Section 12: Causes of the 1917 Feb/March Revolution
War led to Political crisis
The First World War led to major political issues after 1914 The Duma created a 'progressive bloc' which aimed to give more control to the people in the war effort - the Tsar rejected the idea and suspended the Duma In 1916, the Kadet leader stated that the Duma would fight the government with all legitimate means until they were gone The Tsar decided to take control of the war effort and left Petrograd in August 1915. This left the Tsarina and Rasputin in control of the government There was a constant change of ministers as Rasputin was dismissing anyone that disagreed with him Incompetent people were appointed because they were recommended by Rasputin The appointment of Sturmer as PM in 1916 caused great disquiet: he was incompetent, dishonest and had a German name It was not surprising that support for the Tsar in 1916 was fading away fast. He was blamed for the actions of his wife and Rasputin since the Tsar embodied the government The governing elite was in disarray and some of the nobility was supporting the Progressive Bloc in the Duma Discontent was so extreme even the elite kill Rasputin in December 1916, never such opposition to the Tsar by the elite seen before. It can be argued that because of the political issues caused by the war, a revolution was imminent
War led to military defeats
Military defeats in the First World War led to the revolution in 1917 The Russians suffered a constant problem fighting against the Germans. They were defeated in Tannenberg in 1914 and at the Masurian Lakes of the same year By autumn 1915, they had been pushed out of Poland, Lithuania and Latvia Although the Brusilov offensive in the summer of 1916 was a partial success for the Russians, they were ultimately defeated by the Germans The main problem for the army was that most of the top officers were in appointed based on their loyalty to the Tsar, not their capabilities. There was a lack of supplies and equipment to fuel 14 million men → about 7 million died in total Robert Service claims that what made the revolution possible was the protracted, disruptive and exhausting conflict of World War 1
Issues in industry 1906-14
- Some increase in production of consumer goods but it was limited - 6% growth annually in industry 1907 - 1914 - 4th largest producer pig iron/steel/coal and large oil fields - However, improvement in production, NOT an improvement in conditions - Long hours and Low pay continued - Russians got 1/10 Per capita income of US citizens - Russians got 1/3 Average wages of EU - continued striking - Further politicization by SRs and Mensheviks - Mensheviks promoting trade unionism - Lena goldfields massacre 1912 April: Clash between Miners and Troops over working conditions. Approximately 200/300 die. Revival of the militancy of strikes, there is now increased violence between employers/troops and workers. - leads to a huge increase in striking - almost 4000 strikes in 1914 alone - Almost 1,500,000 strikes in 1914 Alone - Peasants fled from countryside to work in cities, unregulated labour market meant the price of wages was driven down
Political issues - 1906-14 - failures of the Dumas
Even though the Tsar had drawn up the Fundamental Law, he made it clear that autocracy was still in the ascendancy - no laws could come through without his approval This was confirmed when it was announced that there would be a second chamber, the State Council, with equal powers to the Duma (the Tsar selected members for the SC) The First Duma; the Duma and the Tsar did not agree on issues, including the fact that the Duma should have had more power, so the Tsar dissolved the Duma in June 1906 and blamed Sergei Witte for the disagreement The Duma caused a great upsurge in peasant disturbances The Vyborg manifesto called on the people to show passive resistance and refuse to pay taxes. April-June 1906 The Second Duma was more radical than the first and was called the 'Duma of National Anger.' They made constant attacks on the government and lasted 3 months. Showed the anger and unrest in the people February-June 1907 The Third Duma's main issue was that its cooperation with the regime began to break down in 1910 because Stolypin encountered landlord opposition to proposed reform to local government Support for the regime was slipping away at this point November 1907-June 1912 The fourth Duma progress was slow in providing a law of universal education. They were critical of the government's handling of increasing social unrest (Lena Goldfields Massacre - April 1912). The Tsar failed to respond to the Duma's calls to loosen autocratic control during the war. The Duma lacked the imagination to deal with a changing situation after the death of Stolypin in 1911 → the autocracy was losing its supporters November 1912-August 1914 (suspended but also met in 1915 and 16)
Political Issues - unresolved after 1905
It can be argued that the main cause of the February/March revolution in Russia was caused by political issues that were unresolved after the 1905 revolution. "The October Manifesto (17 October 1905) provided a framework within which the Russian state and Russian society should have found it possible to reduce the tension dividing them" - Richard Pipes However, the Tsar had no intention of handing power to the people and only drew up the manifesto to buy time. For example, the Duma was set up but was deprived of any control over the expenditure of the Imperial court, the army and the navy The Tsar was prepared to abdicate, but did not believe that it was necessary after 1905 There were political groups such as the liberal Constitutional Democrats, or Kadets with the support of the Octoberists who were determined to make parliamentary regime work under popular control The electoral system set up by the Tsar in February 1906 was flawed since he believed that the elections should not have been based on universal suffrage. The distribution of seats tended to favour the peasants which meant that the middle classes had little representation (problem in terms of revolution) Dominic Lieven - "No Tsar, however strong and capable, would have been able to cope with the problems of modernising Russia within the framework of autocracy
Economic issues - unresolved after 1905 - agriculture and industry
The revolution was based on economic issues that persisted before the 1905 revolution that remained unsolved Agriculture around Russia remained very mediaeval, labour intensive and inefficient with 80% of the population involved in peasantry Peasants suffered from a heavy burden of taxation, since Witte increased them and poor harvests due to bad weather Sergei Witte put Russia in a lot of debt to try and industrialise the country by negotiating huge loans from the French. Paying the interest rates to service foreign debt was a major drain on resources Worker's wages were kept low so that money went back into industrial development rather than into wage bills. He was squeezing people hard, especially peasants in order to pay the interest on loans. Modernisation was a threat to the Tsarist regime since it would cause an increase in social tensions and instability in society → the growth of the middle classes would create pressure yfor political change (which it did) Russia were on the verge of bankruptcy after the Russo-Japanese war (1904-5) which would persist in the future since Witte took foreign loans to combat this The workplace had terrible working conditions and wages were very low, barely enough to live on. The urban workers were a large threat to the authorities since they were militant (caused uprisings later)
Economic issues - 1906-14 - Stolypin's policies
When Stolypin was appointed as prime minister in 1906 he aimed to bring in land reforms to encourage higher production, rationalise the land amongst the population and encourage classes to become efficient producers for the market, Wanted to end the cycle of famine and revolt and create a more conservative peasantry loyal to the Tsar. Growth of 2.1% anually, which grrowth in agriculture contributed to between 1883-1914, but no increase in peasant wellbeing It was impossible for Stolypin to 'solve' the underlying problems of rural over-population and poverty or to control the weather Stolypin aimed to allow peasants to leave the Mir and consolidate their strips of land into a single unit and build a farmhouse on it. By 1914, only 10% of households in European Russia lived on farms separated form the commune Many peasants remained in the Mir as they saw it as a 'life jacket' → offered collective security in bad times Judith Pallot - "Stolypin's reform was 'in essence a utopian project,' and too narrowly conceived to create a loyal peasantry and modernise peasant farming" Peasant poverty remained and tensions continued. A strong rural society did not develop as proved by the renewed peasant riots in 1917 R.B. MacKean believes that Stolypin's legislation were false and his reforms stood little chance of gaining any success
Immediate Causes
Women marched out on the street on 23 February 1917 and eventually dared workers to come and march with them Over the next three dates the demonstrations grew and took on a more political nature. People were demanding for the end of the war and the end of the Tsar's regime. On the 25th and 26th of February the soldiers joined in on the demonstrations and the authorities lost control of the mass demonstrations As Orlando Figes said "the mutiny of the Petrograd garrison turned the disorders of the last four days into a full-scale revolution The army refused to open fire on the protesters and joined About 1500 people died during the revolution On the 2nd of March the Tsar abdicated in favour of his brother who did not want the position The Duma committee set about forming a new government. Keeping the army loyal was a key failure for the Tsar and was the main reason he abdicated
War led to economic issues
World War One proved too much for the Russian economy and revealed its structural weaknesses The transportation of men and weapons for the army couldn't cope and became overloaded Straits blockaded (By the ottomans?) leading to virtually no food or fuel entering the country by Dec 1916 There was a lack of grain coming onto the market. There was little incentive for the peasants to do so → the production of agricultural implements was only 15 percent of the pre-war level Peasants were conscripted to fight in the war leading to few left at home for production, a huge drop in productivity. Lack of competent ministers due to the Tsarina/Rasputin led to huge inefficiencies in organization of the economy. Inflation began to occur with government spending rising as a result of Russia abandoning the gold standard Wages doubled between 1914-1916 and the price of food quadrupled By 1916 inflation had hit 300% which led to revolts against the regime The inflation rate led to a mass desertion on the countryside with people moving into the cities By 1916, Petrograd was receiving barely a third of the food and fuel it required and the country was not able to support the military on the front lines The shortage of food was a major source of anger and the peasants and middle classes were striking on the streets of Russia, with several hundred dying or being captured
