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This and other counter-reforms ran right into the reformers and set the tone for a struggle that the Tsar would not necessarily win. Politically, the people of Russia resented the autocracy of Tsar Nicholas II and the corrupt and anachronistic elements in his government. Events that precipitated the Revolution. By the end of 1916, Russia’s already limited resources were severely depleted by the war. This created a fertile ground for the socialist revolutionaries who moved between cities and exile in Siberia. In fact, revolutions would often come after wars or sometimes even while it took place. 1917 saw two distinct revolutions in Russia: the overthrow of the Tsarist regime and formation of the Provisional Government ( February Revolution), and the October Revolution in which the Bolsheviks overthrew the Provisional Government. In theory, their life had improved in 1861, before which they were serfs who were owned and could be traded by their landowners. He argues that the growth of revolutionary … There were a number of food, housing and fuel shortages. She blamed the rebellions and strikes on undesirables, and failed to address the concerns of the people. What were the Causes of the October Revolution in Russia, 1917? The Russian Revolution caused the encounter of labors and people. Nicholas wouldn’t disagree to people’s faces, would take decisions based weakly, and would only see ministers singly so as not to be overwhelmed. They ruled alone, with no true representative bodies: even the Duma, an elected body created in 1905, could be completely ignored by the Tsar when he wished to, and he did. Conditions in the factories were extremely harsh and little concern was shown for the worker’s health and safety. The mirs, self-governing communities of peasants, were separate from elites and the middle class. 1861 saw the serfs freed and issued with small amounts of land, but in return, they had to pay back a sum to the government, and the result was a mass of small farms deeply in debt. The Russian Revolution of 1917 marked the end of the 300-year Romanov dynasty and the start of a communist system of government. This had happened during the French Revolution of 1789, the Chinese Revolution of 1911, the Russian Revolution of 1917, the Ethiopian Revolution of 1974, and Eastern Europe, 1989. By the time of the Revolution, Russia was in a state of economic collapse, driven by the costs of war and poor administration and management. The state of agriculture in central Russia was poor. Land captains would be sent out to enforce Tsarist rule and counter the liberals. Even a dress code was considered. Who doesn't? Identify the paragraph and write the line from the text that supports your answer. The Russian Revolution of 1917 covers the major events such as the February Revolution and the October Revolution that result in the established of the Soviet Union. March Revolution 1917. The government was afraid of the developing urban class but more afraid of driving foreign investment away by supporting better wages, and there was a consequent lack of legislation on behalf of the workers. While the turning point for the revolution is widely accepted as World War I, but the revolution was not an inevitable byproduct of war and there are long-term causes that are equally important to recognize. The Revolution started during World War I, and eventually the Soviet Union was formed. It sparked the beginning of a new era in Russia that had effects on countries around the world. There was a strong reforming – essentially westernizing – movement in Russia during the mid-nineteenth century under Alexander II, with elites split between reform and entrenchment. Strikes and protests began in late 1916; however, the Tsarina failed to respond appropriately. Robert Wilde is a historian who writes about European history. Although the vast majority of the Russian population was made up of rural peasants and urban ex-peasants, the upper and middle classes knew little of real peasant life. Added to this was the idea of the good tsar: it was the boyars, the aristocrats, the other landowners who were bad, and it was the tsar who protected you, rather than being an evil dictator. He fought a number of wars to expand his empire in the north and west in Europe. His son, and his son in turn (Nicholas II), reacted against the reform, not only halting it but starting a counter-reform of centralized, autocratic government. The Revolution started during World War I, and eventually the Soviet Union was formed. The revolution was the culmination of a long period of repression and unrest. Russian Revolution: Causes. Causes of the Russian Revolution Share Flipboard Email Print In October of 1917, the Bolshevik-dominated Soviet government was established, with Lenin (pictured here) as chairman. Many wars have taken place in Russia and all of them were factors of which caused revolutions. The Causes Of The Russian Revolution Of 1917. the country in 1917. The rise of Nihilism influenced the Russian Revolution of 1917. It involved peasant disturbances, strikes, naval mutinies, nationalist uprisings and assassinations. Russia was ruled by an emperor called the Tsar, and for three centuries this position had been held by the Romanov family. Socially, Tsarist Russia stood well behin… Upset with class, at odds with their bosses and elites, a new urban culture was forming. They ultimately resulted in the overthrow … Causes of the 1905 revolution in Russia included discontent among industrial workers and rural peasants, discrimination against Jews and other minorities, student unrest, the rise of socialism and a humiliating defeat in the war against Japan. In September 1915, Nicholas took command of the army himself. Prime Minister Pyor Stolypin’s land reforms of the years before 1917 attacked the peasant concept of family ownership, a highly-respected custom reinforced by centuries of folk tradition. Ever more peasants traveled to the cities in search of work. War caused great unrest and a large death toll. She was not well liked, and was German by birth. The Consequences of the Russian Revolution Affected the course of the First World War, the economic structure of Russia and the democratic and industrial organization of the great nations of the world.. ‘Petrine’ autocracy derived from Peter the Great’s western vision, organized royal power through laws, bureaucracy, and systems of government. See also: Tsarist Russia 1855 – 1922 Vladimir Lenin 1870 – 1924 The causes of the Russian Revolution of 1917 included nationalism, an out of touch church, a politicized society, the military, and World War 1. The Tsarina, brought up in Britain, disliked by elites and felt to be a stronger person than Nicholas also came to believe in the medieval way to rule: Russia was not like the UK, and she and her husband did not need to be liked. As with other economic struggles, the greatest burden of this fell on the shoulders of the poor Russians, including both the peasants and the urban working poor. Bloody Sunday: The Revolution of 1905. As the central Russian population boomed, land became scarce. Ann Ronan Pictures / Print Collector / Getty Images History & Culture. Meanwhile, the tsars ignored this growing sea change, reacting Alexander II’s assassination not by reforming but by retreating to medieval foundations. The first factor that led to the 1917 Russian Revolution and the communist government that followed was Russia’s participation in World War I. As a result, the panicked elite class was forced to sell off their land and, in turn, declined. If this was out of step with the west and emerging democracy, it was out of step with Russia itself. The Russian Revolution was, while a huge economic, social, and political change, the result of a number of different factors that built up over time, including economic, military, and political circumstances. He is the author of the History in an Afternoon textbook series. The three major causes of the Russian Revolution were Russia’s participation in World War I, an unstable government and Vladimir Lenin. Relationships between the Tsarina and Rasputin eroded the support of the army and aristocracy. Nicholas was not interested in politics, was poorly educated in the nature of Russia, and not trusted by his father. The social causes of the Russian Revolution can be derived from centuries of oppression of the lower classes by the Tsarist regime and Nicholas's failures in World War I. Standard farming techniques were deeply out of date and there was little hope for real progress thanks to widespread illiteracy and lack of capital. Russia’s navy had been decimated during a conflict with Japan in 1904 and 1905, as well as internal strife. … Main cause of the Russian Revolution. Some historians have concluded that this wasn’t the case; the problem was that Nicholas was determined to govern while lacking any idea or ability to run an autocracy properly. Definition and Examples, Biography of Alexander II, Russia's Reformist Tsar, The 10 Most Important Russian Czars and Empresses, Biography of Anastasia Romanov, Doomed Russian Duchess, Execution of Czar Nicholas II of Russia and His Family, Timeline of the Russian Revolutions: 1918, Industry and Agriculture History in Europe, M.A., Medieval Studies, Sheffield University, B.A., Medieval Studies, Sheffield University. The Russian Revolution was, while a huge economic, social, and political change, the result of a number of different factors that built up over time, including economic, military, and political circumstances. Russia entered World War I relatively underdeveloped. Rather than being triggered by one event, the Revolution was the result of a number of different economic, military and … While the development was neither as advanced nor as swift as in a country like Britain, Russia’s cities began to expand and large numbers of peasants moved to the cities to take up new jobs. Ruling such a massive state was no easy task, especially as the long-term problems within Russia eroded the Romanov monarchy. At the beginning of the 20th century the Russian factory employee worked on average an 11-hour day (10 hours on Saturday). All it fooled were the Romanovs themselves. Causes of the Russian Revolution. This decision would prove fatal during the Revolution. This did not win him any support from the citizenry. Russian Revolution 1917: A Personal Record by NN Sukhanov This book was necessary reading for all early historians of the revolution. In 1905, and 1917, heavily politicized socialist workers played a major role, although there were many different factions and beliefs under the umbrella of ‘socialism’. He knew his cousin, Kaiser Wilhelm, relatively well, and while he knew he was power-hungry, he did not expect all of Europe to erupt into war. The main causes of the Russian Revolution of 1917 were the poverty of the peasant class, the rise of the urban industrial class, the antiquated and oppressed military, a growing intellectual movement, and the inefficiency and autocracy of the Tsarist regime. The Tsar in 1917 - Nicholas II - has sometimes been accused of lacking the will to govern. The result was an autocratic regime under which republicans, democrats, revolutionaries, socialists, and others were all increasingly desperate for reform, yet impossibly fragmented. First, he appointed his inexperienced cousin as commander-in-chief of the army, then he planned an invasion of East Prussia. From the time of Peter I (Peter the Great), the czardom increasingly became an autocratic bureaucracy that imposed its will on the people by force, with wanton disregard for human life and liberty. He was physically distant from the front lines of World War I. The people were suffering for many years and as they were illiterate, they knew no better. The Russian government was disciplining deserters with torture and death. Alexander III, the heir of the murdered reformer Alexander II, tried to react, and sent it all back to Tsar centric, personalized ‘Muscovite’ autocracy. causes of the russian revolution cause four: rasputin and the czarina date: _____ cause five: revolutions of march, 1917 The vast majority of peasants were firmly against developments outside the village and desired autonomy. Wars are what primarily caused revolutions and multiple have caused the Russian revolution in 1917. The Russian Revolution dramatically changed Russia from an autocracy to a communist system of government. The Tsar ruled what God had given, unrestrained, checked by no earthly power. Long term economic and political discontent led to the 1905 revolution. Conversely, the 1905 Russian Revolution failed because the military obeyed the Tsarist regime and was able to … Soldiers were losing moral. Russia in the late 19th and early 20th century was a massive empire, stretching from Poland to the Pacific. When Alexander III died in 1894, the disinterested and somewhat clueless Nicholas took over. Why would the Russo- Japanese War be a cause for a revolution in Russia? Shortly after, when the stampede of a huge crowd, lured by free food and rumors of low stocks, resulted in mass death, the new Tsar kept partying. Petrine bureaucracy in the nineteenth century had become interested in reforming, connected to the people, and the people wanted a constitution. In 1914, the country was home to approximately 165 million people representing a diverse range of languages, religions, and cultures. In order to try and counter the spread of anti-Tsarist ideology, the government formed legal but neutered trade unions to take the place of the banned but powerful equivalents. These workers swiftly began to grow more politically-engaged and chaffed against government restrictions on their protests. In 1916, a full three-quarters of the Russian population was comprised of peasants who lived and farmed in small villages. But this was not a joyous, lawful commune; it was a desperate struggling system fuelled by the human weaknesses of rivalry, violence, and theft, and everywhere was run by elder patriarchs.Within the peasantry, a break was emerging between the elders and the growing population of young, literate peasants in a deeply-ingrained culture of violence. When the free labor of the serfs disappeared, the old elites were forced to adapt to a capitalist, industrialized farming landscape. The government agreed and created new laws that attempted to reel them in. Defeat by Japan brought the Tsar's rule into question. Cities were highly overcrowded, unplanned, poorly paid, dangerous, and unregulated. Tsar Nicholas II held to three tenants drawn on earlier Tsars: Many Russians objected to these tenets, embracing western ideals as an alternative to the tradition of tsarism. Alexander III feared the zemstvos, calling them overly-liberal. 1913 saw the 300-year celebrations in a vast festival of pomp, pageantry, social class, and expense. Lvov became a zemstvo (local community) leader, building roads, hospitals, schools and other community resources. These causes were the role of the people as a mass and world war one. The tsar was the owner of all of Russia, a fiefdom with him as lord, and all trickled down from him. In total, some 150,000 troops were lost in this single battle. Legally, culturally, socially, the peasants in over half a million settlements were organized by centuries of community rule. Russia was running out of people who believed it. In central Russia, the peasant population was rising and the land was running out, so all eyes were on the elites who were forcing the debt-ridden peasants to sell land for commercial use. The people of Russia loved their Tsar as a tough father. When Nicholas attempted to return to Petrograd, he was faced with railway strikes, and was greeted by members of the military and Duma, Russia’s national parliament. Famine was an issue on the homefront. The causes of these two revolutions encompass Russia’s political, social, and economic situation. Freedom of expression was limited, with censorship of books and newspapers, while secret police operated to crush dissent, frequently either executing people or sending them to exile in Siberia. Some wanted violent change, others peaceful, but as opposition to the Tsar was banned, opponents were increasingly driven to more radical measures. 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