I think the February Revolution was a collapse from within due to the Czar Nicholas’ inability to please the people of Russia, his involvement in the War for the purpose of restoring nationality, and his poor relation skills with the people. The Czar was a greedy and aggressive ruler that yearned to have what he wanted and to be in the limelight constantly. Due to his choices and ignoring the people’s wishes, Russian citizens were outraged and revolted against the Czar causing the government to collapse.
Czar’s bad choices started at the end of the Russo-Japanese War, an unsuccessful attempt by the Russians to claim land in Japan. After the defeat many Russian citizens began to doubt the Czar’s ability to govern the country. In order to keep from being overthrown, the Czar simply created a cabinet of advisors, called the Duma, to be an advocate for the people (1). This pleased the people at first but they were once again angered when the Czar ignored suggestions from the Duma and continued to do his own thing, including involving Russia in World War 1 to revive that strong sense of nationalism that was lost in the Russo-Japanese War (2). During WWI, Russia had the largest military in Europe but “Lacked the resources to fight a prolonged struggle” (3). After the first year of fighting, Russians were short on food, weapons and other supplies. The shortages were so bad that replacement soldiers had to scavenge among the dead in order to have a weapon to fight with (3). This shows that Russia was involved in a total war because not only were the soldiers affected by the supply shortage, but the citizens of Russia were as well and this caused resentment for the Czar among the people. The Czar was criticized for involving Russia in the war and, feeling that he needed to do something, he seized the opportunity to lead the struggling Russian army to victory (2). This shows that the Czar was greedy for attention because he felt that if Russia won the war, he would be seen as a hero and his credibility would rise once again. On the contrary, the Russian army’s struggle continued and the citizens need for food worsened under the czar’s command and they were forced to retreat from the war. The czar’s ambition and desire to be in the limelight backfired and now the already angered people were looking for a Revolution. On February 23, 1917, angry Russian citizens stormed the capital shouting “Give us bread” and “Down with the government” (3). This shows the czar’s inability to please the people because if he had granted them civil liberties and consulted with the Duma as he promised, he would not have thousands of ticked off Russians banging on his door. The czar ordered his police force to open fire on the crowd (3). This shows the czar’s poor relation skills because any average idiot would know that if someone is already upset with you, shooting them or someone close to them is not going to take that feeling of anger away. The fact that the czar’s actions of ignoring the Duma, involving Russia in a war and causing the citizens to suffer a depression, and mowed down protestors with a gat leads me to believe that the February Revolution was a collapse from within.
I agree with what you said Matt. Another way Czar Nicholas II messed up by leaving the country was the fact that he picked his German wife to govern at the capital, who also took advice from Rasputin (source 1) who had been disliked by many. Because of that, the people also saw another poor choice that he made.
ReplyDeleteAlso, you can't forget the other reason he created the Duma -- the event Bloody Sunday. (source 2) I'm sure if he had listened to the people instead of killing them, that the revolution would have been put off for a much farther time than February of 1917.
I didn't realize there was another massacre though by the Czar. That's interesting.
I don't think this would have been prevented though, the dynasty was going to go away. The opposing political parties just needed soemthing to incite the citizens against the government, and these events were it.
You say the people did not want to be a part of World War I, but Source Three says that some of the citizens did: the politicians and urban middle class, and that the "army wanted to defend their 'Slavic brothers' from Germany." The Duma even dissolved itself to symbolize its support for the government in entering World War I (source 3). So, the people showed support for it whether they wanted it or not. Also, shouldn't the people have turned on the farmers?? The czar could not just **poof** food on their table...the farmers weren't producing...they became simply subsistence farmers and only produced food for their family. Shouldn't the Russian people have looked after each other if they were so concerned their government wasn't doing a good enough job of it?? The people were struggling for food and supplies before the war also. The war just gave them a good reason to blame it on the czar; the nature of Russia's weather made the trains carrying freeze and unable to move-the czar couldn't control that. I think also that by the czar taking over command of the army, he was trying to take control of the situation he had started. He quit sitting back in his comfortable home to go to the front lines of danger and fight with his citizens and soldiers. What leader do you see today go out to the front lines and lead his army from there?? Of course, he did not help the situation, but at least he tried. As I said on Ian's, the people could not be pleased. They changed their minds on what they wanted almost daily...they overthrew one government, put in place a new one, and overthrew that one in a matter of a few months. The people put themselves in a situation of unahppiness just as much as their czar did.
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