The overthrow of Czar Nicholas II in the February Revolution was due to a collapse from within the government. Russian civilians did not have confidence in the autocracy, which does not show that the February Revolution was an overthrow from without, but rather a culmination of all the things the Czar did to make his citizens not trust him. A government cannot function if it does not have the trust of its people. The loss to Japan in the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-1905 (2 Belk notes) left Russians uneasy. How could one of the largest nations with the largest army of the time lose to Japan? Poor governing could only be to blame for the loss. To keep the citizens quiet the Czar then picked people to create a small group that would represent the thoughts of the people, called the Duma (2 Belk notes). The problem was that his motive for creating this group was simply to make people believe they had a say in government decisions, even though he didn't plan on relying on their opinion (2 Belk notes). This decision was selfish of the Czar to make because it shows that all he really wanted was power and to continue ruling Russia, but he didn't care about the well-being of the citizens which should have been his main priority. By doing these things the Czar was single-handedly creating a weak government because it was a government based on lies. The Czar took this so far as to turn against his people on Bloody Sunday, an event where he ordered troops to begin shooting at civilians that were speaking out against the government (2 Belk notes). This event made the Czar appear to be leading a governing body that was an enemy of Russia, rather than one that was leading it. Michael Rodzianko, President of the Duma, said, "There is wild shooting in the streets; troops are firing at each other. It is urgent that someone enjoying the confidence of the country to be entrusted with the formation of a new government," (1 Impact of WWI). Even a member of the Duma, which he created, was against him based on the instability he had evoked in the country. The Czar made other poor decisions when World War I arose as well. Many Russians did not want to enter in the first place, but the worst decision he made was to begin mobilizing first without adequate supplies (1 Impact of WWI). "Replacement troops were being trained without rifles and sent onto the battlefield, where they were to go among the dead and wounded to pick up the weapons they needed," (3 Book source). Soldiers were being asked to fight without proper clothes, equipment, and training, which made them resent the Czar. It also made all Russians angry because they had strong feelings of nationalism because after they lost the Russo-Japanese war the government had promised the country that they would regain their prestige during World War I, which didn't appear to be starting too promising. I believe the Czar's final mistake was to leave the country and go lead the military, while leaving the Tsarina in charge of the country to be his "eyes and ears" (1 Impact of WWI). The Czar assuming leadership of the military made citizens believe that Russia would lose even faster in the war because if he wasn't a good leader of the country, than he certainly would not be a competent leader on the front lines. What enraged citizens even more than that is that they were left to obey the Tsarina who, "was German by birth and in the climate of the war the people hated all things German. To make things worse she turned to the disreputable monk, Rasputin for advice," (1 Impact of WWI). At this point, the Czar was looked at as an enemy for lying and shooting against his people and the Tsarina was looked at as an enemy for being of German origin, the Germans being the immediate enemy of Russia in World War I.
Some historians might believe that the February Revolution was due to an overthrow from without because of the same reasons, but the reason why each thing happened can be traced back to a decision that the Czar made. The Czar manipulated and was in control of everything that happened in Russia during this time therefore he is directly responsible for the political instability that was created. Due to selfish decision-making and lies, the February Revolution was a collapse from within.
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Within Morgan Schusterman’s post she states, “A government cannot function if it does not have the trust of its people. Due to selfish decision-making and lies, the February Revolution was a collapse from within.” I firmly agree with this statement because I would not want someone of power not having my best interest in mind, just as Czar obliviously did not. With almost every action the Czar made, the only thing he considered was himself. He wanted to make himself look the best so he made his decisions based on what he thought was best, for him. The Czar created the Duma in order to give the people a chance to have a voice. (2) Really, the Czar created the Duma in order to cover his tracks and be able to say, “I gave them a chance to speak up,” when he really did not. It was clever to have a cover up but it did not cover much for very long. The Czar went off the lead the military. (2) The Czar went off to lead the military in order to cover his tracks and say, “I did the best to lead the troops to victory,” when he had no military knowledge in order to lead the military.
ReplyDeleteWithin most of the posts, the general census was the February Revolution was a collapse from within. Others than say it was an overthrow from without is not reading the fine print, just reading the surface of what really happened. Every action that lead to an over throw was due to an action made by the Czar. Thus the February Revolution was due to a collapse from within, I agree with Morgan and everyone else who said so.
I agree with your statement, "A government cannot function if it does not have the trust of its people." Prior to the war, the Russian government had the trust of its people and gained even more when it listened to their concerns. According to source 3, the Russian people "rallied around the flag. Politicians and the urban middle classes welcomed the war." The public believed, just like many of the other countries involved in the war, that this would be a quick and victorious war, and to Russian it was away to gain back some of their dignity that they lost in the defeat against Japan in the Russo-Japanese war. The Czar listened to his peoples nationalistic feelings and entered the war. However, the war was not short and so doing what his people wanted in this case was not the right thing to do. Therefore, why would he want take much interest in their concerns now that it has lead to Russian involvement in this costly war. That is why i do not agree with your statement that the Czar's motives were completely selfish. They may have been somewhat but he may have also been trying to do what was good for his people without listening to their suggestions that have resently ended up with a costly war.
ReplyDeleteTo the statement you're both referring to, I also believe that is a major role in governing bodies. A major part of our democracy in America today is that we trust our government (for the most part) to make decisions in our best interest and to always consider our thoughts. This lead me to the conclusion that if this trust wasn't present people would be running wild in the streets and starting revolts, such as the evidence Bobby found in source 3. Also Bobby, I understand what you're saying about the selfish motives. We're looking at the same evidence, I just interpreted every decision he makes to be one that will boost his power. Regardless of his motives though, his poor decisions are what lead to the collapse from within Russia.
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