The economic situation of Russia from 1855-1917 undoubtedly had some influence on both the revolutions of 1905 and 1917. Furthermore, in 1891 Russia faced a famine leaving 40,0000 dead, followed by an economic slump in 1905. The First World War (1914-1918) had a drastic effect on Russian economy and society, with vast amounts of money spent on munitions. Some would argue that the economy was the main cause for both revolutions in 1905 and 1917. Nevertheless, according to the definition of a revolution; to ‘overthrow a government or social order, in favour of a new system’, it could not have been the economy alone, but other events such as war and society that contributed to the Russian revolutions of 1905 and 1917.
The economic situation in
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Working less hours meant production was decreased, meaning the economy was suffering. This suggests the economy led directly to the 1905 revolution. This is evident in events such as in Saint Petersburg known as ‘Bloody Sunday’ where a streak of violent riots followed workers requests for reforms. Similarly to this, in 1900-1903 Russia faced a period of industrial depression with firm bankruptcies and reductions in employment rates where again the economy, including its work force, led to a change needed to be made, a revolution. However, some argue that the economy is not such an important factor in the 1917 revolution. From 1914 onwards Russia was recovering from an economic depression with some improvements. Yet during this period of the war, demand for supplies and long working hours led to riots. Thus, it cannot be said it was the economy alone that caused both the 1905 and 1917 Russian revolutions, as it is evident that social factors had an impact. It is argued war in both 1904 and 1914 was a more significant factor that led to revolts due to directly impacting the people of Russia first hand. The Russo-Japanese …show more content…
During World War 1, Russian causalities were high and soldiers deserted in large numbers. Whilst previous wars had got a somewhat “positive” backing from the public, people were desperate for this to end whilst it also drained Russian of its resources and held over 14 million men in active service. The Great War drove already unhappy people to revolt against the regime before the war had even officially ended showing its severity. Some would argue here however it still shows how important the economy was, as it was a crippling one surrounding a mass scale war that caused the people to revolt. This also echoes another important factor in both revolutions of 1905 and 1917 in that ‘life in Russia’ including during war was a strain whilst food, fuel and raw materials remained short. Another view considering the cause of the 1905 and 1917 revolution in Russia is rather than being due to one solid event it is rather the general life of Russians, who revolted due to being dissatisfied. An extract from Witte’s Diary’ states ‘a general feeling of profound discontent with the existing
Russia reborn The Russian Revolution can be argued, that it was started for many different reasons but i believe it was caused by three main reasons that happened in Russia during this period of time. The three reasons are, the involvement of Russia in WWI, the autocratic government, and the poverty/non-industrial economy and agriculture. In Document 1 it says “ Before the twentieth-century, 80%-95% of the population were poor peasants”. Since economic struggles were country wide and the people were suffering, a change or a revolution was close to come.
The instant consequences to the emancipation of the serfs left Russia crippled, ironic, when alleged that it intended to advance Russia’s status. Many historians argue that despite abolishing serfdom, the means in which it was carried out didn’t coincide with reality. Subsequently, there were many riots which caused a rise of political groups such as Narodnik movement whose existence proves that Russian society was changing. Disorder spread with calls for change within Russia like In May 1862 where a number of pamphlets were issued including the radical Young Russia. Such propaganda aimed to gain support and create challenging individuals which would pressure the Tsar to make further changes. One could argue that as a result this led to the 1905 revolution and the end of Tsardom.
In 1917, Tsar Nicholas ll is the current ruler of Russia. Russia’s economic growth is increased by the czar’s reforms of the production of more factories. Since, Russia desperately needed to keep up with the rest of Europe’s industry. This reform worked out perfectly, but the working conditions of these factories didn’t please factory workers. After the events of the Russo-Japenese War, “Bloody Sunday”, and WW1, all of Russia was in utter chaos under the czar’s ghastly leadership. With no signs of the czar’s attempt to solve the problems that kept coming up, all of Russia banded together and filled the streets with strikes and riots. A revolution was peaking among the peasants. The uprising brought Nicholas ll no choice but to abdicate
The social and economic grievances in Russia throughout the 1900s were, to a moderate degree, the result of Tsar Nicolas II's failure to address the difficulties confronting society and the economy; nonetheless, the concerns had long-term causes that began before his reign. This can be seen through the unfair worker conditions, overcrowding housing which were created before Tsar Nicholas’s time which wasn’t a result of him, and the continued discrimination against the Jewish race and antisemitic views as well the economic issues of the failure of World War 1 which Tsar Nicholas II caused. Tsar Nicholas presided over the Russian Empire, which was overrun by various social issues, this along with his autocratic rule which to some extent caused
There were also many problems in Russia after they had an Industrial Revolution. Russia had many government problems. The Russian government was a type of government that did not listen to the people. The government did as it pleased without consent from the people. The people had no say in the governing process as in the United States. Due to this there were poor working and living conditions, overpopulation, poor sanitation, not many jobs and many people were starving. The majority of the people in Russia (about ninety percent) were poor and only about ten percent were rich and they controlled the nation. This meant the majority of the nation was not being listened to.
The war is an event that is widely considered to be a cause of the outbreak of the February 1917 revolution, despite in 1914 it appearing as though the Tsars’ power and authority had increased. This is because after Russia losing the First World War, many problems had been worsened such
The Russian Revolution is a series of political events that occurred during the years 1905 to 1924. The February Revolution, in which overthrew the imperial government and the October Revolution, placed the Bolsheviks in power (britannica.com). The Russian Revolution happened because of discontentment of with the tsar, poverty in Russia, and lack of control over the government. During the In January of 1905, protesters were protesting in front of the winter palace because of extreme poverty and starvation due to peasants’ wages decreasing. The Russian workers and peasants wanted a better working and living conditions. More than 1000 protesters were killed and injured after the tsar, Nicholas the II, ordered his army to gun down the protesters. This incident, known as Bloody Sunday, led to the 1905 revolution. During the 1905 revolution, Russian Social Democratic Social Party split into two factions, the Mensheviks and the Bolsheviks. Later in October of 1905, Nicholas the II issued the October Manifesto, which ended the Russian Revolution of 1905. In July of 1914, World War I begun which caused the Russians a lot of damage because four million Russian soldiers killed, wounded or captured. The Russian Soldiers refused the fight and people back in Russian were starving because of the lack of income from the war. World War I also caused the tsar to lose control of Russia as the war has caused chaos in Russia. Soon, continuous protests and revolts led to the March Revolution of
This demonstrates that since the stress of waging war was tremendous, it should be no surprise that the first war could be a primary cause of the Russian Revolution. Moreover, the major powers of Europe hurt Russia in World War I; yet, by 1917, all the combatants horrifically suffered from the strains of war economically, proving this to be a long-term cause. This was, to a great extent, considerable because the military defeats and social strains of World War I had created a crisis in Imperial Russia. Before, Russia had some military accomplishments and they were on their way to being successful. Nevertheless, their triumphs were not long-standing; hence, Russia was not able to be victorious due to the fact that Russia decreased in economy because of the limitations in Russia. Similarly, restraints included the shortage of food and the huge problems with getting the obligatory materials for the army during World War I, which shows that this was momentous. Along with Russia being defeated and having a scarcity of supplies, Russia also showed economic oppression due to the pressure in jobs workers faced.
Russia struggled to provide food for its populations. Citizens took control into their own hands, Ludovic Naudeau wrote in October 1917, “One morning recently I was awakened by the cries of my neighbor in the next room. His boots had been stolen. The same day the manager of a newspaper office told me that he had been robbed six of pairs of pantaloons, … “Four hundred thefts every night!” he cried; that is the average for the last two weeks,”(One Aspect of Bolshevist Liberty). Russia could not even uphold itself because the economy was not successful compared to other countries. This led people to desire a change in the government; therefore this led to the Russian Revolution. People went to different maters to get what they wanted such as stealing since they were not getting the aid that they needed and they needed financial support. This caused them to protest against their government because many people from the lower class could not take care of their families. This cause led to a greater impact compared to Tsarist weak authority.
This shows why the 1905 revolution failed because the tsar managed to keep its power even in great times of opposition because of its alliances with the
The long term causes lead back to the time between the end of the 1905
In 1905, the social and economic tensions building up within Russia boiled over into Revolution. It was described by Lenin as the “Great Dress Rehearsal” for the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 and may give us clues as to why the 1917 revolution started. The suggestion that Tsar Nicholas II and his actions were to blame for this revolution is debatable and there are many factors such as the repressive Tsarist system, the growth of opposition from the time of Alexander II and the defeat in the war with Japan to consider. These events can be separated into short and long term effects on the revolution. Bloody Sunday and defeat to Japan would be short term effects whereas the
For three centuries before the revolution, life in Russia was not peaceful. It was cold, hard, and bitter instead. “The end of serfdom was a major event in Russia; yet it just wasn 't enough.”, in 1861. Serfdom, under feudalism, is the the status of peasants in which they are bound to a lord, or master, works on their land, and can be sold like property. Despite serfs being given ‘freedom’, Russia was mostly ruled by the czar and nobles. The average person was, and stayed, poor. Therefore, World War I was not the main cause of the Russian revolution. This outdated feudal class structure, inability to modernize, lack of peace, and czars’ inept leaderships lead to the Russian Revolution.
In 1905 and 1917 Russia was tormented by chaotic revolutions. The workers and the intelligentsia had arrived at the point of hating the autocracy because they could no longer endure the suffering, hunger and repression that the tsarist policies brought with them. Years later Lenin referred to the revolution of 1905 as a “dress rehearsal for the October Revolution” of 1917. In 1905 tsardom nearly fell. Nicholas II succeeded in remaining in power, stabilizing the situation, only thanks to various concessions. However, his continuing to rule harshly and unwisely brought him to be forced to abdicate in the February of 1917, signing the end of the Russian monarchy.
The Russian Revolution had happened for two years from 1904 to 1906. Before all of the revolution of 1905 in Russia happened, problems since the years before 1905 triggered a long run of anger and rage of the Russian citizens. The industrial workers were the biggest group that had received great hardships and the biggest contributors to the Russian Revolution. They could not handle the very low payment and long working hours, 14 hours in average, and soon ended up revolting and rising riots and marches all around the Russian land. The conditions in Russia were horrible as well as catastrophic that they were losing to Japan in the Russo-Japanese war.