unit two The 1917 revolutions

Question 1

which was the most important reason why tsar nicholas II abdicated in february 1917

Answer 1

world war 1 and defeats as without these defeats, rasputin would not have come to power and there would have been no economic dislocation etc

Question 2

WW1 and defeats

who could nicholas and the people initially blame for the defeats and failures, and give a statistic

Answer 2

initially (august 1914 - august 1915) nicholas and the people could blame the generals for the defeats and failures in the war

eg in may 1915 the central powers launched an offensive which led to the great retreat where 1 million men surrendered to Germany

Question 3

WWW1 and defeats

after august 1915 who was blamed for the defeats and failures and give a statistic

Answer 3

after august 1915 (and due to nicholas publically stating that he is taking personal command) the people blamed Nicholas for the failures.

also after each of nicholas’ failures the people saw it as God turning his back on Nicholas, making him look more incompetent

eg by the end of the war there were 8 million casualties, 1.7 million dead and 2.4 million captured

eg by early 1917 there was a deadlock along the 1000km front, with no change in tactics and no developments

Question 4

WW1 and defeats

explain why the defeats and losses of WW1 were the most important reason for why tsar nicholas II abdicated in feb 1917

Answer 4

the people’s image of nicholas being the “little father” deteriorated after he took personal command, which inevitably meant that nicholas would be blamed for every failure

also nicholas was so deeply out of his depth and the russian people knew this

the fact that i
outdated tactic did not change (despite million of soldiers dying) proved to the people of nicholas’ incompetence and that their “little father” did not care about them

also nicholas tried to paint that the war and the trenches were safe, fine and in order through propaganda. and despite majority of soldiers being illiterate peasants, some letters came back stating how awful it was which portrays their “little father” as a liar

Question 5

Economic dislocation due to ww1

describe the economic dislocation. - use statistics

Answer 5

1. the conscription of millions of men produced a labour shortage in peasant landholdings and as a result there was a decline in food production
2. however the war industry led to large numbers of peasants moving to the cities to the industrial sector, which generated a slight rise in production but no where near enough to meet Russia’s war needs
3. living and working conditions became intolerable
4. the total cost of war = 3 billion roubles which far exceeded government expenditure during peace time
5. at the same time government income fell due to the war. 30% of government revenue had come from a tax on alcohol but Nicholas banned the production of vodka to keep Russian people sober in hope it would increase productivity. so therefore he lost 30% of his tax income, and peasants / workers resented the government
6. the war cut foreign trade which reduced government income from taxes and exported goods. especially due to the fact that 1/2 of Russia’s exports were to germany and these now ceased altogether
7. short of reserves to fund the war effort, the government raised taxation and when the gold standard was abandoned the government resorted to printing excess paper money, which in turn led to steep inflation and money was now worthless
8. between july 1914- early 1917 prices had risen by 300% and this led to a decline in living standards. especially affecting those on fixed incomes and led to workers uniting to challenge the ruling elite to demand improvement and a more representative form of government

EXPLANATION WHY IT ISNT THE MAIN REASON FOR ABDICATION:

although the economic dislocation was a big factor in the abdication ( due to the fact that it made him look entirely incompetent : for example the inflation, reduced tax income, reduced trade and the banning on vodka production utterly angering people) this economic dislocation only occurred due to the war and therefore illustrates that World War I and defeats is the most important reason. As without the war, there wouldn’t have been such low labour food production

Question 6

social unrest in petrograd (food shortages)

describe using statistics how the social unrest was a factor in nicholas’ abdication

Answer 6

• by 1916 20% less grain was reaching markets than in 1914 and this was due to peasants being called up to fight so farms were short of labourers
• peasants who were still farming the land were not making profit from trade and they had no incentive to send grain to the cities so began to hoard it. therefore there was a shortage of basic items like bread
• by 1916 only 1/3 of the required food and fuel for petrograd and moscow were getting to these cities
• increased strikes eg february 22nd putilov as a factor in petrograd about wages, hours and rising prices. february 25th general strike that brought petrograd to a standstill, workers demanded food and an end to the war

Question 7

social unrest in petrograd (food shortages)

explain why the social unrest in petrograd was not a major reason for the abdication

Answer 7

The social unrest was not as important as the World War I and defeats as if there was no war, the peasants wouldn’t have been called up to fight so farms wouldn’t have been short of labourers. therefore there was only social unrest due to the world war

Question 8

The Tsar himself

explain how the Tsar himself can be a factor as of why Nicholas abdicated

Answer 8

by taking personal command of the army in August 1915, it meant that Nicholas was associated with all of the failures from August 1915 onwards. Also the fact that he even took personal command meant that he would not be able to make political decisions as he is 800 km from the capital, and therefore by leaving the Tsarina in charge, it slowly makes him look increasingly incompetent due to her and Rasputin‘s political chaos.

For example there were 18 changes in government under Rasputin and the tsarina, eg there are four different prime minister is.

Also the people disliked the tsarina as she was German and the fact that rumours were being spread of a sexual relationship between her and Rasputin, also made Nicholas look incompetent and that if he couldn’t control his wife how could he control the country. “Not the actual truth matters, it is a perception or beliefs” - Orlando Figes

Question 9

The Tsar himself

explain why he tsar himself isn’t the major reason for the abdication

Answer 9

although the tsar himself is a huge factor in his own abdication due to the fact he now looked increasingly incompetent, without the war and its failures the tsar would never have had to put the czarina in charge or take responsibility for the war failures. So therefore World War I and its defeats is the major reason

Question 10

opposition in the duma

describe the opposition in the duma

Answer 10

• in august 1914 the duma showed its support for the tsar by voting to suspend itself for the duration of the war
• in 1915 it demanded its own recall and Nicholas allowed the duma to reassemble in June 1915
• however it demanded to take control of the war effort. this led to the prorogation of the fourth duma and nicholas taking personal charge of the armed forces. nicholas rejected the support of the duma.
• tsar refused to accept the duma’s suggestion of a “ministry of national confidence” instead of his cabinet. as a result 236/422 members of the duma formed the “progressive bloc”
• the progressive bloc was mostly kadets, octoberists etc (those who wanted reform anyway) and the SR’s did not officially join the progressive bloc, but voted with it

Question 11

opposition in the duma / progressive bloc

what was the progressive bloc

Answer 11

• the progressive block demanded moderate / liberal programmes like free speech, control of the secret police and recognition of minorities
• they criticised the management of the war and their idea was for the tsar and duma to work together, to win the war and avoid revolution.
• but the tsar refused to listen to the progressive bloc and the tsarina regarded the progressive bloc as “friends.. who needed smacking”
• the tsar saw the progressive bloc as the first step of democracy and was determined to resist this

Question 12

why was the opposition in the duma and progressive bloc not a major reason for Tsar Nicholas II’s abdication

Answer 12

Nicholas failed to identify that the progressive bloc aimee to help him, all he could see was that cooperation would weaken his autocracy. And although this makes him look increasingly incompetent and insecure it was not the major reason for his abdication, due to the fact that without the war and its failures the Duma wouldn’t have had to demand to take control of the war (and then be rejected) and then form the progressive bloc.

Therefore World War I and defeats is the major reason as without the failures, Nicholas wouldn’t have had to reject the Duma and gain opposition

Question 13

which was the most important reason why the Bolsheviks triumphed in 1917

Answer 13

the kornilov affair

Question 14

which was the most important reason why the Bolsheviks triumphed in 1917

provisional government : actions of kerensky

Answer 14

kerensky is an example of how the provisional government and Soviet worked and intermingled. He was the SR leader, the chairman of the Soviet and a member of the provisional government. he was able to have political power in both which shows that dual authority worked.

While Prince lvov remained the head of government, Kerensky became a major politician, despite his socialist background he was not trusted by workers or peasants

in June a massive offensive was launched on the South Western front against Austria and it ended badly. Bolshevik agitators encouraged soldiers to disobey orders and whole regiments mutinied or deserted. Bolsheviks gained peasant support and undermined the provisional government

Question 15

which was the most important reason why the Bolsheviks triumphed in 1917

explain how the actions of kerensky were not the most important reason for why the Bolsheviks triumphed in 1917

Answer 15

Although the actions of Kerensky does play a part in why the Bolsheviks triumphed in 1917, as the Bolsheviks easily gained peasant support and undermined the provisional government.

his actions were not as important as the corner love affair where the Bolsheviks gained a majority in the Petrograd Soviet and were now armed and seen as heroes

Question 16

describe the weaknesses of the provisional government in terms of “provisional”

Answer 16

in their initial eight principles for example amnesty for political prisoners and freedom of speech they failed to deal with war and land. Instead what they ended up doing was setting up committees to discuss the land problems of the peasants seizing land, all the while russia’s food supply was decreasing. they were not elected so had no public mandate and had to share power with the Petrograd Soviet

Question 17

describe the weaknesses of the provisional government in terms of “ww1”

Answer 17

World War I was not a political decision but a financial one. for example Russia was bankrupt so needed the supplies and the war credits as foreign bankers had already visited Russia and would pull their investments if they thought Russia was totally bankrupt.

Keeping Russia in the war meant that they did not deal with social and economic problems and the issue of war created a rift between the provisional government and Petrograd Soviet

Question 18

describe the weaknesses of the provisional government in terms of “land”

Answer 18

Since 1861 and the emancipation of service, land had been the key unrest for peasants. The provisional government set up a land commission with the aim of redistributing land but failed to do so. This was partly because they had not been elected so did not feel that they could act.

As a result peasants seized land and Lenin capitalised upon this where he attacked the provisional government for being bourgeois and not understanding the people

Question 19

explain why the weaknesses of the provisional government were a major reason why the Bolsheviks triumphed in 1917

Answer 19

this was a huge triumph for the Bolsheviks as the provisional government seemed weak as they failed to deal with the war / land issues and did not deal with the social or economic problems during the war like the food shortages.

and peasants continued to seize land which made the provisional government look utterly incompetent

Question 20

describe the kornilov affair

Answer 20

General kornilov (the new commander in chief) believed that before Russia could defeat Germany, it needed to defeat the socialist enemies within Russia - the Soviets.

In August 1917 Petrograd under threat of the advancing Germans, kornilov planned to bring loyal troops into the city to destroy the Soviet and establish military rule to remove the provisional government

kerensky seem to believe that if he defeated the Soviet he could establish a military dictatorship.

kerensky called upon loyal citizens to take up arms to defend Petrograd, weapons were issued and Bolsheviks collected the weapons. Railway workers stop the trains bring the corner of troops

Question 21

explain how the kornilov affair was a reason why the Bolsheviks triumphed in 1917

Answer 21

this was a strong triumph as the Bolsheviks gained the majority in the Petrograd Soviet, were now seen as heroes, and were now armed while Kerensky looked weak

Question 22

describe bolshevik strengths: the actions of lenin

Answer 22

The clarity of lenin’s message targeted the problems that the provisional government didn’t. His motto was peace, bread and land.

Initially Bolshevik policies had focused on the proletariat and not the peasants who they saw as “packhorses” And Lenin had declared that the Bolsheviks would not make an alliance with the peasants.

But as the peasants ( 4/5 of the population so not to be ignored ) were seizing land, Lenin had to be flexible and change ideas and state that the peasants were acting as a true revolutionary force so the peasants had to be added to the proletarian cause which is political expedience

Also as the Bolsheviks lacked a land policy they took the SR’s policy “land to the peasants”. which utterly undermined the provisional government and therefore the Bolsheviks grew in influence as the SR’s insisted on war and the people did not want that

as a result the Bolsheviks saw the land seizures as legitimate, lenin became a hero of the peasants and Bolsheviks gained support in the countryside. Without lenin there would be no communism and no second revolution.

10th of October the central committee pledged itself to an armed uprising the vote was 10-2 (kamenev and zinoviev opposed). this would not have happened without Lenin as he convinced them that pursuing an immediate revolution was the logical and best next step for Bolsheviks even by using violence

Question 23

explain how the Bolshevik strengths : actions of lenin were a major reason why the Bolsheviks triumphed in 1917

Answer 23

The actions of Lenin clearly were a major reason why the Bolsheviks triumphed in 1917 as the Bolsheviks gained support in the countryside and grew in influence after Lenin stole the SR’s policy.

also the SR’s insisted on war which the people did not want, and lenin capitalised upon this.

Therefore the more gained support or popularity = more triumphs