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Essay on 1917 revolution in russia
An essay on the Russian revolution in 1917
An essay on the Russian revolution in 1917
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Russia had been an autocratic government for 300 years under the Romanov Dynasty before the revolution of 1917. When problems started in the early 1900’s most people were serfs that had been freed about 20 years before. In 1914 during World War One, Czar Nicholas II decided to stay in war with Germany despite what the rest of his country thought. Nicholas posed a distraction from the countries problems. His plan was to keep his soldiers minds off of the horrible living conditions of Russia by staying in war with Germany and starting a war with Japan in hope that he would lead his country to a victory; both wars were lost, giving Russian citizens more to be upset about. Russia’s Army was extremely weak, made mainly of peasants, and the cost of war was weighing down on the citizens of Russia. In reality, Nicholas II had no aptitude to be a ruler, and proved himself to be politically incapable of governing a country. Starvation and poor living conditions lined the streets of homeless families. Many people were unemployed, and those who were faced terrible conditions when they were working. Nation-wide discontent for the czar had set in, people begged for him to be dethroned. The country attempted to industrialize, but this just brought more trouble and left the country more distraught than ever, at this point they were behind the rest of the world in every aspect. The war with Germany was over, but Russia was left with a period of economic downfall to deal with.
Four groups were later formed against the czar and his form of government, only one group of people, the white Russians, were still loyal to him. Liberals were people who wanted democratic checks on the czar, instead of total dictatorship. The Nationalists wanted greater in...
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“The Russian Revolution.” Gale Resource Research Center. Ed. Marie Hacht and Dwayne D. Hayes. N.p., 2008. Web. 25 Dec. 2010. .
Wines, Michael. “1917: Russia’s Year of Revolutions.” New York Times 12 Mar. 2007: n. pag. SIRS Discoverer. Web. 26 Dec. 2010.
Moss, W., 2014. A History of Russia Volume 2: Since 1855. 1st ed. London, England: Anthem Press London, pp.112-113.
For centuries, autocratic and repressive tsarist regimes ruled the country and population under sever economic and social conditions; consequently, during the late 19th century and early 20th century, various movements were staging demonstrations to overthrow the oppressive government. Poor involvement in WWI also added to the rising discontent against Nicholas as Russian armies suffered terrible casualties and defeats because of a lack of food and equipment; in addition, the country was industrially backward compared to countries such as Britain, France, Germany, and the USA. It had failed to modernize, this was to do with the tsars lack of effort for reforms. The country was undergoing tremendous hardships as industrial and agricultural output dropped. Famine and poor morale could be found in all aspects of Russian life. Furthermore, the tsar committed a fatal mistake when he appointed himself supreme commander of the armed forces because he was responsible for the armies constant string of defeats.
While most of Europe had develop strong central governments and weakened the power of the nobles, Russia had lagged behind the times and still had serfs as late as 1861. The economic development that followed the emancipation of peasants in the rest of Europe created strong industrial and tax bases in those nations. Russian monarchs had attempted some level of reforms to address this inequality for almost a century before, and were indeed on their way to “economic maturity” (32) on par with the rest of Europe. But they overextended themselves and the crushing defeats of the Russo-Japanese War in 1905 and the First World War in 1917 lost them the necessary support from their subjects and created “high prices and scarcity” which were by far “the most obvious factors in the general tension”
Fiehn, Terry, and Chris Corin. Communist Russia under Lenin and Stalin. London: John Murray, 2002. Print.
Sack, Arkady J., “The Birth of the Russian Democracy”. New York city, Russian information bureau. 1918.
High, S. (1924, Nov 26). Will there be a russian peasants' revolt? Outlook (1893-1924), 138, 495. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/137018151?accountid=147304
In 1905 , Russia had a prerevolution that was put down of the Czar. Instead of learning from this prerevolution, Czar Nicholas II, made a very big mistake by in not introducing some reforms to correct the problems. So because of his actions, the situation grew worse. In 1917, the Russians were fighting in World War I. A good majority of the Russian people were weary and uncontent with the way the war was going and with the Czar's rule. This uncontent along with economic hardships caused riots and demonstrations to break out. The Czar called for the army to put down the revolution as they did in 1905. But the army joined the revolt and the Czar was kicked out of power soon afterwards. A temporary government was set up to decide on what kind of government Russia was gonna set up. Two political parties were set up. The Bolsheviks were one of the two. The leader of the Bolshevik party was a man named Lenin. Lenin was a firm believer of the theories and ideas of Karl Marx. So with his slogan of "Bread, Peace and Land", Lenin gained the support of the peasants and gained control of Russia and setup a communist state.
Even though that most many citizens wanted a revolution, nobody actually expected the revolution to take place, especially the way the revolution ended up starting. “On February 23, 1917, the Petrograd’s women workers left their factories and into the streets they went protesting.” The women of Russia were ready to be heard for it was International Women’s Day and the women had had enough.1
Wood, A. (1986). The Russian Revolution. Seminar Studies in History. (2) Longman, p 1-98. ISBSN 0582355591, 9780582355590
Few people had enough to eat or support themselves and were on the brink of death. On top of that, Czar Nicholas II, the leader of Russia, often abused his position in order to violate the Russian constitution called Duma and change laws to his own benefit and to help his friends and supporters get into the top governments. When World War One started, unlike most other countries, war production did not help get the country back on its feet. Instead, war production ensured that those at home in Russia did not get enough to eat while those fighting abroad got the food and supplies needed to fight. As agriculture’s worth kept on decreasing, more and more Russians left their country farms to work in weapon making factories and shops.... ...
7) Vernadsky, George. A History of Russia: Fourth Edition, Completely Revised. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1954.
Over the next few years, Russia went through a traumatic time of civil war and turmoil. The Bolsheviks’ Red Army fought the white army of farmers, etc. against Lenin and his ways. Lenin and the Bolsheviks won and began to wean Russia of non-conforming parties eventually banning all non-communist as well as removing an assembly elected shortly after the Bolshevik’s gain of power. Lenin’s strict government, however, was about to get a lot stricter with his death in 1924.
Throughout history there have been many revolutions between the population of a country and its government. People always want change, usually in the directions of freedom, peace and equality and in the lead up to the 1917 Russian revolution; there were a variety of social, political and economic situations that all played their part.
The significant historical trend of rebellion against authoritarian rule in Russia is demonstrated through three key events; the 1905 Revolution, the February 1917 revolution and the October 1917 revolution. These events was a culmination of economic, social, and political forces which was driven by a deep dissatisfaction with inequality within society and incompetent leadership of Tsar Nicholas. The events of Bloody Sunday in 1905, as the massacre became known, started a movement that the government could not control and forced the Tsar to make some concessions, which did not last long. The further eroded public confidence in his government and in the view of the lack of the Tsar 's credibility were prepared the way for the 1917 Revolutions.