Why was there a revolution in
February 1917?
1914
Tsar Nicholas II is in charge
Duma in place – Elected by rich and Tsar in full control
1917
Tsar forced from power
Duma takes full control
Why does this happen? Three areas :
Mistakes of the Tsar
Problems with the war and losses (fighting)
Domestic problems caused by the war (Home front)
Context
• Write 5 or 6 lines of context using your notes. Context for this issue
should include :
• A small mention that there had been long term discontent before
1917 (1905).
• Short info on Stolypin and how he tried to strengthen the Tsar – not
effective in the long term.
• War added to these problems – eventually exploded
WW1 Military defeats
• World War I was a total disaster for Russia. The Russian army suffered
defeat after defeat at the hands of Germany.
• 1914 - The Russians actually invaded Eastern Germany with two large
armies but they were totally routed by smaller German forces at the
battles of Tannenberg and Masurian Lakes.
• 1915 - Germany turned the full weight of its power against Russia and
launched a series of offensives against the Russian army. The Russians
were beaten and large areas of Russian territory were overrun – 1.5
million deaths
• 1916 - For a time, the Russians did win some victories against the
Austrians and regained some territory. But then the German army
attacked in support of their Austrian ally and, again, Russia suffered a
heavy defeat.
Tsar takes control
• In 1915, Tsar Nicholas II took personal command of the army. He left
St. Petersburg and moved to army headquarters in Russian Poland.
• Nicholas II may have believed that, by taking charge, his army would
be inspired and would fight with renewed vigour. Unfortunately, the
Tsar knew little about the command and organisation of large military
forces, and the series of defeats and humiliations continued.
• The organisation of the Russian army deteriorated and there were
massive shortages of ammunition, equipment, and medical supplies.
• The effort and cost of waging war meant terrible suffering for soldiers
and civilians alike. Best estimates state that almost two million soldiers
were killed, as were a similar number of civilians, during the course of
the war. Morale during this time was at a very low ebb and soldiers and
civilians alike were looking for someone to blame
• Who could they now blame directly?
Analysis
• Lack the equipment and training leads to desertion of soldiers.
• Discontent in population due to low morale.
• People now blame the Tsar for defeats.
• Soldiers joined in the revolution as they were angry at the Tsar
because of the war, and chose to go against him instead of following
orders.
Evaluation
Overall, the military defeats in World War One were the most
important factor in causing the February Revolution. If the war had
went better for Russia, the soldiers would not have been so angry at
the Tsar and would have followed orders to put down the revolution
and would not have joined in. The fact they became part of the
revolution shows much they had lost faith in the Tsar, and the war
was the catalyst for this.
Domestic Impact of WW1
Social and Economic Factors
The Homefront
• WW1 also impacted civilians from all walks of life back in Russia.
• Each section/class of society was affected in a different way.
• In this section, you want to outline briefly how the war impacted each
class and explain why this led to them turning against the Tsar.
• In your evaluation, try and stress the point that there are now no
groups of people in Russia who are inherently loyal to the Tsar and
that this adds to the revolutionary feeling in Russia.
• You can also link this factor to the mistakes the Tsar makes and the
impact of casualties in the war.
Peasants
• The peasantry are affected mainly because of conscription – The bulk of
conscripted soldiers came from the peasantry.
• This has several different impacts :
• The high casualties of Russian soldiers was felt mainly in the peasantry. As
well as this, many of the deserting soldiers were peasants who returned to
their lands, bringing back stories of how ill equipped the soldiers were in
the war. (A+)
• Farming was also affected by conscription – Men and animals alike were
taken to war which meant that agriculture in Russia was affected. (A)
Peasants
• However, this did not necessarily lead to food shortages.
• Inflation had now driven the price of goods up and most of the goods
produced in Russian factories were solely directed at the war effort.
• This meant that Russian peasants saw no point in selling the food
they produced on their farms and struggled to make money. High
taxes on items, especially vodka, also angered them.
Peasantry Argument/Evaluation
• The war made peasants lives even more miserable than before.
• They now blamed the Tsar directly for their predicament – he was in
charge of the armed forces and he appeared to be doing nothing to
solve the economic difficulties in Russia.
Proletariat
• The workers in the cities were also affected. Unlike the peasants, they
did face a shortage of food.
• A breakdown in the transport system meant that food did not make it
into the cities. Food piled up and rotted in train stations.
• Women and children were forced to work in factories with terrible
conditions due to a lack of manpower because of the war.
• Again, the lack of effort from the Tsar and his Government to solve
this seemingly trivial problem angered the proletariat and it lead to
food riots throughout Russia. (A)
Proletariat Evaluation
• The workers in the towns and cities turned on the Tsar. There had
long been discontent in the cities due to the harsh living and working
conditions.
• The war piled extra pressure on the cities and their workers, creating
even worse social problems for the people living there.
• This added to the revolutionary feeling throughout Russia
Middle and Upper Classes
• Inflation caused by the war hit the wealthy Russians the most.
• Money was becoming worthless, and those with savings found that they
could not do anything with their money.
• The middle and upper classes went on a spending spree in Russia, buying
champagne and other luxury goods.
• This created a feeling in Russia that it was ‘the end’ – Tsarism was nearly
finished and nothing would be the same in Russia.
• Of course, the wealthy classes in Russia no longer had faith in the Tsar – His
lack of effort to deal with the economic issues facing Russia lost him the
support of the upper classes. They were the group who had traditionally
supported him and now there was no single group in Russia who benefited
from Tsarist rule. They therefore turned their back on him. (A)
Nobility
• It becomes clear that the Russian Govt is failing – Prince Lvov (noble)
sets up the Zemstvo Union to deal with the issues facing people in the
cities.
• Sets up refugee camps, soup kitchens, etc.
• Shows he is disenchanted with Tsarism and is bypassing the Tsarist
Government, taking matters into his own hands. (A)
• Russians now look to Lvov as the ‘saviour’ of Russia, not the Tsar. (A)
Nobility (A+)
• A further mistake the Tsar makes is not cooperating with Lvov and
other nobles – If he had been willing to work with them, he may have
salvaged some respect and faith from the nobility and the Russian
people.
Political Mistakes of the Tsar
So far…
• You have learned about the losses Russia suffered in WW1 and how this
added to the revolutionary feeling in Russia.
• You have also learned how the war affected every class of person in Russia
on the home front and how the Tsar lost the support of all groups of
people in Russia.
• Throughout these sections, there has been mention of different mistakes
the Tsar makes – Eg Taking control of the army and refusing to cooperate
with Lvov in St Petersburg.
• We will now examine other POLITICAL mistakes that the Tsar made
between 1914 and 1917.
Political Mistakes – Leaving for war - KU
• We have already established that the Tsar left to take command of
the army in 1915.
• This put him in a situation were he had to take direct blame for the
war effort which is part of the reasons why the armed forces no
longer supported him. (Previous analysis)
• However, in doing so, the Tsar had to leave his wife in charge of
running the country. (KU)
• The Tsarina had no experience of ruling and this decision led to
disaster for the Tsarist autocracy.
Leaving for war and Tsarina in charge Analysis
• The Tsarina was a German herself. This led to many of the Russian
people not trusting her and rumours spreading that she was a
German double agent.
• The Tsar was also now completely out of touch with the day to day
running of Russia as he was at the front (A+)
• The Russian people now distrusted the Tsarina and the Tsarist system
as a result.
Influence of Rasputin - KU
• Gregori Rasputin was a Siberian monk. It was believed that Rasputin had
‘mystical’ healing powers.
• He found himself in the Tsar’s company after him and his wife recruited
Rasputin to heal their son, who suffered from haemophilia.
• Rasputin was, apparently, the only person who could help the boy and this
led to the Tsar and Tsarina keeping Rasputin in their personal circle.
• Rasputin gained huge influence over the Tsar and Tsarina over time.
• When the Tsar left to control the army, Rasputin became the Tsarina’s
closest advisor.
• She started to dismiss and appoint ministers on a whim and Russia was
almost in a situation where Rasputin was the real ruler.
Rasputin - Analysis
• Simply put, many people in Russia resented Rasputin’s influence.
• He was distrusted by many Russians as he was notorious drunk and
womanizer.
• The main group who Rasputin angered were the nobility – it can be argued
that Rasputin and his hold over the Tsarina was the final straw for the
upper classes.
• The constant change in ministerial positions meant the Government
became ineffective and the nobility ended up completely turning on the
Tsar – Rasputin was assassinated by the nobility.
• They were the last group who supported the Tsar and there was now
nobody in Russia the Tsar could rely on.
Losing the Nobility – A+
• There was already evidence that the nobility no longer supported the Tsar.
• Brusilov, a Russian military elite, had publicly spoke out against him saying
that Russia could not win the war with him in charge.
• Prince Lvov had set up the Zemstvo Union and bypassed the Government,
undertaking many jobs that the Government should be doing.
• The rest of the nobility followed suit due to the influence of Rasputin and
the fact that they murdered him without any consideration for the Tsar or
Tsarina shows that they no longer had any loyalties to the Tsarist regime.