How far was WW1 the main cause of the fall of the Romanovs in Feb 1917

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  • Created on: 03-05-13 15:09
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  • How far was ww1 the main cause of the fall of the Romanovs in Feb 1917
    • Long term weaknesses
      • tsar listened to his wife too much-weak-german too so bad look
      • didn't listen to people/gave them political freedom
      • lacked strong government
      • constant disorganisation of the state
    • WW1
      • Food became scarce-Inflation-strikes for flour and sugar
      • Peasants sons rarely returned from the front- 80% of pop so need to keep happy- could not plough, sow or bring in the harvests as the young men were off fighting in the war- still heavily in debt after the emancipation of the serfs- had to buy their freedom over 50 years, and many were still serfs
      • Russian army lost 2 and half million men
      • Workers in cities worked very long hours for very little pay
      • lived in dormitories as house building had not kept pace with demand
      • Tsar took personal command of the army after its terrible start to the war- he was as inept as a military leader, and many blamed him for Russia's disasrous campaigns
      • heighten discontent throughout society enough for it to revolt
    • loss of traditional supporters
      • people of higher class started to declare that the Duma should make the Tsar abdicate
    • Strengths of revolutionary groups
      • Mensheviks gaining support as there were more problems and people knew that the M could help deal with them and start a rev
      • Communism along with many other radical ideologies flourished in Imperial Russia
      • Lenin's Bolsheviks found that after the February Revolution they could dominate the soviets and began to push for ALL power to be held by the soviets, rather than the Provisional Government
    • Mistakes of the Tsar
      • didn't prepare for war-transport issues
      • commander in chief-responsible for deaths
      • Didn't grant political freedom-this had been asked for so long
      • Leaving wife and Rasputin in charge-responsible-Rasputin already had bad reputation
    • Bloody Sunday and 1905 Revolution
      • Shattered the image of the Tsar as a caring father figure
      • Portrayed the leadership as being ruthless, uncaring and unsympathetic
      • Political concessions that resulted from the Revolution were minimal in reality-Duma had its powers limited by the Fundamental Laws and uncooperative assemblies were dismissed by the Tsar
    • Rapid Industrialisation
      • these factories and mines were worked by peasants straight from the countryside
      • The wages were poor
      • no labour unions and living conditions were atrocious
      • Hot-bunking was common in the dormitories- and radical politics found that a healthy breeding ground

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