CAUSES OF THE FEBRUARY REVOLUTION

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CAUSES OF THE FEBRUARY REVOLUTION
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AIMS

• To understand the causes of the revolution in
  February, 1917.
• To understand how the Tsar survived the
  revolution in 1905 but fell in 1917.

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MODERNISATION

• Great PowerRussia needed a strong industrial
  base to become a military power to rival Britain,
  the USA, Germany and France.

• AgricultureInefficient agriculture and a growing
  population led to poverty, starvation and unrest
  in the countryside.

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A more educated workforce was needed. Would
education make them more likely to challenge the
Tsar?
Other modern countries had some degree of
political freedom. Could the power of the
autocracy be maintained?
Problems
Social tensions were created by millions moving
to towns and cities. Would it be easier for them
to rise up than the dispersed peasants?
The middle classes would grow. Would this create
more demand for political reform?
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HOW TO MODERNISE

• Sergei Witte (Finance Minister 1892-1903).
• High investment (industry railways).
• Money from foreign investments, peasants, and low
  industrial wages.
• It was a gamble Witte hoped that industrial
  growth would lead to more wealth for everybody
  before the squeeze hurt too much. (Corin
  Fiehn, p. 10).

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DID IT WORK?

• Great expansion in the 1890s
• BUT THEN!
• International slump, 1902.
• Domestic demand low.
• Bad harvests, 1900 1902.
• Disturbances in towns and countryside.

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A PATRIOTIC LITTLE WAR

• A successful war against Japan was designed to
  divert attention from problems. Instead it led
  to
• Military disasters.
• Food shortages and rising prices.
• Worse conditions in towns countryside.
• Further protests.

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BLOODY SUNDAY
22 January, 1905. Tsars troops fire on peaceful
demonstrators in St Petersburg.
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Causes of 1905 Revolution
Alienated intelligentsia. Revolutionaries. Nationa
l minorities. Peasants. Workers.
Tsarist regime. Wittes economic policy.
Bloody Sunday.
War.
The Tsar at war with his own people
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1905 REVOLUTION

• Strikes, demonstrations, petitions, political
  meetings, barricades.
• All classes joined in the protests.
• Soviets formed in major towns and cities.
• General Strike from October bought Russia to a
  standstill.

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HOW DID THE TSAR SURVIVE?

• October Manifesto, 30th October, 1905.
• Duma, Civil Rights, end of press censorship,
  right to form political parties.
• Middle classes won over to the Tsar.
• Armys loyalty secured.
• Troops used against soviets and peasants.
• By the end of 1906 control over the country was
  re-established.

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1906 - 1914

• Political change The Duma had limited power.
• The peasants Stolypins reforms were good for
  some, not others. Was rising productivity just
  down to the weather?
• The workers Huge growth, but workers wages and
  conditions remained poor. Many were still
  disillusioned.

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DOWNFALL OF THE TSAR
OPTIMISTIC VIEW Good progress was being made and
Russias problems were being solved. The tsar
would have survived if it hadnt been for the
First World War.
PESSIMISTIC VIEW The progress was not enough and
too many problems remained in Russia. The
Tsar would have fallen with or without the
First World War.
WHICHEVER VIEW YOU BELIEVE, THE FIRST WORLD WAR
WAS CRUCIAL