There were many effects of the war on the people back home in Russia, food was getting short and many of the male peasants had been conscripted in to the army. This meant that there was a shortage of farm workers and less food was produced. The Russian railway system was being used to carry supplies to the war front and this meant that food was not getting to the cities.
Many of the coal and industrial factories closed, making their workers unemployed. The lack of coal and fuel in the cities meant that the people in the cities had to go cold and there was a shortage of power.
As a result of the shortage of supplies, the prices of goods had to rise, but the wages were hardly going up at all. The Russian people were unable to buy the necessary things like clothes and shoes. To make things worse, workers were being made to work longer hours.
Russian people began to lose confidence in the government. The people were fed up of war and simply wanted it to end. This meant that they were ready for a revolution that promised the war to end and things to get better.
Another cause of the Bolshevik revolution was in September 1915, when Tsar Nicholas II decided to take over the running of the war and go to the war front. This had many consequences. To begin with the Tsar was now blamed for defeats in the war. He also handed day-to-day running of the country to the Tsarina. The people were angry that the Tsar had handed her complete power. They mistrusted the Tsarina because of her German origins and thought she was a spy. She had a close relationship with Rasputin. This contributed to the collapse of her reputation even further. The people didn’t like Rasputin, as there were rumours of him having wild drunken parties and seducing women with his hypnotic powers. There were stories that he and the Tsarina were lovers.
This is an extract from a letter from the Tsarina to Nicholas at the war front “Listen to our friend [Rasputin]…it is not for nothing God has sent him to us…we must pay attention to what he says…Forgive me, but I don’t like the choice of minister of war, Polianov…he is not our friend’s [Rasputin’s] enemy?”
Support of the Tsar and his wife began to decrease among the upper and middle classes, and even the aristocracy. They had little respect for the Tsarina and were shocked that a man like Rasputin was able to hold such an influence. They blamed the Tsar for allowing the situation to develop.
“…as certain as anything that the Emperor and Empress are riding for a fall. Everyone, officers, merchants, ladies, talk openly of the absolute necessity of doing away with them.” This was written by Sir Henry Wilson in Petrograd, February 1917.
By March 1917 the situation had become desperate and there was a serious mood of discontent. The workers wanted political changes. On 7 March in Petrograd, 40,000 workers from the giant Putilov engineering works went on strike for higher wages. The next day was International Woman’s day and thousands of women joined the strikers in demonstrations all across the city.
In my opinion I think that the most important cause of the revolution was the general unrest of the people caused by the hyperinflation. This meant that the people in Russia couldn’t afford the things they needed. Everyone in Russia could see that things weren’t going too well. Even if they don’t understand all of the causes it is obvious to them that Russia is having problems. This meant that the Russian people had to look for an alternative party to support instead of the Tsar. People looked to Lenin and the Bolsheviks because Lenin was as strong leader who found it easy to gain support. I think this was the most important cause as it affected every one in Russia and made sure they knew about the problems their country was facing.
