Why did the Tsar lose power in 1917?

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Why did the Tsar lose power in 1917?

It would be ignorant to say that the Tsarist regime collapsed because of one factor, when in fact it was numerous factors that caused the regime to collapse; some more important than others. The long term factors such as the out dated system of autocracy, the weak leadership of Nicolas II, and the industrialisation of the working class all contributed to the instability of Russia in 1914. However, although in 1914 it could be said that Russia was unstable, the instability was beneath the surface and was not strong enough to cause a revolution. Russia’s involvement in the First World War could be considered to be one of the most important factors as to why the Tsar lost power because it highlighted the weaknesses of the Tsarist regime. However, we also have to realise that the reasons as to why the Tsar lost power were not solely down to Russia’s involvement in the war. The war acted more as a catalyst that emphasised the stresses and strains on Russian society caused by the long term factors. We do recognise that the war didn’t help Russian society as it had a drastic impact on the economy causing food and fuel shortages and inflation which resulted in the price of meat rising by 300%, which caused upset among many civilians as their wages couldn’t cover the costs of living. Then adding the Tsar’s mistakes during that period to the concoction combined with everything else they had suffered including the millions of losses, the inflation, the defeats, and the corrupted government, it made everything become amplified; everything seemed a whole lot worse. By the end of 1916 the Tsar’s position was really weak. Rasputin and Alexandra had caused an out roar in the public with their management of the government; the army had suffered several defeats including Tannenburg and Rava Ruska which dampened the morale of the civilians, the Duma had lost faith in the government, and the army’s loyalty was starting to drift. By early 1917 there were a series of demonstrations and strikes in Petrograd, on the 18th February the strike at Putilov began, followed by the international women’s day demonstrations on 23rd February, bringing hundreds of thousands of workers onto the streets to demand bread, after the rationing of bread on the 19th February. The army’s loyalty to the Tsar disintegrated on the 26th of February when the troops refused to fire on the crowds and joined them in the strikes. When explaining why the Tsar lost power, all of the factors have to be taken into consideration as it was not just one factor that caused him to lose power but a number of factors that had built up over time that were then emphasised by the impact of the war.

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 In 1914, Russia was not on the brink of revolution as it had been in 1905; however there were some elements of instability in 1914 from the previous long standing factors, which helped contribute to the Tsars loss of power in 1917. One of the long standing issues was the system of autocracy itself, it was outdated and relied on the army using repression to keep everything in order and it relied on the ability of the  Tsar. The ability of the Tsar in this case was not very strong; Rasputin described him as a ‘sad man that lacked guts’. ...

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