All war puts the governments involved under great pressure. It also puts the society under pressure financially and also emotionally. War had great effects on the Russian dynasty over its course. In more recent times leading up to the fall; the Romanovs led Russia into many Wars.
The Crimean War was a humiliating loss that left Russia in taters. Its military was shown as being weak and it was rapidly losing its status as a major power. It did however bring about major reform and eventually led to the emancipation of the serf system in Russia. This in itself should have resulted in a much more peaceful social system but actually led to more unrest. The War also made the Romanov family, for the first time, consider their position as autocrats. The Turkish war of 1878 also went badly for the Romanovs and their Empire. After the total humiliation at the treaty of Berlin by the western powers, Alexander II was forced to make more reforms to his army and the social system. Again, Russia finds themselves being dragged into another needless war, this time against the Japanese. Russia were greedily seeking more land instead of concentrating on reform back home. Against a seemingly weak power the Russians suffered another humiliating defeat. After the War the Tsar appointed a constitution. This should have effectively lead to less power for the Tsar and a constitutional monarch. However it failed to do so.
In all of their wars, Russia performed significantly badly and regularly suffered high casualties. They were all wars that Russia started due to the expectation of expansionary beliefs. All the Wars were fought against different opponents. This showed how isolationist the Russians were becoming. All their wars were fought away from their homeland so it didn’t seem to have such a great affect. However when the Germans invaded in World War 1, the Russian society were shook up. In terms of losses, Russia hadn’t witnessed such great loss in any other war than the First World War.
There were great implications of the defeat in the First World War for Russia. Another defeat for Russia in another War made the Russian people lose great confidence in their leader. They saw the Tsar as a father figure; however this image was rapidly fading as he was constantly leading his ‘children’ into slaughter. To add to growing unrest, the financial situation of Russia was worsening. The government had to borrow money of over nations and therefore the value of the Rubel fell. Inflation was the result and this lead to worsening living conditions. As the countries resources were pumped into the war effort, there was a lack of food. Napoleon famously said; “An army marches on its stomach”. This was the case and as all the food was at the front line, those back at home were suffering. Especially over the cold winter, social unrest rose due to the lack of food. Riots became a regular occurrence and strains began to form on the Tsar. By 1917, 3.5 million factory workers worked in the towns. They could not grow their own food and therefore they relied on being supplied it by the country. This did not happen and a gap appeared between the town dwellers and the country dwellers.
The social unrest was handled badly by the Tsar. He appointed old conservative ministers to lead the country and deserted the capital to lead his troops. He became disappointed with his new appointments and decided to remove all his government and take sole responsibility for the countries running. Although the Tsar took time out to support his troops, they quickly lost faith in him and when they were called upon to fire upon some protestors they refused. They refused to obey his orders and demanded the Tsar step down out of power.
We can see that the impact of war on the Romanov family was large. It lead to the degeneration of the social system and the rapid loss of faith of the Army in the Tsar. The economic and social conditions were appalling as a result and the Russian people lived in constant fear of more bloodshed.
Although War seems to have lead directly to the downfall of the Tsarist regime, how well would the regime have survived if war was not an issue? How well was the regime performing prior to 1914?
It seems that the agricultural, industrial and political systems were not performing too well.
The Tsars main responsibility was to look after his people. If his people were not adequately fed, then he was failing in his duties. Prior to 1914, the Russian agriculture was in a state. There was widespread famine and most Russians were suffering from hunger. There was not enough land allocated to the former serfs and thus they were unable to grow their own food and also enough food for the workers in the cities. This lead to poor social conditions and it turn lead to riots and revolts. Although it seemed bad, an appointed minister of the Tsar, Stolypin, made some positive reforms. He wiped out the serf’s redemption dues and allowed them to concentrate on the production of food and such like to resource the country. He removed the mir and allowed the peasants to own the land they farmed. This gave the peasants their freedom and helped the system improve. Although there was great steps forwards, it was not enough. Stolypin needed government support. However, he was out of favour for being to reforming and was believed to be assassinated by the Tsar. With a little more time before the war, Stolypin may have been able to reform the agricultural system into something worthwhile. With time the regime may have been better off. Improved agriculture would have meant there would be no famine and therefore less social unrest. It was a matter of too little, too late.
Another good appointment by the Tsar was the appointment of Witte as head of Industry. Witte pioneered the expansion of the Russian industry. He expanded the rail network which aided the countries belated industrialisation. Under Witte’s reforms, Russia was rapidly catching up with the other growing western economies. However, although on the surface it looked bright for Russian industry, there was great social unrest. The industrialisation of the towns caused great public health problems. There was not enough room in the cities for the workers, there was not enough food and there were no labour laws so workers were exploited. This unrest produced fodder for the revolutionaries which lead to the uprising that overthrew the Tsarist regime. Although the economy was generating greater wealth than before, this wealth didn’t reach the masses. It was spent on the growing military. Although the economy looked like it was on the up, it needed that extra time before the war came along for it to flourish and sort its problems out. Like the Agriculture, the industry needed a time of peace to grow.
Although there were vast problems in Russia, the vast majority of people were still loyal to the Tsar. Many believed that the Tsar had made good appointments that looked promising for the future of Russia. Nicholas II embarked on a period of reform in the early 1900s which lead to an opportunity for the Tsar to remove himself from the limelight and let his government take control. He could have given his people a democracy. However, the Tsars belief that he was appointed by God to rule ruled out and he continued to keep control. After too much reform, Nicholas became scared and sacked all his reformist ministers from office. Due to his growing personal problems with Rasputin, Nicholas was becoming confused with his politics. He turned to war as the solution to all problems.
In conclusion to how crucial a role did war play in the downfall of the Romanov dynasty in 1917, we can see that War played a large part in the collapse of the dynasty. However, it is debatable whether it was the only factor involved in the downfall. It is safe to say that many other factors were involved in bringing the regime to an end. The lack of reform was a huge factor in the fall. The Tsar refused to sustain a period of reform which liberated the peasants and made life bearable for them. The Tsar emancipated the serfs yet failed to follow up reforms and subsequently left the social state in a mess. Despite making good appointments to help govern, once reform appeared the Tsar became scared and removed them. Along with this, the increased pressure from society due to lack of food and poor living conditions caused great pressure on the regime.
Ultimately we can see that without war, the regime may have had a chance. The regime seemed to be in an appalling state by 1914, however with a little more time and stability the regime may have been able to reform its way out of trouble. War was therefore a crucial catalyst in the downfall of the dynasty, but without it the downfall seemed almost certain anyway.
