but the actual Tsar, in personality and ability. For however strong the system is at controlling the largely uneducated majority, Tsarism is only as powerful as the Tsar is at the time.
The First World War had a major effect of the Russians attitude towards the Tsar but a minor contribution to the decline and fall of the Romanov Dynasty. The Romanov Dynasty was destroyed as a result of various disastrous incidents and major mistakes made by the Tsar Nicholas the || himself. The First World War played a role in his abdication, but to a minor extent as they agitated the citizens to rise against the Tsar. Indeed the first world war had fundamental impacts upon the decline and fall of the Romanov dynasty some of these being the plummeting economy, lack of exports, and inflation. However, a major contribution to the fall of the Romanov Dynasty was the views of the Tsar in regards to the war.
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.