DS2 Collapse of Tsarist Russia in WW1

Question 1

How did WW1 effect the Russian Army?

Answer 1

• The Russian army was a huge conscripted army
• At first, soldiers were enthusiastic
• They felt that they were fighting to defend their country, rather than to show loyalty to the Tsar
• Russian soldiers fought bravely, though they had little chance against the German army
• Their aristocrat officers led and treated the soldiers badly
• The army was short of rifles, ammunition, artillery, shells, and even boots
• The Tsar took personal command of the armed forces in September 1915
• It made little difference to the war, as Nicholas wasn’t a particularly able commander
• However, Nicholas was now blamed personally for defeats and blunders
• By 1917, there were ~2m casualties
• Defeats and losses continued through 1916, and by 1917, the army was throroughly discontented

Question 2

How did WW1 effect the Russian Peasants and Workers?

Answer 2

• Soon after war started, peasants and workers felt alienated by strain of war
• Huge casualty figures left many widows and orphans needing state war pensions which they didn’t always receive
• Despite losses, food production remained high until 1916: by then, gov couldn’t always be relied on to pay for food produced
• Gov planned to take food by force but the idea was abandoned due to the risk of a widespread revolt
• By 1916, there was lots of discontent in cities
• War contracts created an extra 3.5m industrial jobs between 1914 and 1916.
• Workers got little in the way of extra wages.
• Had to cope with worse overcrowding than before war
• Fuel and food shortages
• Rail network couldn’t cope with needs of army, industry and populations of cities
• Prices of almost everything got higher
• In 1917, many working people were throroughly discontented

Question 3

How did WW1 effect the Russian Middle Classes?

Answer 3

• The Russian Middle Classes Suffered less than peasants and workers
• However, they were also unsatisfied by the Tsar by the end of 1916
• Many middle class activists in Zemstva were appalled by the lack of medical care
• The Zemstva set up their own medical organisations similar to the modern Red Cross and joined war committees to send other supplies to troops
• These charitable organisations were more effective than gov agencies
• By 1916, many industrialists were complaining that they couldn’t fulfil war contracts due to a lack of raw materials and fuel
• In 1915, an alliance of Duma politicians called the progressive Bloc had urged the Tsar to work with them in a more representative style of gov that would unite the people, so the Tsar dismissed this Duma a month later

Question 4

How did WW1 effect the Russian Aristocracy?

Answer 4

• By late 1916, the situation was so ba that the Council of United Nobility was calling for the Tsar to step down
• Junior officers in the army had suffered devastating losses in the war
• Conscription of 13 million peasants meant landlords lost their estate-workers
• Most of all, many leading aristocrats were appaled by Rasputin’s influence over government
• When the Tsar left Petrograd to lead the army, he left the Tsarina in control
• The Tsarina’s German heritage started rumours in the capital; she also suffered from rumours about an affair she was having with Rasputin
• Ministers were dismissed and then replaced
• Concerns were so serious that in December 1916, Rasputin was murdered by a group of leading aristocrats

Question 5

What were the long-term economic causes for the March Revolution?

Answer 5

• Industry and agriculture had been booming from 1905-1914
• However, workers’ conditions and pay had not incrased from 1903 levels
• Extreme inflation and price rises made it harder to afford basic necessesities

Question 6

What were the long-term social causes for the March Revolution?

Answer 6

• Factories were more crowded
• Working conditions were poorer
• Prices rose so much that bread was inaffordable

Question 7

What were the long-term political causes for the March revolution?

Answer 7

• The First 2 Dumas were dismissed
• The 3rd Duma was filled with aristocrats who supported the Tsar’s views and favoured the gentry
• The 4th Duma was interrupted by WW1
• Stubborn to people’s voices
• Stolypin used fear to increase Tsarist support
• The October Manifesto was not followed

Question 8

What were the immediate causes of the March Revolution?

Answer 8

Conditions:

• There was a harsh winter in 1916-17
• There were food shortages

Role of Army:
* Army started to mutiny
* Soldiers revolted against officers and Tsarist command

Question 9

Write an account of the March Revolution

Answer 9

• By early 1917, Russia was on the verge of collapse
• Strikes were an everyday occurance
• In January 1917, General Krymov, a Russian army commander on the Eastern Front, informed Rodzianko, president of the duma, that many soldiers had lost faith in the Tsar and would support a takeover from the Duma
• Krymov also stated that Tsarina Alexandra had to be removed from Russian politics
• On 27 Feburary, Nicholas refused to take Rodzianko’s advice from the duma, which had been dismissed in 1915
• In February-March 1917, events rapidly spiralled out of control
• 3 March: A strike at the Putilov engineering works commenced, demanding higher wages because of inflation
• 8 March: International Women’s Day was organised by socialist groups: large numbers of women joined the 100,000 strikers and demonstrators already on the streets of Petrograd
• 9 March: ~200,000 were now on strike
• 10 March: 300,000 demonstrators on the streets; now newspapers printed; no public transport; police show sympathy to demonstrators
• 11 March: Nicholas instructs the army to restore order, but some of the Petrograd garrison had deserted; some shorts are fired on demonstrators, but the Tsar’s proclamations are not printed
• 12 March: Buildings, shops and restaurants are looted: most of the Petrograd garrison had mutinied and joined the strikers
• 12 March: The duma is ordered to dissolve, but 12 members refuse and set up a ‘Provisional Committee’
• 12 March: Alexander Kerensky, an SR, demands that Nicholas abdicate
• 12 March: The Petrograd Soviet (St Petersburg Soviet) is reformed, and begins to run the country alongside the Provisional Committee
• 13 March: The Soviet issues the newspaper Izvestiya, declaring its intention to remove the old governmental system
• 14 March: Petrograd Soviet issues Soviet Order No. 1, which transfers all authority from army officers to Soviet representatives
• 15 March: Nicholas decides to return to Petrograd and is met at Pskov: his leading generals advise him to abdicate
• 15 March: The Tsar abdicates and appoint Grand Duke Michael (his brother) to succeed him, but Grand Duke Michael delines
• The Provisional Committee renames itself the Provisional Government and becomes the official successor to the Tsarist system