What triggered the Tsars fall?

Authors Avatar

What triggered the Tsars fall?

Many in Russia would argue that it was the catastrophic impact of war coupled with the failure or the Tsar/Tsarina to embark upon the problems created by involvement in World War One that triggered the Tsar’s fall. Nevertheless it is fair to say that discontent among the Russian people had been growing for several years. This dissatisfaction destabilized the position of the Tsar and undermined his authority.

Was it a series of mitigating circumstances and bad luck that brought on the Tsar’s downfall? Or was the Tsar’s own incompetence the key to his failure?

There were many causes for the growing discontent in Russia before 1914. There were various politically related issues linked to power, control and government. Nicholas was a deeply religious man and believed he had been chosen to rule Russia by God and felt that he did not have to consult others about his decisions. In the period of late 19th and early 20th century there was an age of modernisation spreading through Western Europe. Everything had advanced, both technologically and socially. But the Tsar’s refusal to adapt to his rapidly changing country created serious social and political grievances.

A huge civil service was employed to carry out decisions about the country (the Tsar always having the final say) but getting decisions carried out in such a vast country with poor communications was very slow. There was no parliament to represent the views of the people and all newspapers and books were censored. If anybody criticised the Tsar, the Okhrana (the secret police used to deal with opposition) callously punished that person, often exiling them to the cold of Siberia or giving out long jail sentences. This system of government was increasingly resented because the needs of the majority of the population were not really considered.

Join now!

The economic want for modernization and the social conflict in both the rural and industrial parts of Russia also caused great pressure on the Tsar and in all probability was a major part of his fall. There was a vast gulf between the wealthy and poor in early twentieth century Russia. 4/5 people in Russia were peasants and the other parts of the population were Nobles and Upper class. Although evidently peasants predominantly populated the country, they owned an insufficient amount of land compared to the Nobles and Upper Class. The peasants lived in terrible conditions; the average life ...

This is a preview of the whole essay