Hassen Naas
History Essay
What do you think were the main reasons why the revolution was successful?
In 1917, a February revolution broke out in Russia that had caused the Tsar Nicholas the 2nd to be the last Romanov to rule over Russia after 300 years. Food shortages, economic crisis, Russia was loosing World War 1, morale broken down and loss in faith in the tsar and his government. All these strikes broke out in order to bring down the tsarist government and the autocracy. The revolution was successful since on the 2nd of March 1917 the tsar did abdicate and a new democratic dual government formed. Russia went from being an Autocracy to being one of the most democratic countries in Europe.
In 1914, after the order of general mobilization made by the Tsar Nicholas the Second, Germany declared war on Russia on August 1st. Russia started having faith in the Tsar again, the war enhanced his popularity and his status and it weakened the anti-war Bolsheviks that were seeking a revolution. Even though the civilians and the soldiers among the army had a very high morale at the start it was damaged by the lengthening casualty lists at the front and the declining supplies at home. Total war created major problems for Russia. After the fateful decision Nicholas the 2nd took to become Commander-in-Chief made the survival of Tsardom dependant on military success. The army did fight well but was poorly organized and with lack of supplies made it weak. The whole transport system broke down under stress of war. The two major problems though that caused the people to react was the economic crisis, there was inflation. The value of the currency declined which created instability and high prices. There were shortages of food supplies since there was transport disruption. The urban areas suffered a lot. All these events caused an uprising against the Tsar. The most significant opposition comes from those who had been the tsar’s supporters in 1914.
The Tsar refused to co-operate with the 1915 duma, his character- the wrong man in the wrong time, his ministers were very incompetent, he rejected notion of working with the Progressive Bloc, his limited powers of judgment blind him to need to make an accommodation with his natural supporters. This was another lost opportunity for tsardom. The main focal point of the growing hatred of tsardom though was Rasputin and Alexandra. The fact that Rasputin became an important figure in the tsarist system convinced many people that the system was not worth saving. With all of the accumulation of problems it had caused the people to loose faith that had caused a rising move against the tsar and his government. The strike began at the Putilov factories in Petrograd the 18th February 1917. It then continued on the 23rd of February on the International Women’s Day, a demonstration by socialist groups demanding female equality. The General strike broke out on the 25th of February.
A general unrest and anger broke out in Petrograd. This was not led or directed by anyone. The revolution broke out as a challenge not by revolutionaries but by traditional supporters of the tsar. Disorder spread out through the city. There were strikes in all major factories. The police and the garrison troops declared the situation uncontrollable. The people thought it was the perfect time to act to what was going on. This resulted in 12 rebellious duma members to create the Provisional Committee and the Mensheviks set up the Petrograd Soviet. When the tsar Nicholas the 2nd tried to return to Petrograd he is prevented by troops so he is stuck in the middle of nowhere. The people then demanded the tsar to abdicate which resulted in his military advisors also advising him to abdicate. On March the 2nd the Tsar Nicholas the 2nd abdicated on the behalf of the Romanov dynasty. A dual authority government is formed called the de facto government.
This revolution was not something planned for. It was something spontaneous that only took place in one city: Petrograd. It was mainly caused by the failure of leadership of tsar Nicholas the 2nd. All his traditional supporters lost faith in him and this is how it all started. The revolution however was not the result of a social or political movement but a consequence of war and the Bolsheviks played no part. Using source 2.3: “The fall of the Russian monarchy was accomplished over a ten-day period from 23 February to 4 March 1917. Ten days of popular demonstrations, political maneuvering and army mutiny developed imperceptibly into a revolution which no one expected, planned or controlled … Moreover, there was no doubt that the initiators of the revolution were the workers and the reserve troops in the capital … All the major leaders of the revolutionary movement were in Siberia or abroad when the movement started, and certainly no political party organized the revolution.” This made it very clear that the revolution was a great achievement not only for the whole of Russia but for the civilians that did not expect it to be such a success because no political party played a role in it. It was just a spontaneous movement done by the people.
To conclude, the main reasons why the revolution was so successful was the sudden uprising by the people which was so unexpected by anyone in the country. Using Source 2.6: “The collapse of the Russian autocracy … was one of the most leaderless, spontaneous, anonymous revolutions of all time” This quote states clearly how the revolution was an enormous success for the people who risked their lives to stand up for there rights. The results of this successful revolution were the fall of the autocratic government and the formation of a democratic dual government made up of rebellious duma members that formed the Provisional Committee and revolutionary Mensheviks that had set up the Petrograd Soviet. This revolution opened the doors for the Bolsheviks that had wanted to seize the power of the Provisional governement.