Nicholas’ rule was enforced by the secret police call the Okhrana. Any critics of the Tsar were arrested, imprisoned and often sent to labour camps in Siberia. Newspapers and books were also censored and controlled to prevent criticism. The Russian Orthodox supported Nicholas and preached to its congregations that to oppose him was a sin. However in spite of his complete control there was still opposition to his rule.
There were three main parties opposed to Tsarist rule; they were the Liberals, Social Revolutionaries and Social Democrats. The Liberals were middle-class, educated Russians, such as doctors, lawyers and teachers. They wanted an elected parliament to help the Tsar run the country. They formed the Constitutional Democratic Party (the Cadets) in 1905. The Social Revolutionaries wanted the peasants to overthrow the Tsar and set up a republic. They wanted all the land of Russia to be handed over to the peasants to farm together in communes. The SRs were prepared to use violence and assassination to further their cause. The other party was the Social Democrats who also wanted to overthrow the Tsar. However, they believed the revolution would be made by the urban workers. They followed the ideas of Karl Marx and were called Communists. Then in 1903 the party split into two – the Bolsheviks, led by Lenin, believed that revolution in Russia should be planned secretly by a small group of committed individuals who would seize power. The other group was the Mensheviks, led by Trotsky; they believed that the revolution should be a mass movement involving anyone. The Bolsheviks eventually dominated the party. The parties had one major difficulty and this was that their leaders were often in prison or in exile. For example Lenin lived in exile in London and Paris and other revolutionaries were in Switzerland.
The short-term reasons were: The Royal Family had become unpopular because one it was suspected that Nicholas had been behind the murder of Stolypin and two was the increasing influence of Rasputin. Gregory Rasputin was a would-be monk and ‘holy man.’ He had a striking appearance and claimed to have hypnotic powers. He became well known among upper-class women who came to him for advice and healing. He became popular with Tsarina after he appeared to heal a life-threatening injury to Nicholas’ only son Alexis. The Tsar and Tsarina then became convinced that Rasputin had been sent by God to look after their family and the Russian people. Rasputin’s influence increased under the protection of the Tsar, who even asked his advice in the appointment of his ministers and officials. Rasputin’s influence increased when war broke out, especially as the Tsar took control of the army. The Tsarina became completely dependant on Rasputin and he was even allowed to dismiss and appoint ministers. The Tsarina even wrote letters to her husband containing Rasputin’s advice on how to run the war. Many people became envious of Rasputin’s power and influence and he made many powerful enemies among nobles. Rasputin’s assassination came to late to save the Royal Family’s standing in Russia.
The revolutionary groups did not help the Tsar’s situation. The groups abroad smuggled newspapers into Russia – two of the most important were the Iskra (The Spark) which Lenin helped edit and the Bolshevik newspaper, Pravada (Truth) in 1912. This newspaper was very important in helping to spread Bolshevik ideas in Russia.
There was increasing unrest from 1912. There were a number of industrial strikes between 1912 and 1914. The strikers were dealt with harshly. By 1914 there was also considerable unrest in St.Petersburg including street demonstrations, shootings and the building of barricades.
In 1914 Russia went to war with Britain and France against Germany and Austria- Hungary. The outbreak of war was greeted with enthusiasm and increased patriotism. It seemed that the people wanted to give Nicholas a second chance because crowds gathered outside the Winter Palace to cheer the Tsar on and strikes in other parts of Russia ended, the Duma also swore to support the Tsar. However the Russian Army suffered defeats at Tannenburg and the Masurian Lakes, the Germans also invaded Russia. Unfortunately the Russian Army was large but poorly equipped. With not enough ammunition and weapons, nearly a third of the soldiers marched into war without rifles. There were very few basic supplies, such as boots, medical supplies and food. Another problem was that leadership was weak, with nobles as officers only because of their situation society rather that their military skills. There were many disastrous effects of the war on Russia and these included appalling working conditions in factories – longer hours and compulsory overtime, inflation – prices rose faster than wages, fuel shortage – particularly coal and firewood supplies were limited, which did not help when Petrograd temperatures fell to 35 degrees below zero. The casualties were enormous with 3 million dead, every family suffered a loss. There were tremendous food shortages – conscription meant there was not enough people to cultivate the land, bread especially in short supply, the military suffered many defeats which showed that Russia was not prepared for war. Making himself the Commander in Chief put all the blame on the Tsar, the primitive transport system collapsed under the strain and animals were taken for the army and trains were stopped. Industry could not keep up with the demands of the war.
The immediate causes were the riots in Petrograd. The riots started on Wednesday 7th March. The Putilov Ironworks were closed and the employees locked out 40,000 workers who were demanding higher wages. Then on 8th March there were marches and demonstrations and there were demands for bread. On 9th 200,00 workers went on strike and the slogans heard included “Down with Autocracy”, “Down with the War. There were also clashes with the police and Cossacks refused to break up the crowd. Then on 10th March Petrograd almost came to a standstill. Students joined the 250,000 striking workers. Police fired at the crowds and then the soldiers started to attack the police. Then on 11th March the Commander of Petrograd troops ordered the crowds to keep of the streets. Unfortunately the leading regiments mutinied and the Tsar dissolved the Duma because he was at the Front and chose to ignore the warnings. The key date in the Revolution was Monday 12th March, troops refused to fire and 25,000 troops joined the crowds and then they marched together to the Duma and demanded a new government. Then even more regiments mutinied. The Duma then decided to set a Provisional committee to try and restore order in the capital and create a government, which would correspond with the populations desires and was capable of enjoying its confidence. The Petrograd Soviet met for the first time and Moscow joined in the Revolution. On 13th March police continued to fire into the crowds. The Tsar decided to leave the Font because he now realised how serious the matter had become. The Petrograd city Council announced the casualties on 14th March; they included 587 civilians, 602 soldiers, 73 police and 53 officers. Then on 15th March on his way home the Tsar’s train was stopped outside Petrograd. He was made aware of how terrible things were and he was advised to abdicate. Within a week he and his family were arrested and removed to Siberia.
In conclusion the most important reasons for the abdication of the Tsar were mainly the short-term causes. The unpopularity of the Royal Family and the influence of Rasputin did not help Nicholas’ situation. This was because the people thought that Rasputin had too much power and influence which therefore made him powerful enemies. Even though Rasputin was killed this did not help to save the Royal Family. The influence of the revolutionary groups helped to put ideas into the Russian peoples’ heads that they could get a better life for themselves and that this was a cause worth fighting for. The increasing unrest from 1912 helped to give the revolutionaries ideas of what they could do to achieve what they wanted. The failures of World War One helped in the growth of a revolutionary movement in Petrograd. The immediate cause - the Riots in Petrograd was a result of the short-term causes because they showed the people what the status of the Royal Family and Russia was – terrible. The long-term causes were not so important but did contribute to the Tsars abdication. Because the Tsar believed he was an autocrat, this meant that any of Russia’s failures would result in the blame being put on him. Because free speech was allowed this meant people were not allowed to speak their minds and this then led to the growth of revolutionary parties, which were planned in secrecy. The fact that Russia was poor and undeveloped meant that people wanted and needed more; this is why people set up revolutionary parties so they could try and create a better world for themselves. The growth of the revolutionary parties was probably the most important reason and was a result of many of Russia’s problems.
The other reason why the Tsar was forced to abdicate was that he got too involved in the war and should never have made himself commander. This meant that any of Russia’s Military failures would be blamed on him. If he had not been directly involved in the war this would have helped him keep the support of the army and police and he would therefore been able to keep power.
