Defeats in Crimea and in Manchuria had cast some doubt on the capacity of the Russian army to deal with foreign opponents, and mutinied during 1905 had shown that its willingness to suppress internal dissent was not absolute. The army was by large an impressive instrument of the royal, but by March of 1917 this was no longer the case. The political significance of the army was transformed. Instead of being a responsive instrument for defending the existing system, it became a huge military school for peasants, industrial workers whose situation and political outlook made them hostile to the existing order.
The 1905 so called revolution was sparked by an event that became known as “Bloody Sunday”. It was led by many men, women and children who filled the streets and called for an end to the war and a reform. The causes of this came from political discontent caused by the absence of political reform, also economic discontent caused by poor wages and increasing taxation and defeat and poor management of the war against Japan.
Before their activities were terminated, the Soviets had played a strong part in forcing the reluctant Nicholas II to make some concessions. The defiance of the soviets, the complete breakdown of the railway system, the mass peasant disturbances and the spirit of rebellion in the armed forces compelled Nicholas II to issue his “October Manifesto”. This guaranteed a constitution and a parliament or Duma elected by the people. This manifesto succeeded in taking the wind out of the revolution.
The growing split between the government and its traditional supporters owed much to the political obstinacy of Nicholas II. His refusal to face political realities explains the Tsar’s growing dependance on the advice of people who saw little as he did. In particular he relied his wife and her spiritual advisor, Gregory Rasputin. Both his wife and Rasputin insisted that Nicholas II must not concede any of his powers. By 1916 after the tsar had left for the front, Rasputin in effected selected the various ministers of government. This played a huge part in the fall of the Romanov Dynasty.
The cumulative effect of these events was that Russia suffered severe food shortages, soldiers became war-weary, and morale was at an all-time low. On 15 March 1917, Nicholas was forced to abdicate amidst civil war. As seen above this is the role that Nicholas II played in the fall of the Romanov Dynasty.
Joshua Mete
