Feb Rev/ Fall of Tsarism

Question 1

what was the Tsars rule over Russia like?

Answer 1

The Tsar’s rule over Russia was an autocracy. The Tsar was an absolute ruler, who had supreme power over his subjects and as far as he was concerned, the Tsar was appointed by God to be a leader.

Question 2

how was Nicholas II?

Answer 2

However, Tsar Nicholas II was a weak leader, and when a weak leader is placed in a position of absolute power to make terrible decisions, unrest and irritation will build up and in the end spark a revolution to change the entire country.

Question 3

what happened in February 1917? why?

Answer 3

February 1917 was the boiling point which started the revolution, a large part due to the Tsar and his regime and his refusal to become more democratic, but the woman’s march and particularly the Army joining protesters and generals turning against the Tsar was why no one joined to help the Tsar, they had had enough and wanted change.

Question 4

how can the Tsars rule be described as? why?

Answer 4

the tsars rule can simply be described as one bad decision after another. in september, 1915, the Tsar went to the front to take personal charge over the army. this gave way for the public to hold him personally responsible for any military failures from then on rather than blaming everyone else.

Question 5

what did he do with rasputin and the Tsarina?

Answer 5

he also made the mistake of leaving his wife with the monk Rasputin in charge of the Government while he was away. together they made a huge mess of the government by dismissing qualified ministers for their friends who were incompetent.

Question 6

what happened with the ministers? how did this impact the cities?

Answer 6

ministers were changed frequently and as a result, the situation in the cities deteriorated quickly with food and other resources in short supply due to the unreliable and limited train access leaving food to rot in stations.

Question 7

how was their image during their reign?

Answer 7

in their reign, the Tsarina and Rasputin became completely discredited. the ridicule they generated and cartoons created depicting them in bed together reflected badly on the tsar who was blamed for putting them in charge.

Question 8

how did the middle class and army feel? what did Sergei Witte say to corroborate this?

Answer 8

the middle class and army became disillusioned with the Tsar’s leadership and support for him took a massive hit and by the beginning of 1917, very few were prepared to defend him as stated by Sergei Witte; “His character is the source of all our misfortunes. his outstanding weakness is a lack of will power.” further highlighting the disillusionment and dissatisfaction felt within the middle class and the lack of respect the Tsar now had.

Question 9

were there some who were willing to defend the Tsar?

Answer 9

Although there were some, such as Prince Yusypov, who were willing to protect the Tsar through any means possible, in this case by killing Rasputin, it is clear that the tsar’s image has been irreparably damaged, the people were fed up with his weak rule and were ready for change.

Question 10

how may the Tsar have saved himself?

Answer 10

during the war, the Tsar had the change to make some concessions to political reform that might have saved him. If Russia had slipped into a constitutional monarchy, less would have relied on him thus would have relieved some of the pressure he was under.

Question 11

what was the ‘progressive bloc’?

Answer 11

a group known as the ‘progressive bloc’ formed who advised the Tsar to create a ‘government of public confidence’, which really meant letting them run the country instead of the Tsar. unsurprisingly the Tsar rejected their approach opting to retain the autocracy and the price he would then pay for that

Question 12

what were talks of modernisation like before WW1

Answer 12

Although WW1 served as a catalyst for the downfall of the Tsar, his constant refusal to modernise Russia long processed the war. he rationalised his irrational denial by saying things like, it would be difficult to maintain the institutions of tsarist autocracy in a modernist Russia or the need for a more educated workforce would make people more able to challenge the Government.

Question 13

what did Rasputin say?

Answer 13

Rasputin himself stated “Tsar can change his mind from one minute to the next; he’s a sad man; he lacks guts.” which emphasises that he was too scared to make any bold moves restricting him from making reforms and assisting in his downfall. even though he did introduce a railway, it ultimately was not enough.

Question 14

why was there discontent within Russia?

Answer 14

there was much discontent within Russia before revolution struck, workers who had been laid off wandered the streets and some women spent almost 24 hours in queues for basic rations so it was no surprise when on 24th february 1917, women took to the streets in protest in an initially good humoured march in the morning turned angry in the afternoon.

Question 15

who led the march, how did they get more people involved?

Answer 15

women, of course led the march, politicising it; many of them were textile workers and went to the factories within the Vyborg district of Petrograd taunting the men working there, chastising them for being cowards if they refused to join.

Question 16

why did the men join? how passionate were the women compared to the men?

Answer 16

the men could not handle being called cowards by women so joined them making the march bigger and angrier but it was the women who took initiative, where the men were more cautious, the female tram drivers went on strike and overturned trams, blocking the streets.

Question 17

what did the Bolsheviks want them to do? why?

Answer 17

even local Bolshevik leaders wanted them to back down as they had something planned for May Day to which to women ignored. Despite the opposition from the Bolsheviks, by the afternoon, women has convinced multiple factories to join them therefore their march gained significant momentum and were making their way to Petrograd fuelled by anger towards the Tsar and with their ‘mob mentality’ getting other riled up too.

Question 18

who claimed responsibility for the march? what did Trotsky say?

Answer 18

however, the leaders of the Bolsheviks claimed responsibility for the February Revolution, Trotsky stated “To the question ‘who led the February uprising?’ we can answer definitely enough: conscious and tempted workers educated in main by the party of Lenin.”

Question 19

what does this quote show us?

Answer 19

suggesting that it was the Bolsheviks who started it even though their leaders weren’t in the country at the time therefore it is clear that it was the women who turned the tide against the Tsar and kicked off the revolution

Question 20

how did the Tsar initiate the mutiny of his own army?

Answer 20

Paradoxically, it was Tsar Nicholas himself who initiated the mutiny of his own army. When word came of the protests in Petrograd, he ordered that troops put a stop to them, through any means necessary. although some soldiers had no issues putting down protesters, this made the crowds hostile giving them a decision to make: were they on the side of the people or the Tsar?

Question 21

what decision did they make? what did figes say?

Answer 21

it was largely over within a day, but there was some fighting within regimens resulting in a number of officers being killed, Figes stated “The mutiny of the Petrograd Garrison turned the disorders of the last four days into a full scale revolution.” further showing that the troops ultimate loyalties lay with the people and themselves, not the Tsar.

Question 22

what was the problem since the troops joined the protesters?

Answer 22

now that the soldiers had turned against the Tsar, there was the problem of the police tho took up the role of taking down the protesters and put snipers on rooftops to which the army responded by throwing them off the roofs they were perched on, evoking cheers from the crowd.

Question 23

how did this sight solidify the revolution?

Answer 23

the sight of the Tsars own army revolting against him undoubtedly solidified the revolution as if his own army won’t even stand with him, how could his people?

Question 24

who remained loyal? how was this not enough?

Answer 24

although there were still many who remained loyal to the tsar until the end, most notibaly the police, the amount of people who were angry and wanted change was staggering and as soon as the army joined the protests, the tide turned and there weren’t enough Tsar supporters left to help him.