Why was the Tsar overthrown at the March revoulution.

BILAL YASIN 04/05/07

HISTORY

MR PYKE

Why Was The Tsar Overthrown At The March Revoulution?

There were many reasons for the overthrowing of the Tsar at the March Revoulution of 1917. Some of theses reasons were more important than others and had a effect.

In my veiw the most important cause was that Russia was an Autocracy. This sysem ment that the Tsar had complete power and authority. He also had control of the Russian Orthodox Church. All the important decisions were made in Petrograd, and were made entirely by the Tsar. The people of Russia were not involved and had no say and therfore felt as though the Tsar was just ignoring them and did not care about their opinions. Most of the Russian people were peasants. They only owned half the land 15 million families and the rest between 300,000 landowners. This Autocracy also made it easier to fibd someone to blame as there was only 1 person incharge and that was the Tsar. In 1915 the Tsar made himself commander in chief of the army so this also led to him being blamed for the faliures of the Russian army. This was a long-term cause as it was ongoing for a long time.

Food shortages was also another cause for the overthrowing of the Tsar in 1917. It was not that Russia could not afford to make food but there were transport problems getting the food around Russia. There was also a huge harvest loss mainly beacause of the weather. This led for queing for bread and often people would que over night just to get their bread. The Tsar only saw one possible answer, rationing. Rationing had a huge impact as people were not happy with the idea of it and disliked the Tsar for this. This was a short-term cause ...

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Strike were occouring all over Russia and had almost risen to An epidemic. These strikes were ongoing since 1914. in Petrograd the putilov factory closed as almost 40,000 people went on strike. After 3 days a further fifty factories closed down with about 250,000 people on strike. There was no public transport and no newspapers. All this happening while the food shortages continued. People hated the tsar for his poor

leadership and allowins Russia to get so out of hand. This was also a short-term cause and had harsh consiqueses on the Tsar.

The weather unusual for Russia was mild following some hashly bitter weather. This encouraged the people to go out on the streets to demonstrate.

The peasants supported the Social Revolutionaries (SRP), who wanted to overthrow the Tsar and set up a Republic. They also wanted all the land to be handed over to the peasants. This was a long term cause and was very bad for the Tsar as 90% of the population were peasants. This ment that the SRP’s were greatly supported.

The army mutinied which left the Tsar with no army after they had supported him for a very long time. As the Tsar had made himself the commander in chief of the army he was the only person that could be blamed. The mutiny led to Russia pulling out of the war. This was a very significant cause which left the Tsar realising how bad tthing actually were. This was a shot-term cause and was greatly supported by the Russian people.

All these causes led to the overthrowing of the Tsar in March 1917. they played a great deal in the history in Russia.