Snider: Collapse from Within

I think that the February Revolution was a collapse from within the government meaning that it was mostly the fault of Nicholas II. There are many reasons why I think that the February Revolution was a collapse from within the government and not an overthrow from without. I used evidence from the sources we were given to make my decision. Here is some of the evidence that I found that helped me lean towards the February Revolution as being a collapse from within the government:
· “It is impossible to rule the country without paying attention to the voice of the people, without meeting their needs, without a willingness to admit that the people themselves understand their own needs.” (Source 1)
· “Your majesty, do not delay. Should the agitation reach the Army, Germany will triumph and the destruction of Russia along with the dynasty is inevitable.” (Source 1)
· “In July 1914 Russia mobilized to go to the aid of her ally, Serbia. Within a few weeks war was declared against Germany and Austria. At the outbreak of war, the Russian people put aside their long-standing grievances and supported their government. Nicholas II had welcomed the war to turn away the people’s attention from the country’s internal problems. On the other hand, Lenin and Bolshevik’s were against the entry of Russia into the war. Lenin viewed that the First World War was a war among the capitalist countries for markets and colonies.” (Source 1)
· Nicholas II assumes leadership of military (Source 2)
· People suffered from food shortages (Source 2)
These things are all evidences of the February Revolution being a collapse from within the government and not an overthrow from without. In the first bullet, I think that Nicholas II did not want to listen to the needs and wants of his people because he did not know how to handle the situation. If he was not willing to listen to the voices of the people, then he should not be the ruler of the country. Also, if he is not willing to take blame for things, then he is not strong enough to be a leader of his country. Nicholas II did not want to take all the blame for things that were happening so he created a group called the Dumas. The creation of this group led to collective responsibility for the things that were happening and the things that the people did not like. Nicholas II did this so he would not be the only one to blame for everything and he could have a group to help him out. With this happening, it led to a collapse from within because Nicholas II was not fulfilling his duty as ruler of the country.
This is also evident in the second and third bullet because when the war began, it said that Nicholas II welcomed the war. Most countries want to stay away from war, but he was glad to see it happen. The thought of war made the people come together as a nation and fight. The war also made people forget about the long-standing grievances. People were actually supporting their government for once instead of bashing it and creating revolts against the government. With all the people in support of his government in time of the war, I think that Nicholas II felt a huge amount of relief now that the people were supporting him and his government and not creating disturbances throughout the nation.
Also, in the last two bullets, Nicholas II assumes the leadership role of the military. People do not approve of this because it was a poor decision made by him. He is not a trained military leader and should not be in control of the whole army, yet he assumes leadership. He thinks that it will be an easy job and that he is best suited for the role, but he was mistaken. During World War One, the Tsar left for the front and left Alexandra, his wife, in charge of the country. She was to be his “eyes and ears”. To make matters worse she was German and during the war, the people hated all things German. This was not a smart decision on his part. He either did not care about his country and the people or he just had that much faith and trust in his wife that she would be a good person to leave a country in charge with. Once again, the Tsar is being blamed for the bad things that are happening to the country.
People no longer wanted him in power because of all of his poor decisions he made throughout his leadership and because they did not agree with the things he did. These are reasons why I think that the February Revolution was a collapse from within.