Russia's Condition before the Bolshevik Revolution

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

In Russia, Westernization was nothing new as the late nineteenth century had rolled around, for they had already been immersed in political conflicts of Western Europe by the earlier parts of the century. Russia’s Westernization had even been started by Peter the Great. Being so well adapted to the politics of the West, the conservative Russian nobility had feared revolutions by the liberal West. Russia then had attempted to

However, the aftermath led to even worse conditions for the Russian peasants and serfdom spread throughout new territories. It was not until 1861 that serfdom would finally end after Tsar Alexander II officially emancipated all serfs. He also granted lands to the newly freed serfs that were established as peasant communities. However, not all citizens were happy with the work of Alexander, and after two failed attempts, he was assassinated on March 13, 1881. He was succeeded by his son Alexander III, a Tsar that was against reform and liberation in even the smallest way. When he rose to power, he almost immediately restored the old methods practiced before, the only difference being that the serfs were still free. Alexander III’s anti-reform rule also led to acts of terror against him. One instance occurred when Alexander Ulyanov, the brother of Vladimir Lenin, was arrested and executed for planning to assassinate the tsar. This period of social and political unrest only became worse as time went on. The causes of the February Revolution peaked turmoil in Russia, and the actions and aftermath of the revolution led to the rise of the Bolsheviks and the

In the play The Crucible there was a lot of round characters. A round character is a major character in a work of fiction that encounters conflict and is transformed by it. A round character that stuck out to me was Reverend Hale. Reverend Hale had obvious changes towards the court system as the play progressed.

Intentions of Alexander II and the Failure of the Emancipation of the Serfs In the 19th century it was estimated that about 50 per cent of the 40,000,000 peasants in Russia were serfs, who worked on the land and were owned by the Russian nobility, the Tsar and religious foundations. This had been true for centuries; in 1861, however, this was all changed when Tsar Alexander II emancipated the serfs and gave them freedom from ownership. Alexander's decision was based on many reasons, and did not have the desired consequences, for the serfs at least. Therefore, it is possible to question Alexander's motives for such large reform, which this essay will do and will also look at why the emancipation,

The last Tsar Nicholas II ascended the throne in 1894 and was faced with a country that was trying to free itself from its autocratic regime. The serfs had recently been emancipated, the industry and economy was just starting to develop and opposition to the Tsar was building up. Russia was still behind Europe in terms of the political regime, the social conditions and the economy. Nicholas II who was a weak and very influenced by his mother and his wife had to deal with Russia’s troubles during his reign. In order to ascertain how successfully Russia dealt with its problems by 1914, this essay will examine the October Manifesto and the split of the opposition, how the Tsar became more reactionary after the 1905 revolution, Stolypin’s

This caused each side to bring out their own armies and prepare for civil war. The liberals brought out the old Tsarist Army to fight the Bolsheviks. The ideology between the dual powers was almost illusionary, because it forced the cooperation of the bourgeoisie and the proletariat7. The Provisional Government believed in a government that supported it's citizens without the use of force, basically everything the Tsar was against. The Bolsheviks believed in a strong army, and social equality.

By 1894, Russia was economically and socially backwards, needing a ruler who could guide them to modernisation and reform, without this a revolution is inevitable. Due to its proximity, Westernisers were contrasting their lifestyle to that of the Europeans post industrialisation, identifying clear injustices in their society. Literary critic Belinsky explains “Everything great, noble , human and spiritual came up, grew, burst into splendid bloom and brought fourth sumptuous fruit on European soil (after the industrial revolution)” Russians never had much to contrast their lifestyle to, however the boom of Europe proposed an idea of an alternation which could be achieved in Russia. This

tried to create a western style society. Nevertheless, this government led by Alexander Kerensky lasted for only seven months, by which at the end Lenin and the communist Bolsheviks seized power over Russia. When the peasants claimed land from the government the government refused which made the Bolsheviks extremely mad making them riot against the government. The Provisional Government lost to the

In 1917 the Russian revolution had began, this was the biggest factor in the fall of the Romanov dynasty. The white Russians arrested the tsarist and abdicated him from his throne putting Nicholas and his family on house arrest and he was no longer known as the Tsar, replacing him with a Bolshevik government. The red Russians had captured Nicholas and his family causing a civil war between the white and red Russians. In July 1918 Lenin and his red Russian squad had won the civil war, and shot Nicholas and his family, leaving Russia a communist country until the 1990’s.

Without a doubt, before he reformed the old judicial system, Russian people did not have many rights, nor did they have a chance at defending themselves if accused of a crime. Once, the aged judicial system reformed, trial by jury, fashioned for people who committed serious crimes, and for minor civil and criminal cases justices of the peace were created. Giving preference to the wealthy and upper class substituted with what, supposed to be equal before the law. Also, in 1864 Alexander II created a law in rural areas called the zemstvo. This law allows the now free serfs and peasant to work freely together. The zemstvo was responsible for education, medical care, veterinary service, insurance, local roads and the storage of food reserves. (Smitha) With the freedom of the serfs and now all this Russia people were starting to feel some enlightenment. Further, years and years with little money, poor health care for animals and family, getting paid close to nothing for working all day, life for the Russian people started to look

The Bolshevik revolution came to prominence because of the Provisional Government’s inability to gain support from the Russian population. ‘The government enjoyed little confidence amongst the masses; and many of its members were largely unknown to the new Russia that had burst upon the political scene.’[3 ] Kerensky himself comments on the problematic circumstances his government experienced, ‘the old (governmental machine) had disappeared; the new was not yet established.’ The support of the peasantry was critical in establishing popular rule, as historian Richard Abraham comments, ‘the largest social class in Russia was still the peasantry.

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.

Alexander III’s stance on domestic issues came as no surprise. As a youngster, he was tutored by Konstantin Pobodonestev, a conservative, forceful man who strongly opposed Western ideology. Pobodonestev’s ideas and beliefs rubbed off on the young boy, and he blamed his father’s liberal-minded reforms as the cause for his murder. Seeking to strengthen the autocracy, he gave officials the power to declare a state of emergency, and to arrest or fine anyone unreliable. He also cleverly cut off schools by setting up discriminatory admission rules, against women, poor families, and the Jews. He then forced the expansion of Russian culture and language by forcing everyone in the nation to speak, write, and think in Russian; otherwise known as Russification. Alexander III preferred having as much control as possible over his people, something he did not have in common with his father.