Thursday, October 29, 2009

Taylor- A Collapse from Within

The February Revolution was brought about mainly from the poor decision made within the government. Tsar Nicholas II was at fault because he put power before the people who depended on him, eventually losing there trust . Three main reasons why Tsar Nicholas II lost the trust of his people were attacking the people by force creating "Bloody Sunday", ignoring Duma who was a representation for the people, and leaving the country to take control of the war.
Before World WarI Russia was already heading for collapse due to there lost in the Russo- Japanese War. There nationalism and pride was destroyed causing the uproar of many people. Tsar NicholasII knowing of the countries downfall only contributed more problems . He reached the point to where he ordered the military to shoot innocent people who protested, which was the creation of "Bloody Sunday". He put his power first causing the people to look down upon him . Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich states " Its impossible to rule the country without paying attention to the voice of the people , without meeting there needs ,without the willingness to admit that the people themselves understand their own needs."(1) Mikhailovich saw that within a country whatever a country goes through it does not only affect the leader , but the country as a whole. Tsar Nicholas II never thought that once a country faces a lost in a war you have to put your difference aside and come together as one , to build it back up to where it once was.
Contorversy in Russia was on the rise and many people wanted Tsar Nicholas II overthrown(1) They felt this way because the Tsar focused on how he could gain more power while his people worried about how they would recieve their next meal. Well once the Tsar began to see the position he was in he decided to create the Duma or a voice for the people.The Duma was an example of a democracy in which we live today (2)This seemed great to the people , because they began to believe that the Tsar actually cared for them. But the Tsar only did this to protect himself . Tsar Nicholas II ignored the Duma completely , never listening to the ideas that were brought forth. The Tsar did not want to be overthrown , yet he did nothing to make things shift for the better. The ignorance of the Duma only made people lose there trust completely once they found out his hidden plan to save himself. The Tsar never realizes that the people just want to be heard ,by putting forth this democratic effort he could have made the life of the people improve and save himself altogether.
Lastly was the biggest decision ever made by Tsar Nicholas to take over the army at war,leaving his collasping country alone to suffer. This was the last straw for the Tsar , because the people were fed up. While the Tsar was at war he left his wife in charge of Russia, she was to be his "eyes and ears"(1). Not only did he leave his wife who knew nothing about running a government, but he took over a war where the solider did not have shoes or rifles to train with. The low level of technical and economical developement produced an army suffering form the shortage of equipment-even boots- and trained personnel. Many soliders often had no weapons at all; they were expected to arm themselves from discarded weapons of the killed and wounded(1). This was pitful on the Tsar's behalf , he truly showed how little he cared about his people and and more about gaining power. While he was away people faced severe foodshortages(1).Also sickness and the formation of bread lines surrounded the country. Tsar Nicholas II let his people suffer the hardships losing there pride and their dependency on a leader they thought cared. The people then saw by his actions that he never cared about there well being , but the way he could ignore them and gain power. Tsar Nicholas II treatment of his people lead to him being overthrown, he let power take over him completely . The people lost everything instead of rebuilding their society, it was torned down dragging them along with it.

1 comment:

  1. I thought this was a very good post and your points were very strong but i was a little confused. Your claim at the beginning of the post is that the February Revolution was a collapse from with in but by the final paragraph your claim seems to have changed. You talked a lot about Bloody Sunday and the Czar not respecting the Duma which made a collapse from within seem to be the reason. But think about how Russia lost the Russo-Japanese War to Japan which crushed the morale and high standing of the Russian people. Because of this loss the Russians felt they had to prove themselves in World War I. When the soldiers had to fight without proper equipment and food shortages came about strikes began to take place. This shows an overthrow from without because the people were angry with the goverment and the way things were going. The strikes and protests made their voices heard and many times they were chanting to remove the Czar.
    Because of this it makes the February Revolution look like it was a factor of both a collapse from within and an overthrow from without. Your points about the Czar not respecting the Duma are very good but what about the peoples view of that. Obviously it would anger the people which would want them to overthrow the Czar. That is why an overthrow from without is also a factor of the February Revolution.

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