Question by Elior: Was the First World War the main reason for the Tsar’s fall?
Please make four points, explain the how the factors made the revolution happen, then prioritise and link these factors. Please show a clear argument.
Answers and Views:
Answer by roro
I’m not going to do the assignment for you, but I’ll definitely give you an answer.
There are many reasons as to why the Tsar fell. I would actually point to the Russo-Japanese War WW1 as a reason for the Tsar’s fall because Russia was humiliated that it lost to such a small country. Japan’s win completely upset the notion that great and powerful empires were land-based nations. It was a turning point in the distribution of power.
One of the most important things to note is that Russia was far behind the nations of equivalent strength–Britain, France, Germany, etc. Russia behaved more like a colony in that it was an agricultural nation rather than an industrial one, it lacked representative government and it exported raw goods and imported manufactured goods. The Tsar knew this, and was advised to begin rapidly industrializing to catch up to the other industrial nations. But at what costs? The peasants had just come out of serfdom with virtually no money and could hardly support themselves as it was. There was no incentive for the factory owners to pay the people decent working wages because of the huge pool of labor workers, where one could always replace another. Yet, the peasants demanded working rights because they had seen in other industrial nations (Britain, the US) that reform movements made factory work bearable. After Bloody Sunday (a peaceful protest in 1905 that was turned violent when the police fired on them by order of officials), the Tsar gave some concessions, known as the October Constitution, that largely did nothing for the people. So, I would argue that more than anything else, the deep-rooted discontent of the Russian people was the main reason for the Tsar’s fall.
That being said, WW1 was definitely a tipping point. While we can have the underlying reasons, there has to be one event that sets it all in motion. The German armies were driving deep into Russian territory but the government was incapable of mobilizing society for total war because no one was happy with the Tsar. In 1915, the Tsar took personal command of his armies as a means of gaining control on the situation, but his support had waned so much that only the military and police force were supporting him. But then the Russian troops disobeyed ordered to fire on food rioters in Petrograd, joining the rioters instead. At this point, the Tsar realizes that he has no support and ultimately abdicates. Eventually Lenin arrives (in 1917) promising “peace, land, and bread,” the Bolsheviks rise to power, etc etc etc.
Hope this helped!
Read all the answers in the comments.
What do you think?
The Historian says
that was just one out of the many reasons, before World War I, Russia was in the Russo-Japanese War and that added some problems, especially the 1905 Revolution, which started Bloody Sunday. World War I just added more tension between the tsar and the Russian people. While the tsar was living large and help to boost moral on the front lines, the Russian people were in horrible conditions at home.