was the 1917 February revolution inevitable

Question 1

What central issues caused the February revolution

Answer 1

• Decisions of Nicholas II
• The tsars loss of traditional supporters - Rasputin
• The inability of Russia to cope with the war which led to
  the breakdown of every aspect of the Russian economy,
  society and eventually political sphere

Question 2

What could have stopped the 1917 revolution

Answer 2

• If Nicholas had not rejected the dumas appeal
• If the tsar had accepted the formation of the
  progressive bloc

Question 3

How did Nicholas’ decision to take control of the army contribute to the inevitability of the 1917 revolution

Answer 3

• In August 1915, with the string of Russian defeats,
  Nicholas made the decision to take on control of the
  Russian army
• He was not a natural military commander
• He had nothing original to offer in the planning of
  campaigns and merely followed what he was told by his
  generals
• The tsars appointees, like his political ones, were not
  men of high ability. He appointed officers according to
  their social standing rather than their military prowess
• In short, It was political suicide - he was now personally
  responsible for Russia’s performance in the war
• Appalling casualty lists under Nicholas and the
  enthusiasm and high morale in August 1914 had turned
  into Pessimism and defeatism

Question 4

How did Rasputin at the top of power add to the inevitability of 1917 revolution

Answer 4

• Rasputin and Nicholas were close friends
• However Nicholas failed to realise the the awful image
  of Rasputin
• Rasputin was extremely corrupt and was notorious for
  his sexual depravity
• He became the focal point of hate among the Russian
  people, everything that they despised about the tsarist
  system
• He was also very competent, (he completely re-
  organised the army’s medical system), yet he was from
  a lower class
• This infuriated those who wanted him out the way, the
  fact that a man of lower class was doing a better job
  than those of the aristocracy
• This alienated many of Nicholas’ traditional supporters
  and by 1916 at the time of Rasputin’s murder he was
  largely on his own

Question 5

How did Nicholas’ appointment of Tsarina in charge of the country contribute to the inevitability of the revolution in February

Answer 5

• When Nicholas took control of the army he made the
  ambitious decision to appoint Tsarina in power
• Tsarina was of German nationality, this made her
  suspect and unpopular, especially when Russia began
  encountering major defeats
• She quickly brought about chaos and unrest by
  dismissing capable advisors and hiring friends
• People struggled to believe that in one of Russia’s
  greatest hours of trial it fell under the sway of a german
  women

Question 6

How did the Tsars loss of traditional supporters add to the inevitability of the 1917 revolution

Answer 6

• The Tsar was stubborn, he would only listen to those
  who he trusted
• Rasputin had alienated any remaining supporters, many
  simply left his side
• New people replaced them, however as the Tsar
  barely new them he did not trust them either, this made
  co-ordination impossible and the tsar became
  dillusioned to the reality of what was going on around
  him
• This continued until the February revolution when the
  Tsar failed to realise the grave situation the country
  was in

Question 7

How could have the tsar redeemed the dire situation if he accepted the dumas appeal to him

Answer 7

• The appealed to him to replace his inept cabinet with
  a ministry of national confidence which would help
  calm the people

-This rejection was Nicholas last opportunity to retain
political support of the politically progressive parties

• Had he done this many would have seen there as
  being hope - in not doing so he destroyed any lasting
  support
• They then formed a progressive bloc, made up of
  duma members for which had the sole aim of trying to
  get Nicholas to make concessions and prevent a
  revolution
• The tsar continued not to listen and this turned the tide
  into an inevitability for the people that revolution was
  the only way

Question 8

How did the war impact Russias economy

Answer 8

Inflation

• There was severe inflation - spending rose from 4 million
  to 30 million roubles
• Gold standard abandoned, which allowed the
  government to put more notes into
  circulation.
• Process known as quantitive easing.
• Price of food and transport doubled

Question 9

How was food and transport affected by the war

Answer 9

• At first the war proved profitable for peasants due to the
  greater grain demand
• However, by the end of two years of war, Russia’s grain
  yield was higher than it had been between 1912 and
  1914 - however, 1916 it began to fall again
• Inflation made trading unprofitable, so the peasants
  stopped selling food and began hoarding stocks
• The military had priority in the use of the transport
  system, it commanded railways and roads, with the
  results that food supplies to civilian areas became
  difficult to maintain
• Furthermore, less than two years after the war, in 1916,
  the Russian railway system had virtually collapsed - the
  attempt to transport millions of troops and masses of
  supplies to the frontlines created unbearable pressures

Question 10

How did the war impact Russia and what were the 3 aspects effected

Answer 10

• Three years of total war proved too great of a strain or
  the Russian economy to bear
• During the years 1914-1917, the political, social and
  economic institutions of Russia proved increasingly
  incapable of meeting the demands the war placed on
  them
• The impacts include:
  1. inflation
  2. food and transport
  3. living conditions

Question 11

How were living conditions affected by the war

Answer 11

• The disruption in food supplies made living
  and working conditions increasingly
  difficult in Russia
• Monthly rent quadrupled

Question 12

What three major mistakes did Nicholas make

Answer 12

• Prohibition
• up taking the command of the army in 1915
• appointing tsarina in power

Question 13

How did the tsars decision to introduce a policy of prohibition add to the sense of

Answer 13

• The consumption of alcohol, particularly
  vodka, is an integral part of Russian social
  tradition
• previous tsarist governments had dropped the idea due
  to two reasons

1. Taxes on vodka were a source of government revenue
2. To deprive Russians of alcohol would likely cause
   more, not less social unrest

• Nicholas made the shortsighted decision to introduce prohibition at the start of the war
• Deprived the government of nearly a third
  of their tax revenue
• At a critical point of destinies, the Russian
  state had deprived itself of an irreplaceable
  income
• Proved a social disaster, deprived drinkers
  turned to illegal ways of obtaining it