Why did the Tsar survive the 1905 revolution but not the 1917 revolution Essay Example
Why did the Tsar survive the 1905 revolution but not the 1917 revolution Essay Example

Why did the Tsar survive the 1905 revolution but not the 1917 revolution Essay Example

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  • Pages: 5 (1148 words)
  • Published: November 6, 2017
  • Type: Essay
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Many different tsars have ruled over Russia since 1547. The tsars were like kings, they had the power to do as they pleased. All the tsars dealt with any problems with an immediate, forceful strike against them.When Tsar Nicholas II came to power he appeared to be a good ruler, he was hard working and loyal to his family. But he also lacked in confidence and love for the job.

He confessed he didn't know how to rule a country. During tsar Nicholas II's reign he suffered many embassising events such as the two wars. This lead to the tsar's popularity to decrease. Nicholas II survived the first revelution but not the 1917 revolution for the following reasons.

The 1905 revolution was wide spread affecting many people and killing many. There were strikes and riots in the towns and cities all ov

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er the country, and peasants turned against the landowners in the countryside. The riots and strikes were mostly from civilians who wanted the tsar to change their living and working conditions; the revolution was sparked of by the events of bloody Sunday. The aims of the 1905 revelution were for civil liberty, a Duma and for all laws to be made by the DumaThe 1917 revolution was not as widespread as the 1905 revolution but this time members included civilians, deserted soldiers and members of the government. The revolution involved strikes and demonstrations mainly around the city of Petrograd (the capital of Russia). The demands of the revolution were better living and working conditions as well as other things, and above all the people wanted the tsar to resign.

The Tsar was generally unliked by

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his government and armed forces as well as Russia's people.The October manifesto was a list of rights put forward by the protestors of 1905 that the Tsar had to sign in order to stop the revelution. This plays a major part as a reason for why the Tsar survived the 1905 revolution but not the 1917 revolution.The Tsar agreed to the terms of the manifesto and the riots stopped. The people began to have faith in their Tsar again.

The strikes in the towns stopped. But the Tsar secretly had no wish or intention to keep to the deal because he had been forced to make the promise under pressure. He continuously closed the Duma when they dissagreed with him and most votes were fixed. These led to the Tsar losing his trust again.

One major problem for the Tsar was himself. One of the reasons he survived the 1905 revolution was by accepting the October manifesto. When he broke the promise he proved that he couldn't be trusted and lost the loyalty of the peasants. He was also unpopular because he supported Rasputin who everyone thought was unloyal and a risk. Another reason why he was unpopular is because of his wife. People thought she was having an affair with Rasputin, they also thought that she 'bullied' the Tsar into doing what ever she wanted.

Another of the Tsar's problems was that he had a son with haemophilia meaning that Russia's future Tsar would die at an early age. This all made the Tsar weak and vulnerable to attack by others. By 1917 the Russian people knew their ruler was weak and because of this they

wanted a new one.When Germany declared war on Russia on 1st August 1914 everyone expected a short war like the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-5 but as it became clear that the war was going to last a lot longer, the Tsar and his government lost the support of the people. The soldiers lost their loyalty to the Tsar as they were ill supplied and led by poor leaders, these and political developments at home lead to the defeat of the Russian armies in 1917.

The First World War was another embarrassing loss to the Russian's and like the earlier war against Japan led to a revolution.The First World War caused starvation in the cities, which led to the revolution. Russia also had to borrow from other countries and print money. This affected the workers as their wages became less valuable along with Russia's economy.Russia did however increase the output of heavy industries, such as iron and steel due to government contracts.

This helped the war effort. But other industries suffered badly, factories closed as no one could afford their goods therefore jobs were lost which lead to higher prices and food shortages which in turn lead to enthusiasm for the war to quickly disappear. Strikes and riots arouse calling for the war to end.The reason the Tsar survived the war against the Japanese was because of many reasons. The First World War was different to the Japanese war in that it was closer to the Russian people's homes.

This meant that Russian people knew more about the armies many defeats and few wins. It was also different in that it lasted a lot longer than

was expected. The Russians couldn't afford a long war and would ultimately fail if it turned into one. The First World War was a major cause for the Tsar to resign.

Russia's army was very large, it relied on this to survive. The Russian army lacked in technology, supplies and skill, but the size made up for this. The main tactic that Russian commanders employed during World War One was to charge at the enemy positions suffering very many casualties. Many of these offences failed and hundreds of men were killed for nothing. These things made the army a very unpopular thing to join, which is why Russia introduced conscription.

Conscription means that all men of a certain age had to join the army for a certain time.Because the Russian army lacked equipment and supplies only half the army had rifles, the other half had swords and bombs, these people had to pick up dead men's rifles and use them.On some days of the war soldiers were given only one bullet that had to last them for the day.All these things made the Tsar unpopular meaning he lost the support of his army, this helped lead to his resignation.

Whole companys of soildiers would surreder to the Germans, rather than fight and face certain death. Many soldiers would desert, along with their officers and leaders. They would go back to the Russian cities and tell people about the attrocities thay had faced at the battlefront. This lead to even more support for the war to end.In the end the Tsar was forced to surrender to the Germans. He was removed from power and along with his

family was murdered by his own ministers.

ConclusionI think the main reason that the Tsar resigned was because of the First World War. I think this because the war affected the most people

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