Resistant to & fearful of change
Autocracy / Tsar
Inexperienced / easily led
Arrogant / distant from his people
Poor transport /communications
Size of empire / problem of communications
Finns / Ukrainians / Poles / Muslims
Ethnic diversity of empire
Problem of national minorities wanting greater independence
Anger at policy of Russification
Economic backwardness
Peasantry / backward methods / low productivity
Urban working class / poor living & working conditions
Non-revolutionary (Middle
Class liberals opposed to
violence)
Background factors (pre 1914)
Octobrists
Kadets
Content with October Manifesto
Saw October Manifesto as first step in reform
Believed in a peasant-led revolution and the setting up of a commune system
Social Revolutionaries
Revolutionary (believed that
the violent overthrow of
Tsarism was the only option)
Political frustration
Mensheviks
Believed in a Marxist revolution at some time in future - in
the meatime, believed in working with other parties to
alleviate the conditon of the working classes
Social Democrats (Marxist)
Bolsheviks
Believed in a Marxist revolution ASAP and without
cooperation with other parties
14 million mobilised / major social upheaval caused
by such mass mobilisation
Defeats
Military
Tannenberg / Masurian Lakes
Casualties
1915 - 2 million dead / 5 million injured
Shortages
By 1915 / artillery limited to 2-3 shells per day
Administrative inefficiency led to shortages
Impact on countryside
Economic
Impact in towns
Zemgor
To what extent was
the First World War
a cause of the
revolution in
Russia in February
1917?
Conscription / horses and fit workers taken / reduced productivity
Peasants hoarding grain
Influx of new workers into Petrograd
Shortages of food and fuel / higher prices
Limited effectiveness / frustration at limited role
Young, health workers conscripted
Impact on peasantry
Impact on Middle Classes
Frustration at lack of involvement
Impact on landed classes
Value of land reduced
Social
The role of WW1
Exacerbation of already-existing class hatred - masses V the elite
Frustration of Middle Classes who want to help with war effort
Collapse in public confidence
Closure of Duma 1915
Progressive Bloc (ex-Duma members / formed 1915) wanted say in running of the war
Pavel Milyukov (leader of the Kadets) says in 1916 that Tsarist policies are
either 'stupid or treason'
Union of Towns and Union of Zemstvos begin trying to organise military supplies
Tsar's unwillingness to work with Zemgor to deal with problems caused by the war
Takes blame for military disasters
Political
Tsar become Commander in Chief
Isolated from events in Petrograd
When asked about loss of confidence he
replies 'Do you mean that I am to regain
the confidence of my people, or they are
to regain mine?'
German - suspected of being a spy
Tsarina
Rasputin - rumours of an affair - murdered Dec 1916
Frequent ministerial changes - 15 different ministerial changes in a year / political instability
Growth in literacy (part of a long term trend) helps to corrode the myth of Tsarist autocracy
The war had served to reveal the anachronistic nature of the regime
Winter of 1916-7 particularly harsh - led to harvest failures / food shortages
Role of weather
23 February - Combination of: strike at Putilov Steel
Works / International Women's Day march / street
demonstrations over food & fuel prices
The spark (events of
Feb 1917)
27 February - formation of
Petrograd Soviet
8 marker
Breakdown in military
discipline - 170,000 soldiers
mingle with the
demonstrators
By end of 1917 1&1/2 thousand Soviets throughout Russia
In what ways did the First World War lead to the downfall of
Tsar Nicholas II in February 1917?
In what ways did Tsar Nicholas bring about his own downfall in February 1917?
To what extent was the First World War responsible for the downfall of Tsar
Nicholas II in the Revolution of February 1917?
Typical questions
22 marker
To what extent did economic factors bring about the
downfall of Tsar Nicholas II in February 1917?
To what extent did the mistakes of Tsar Nicholas II bring about the
Revolution in February 1917?
Role of WW1 in Feb 1917 Rev.mmap - 02/03/2010 -
Order to fire on
demonstrators
Army refuses
3 march Tsar abdicates