By the beginning of 1917 the strain of the prolonged fighting had taken a heavy toll on the country. The country's incompetent and corrupt system could not supply the necessary equipment to enable the to fight a modern war. By 1917 over 1,300,000 men had been killed in battle, 4,200,000 wounded and 2,417,000 had been captured by the enemy during battles on the Eastern Front. The German and Austro-Hungarian armies occupied much of Russia’s territory and millions of refugees had been forced to flee. Due to the poor Russian railway network, food could not get to the cities, and the economy was seriously disrupted causing drastic inflation (prices in the major cities increased six-fold). People began to starve in the big cities of Petrograd and Moscow. Along with the harsh winters and fuel shortages, the war was causing huge problems not just for the soldiers but for the ordinary Russian people.
It did not help that Nicholas had taken sole control of the army and was therefore blamed for everything that went wrong. It is evident that there was a strong decline in support for his government after he did this. As Nicholas was away from Petrograd at the front with the army, his German wife Alexandra was quite literally in total control of the country. The ordinary Russian people did not respect her because of her nationality and as the Tsarina was always with her haemophiliac son she was therefore unable and unwilling to devote time to the interests of the people. Due to this she relied heavily on the influence of Gregory Rasputin a “mad monk” believed to have powerful visions and healing powers. Alexandra thought her son would die without Rasputin and he became her constant companion. The Russian people disliked Rasputin even more than the Tsarina, as it was well known that Rasputin was Alexandra’s closest confidant. They suspected he was trying to control Russia through her and he became known sarcastically as the “true lord of All the Russia’s”. During his many drunken parties, the monk would boast of his exploits with the Empress and her daughters, even going as far as proclaiming that the Tsar was at his fingertips. After several attempts, Rasputin was finally murdered in 1916, by cyanide poisoning.
Despite the many problems outlined, the Tsar did not think that any single one could cause a powerful enough revolution to overcome the entire tsarist empire and he constantly ignored the Dumas’s plea of help. Yet, despite this no one anticipated the very sudden and unexpected revolution ended the Romanov dynasty in less then a week in March of 1917. The revolution had not been planned, nor was it directed by any organized political group.
On either February 22 or March 7th a large metalworking plant in Putilov closed its doors, forcing many out of work due to a wage dispute. The next day numerous riots broke out in Petrograd due to anti-government sentiments, food shortages, and street demonstrations. Citizens were upset because of a shortage of bread that forced women to stand in the cold streets for hours, often leaving empty handed. Due to the terrible conditions, strikes and rioting was nothing new. In fact there had been a similar revolution in 1905, which had tried to establish a constitutional monarchy. When Nicholas left Petrograd for the front, he relied on information from his wife about the situation in the capital. She often did not tell the truth and claimed everything was fine. In fact, the situation was desperate.
As temperatures rose, growing throngs of people added to the protests. Women also took to the streets in protest on Women's Day, which was celebrated by the Socialists. As the days went by an Executive Committee of Soldiers and Workers Deputies was founded. It was modelled on the one created in the Revolution of 1905 by Leon Trotsky. After this more and more people joined the rioters and the government gave orders to the military to stop the dissenters. At this point over 200,000 workers were on strike and as the chaos grew, the orders called for more violent action to be taken and guns were used. Then came the final blow: mutiny. Guards and soldiers could not bring themselves to shoot the citizens. Instead, over 150,000 soldiers decided to join the strikes as their conditions were equally poor and the military lost control of the situation. As the deserters joined the throngs, the remaining soldiers had to go into hiding, in order to avoid the angry strikers.
The president of the Dumas wrote to Nicholas: “There is anarchy in the capital. The government is paralysed.” Yet, still unable to grasp the severity of the situation, the Tsar did not answer and did not plan on returning to Petrograd in February. When he finally arrived, his train was stopped. With no military backing or parliamentary support (the majority of the Dumas supported the people and had ignored the Tsars orders for them to disband), the last Romanov tsar Nicholas II, abdicated the throne on March 2 (or on March 15th) on behalf of himself and his son. His brother, Grand Duke Michael, in whose favour Nicholas had abdicated, followed suit. The Russian Empire was without an emperor and The Romanov dynasty, which had held power for over three hundred years, was over.
Overall, I conclude that there was no single cause to the revolution in the spring of 1917. One simple protest due to bread and wage shortages could not have gone so far had other factors not been involved. It was more the accumulation of social and economic hardships combined with the negatives attitudes towards the royal family and its system of government. The country's economic condition was very backward, which made it unable to sustain the war effort against powerful, industrialized Germany. Russian manpower was virtually inexhaustible. Russian industry, however, lacked the capacity to arm, equip, and supply the some 15 million men who were sent into the war. When these harsh factors are examined it is not surprising that protests were ignited by the Russian people, leading to the overthrow of the Tsar and the ending of the Romanov dynasty.
