Murder Of The Last Tsar Essay

Far before the murder of the last Tsar and his family, his downfall was spiraling up towards him. Because of the revolutions of 1905, the Tsar’s plate was full of worker’s strikes, military mutinies, and civil unrest. By the time Nicholas Romanov abdicated in 1917, his murder was already being planned by members of the Bolshevik party.
In December of 1904, workers at a railway factory in St. Petersburg initiated a strike about working hours and unsafe working conditions. These strikes began to take hold and by January of the next year, the number of strikers rose to over 80,000. On Sunday, January 22nd strikers gathered outside the Tsar’s Winter Palace, led by priest Georgi Gapon. With the intention of delivering a petition to the Tsar, the protesters were fired upon by troops guarding the palace. Tsar Nicholas was at his second home in Tsarskoye Selo at the time. It is estimated that between 200 and 1000 people were killed on what is now called Bloody Sunday.
When the events at the Winter Palace began to spread to the ears of the

masses, strikes and protests erupted over European Russia. By the time a year had passed since Bloody Sunday, there were over 400,000 strikers in Russian Poland alone. By February, there were protests everywhere from Finland to the Caucasus. In October of the same year, there were over two million strikers across Russia and almost all the railways had become inactive. The pressure this put on the Tsar resulted in him finally agreeing to allow the creation of a State Duma, similar to a congress but with consultative powers only. These limited powers led to more effective strikes in St. Petersburg, where strikers refused to pay taxes and withdrew their bank deposits, putting even more on the plate of the tsar. At this time, Sergei Witte and Alexis Obolenskii had written the October Manifesto, a piece of legislation which granted civil rights, allowed political parties to form, and established the Duma as a legislative body instead a solely consultative one. Nicholas was heavily opposed to the manifesto, but finally signed it on October 30, 1905. This was due to the fact that the Tsar’s military force was dwindling and would not be able to withstand a major uprising. As news spread that the Tsar had signed this important document, support demonstrations occurred in major cities and strikes began to subside. The people were just beginning to approve of the Tsar’s reforms when World War I struck in 1914.
The wave of patriotic unity against a common enemy that occurred in Russia because of World War I did not translate to public approval of the Russian government or the Tsar. Mass casualties fueled a collective disdain for the Tsar. By the end of 1914, more than 380,000 Russian men had died. In October 1916, the efficient and effective German army had pushed the Russians out of Austrian Galicia and even out of Russian Poland. At this point, the Russian army had suffered over 1,600,000 casualties. These mass deaths caused revolts and mutinies within the Russian army. The Tsar’s troops were so ill-equipped to fight the well-prepared and well-trained German army, that by 1915 there were men being sent to the front lines weaponless.
The soldiers, of course, were far from the only victims of the staggering losses Russia faced. The economy began to diminish under the Tsar’s nose, like sand through a sieve. Inflation caused Russian household incomes to diminish alarmingly, among food shortages and rising prices of commodities. These problems were blatantly prominent in Petrograd (St. Petersburg was changed to Petrograd during WWI because the name St. Petersburg was too Germanic), due to poor transportation and the long distance from food and supplies. Unsurprisingly, these shortages caused another wave of strikes and protests from the citizens. The people blamed the Tsar, whose support was dwindling.
In February of 1917, workers in Petrograd initiated several strikes and political demonstrations. On the 7th of March (late February in the Julian calendar, which was being presently used by Russia), workers at Petrograd’s largest factory announced a collective strike. By the 10th of March, nearly every business or store was closed due to strikes. The revolution was solely in the capital and lasted approximately 4 days. Violence broke out when the Tsar decided that he had to rely on his army to quell the growing flames. However, as the revolution dragged on, members of the Russian Army began to mutiny and take the side of the revolutionaries. The mutinous members of the Tsar’s army changed sides because they had many of the same ideals as the people in the crowds.
At the time of the February Revolution in Petrograd, the Tsar was at Stavka (his main military base). When the Chairman of the Duma, Mikhail Rodzianko, sent him an urgent telegram about the anarchy in the capital, the Tsar reportedly said in a typical manner, “Again this fat Rodzianko has written me lots of nonsense, to which I shall not even deign to reply.” While the Tsar was ignoring this problem, it expanded more and more out of his control. As the protests became louder, deadlier, and more apparent, the Tsar’s army chiefs and advisors suggested he abdicate the throne, or step down from power. On March 15th, the Tsar stepped abdicated the throne on the behalf of his son, as well as himself. Nicholas nominated his brother to step into his seat, but his brother declined because he recognized the lack of support that would await his rule. On March 21st, Nicholas reunited with his family in Tsarskoye Selo, where they were placed under custody by the Provisional Government.
Following his abdication, Nicholas yearned for his family to travel to the United Kingdom to avoid all the trouble and problems the former Tsar had created in his home country.

The British government initially offered him asylum, but this was overturned by King George V. The Provisional Government which had protective custody over the Romanov family moved the former Tsar to an Ural town called Tobolsk to protect them from the revolution. While the Romanovs were living in Tobolsk, the radical Bolsheviks seized power from the Provisional Government which had been protecting Nicholas and his family. When the Bolsheviks were in charge of holding the former Tsar, the family’s living conditions became more harsh and strict. The Romanovs’ morale was preserved by their belief that help was on the way to smuggle them out of captivity; however, on April 30th 1918, the family was moved to their final destination: the small town of

Yekaterinburg.
Imprisoned in the house of military engineer Nikolai Ipatiev, the royal family patiently and fruitlessly awaited rescue. In the early hours of July 17th 1918, the Romanovs were awakened and led to the basement of the Ipatiev house. They were under the impression that they were being moved to the basement for issues of safety. Ten Bolshevik soldiers awaited in an adjoining room, commanded by Bolshevik officer Yakov Yurovsky. The confused former Tsar and his family were shot and brutally murdered in the night.
After the death of the Romanovs, revolutionary socialist Vladimir Lenin (who had seized power during a coup in October of the previous year) quickly removed Russia from the conflict of World War I. One of Lenin’s other reforms included giving land back to the peasants who had had their land seized previously. This led to socialist ideas being spread throughout Russia, because Lenin and the Bolsheviks were stern in their disdain for other political parties. Lenin died soon after in 1923, due to a series of strokes.