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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.
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.
No war is fought without the struggle for resources, and with Russia still rapidly lagging behind in the international industrialisation race by the turn of the 20th century, the stage was set for social unrest and uprising against its already uncoordinated and temporally displaced government. With inconceivable demands for soldiers, cavalry and warfare paraphernalia, Russia stood little chance in the face of the great powers of World War One. Shortages of basic human necessities led to countless subsistence riots and the eventual power struggle between the ruling body and its people. From the beginnings of WWI to 1916, prices of essential goods rose 131 percent in Moscow and more than 150 percent in Petrograd. Additionally, historian Walter G. Moss stated that in September 1915 that “there were 100,000 strikers in Russia; in October 1916, there were 250,000 in Petrograd alone.” Moss continues to exemplify the increasing evidence of social unrest and connects the riots to a lack of resources when he goes on to point out that “subsistence riots protesting high prices and shortages… also increased.” ...
7) Vernadsky, George. A History of Russia: Fourth Edition, Completely Revised. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1954.
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.
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.
The Russian revolution of February 1917 was a momentous event in the course of Russian history. The causes of the revolution were very critical and even today historians debate on what was the primary cause of the revolution. The revolution began in Petrograd as “a workers’ revolt” in response to bread shortages. It removed Russia from the war and brought about the transformation of the Russian Empire into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic, replacing Russia’s monarchy with the world’s first Communist state. The revolution opened the door for Russia to fully enter the industrial age. Before 1917, Russia was a mostly agrarian nation. The Russian working class had been for many years fed up with the ways they had to live and work and it was only a matter of time before they had to take a stand. Peasants worked many hours for low wages and no land, which caused many families to lose their lives. Some would argue that World War I led to the intense downfall of Russia, while others believe that the main cause was the peasant unrest because of harsh living conditions. Although World War I cost Russia many resources and much land, the primary cause of the Russian Revolution was the peasant unrest due to living conditions because even before the war began in Russia there were outbreaks from peasants due to the lack of food and land that were only going to get worse with time.
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.... ...
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.
Riasanovsky, Nicholas V., and Mark D. Steinberg. A History of Russia. 7th ed. Oxford: Oxford, 2005. Print.
Russia had been defeated in all except the war with Turkey and its government and economy had the scars to prove it. A severe lack of food and poor living conditions amongst the peasant population led firstly to strikes and quickly escalated to violent riots. Tsar Nicholas II ruled Russia with an iron hand while much of Europe was moving away from the monarchical system of rule. All lands were owned by the Tsar’s family and Nobel land lords, while the factories and industrial complexes were owned by the capitalists’. There were no unions or labour laws and the justice system had made almost all other laws in favour of the ruling elite.
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.
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