Why were there two Revolutions in Russia in 1917.

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Why were there two Revolutions in Russia in 1917

In 1917 Russia changed from imperial rule under Tsar Nicholas II to democratic rule under a provisional government in March and finally ended up being led by the Bolshevik Party after the second revolution that happened in October. A range of factors, some long-term and some short-term caused the revolutions; which relate to public opinion and discontent, as well as the actions of the Tsar himself.

Weaknesses in the Russian government and economy at the start of the twentieth century meant discontent gradually grew with most Russian people. Workers were paid very little and often had to work over 11 hours a day. There was also never quite enough food to go around and several major famines worsened the plight of the Russian Serfs; the peasantry who lived in terrible poverty stricken conditions under strict landlords, and made up 90% of the population. Only half of the farming land was owned by the15 million peasant families, while the other half went to just 300,000 landlords.

In addition, the Russians lost the Russo-Japanese war, and this humiliating defeat was blamed on the Tsar and his government. When protestors marched to the Tsar’s palace in St Petersburg in 1905 with a petition for full civil liberties and better rights, soldiers fired upon them and 1000 are thought to have been killed. ‘Bloody Sunday’, as it was called, prompted a wave of protests and the assassination of the governor of Moscow, Duke Sergei. In response the Tsar did introduce democratic reforms that included the setting up of the Duma, a deputy assembly of the middle class; the formation of a council of ministers; and better rights for peasants. These changes ended the short 1905 uprising, but despite the reforms Russia was still firmly autocratic.

The failure of the Tsar to fulfil all of the significant demands made by the people, and the way in which he seemed to ‘brush the problems aside’ worsened his reputation. He appeared weak and unable to keep any promises he made, and worse still the democratic Duma he established held no effective power, and was obviously a ploy to please the people while the Tsar ignored them. In fact the Tsar’s very own government was corrupt and disorganised, with many men in the government simply for their belonging to the aristocracy. Another reason for people discrediting the Tsar was because of the influence Rasputin had over the Tsar and his wife. Rasputin was a monk and faith healer who had allegedly healed the Tsar’s son of Haemophilia, and who offered advise to Nicholas II. Rasputin’s presence was undesirable in the eyes of the people since he had a background of rebellion and bad rumours were always circulating about him.

The people unwilling to let the Tsar continue his rule, that was nearing dictatorship, formed various opposition parties in Russia. The main group was the Socialist Revolutionaries, and they gained much support from the peasants who sought a radical solution in Russia. Another was the Russian Social Democratic party, founded in 1898, it appealed to many town workers but then split in 1903 to the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks. Both groups followed Marxist ideology but had different approaches to challenging the Tsarist system. The Bolsheviks only accepted committed members to the party and favoured a radical approach. The Mensheviks were more cooperative and stood for election in the Duma, they also issued propaganda and organised strikes against the Tsar. Just less than half of people living in Russia were not Russian nationals, and many of these Poles, Finns and others wished the Tsar would be overthrown; but did not show serious threat to the Tsarist system until the First World War broke out. The Tsar’s government had a secret police, the ‘Okhana’ that attempted to suppress the revolutionary opposition. Its main methods of removing rivals were exile from Russia and execution, but like most of the Russian institution it was disorganised, and not very effective at intimidating the determined opposing parties. Russians, especially those experiencing the worst hardships, had the underground revolutionary movements as a welcome alternative to the Tsar that they saw as a dictator, and for this reason membership to the parties steadily increased as faith in Imperial Russia was dwindling.

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In July 1914 Russia entered the First World War on the side of Britain and France, fighting Germany and Austro-Hungaria. At first the conflict helped the Tsar. The natural rallying together of all the classes occurred, and the Tsar was looked towards for leadership that was needed in the conflict. But after the first defeat at Tannenburg, the initial nationalistic enthusiasm was lost, and the Tsar was to make some fatal mistakes that lost much support of the Russian people.

In August 1915 the Tsar left St Petersburg to command the Russian army, and this meant the people held him ...

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