Plan of Investigation The investigation is to compare and contrast the nature of two Russian Revolutions in 1917. The first Russian Revolution to be investigated will be the February Revolution wherein the poor living conditions and the dissent among the people of Russia led to the collapse of the Romanov dynasty and the rise of the Provisional Government. The second Russian Revolution to be investigated will be the Bolshevik Revolution which occurred after the failure of the provisional government to improve the living conditions in Russia and led to the Bolsheviks claiming power of Russia in October. Memoirs and university level history books will be the main sources of reference to examine the nature and results of the revolutions. …show more content…
World War I was first met by a public surge of patriotism, but as time passed, the mood quickly turned sour. The Russian army was heavily outclassed by the German army. Their supply and medical systems were very primitive, communications weak, inexperienced leadership, and aviation far inferior to that of the Germans. After the Brusilov offensive wherein the Russians tried to attack instead of just defending, resulted in mass bloodshed with over 2 million men killed and 350,000 people captured, support for the war was shattered within the ranks of the army. The war had lasted for a long period of time causing more shortages [see appendix iii] and inflation in food prices. However, Nicholas would not end the war no matter how many people protested against it. In the winter months of 1917, inflation advanced at such a fast pace [see appendix i] that the working population’s wages were unable to keep up. Then on February 8, International Women’s Day, demonstrations by female workers in the Vyborg district had brought a large crowd. By the next day, the group had swelled to 200,000 people and massive riots ensued. The army was called in to deal with the situation, but they were sick of the war and shot their officers and joined the revolt. This was considered to be a spontaneous and leaderless revolution because the Bolsheviks were mostly exiled from
) What do you think was the most important outcome of the Age of Revolutions?
Although the Glorious Revolution of 1688 could be considered similar to the Age of Enlightenment because it stressed liberty and rights of citizens and contributed to a philosophical movement, it was unlike the Enlightenment due to the fact that it did not emphasis religious tolerance, help form a new intellectual way of thinking, contribute to individualism, nor support equality or human dignity.
Prior to gaining its independence, America endured various controlling methods brought on by the Crown that were focused on directly benefiting Britain, rather than Britain providing much-needed support and assistance to the colonists attempting to settle the new rugged land. While attempts to control every aspect of daily life in the colonies was nothing new, the most critical and obviously selfish move was The Stamp Act of 1775 (Tindall & Shi, 2010). This tax, proposed by Chief Minister of Britain, George Grenville, and enforced by King George III, was the first law or tax passed without allowing any voice or opportunity for repeal from the colonists. The Stamp Act was proposed by Grenville as part of his strategy to raise revenue not
There were four elected Duma which were all dispersed by the Tsar who would find an excuse to not trust them. Once the October Manifesto and the Fundamental Laws were passed, the Tsar Nicholas II ordered the army to shoot at protestors but the army refused and took the side of the revolutionaries. These Fundamental Laws re-established the autocracy as the Tsar became more reactionary. After the 1905 Revolution, the Tsar was able to regain control the uprisings in his country. He sent the police to arrest the leader of the St. Petersburg Soviet, a Worker’s Council, Trotsky and exiled him to Siberia. The army crushed a strike in Moscow which caused 1000 deaths. The Black Hundred who were the official strikebreakers, stopped riots in different parts of Russia and murders approximately 500 Jews. Eventually, the workers lost the will to fight and started working again in order to feed their families. The split of the opposition parties turned out to be an advantage for the Tsar who was able to use this against them.
Richard Pipes gives a detailed account of the events that led up to the July event and the Bolsheviks’ preparedness. The Bolsheviks were opportunists and used propaganda to influence and agitate, gives credit to their political strategy. The Bolsheviks saw an opportunity and used it. They also understood that their timing had to be flawless. They did not want to quell the frenzy they had created among the mutineers; however, a premature large-scale uprising would give the Provisional Government an excuse to crush them. Although the July event was a setback for the Bolsheviks, it did create a growing dissatisfaction among the soldiers. Many had no more will to fight, and lost their faith in the government. This would prove crucial when Kerensky would, with failed attempts, call on them to defend the Winter Palace against insurgents in the October Revolution.
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.
The age of revoltion was a historical time frame that took place between 1775 to 1848 which encompassed numerous social, cultural and political shifts that harboured significant implications on the growth of the development of the novel as a genre. Through the social mechanics of increased living standards, the creation of the middle class, elevated literacy levels and wider book distribution and publication, the novel genre saw indespensible changes which have persisted throughout time.
The long term causes lead back to the time between the end of the 1905
During the 1905 revolution, 400,000 peasants went on strike. The February revolution also had the soldiers on its side- one of the main reasons why the 1905 revolution was not a success, was that soldiers were ordered to shoot at the civilians (such as during Bloody Sunday, the spark of the 1905 revolution, during which shots were fired at peaceful protesters) while during the February Revolution the soldiers refused to shoot at the protesting crowds and eventually joined in the protests against the Tsar, whose support was fastly eroding. Officers were beaten up and even killed and therefore Nicholas II lost control of the army. This is extremely significant as with the soldiers battling against oppressive autocracy, there was a small line of defense for the Tsar and opposition to the Revolution could be taken out easily (such as police). With the majority of people against the Tsar, united in their battle, their chances of success
The Russian Revolutions of 1917 There were two revolutions that occurred in Russia in 1917. The first one, in February, overthrew the Russian monarchy. The second one, in October, created the world’s first Communist state. The Russian revolutions of 1917 involved a series of uprisings by workers and peasants throughout the country and by soldiers, who were predominantly of peasant origin, in the Russian army.
The theme of “autonomy and responsibility” is prevalent in many major wars of revolution throughout the history of the world and especially in the events that occurred in England during the seventeenth century. Autonomy is defined as self-government and existing or functioning independently. Responsibility is having obligations or duties to something and being able to distinguish between right and wrong. In England, the political leaders drove King James II out of the country in order to end his oppressive rule as an absolute monarch. The Dutch Prince William of Orange, James’ son-in-law, invaded England to rule. Parliament gave the throne to William and his wife Mary but placed restrictions on
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
The Success of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia in October 1917 The Bolshevik seizure of power or coup de’tat of October 25th, 1917 was a culmination of both internal and external failure to satisfy the needs of an oppressed Russian society. In contrast to the spontaneous revolts earlier in 1917, the Bolshevik revolution was ‘a carefully planned plot carried out by ‘professional’ revolutionaries. ’[1] The victory of the Marxist Lenin’s
Some say the glorious revolution was one of the greatest landmarks in the history of England. The glorious revolution is a very important event in history for multiple reasons. It wasn’t exactly a peaceful occasion but it was one in which no war of fight occurred. This was a pleasant change for England at the time because they had been experiencing plenty of fights over the throne and for once it was a relatively smooth transaction.
The revolution was an event that was constructed on a small scale of people that were made up of the Bolshevik party, for overturning the Provisional government into the Soviet Union. The revolution was a voluntarist revolution, as it explored the idea of individual agencies and the concept that the cause of an event is based on the actions of those participating themselves. For instance, in the October revolution, the uprising of the political change was due to the action of Lenin and the Bolshevik party. Without the participation of the party and the leadership of Lenin, the revolution would not have been executed in such magnitude. The October revolution is a voluntarist revolution for the following reasons, first, the leadership from Lenin, proved to be more progressive, compared to the traditional leaders at that time. Lenin instructed the affairs of the revolution in public, after writing the April These a speech that criticized the Provisional government and promoted that the Russian government falls under the Soviet Union. Lenin’s charismatic traits are essentially the reason behind the large amount of support that the Bolshevik party and the Soviet Union received, a famous line from the April These: “All Power to the Soviets”, was used in propaganda during the time of the revolution, it was a phrase that changed the course of