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.
Some historians even put the fall of the Romanovs down to the Russian people as they claim that Nicholas made reforms and attempted to listen to the people however, the Russian people were just unhappy. However, the main reason for the Romanov’s fall from power in 1917 was Nicholas II. The Russo-Japanese war and WW1 played a big part in the fall of the Romanovs. The failures in both wars lead to a great deal of negative feelings toward the government and the Romanovs. WW1 played a bigger part in the fall of the Romanovs in 1917 than the Russo-Japanese war as
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 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
Americans did not know who to trust anymore. People were dying due to false accusations of innocent people being Russian spies. "Germany and Hungary's communist movements were failing, which reduced the worldwide threat of communism"(Schwartz, Richard A.). The expectations of the revolutionary threat and the defeat of capitalism was not coming to realization. Although the Red Scare ended just as quickly as it began, it changed the lives of the
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.
The Russo-Japanese War was another factor that caused opposition and unrest in Russia and it lasted from 1904 to 1905. It started because both japan and Russia wanted to expand and dominate in places like Manchuria and Korea. Russia suffered many defeats in the Russo-Japanese war, against a nation that was considered by the Russian people as inferior. This humiliated the people of Russia, and caused them to lose confidence in Tsar Nicholas II, as well as causing great military, economic, and political problems for Russia. An example of a great failure of the military was at the Battle of Tsushima.
Since Russia performed poorly against nations like Germany, the people of Russia felt let down, and all sense of pride was lost. However, it was not just the Russian people who felt let down by the Tsar’s actions; after 1916, desertions within the military became more common, in some cases the soldiers would stop and turn around trains so they could get back to the cities from the Front. As mutiny became more frequent, military soldiers and officials were beginning to join in with protests in the cities they returned to. Nicholas’ lack of leadership skills meant that when faced with conflict in the past, he relied upon the army to restore order. Without the military, Nicholas could no longer assert his authority upon the people of Russia.
Petersburg had the largest army in Europe, Russians still lost the war. One of the reasons for the loss on the Russian side of the Crimean War was the poor transportation, the Russians simply couldn’t get there supply’s to the troops on the front lines. Another issue was their poor industries. They couldn’t make their weapons or clothing to the same degree that the other side was because they had not yet partaken in the industrial revolution. It’s funny because the reason they went in to war was one of their major downfalls in losing the war.
This was significant as it meant that in the times of potential danger for the PG, they couldn’t rely on the people to support them. This situation only got worse as the months went on. Although the PG were fighting in the war for a good reason, to ensure financial support from the allies, many of the soldiers were unaware of this and had little idea of what they are fighting for. Subsequently they weren’t motivated to fight, generally opposed the war effort and were a weak enemy to fight against. This was proven in June as they launched an offensive on the Germans in Russia; they suffered