What caused the February Revolution?
- Created by: Emma
- Created on: 15-05-19 10:50
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- What caused the February Revolution?
- Tsar and his personality
- Educated from a young age that autocracy was moral.
- Dismissed a zemstvo petition for an elected National Assembly as a 'senseless dream'.
- When he was threatened into setting up a Duma in 1906 after Bloody Sunday, he did all he could to limit its power.
- When finally offered to share power with the Duma on 28 February 1917, was too late
- Shy and awkward, ill-suited to the position of Tsar. Found political affairs boring, was over-cautious and struggled to make clear political decisions
- He had weakened political authority in Russia by early 1917.
- Combination of reluctance to introduce new methods, poor state finances and organisation - led to overlapping institutions of Tsarist government.
- Responsibility for the war
- Refused to cooperate with the ZEMGOR, chaired by Prince Lvov, claiming the right to help Tsar's government in the war effort.
- 'Progressive Bloc' demanded Tsar create a 'government of public confidence' in August 1915
- Decided to take role of Commander-in-Chief of the Russia army and navy after defeats in Galicia, 1915.
- Not enough military experience to revive war effort, and was held responsible for failure.
- By February 1917 the loss of confidence in the Tsarist regime was clear in all levels of society.
- January 1917: Prince Lvov asked Grand Duke Nicholas (Tsar's uncle) if he was prepared to take over the throne
- Educated from a young age that autocracy was moral.
- Economic and Social Problems
- Massive inflation
- Increased taxes, huge loans, damage to industrial and grain exports
- 300% increase in price of living
- Food shortages
- Conscription meant shortage of men in the countryside, so less food in towns
- Thousands living on the brink of starvation
- Railway systems collapsed as taken over to transport men and goods to the front
- Foot rotting on tracks whilst there were long queues to buy bread in Petrograd
- Conscription meant shortage of men in the countryside, so less food in towns
- Unemployment
- In urban centres (Petrograd and Moscow) unemployment soared as non-military factories were forced to shut down.
- Lock-outs and strikes financially crippled what little industry survived
- January 1917: 30,000 workers on strike in Moscow, 145,000 in Petrograd
- Massive inflation
- Strains of WW1
- Failure of the army in battle
- The Battle of Tannenburg (August 1914)
- 300,000 dead or wounded, thousands taken prisoner, demoralised Russians
- Defeat at Masurian Lakes (September 1914)
- Forced into a temporary retreat from East Prussia
- Brusilov Offensive (June 1916)
- Fall in morale, 1.5 million deserters by end of year
- The Battle of Tannenburg (August 1914)
- Economic demands of war
- Lack of supplies for soldiers
- Mobilised 12 million men between 1914-17, but could not provide suitable clothing/weaponry
- 1914: 2/3 had rifles, 1915: limited to 2-3 shells per day
- BUT: tied down Germans on Eastern Front for 3 years, 1916 manufactured more shells than Germany.
- Military breakdown should not be overemphasised as the reason for the February Revolution
- Mobilised 12 million men between 1914-17, but could not provide suitable clothing/weaponry
- Lack of supplies for soldiers
- Loss of morale
- Outbursts of anger and desertion in the army, operating conditions appalling and harsh winters of 1916 and 1917
- Failure of the army in battle
- Tsar and his personality
- Whilst radical socialist agitators stirred up discontent, it must be remembered that Lenin only had 10,000 followers in Russia at the time
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