What were the reasons for the February Revolution in Russia?

Answer 1

The revolution of 1917 was caused by a gradual weakening of the monarchy by Rasputin, the mystic who was caring for Nicholas II's hemophilic son, as well as growing socioeconomic and political discontent. Nicholas II was a conservative authoritarian ruler, and the people were tired of being oppressed. They were ready for a more democratic government. Also, Russia was in the midst of an economic crisis after World War I, and many of the peasants were living in cramped, poor conditions and being forced to work long hours.

Answer 2

1) Widespread discontent with the Tsar and his regime. 2) The effects of WW1, including the role of the Tsarina and Rasputin and military losses. 3) Long term discontent with the social class system i.e. Peasantry which made up 80% of the country was suffering from extremely poor living conditions. 4) The influence of Revolutionaries.

Answer 3

The reasons for the Russian Revolution were many, but the major ones were:

The Russian people, especially the soldiers in the army, wanted an end to the country's involvement in World War I. They were angry about the losses the Russian Army was experiencing in its fighting against Germany and the Central Powers. The military leadership was incompetent. The equipment was unsuited to a modern war. Supplies for the troops were not being adequately were

not being adequately provided. The casualties in the fighting were enormous. There seemed to be no reason to carry on a war that Russia had no chance of winning.

The people in the Russian cities were disgruntled over constant shortages of food and consumer products. Such items were either simply not being produced or were not being adequately transported to the cities.

Peasant farmers were working land that belonged to wealthy owners and they wanted these lands taken from the owners and given to them.

The Tsarist regime was reactionary and repressive and became unpopular, even hated, by the majority of Russians. New ideas of socialism and communism turned the Russian people away from acceptance of the autocratic rule of a Tsar and in favor of democratic government.

The effect of the above factors was that the people wanted a change in the way the government operated and a military force that became unwilling to protect that government.

Answer 4

The first Russian revolution was in 1905 after a group of cossaks (riflemen on horseback) massacred peaceful protesters outside the Tsars Palace. This became known as the "Bloody Sunday" revolution. It resulted in the Tsar (Nicholas II) creating a weak parliament called the DUMA, however the Tsar still held the majority of the power as an autocratic leader and the revolution was quelled by 1907.

The second and third revolutions were in May and July 1917 in which the Bolsheviks ( a political party led by Lenin) tried to overthrow the Tsar because he was becoming increasingly unpopular (due to the Tsarina being German and the fact he took direct controll of the army, making him responsible for their failures). They both failed as the people were not yet ready to fully support the Bolsheviks. Later in August 1917 General Kornilov, a tsarist sympathiser, threatened to restore the monarchy in Petrograd. The Bolsheviks stopped him and won the support of the people, becoming heroes of Petrograd. The Bolsheviks then staged a coup in October 1917 and declared a new government in Russia headed by themselves.

Following this elections are held and a group named the "Socialist Revolutionaries" win but Lenin ignores this closing down the Constituent Assembly which triggers the Russian Civil War.

Answer 5

Russia prior to 1917 was an autocratic country ruled by the Romanov dynasty. Tsar Nicholas II was the last Romanov ruler. Although autocracy had been unpopular in urban areas and among some educated class, opposition had never lead to sustained calls for the end of Romanov rule. In 1905, shortly after defeat to Japan in war, the Tsar had been forced to make some concessions to democracy, but in a short time he had successfully rolled back the reforms. However, the warning was ignored and by 1917, after 3 years of defeats at war against Germany and Austria, the pressure was too great for the Romanovs to withstand and the Tsar abdicated. Key factors were: the Tsar took personal control of the war and therefore the defeats were directly linked to him; the Tsarina was very unpopular and the scandal of Rasputin removed much support for the regime; mutiny was spreading in the army and navy in the face of very poor leadership; the Germans were very active in ensuing any opposition elements were sent back to Russia, particularly in guaranteeing that Lenin was returned; economically Russia was in crisis and the existence of bread queues were as instrumental in 1917 as they had been in Paris in 1789

Answer 6

1. Czar Nicholas was not an effective leader. 2. The suffering due to World War I. 3. The lack of food among the poor population. 4. The poor working conditions in urban and rural areas.