AT3 Romanov Essay

Question 1

1. How important was WW1 in bringing about the fall of the Romanov Dynasty? overall structure

Answer 1

• introduction
• body paragraph one (military and economic)
• body paragraph two (social and political)
• conclusion

Question 2

1. How important was WW1 in bringing about the fall of the Romanov Dynasty? thesis

Answer 2

The Romanov Dynasty had been holding on precariously to their power which began to be questioned by a series of events in the early 20th century which ultimately lead to its unceremonious collapse.

Question 3

Social paragraphs

Answer 3

Bloody Sunday
* Father Gapon in January 1905 conducted a peaceful protest at the Winter Palace with a petition
* the guards shot down the protesters which broke the emotional bond with his people

Serfdom:
* The Empancipation Proclamation Act (1861) freed serfs of being controled by land owners, but put them into severe debt to pay back land
* this caused widespread poverty and desperation, reform was urgent

WW1 homefront:
* Tsarina managed matters on the homefront as a German princess which was problematic
* this and closeness to Rasputin damaged her reputation as it was believed that they were having an affair
* Rasputin convinced her to get rid of ministers so the government became disfunctional

Question 4

Political paragraphs

Answer 4

Duma Fundamental law:
* To bring stability during the 1905 revolution, the Tsar released the October Manifesto which promised reforms (including a Duma)
* right before the first Duma meeting, the Fundamental Law of 1906 was created which stated that the Tsar claimed supreme power over the Duma
* showed that the Tsar had no interest in becoming a consititutional monarchy and dismissed Dumans constantly

Tsar takes control of army:
* Takes control in 1915 with no military experience
* following this, 2 mil. Russia soldiers were killed, injured, or captured
* proved he was an unworthy ruler

Question 5

economic paragraphs

Answer 5

WW1 battlefront shortages:
* slow industrialisation
* agricultural production decreased as horses and pesticides were used in war
* inflation rose by 100s of percent
* people sent into poverty

not industrialising fast enough for war:
* Russia lost Russo-Japanese war as they didn’t modernise which exposed backwardsness
* the Russian economy couldn’t match Germany’s sophisticated economy as the homefront was collapsing
* Germany had just come out of recession
* Russia was still stuck in the idea of working off the land, lack of skilled workers

Question 6

military paragraphs

Answer 6

WW1:
* failure of WW1 ventures to boost morale
* Whilst they experienced victory at Galacia, the four day Battle of Tannenberg ravaged them
* By the end of 1914, 1.2 million soldiers were killed/injured/captured

Russo-Japanese war:
* underestimated Japan
* it was assumed due to European supremacy that Russia would win the war
* caused public embarrassment

Question 7

social evidence/historiography

Answer 7

Bloody Sunday:
* Nicholas went from “the little father” to “Nicholas the bloody murderer”
* Martin Sixsmith: Russia’ a 1000 years chronicle of the Wild East “the vast majority of Russias had regarded the Tsar as their friend and protector… the massacre of those who had come to seek his help was seen as a fatal betrayal.”

Question 8

Political evidence/historiography

Answer 8

• The Fundamental Law of 1906

Question 9

economic evidence/historiography

Answer 9

• Vyacheslav von Plehve, former Minister of Internal Affairs and of the Russian Federation stated that “What we need is a splendid little war” to regain strength in Russia.
• inflation rose in Russia to 200% in 1916
• In 1915, the Tsar decided to take control of the military personally and 2 million men were killed by the end of the year.

Question 10

military evidence/historiography

Answer 10

WW1:
* won against Austrian troops in Galacia in 1914
* lost the four day Battle of Tannenberg against Germany
* by the endo f 1914, 1.2 milllion Russian soldiers were killed/wounded/captured
* Vyacheslav von Plehve, former Minister of Internal Affairs and of the Russian Federation stated that “What we need is a splendid little war” to regain strength in Russia.

Russo-Japanese:
* Japan took 79,000 Russian POW
* Russia lost 56,000 soldiers

Question 11

2. Assess the leadership of Tsar Nicholas up to 1917 AND to what extent was Nicholas II responsible for the collapse of the Romanov Dynasty in 1917? thesis

Answer 11

Tsar Nicholas II was a disillusioned and ill-informed autocratic ruler who was infirm of judgement, thus demonstrating poor leadership of the Romanov Dynasty which largely contributed to its collapse.