How far was Nicholas II responsible for the fall of the Romanovs in 1917? While Nicholas II was a major factor in the fall of the Romanovs there were other reasons such as the removal of the Dumas and him losing the support of the armed forces. Nicholas II became commander in chief of the army during world war one and in doing so left his wife Alexandra to rule the country. The fact that he had let someone so inexperienced take control angered many people due to the Tsar not leaving someone more experienced to rule and also due to her being unpopular as a result of her German nationality. Alexandra appointed Rasputin, who had saved her sons life, as her personal adviser.
How far was the Russo Japanese War responsible for the outbreak of the 1905 Revolution? The Russo Japanese war of 1904 was a factor contributing to the outbreak of the 1905 revolution, however it is not completely true to say that it was entirely responsible. In Russia at this time and before, there was a lot of tension. The population of Russia were very unhappy with a number of things, for example: no land, pollution, no money etc. This caused a lot of distress amongst Russia’s population as well as depression.
More over, the tsar was out of touch with his people and the changes that were occurring through out the empire. The First World War acted as a catalyst and a cause for social change and revolution because Russia’s many underlying military, economic, social and political problems were brutally exposed and meant it was unable to cope with the enormous challenges posed by the War. The lack of proper military administration and war readiness led to massive military defeats, low morale and a subsequent loss of confidence in the Tsar. While the Russians had the largest military force in Europe during the war, they were predominantly peasants who were not prepared for war As the historian D. Thompson said “Russian soldiers were ill-clothed and ill-trained, and always under-equipped”(D.Thomson, 1957, p.564), with up to 25% of Russian soldiers sent unarmed to the front unarmed. The soldiers also had to fight in atrocious, unsanitary conditions.
In the battle of Tannenburg the loss was very drastic; 30000 men wounded or killed, 95000 captured and 500 guns. This portrays the heavy defeat that Russia and this dropped moral in the army and at home in Russia. This shows the losing of the battle created a growth in opposition against the Tsar due to the public of Russia blaming the Tsar as he commanded the troops to go to war. Peasants felt annoyed and angry and Nicholas. This strengthened the opposition against the Tsar.
The Americans and the West felt threatened by the Russian and Communist Revolution because they feared Communism would spread to them. The revolution in Russia had been chaotic, and it taking foot in the USA would have been horrific. Communism had previously been a frightening theory, but now it had become a sudden reality. World War I was still taking place at this time, and it was 1917 that America reluctantly entered the European War. Wartime hysteria was likely to transform into post-war hysteria, which it did, this period becoming known as the Red Scare.
As it was them who started the protest which turned into a revolution and also they were the ones behind the mutiny of the troops. However, the military was having many problems such as the war was going horribly wrong with many casualties, poor commanding from officers and limited military resources and equipment. The peasants were doing the fighting and the dying. So this could be a small contributing factor to the fall of the Romanov's on several different reasons. Firstly the tsar did not help the peasants personally, but instead leave the burden to the prime ministers when they cannot rule like a democracy today.
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. In 1917 people started to lose faith in terms of reforms as the October Manifesto set up by Witte to help people and try to get the country back on track was removed after only a few years of it being in place not long enough for it to have an impact on Russian life. As in 1905 there had never been any real big reforms like on the October manifesto so people where excited as they thought something new and good would be
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. This made people angry as they could not afford supplies for themselves and their families, which made them, turn to the Tsar for help but he wasn’t seen to be doing much about the effects of war on the people at home. Furthermore, as well as not being able to
The Great depression itself also created reasons for the outbreak of aggression in the Manchurian crisis. The Great depression is the reason that Hitler fell in to power. Hitler did not agree with the concept of collective security and the attempts to prevent war. Nearly all the nations gave up hope and lost motivation to preserve peace and
With Liverpool gone from office the Tories had lost the only thing that was keeping the different factions together. With him gone old arguments and grudges soon came out into the open. It also meant that the Tory party was now weakened, as it had no united leadership and was unable to settle on a stable arrangement in which all members were agreed. After Liverpool, Canning became Prime Minister and although he had a good plan for improving the country he lost most of his cabinet when Peel, Wellington and five other ministers resigned because they didn’t like his foreign policy or his pro-Catholic feelings. This meant that he had to draft in Whig party members to fill the gaps, which then reduced the Tory presence in Cabinet.