Causes of the February Revolution 1917
The Character of the Tsar
He did not want to become Tsar, due to the fact that his grandfather had been blown up and his own father's behaviour was reactionary.
He answered to God, not his people (divine right)
He was shy and awkward in public
He struggled with details of politics
He was stubborn ( for example, he created the Duma in 1906, but said only that he could make final decisions)
Tsarina and Rasputin
Tsarina was half German. She had a lack of political understanding and was devoted to Rasputin
She urged Nicholas to stand up to the revolutionaries
Potentially had an affair with him. He claimed to have healed her son of haemophilia
The impact of WWI
The Tsar made himself the general when Russia were losing badly. It became worse as he had no experience
Russia were losing due to: The battle of Tannenburg 1914 (300,000 dead/wounded)
No suitable weaponry
No basic warm clothing or properly fitting waterproof footwear
In 1914, there were 2 guns per 3 soldiers
1.5 Million desertions in 1916
Gov increased taxes and raised huge loans both home and abroad - massive inflation
Disruption of Food Supply
Shortage of men in countryside
Peasants began to hoard food instead of selling it
Railway system failure lead to food transportation limitations
Strikes and Riots
Railway system collapsed under strain of war
Petrograd and Moscow had soaring unemployment rates
300% Rise in cost of living
Death Rates rose (insanitary lodgings and diets)
Thousands of people were on the edge of starvation
Jan 1917 - 30,000 workers went on strike in Moscow.
145,000 went on strike in Petrograd
Lack of political representation
Feb 1917 loss of confidence in the Tsarist regime
Most ordinary people were still patriotic at heart
Winter 1916- Temperatures of -35 C
Aleksandr Guchkov engaged in talks with senior officers 1916 - abdication of Tsar
1917 Prince Love indirectly asked the Tsar's uncle wether he would be prepared to take the throne
Most leaders were in exile (Lenin had no more than 10K followers)