Preview

How Far Do You Agree World War One Was Mainly Responsible for the 1917 Revolution?

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1018 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
How Far Do You Agree World War One Was Mainly Responsible for the 1917 Revolution?
How far do you agree that world war one was mainly responsible for the 1917 revolution?
World war one was one of the main reasons for the breakout of revolution in 1917, however other factors can be brought about to suggest that it wasn’t only the main reason for the breakout of revolution in 1917. Aspects such as the decisions and actions of Tsar Nicholas can also be identified as important features for the breakout of revolution alongside the social and economic strains and the lack of political reform. All factors have characteristics to suggest that they were the main reason for the breakout of war, however the impact of world war one can be viewed as playing the larger role on the reason for breakout in 1917.
The actions of the tsar Nicholas prove to be an important factor for the breakout of revolution in 1917. In 1915 when the Tsar decided to take full control of the army he was creating even further inconveniences for himself. Due to the fact that the Tsars main attention was spent on the army, the day to day running of the government was left to his Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna. The problem was created through the fact that the Tsarina was greatly influenced by Grigori Rasputin. Rasputin damaged the Tsars reputation as anybody who wanted to gain power would have to befriend Rasputin. Many governors and politicians either resigned or were relieved of their position due to Rasputin. This had a large effect on the Russian people as the Tsars attention was fully towards the war and not on the problems faced by the people. This would have been a growing source of discontent which backs up the argument that the Tsars neglect of the Russian troubles back in Russia would have been one of the main reasons for the outbreak of revolution in 1917.
The impact of world war one in Russia can be viewed as one of the characteristics that play a large role in the reason for outbreak of revolution in 1917. The war for the Russian people meant that all fuel, food and

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The immense cost of the war led to dramatic price inflation in Russia; by the end of 1916 were four times those of 1914. Wages rose more slowly than prices, and this lag contributed to the revival of strikes in the capital at the end of 1916. Food supply was an additional problem, which led to an outbreak out of rioting and strikes in Petrograd and spread to other parts of Russia. This caused the first revolution of 1917, where on March 15th the Tsar was forced to abdicate from power and authority passed to a provisional government, made up of members of the Duma.…

    • 875 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Each of the factors mentioned above were reason for the revolt that took place at the end of February in 1917, however, many of the factors were similar to the conditions and causes of the revolt in 1905 which raises the question: why was the revolution of 1917 successful? One reason is that WWI worked as a catalyst, which facilitated the success of the revolution by assisting each factor in aligning at the same time and place. WWI was not the only catalyst as the idea of liberal and free conscience was the second key which shaped the success of this particular revolt. The police, distraught and overcome with grief and guilt for their actions the day before when they were ordered to fire on innocent, peaceful masses, turned their weapons over and joined forces with the rebel forces. This forced Nicholas to call to the front to send back patriot soldiers in order to help stabilize the home front, who had not idea what was happening at home but it was too…

    • 999 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Russia’s involvement in World War One had been a topic of much bitterness within Russia for a number of years and continued to be a source of much resentment. The working class and peasantry had suffered greatly, thousands of soldiers had been lost in the war and a general feeling of military humiliation overcame Russia with the army beginning to desert the government, unwilling to fight for territory when people simply wanted peace. Domestically, practically every family had lost a loved one as a result of war and the resentment amongst the people towards the Provisional Government grew swiftly and unforgivingly.…

    • 1616 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Under many aspects it is arguable that the 1905 Revolution and the March 1917 Revolution in Russia were very similar. Both years found the country still struggling from a war (one bringing humiliation and the other incomprehension and outrage); both found hostility from the streets directed against perceived governmental incompetence. Yet something had changed from 1905 to 1917 for Tsarism not to be able to survive the second revolution like it did the first. The reasons are to be researched in the impact that World War 1 had on the country, the October Manifesto issued by Nicholas II on 1905, and the loyalty that the population and the Armed Forces were not willing to give the Tsar anymore.…

    • 945 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Another factor of why the revolution broke out in Russia in 1905 was because of the shortages and high prices of food; this has resulted to create more unrest in the capital St. Petersburg making the society more anti-Tsarist as the people were suffering under Alexander III. Russia also suffered a severe depression due to the unemployment and urban discontent, the peasant population was increasing meanwhile the taxes rose and the arrears had grown resulting in strike in 1902-03 and assassination of the Minister of Interior, Plehve.…

    • 447 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    ‘Optimists’ offer several reasons as to how WWI incited the Revolution. Strike actions and disillusionment spread with “absolute ruin everywhere” , and, according to an Okhrana report in January 1917, crucially just before the Revolution, an openly hostile attitude “towards the Government and protest with all the means at their disposal against the continuation of the war” had been established. This report illuminates difficult living conditions caused by war, with “the proletariat of the capital on the verge of despair”, and the “wildest excesses of a hunger riot” . This account is relatively reliable, because conversant to Nicholas, publication was never intended. Presumably, their description is impartial; however, the consistency depends on their quality of work, as one assumes the Okhrana encompassed a decent perception of affairs. The Okhrana, albeit upholding their reputation of mercilessness, were repeatedly…

    • 1986 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The First World War also affected the many people at home who were already suffering before the war itself. The strain of equipping and feeding millions of soldiers proved too much for the Russian economy and revealed its structural weaknesses. The military needs had the priority and so it was very difficult for Russia to keep food production up because of all the people leaving for the war and so…

    • 875 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Although there were uprisings before the revolution, and attempts at change, the revolution of February 1917 was significant and different because of the huge range of opposition and the speed at which it became a full blown revolution. It occurred between 18th February, and 4th March, and resulted in the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, due to the loss of support from his own elites, who abandoned him and urged him to abdicate. It can be attributed to various different factors: Nicholas himself and the failure to reform politically, the middle class, the working class, the peasantry, the situation of Russia both on the eve of and during the First World War, and the revolutionary parties, to name a few.…

    • 1172 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Russian revolution was sparked of by a number of factors social, economical, political. I believe some of these factors were the root cause and some were contributors I believe they all contributed in their own ways and some contributed more than others and leading to a potential revolution in Russia. Russia had a weak economy, the primary sources of income for the country were mining, coal production, oil and farming.…

    • 2136 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    To fully understand the collapse of Tsardom, the condition of Russia in 1917 must be analysed, along with 1815 to 1917. The Russian revolution and the subsequent collapse of Tsardom are perceived to be caused by the spontaneous upsurge of the political masses by some Historians however, it is also seen to be the result of a century of general discontent building up against the notion of Russian Autocracy.…

    • 1331 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Between 1906-1914 there were many problems occurring which was affecting the stability of Russia and Nicholas II’s autocratic regime. Soon after the 1905 revolution, there was still much tension present in Russia in the early years, but by 1914 greater stability had been achieved through a series of social, economical and political policies that had been brought about, although the underlying factor was that the causes of the revolution were not dealt with properly, thus an illusion of stability was created by 1914.…

    • 1283 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The army was badly led and poorly equipped. Russia entered the first world war with the largest army in the world, standing at 1,400,000 soldiers; when fully mobilized the Russian army expanded to over 5,000,000 soldiersThe loses Russia suffered in the world war were catastrophic. Between 900,000 and 2,500,000 Russians were killed. The Duma was created by the ruling Tsarist regime in 1905, when the government was desperate to divide opposition during an uprisin. After the announcement, hopes were high that the Duma would bring democracy, but it was soon revealed that the Tsar retained ‘Supreme Autocratic Power’. In 1917 the workers of Russia carried out the first victorious socialist revolution. It was the first example of workers taking power consciously as a class. The war took 15 million men from the farms and trains had to be used for the war (so they could not bring food to the cities) so there were food shortages and food prices rose, all of which created anger and unrest in Petrograd. Rasputin, who styled himself a holy man, became the confidant of the Tsar and Tsarina of Russia. His growing influence separated the Tsar from his people - his notorious affairs with aristocratic women, and rumors that he was having an affair with the Tsarina herself, convinced many that he was a disgrace to the court, and must go. In their efforts to carry out the tsar’s order, several troops of a local guard regiment fired upon the crowds on February 26. The regiment fell into chaos, as many soldiers felt more empathy for the crowds than for the tsar. The next day, more than 80,000 troops mutinied and joined with the crowds, in many cases directly fighting the police. most, such as Vladimir Lenin, were out of the country. Afterward, many political groups competed for power, but they did so relatively peacefully. The two main groups, the provisional government and the Petrograd Soviet, disagreed completely about the direction…

    • 366 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    This essay will assess the claim that the underlying causes of the Russian revolution of 1905 were not political and the revolutionaries did not intend to overthrow the Tsar. The 1905 Russian revolution was caused by a number of different factors. The Russo-Japanese War and the Red Sunday were some of them. The basic cause was probably social discontent amongst the different classes in Russia and their burden of taxation. The poor conditions of Russia before the 1905 revolution also contributed to the cause and thus they will also be covered in this essay.…

    • 849 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Based on events in history, the main causes of the Russian Revolution could have been drastic poverty and a growing politicized work force. “In 1916, a full three-quarters of the Russian population was comprised of peasants who lived and farmed in small…

    • 1838 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    It is certain that the revolutions of both 1905 and 1917 were greatly influenced by the economic situation at the time as the ruins of the economy in 1905 left by the Russo-Japanese war meant that many Russians became dissatisfied with the situation and wanted change. The revolutions were a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread throughout the Russian Empire and included worker strikes, peasant unrest, and military mutinies. However it could be argued that other factors such as war, both the Russo-Japanese and First World Wars had an impact also contributed as well as the unrest of the people living in Russia as well as the catalyst events such as Bloody Sunday that caused the revolutions.…

    • 912 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays