Reasons that the Russian Empire was so Difficult to Rule in the Years Before the Outbreak of the First World War

1057 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The effects of Stalin's autocratic rule on the Russian people

Reasons that the Russian Empire was so Difficult to Rule in the Years Before the Outbreak of the First World War

The Romanov Tsar Nicholas II faced many difficulties when ruling

Russia before the First World War. Though the size of the country was

a very important reason for this, there were also many others. These

included the different Nationalities and social groups inside the

country, and also the fact Russia had poor trade and industrial works.

Another reason was the weak Tsar himself and his corrupt government.

This I believe to be the most important reason. Nevertheless it was

not solely his fault as many other factors were involved. In the

following paragraphs I hope to prove this.

[IMAGE]Firstly, I will start with what I believe to be the main

reason, and that is that the Tsar was not a strong or powerful leader.

He was much more of a family man (see right) but unexpectedly became

Tsar at the early age of 26, following the death of his father

Alexander of liver disease.. He was neither mentally or physically

strong and he lacked the leadership and conference skill. He also

lacked authority and never made up his mind. These were not the skills

that are needed to running a country as big and as unsuccessful as

Russia. However he ruled as an autocrat and believed God had made him

Tsar and that he had absolute authority to rule Russia. He had the

support of the autocracy who owned the land, Church and the army. But

he also had opposition these included the Liberals, Social

Revolutionaries and Social Democrats. The liberals wanted an elected

government to run with the Tsar while the other two wanted to end his

rule. Overall I believe as he and his government were weak the

county was weak and open to any attack. Whenever he did feel

threatened in his own country he would send out the Cossacks who were

skilled mounted soldiers who would slaughter and kill anyone that

opposed him. He also used the secret police, the Okhrana to spy on

Show More
Related

  • Evaluating the Stability of Russia in 1914

    573 Words  | 2 Pages

    this was the seen to be “freedom” for them as they began to get what

    Read More

  • Tensions in Russia in the Early 1900

    448 Words  | 1 Pages

    Tensions in Russia in the Early 1900 In the early 1900, Russia faced various kinds of problems in terms of society and politics. Although the largest country in the world, Russia could only offer 5% of its land for farming. The rest was useless due to the extremely low temperatures throughout the year. The problem with land meant that peasants did not produce a sufficient amount of food, consequently resulting famine all over the country.

    Read More

  • Assess the impact of World War I on the Fall of the Romanov Dynasty

    968 Words  | 2 Pages

    With the coinciding of a revolution on the brink of eruption and the impacts of the First World War beginning to take hold of Russia, considered analysis of the factors that may have contributed to the fall of the Romanov Dynasty is imperative, as a combination of several factors were evidently lethal. With the final collapse of the 300 year old Romanov Dynasty in 1917, as well as the fall of Nicholas II, a key reality was apparent; the impact that WWI had on autocratic obliteration was undeniable. However, reflection of Russia’s critical decisions prior to the war is essential in the assessment of the cause of the fall of the Romanov Dynasty. No war is fought without the struggle for resources, and with Russia still rapidly lagging behind in the international industrialisation race by the turn of the 20th century, the stage was set for social unrest and uprising against its already uncoordinated and temporarily displaced government. With inconceivable demands for soldiers, cavalry and warfare paraphernalia, Russia stood little chance in the face of the great powers of World War One.

    Read More

  • Essay On Tsar's Power Crumbled In 1917

    572 Words  | 2 Pages

    For centuries, autocratic and repressive tsarist regimes ruled the country and population under sever economic and social conditions; consequently, during the late 19th century and early 20th century, various movements were staging demonstrations to overthrow the oppressive government. Poor involvement in WWI also added to the rising discontent against Nicholas as Russian armies suffered terrible casualties and defeats because of a lack of food and equipment; in addition, the country was industrially backward compared to countries such as Britain, France, Germany, and the USA. It had failed to modernize, this was to do with the tsars lack of effort for reforms. The country was undergoing tremendous hardships as industrial and agricultural output dropped. Famine and poor morale could be found in all aspects of Russian life. Furthermore, the tsar committed a fatal mistake when he appointed himself supreme commander of the armed forces because he was responsible for the armies constant string of defeats.

    Read More

  • How Far Was the First World War the Main Cause of the Fall of the Romanovs in 1917?

    642 Words  | 2 Pages

    When the war first began in 1914 the tension between the Tsar and his people eased immensely from the extreme burst of patriotism. In the early stages of the war Russia’s efforts were met by success but by August 1914 Russia had started its decline. By the fall of 1915 Russian forces had been completely driven out of Poland and in September 1915 the Tsar decided to appoint himself as commander-in-chief of the Russian Army. This meant that the performance of the Russian Army now completely reflected back on Nicholas II himself. Not only was there trouble on the Eastern Front but the war was causing trouble on the home front as well. Russia’s National Budget rose eightfold between 1913-1916, financed out of higher taxes, loans and borrowing from allies Britain and France. In order to maintain the war effort the Russian government started to print more money causing inflation with prices rising over two hundred percent between August 1914 and Christmas 1916. The huge loss of life and military humiliations undermined domestic support and in 1917 Russian government was facing a massive crisis and you can see how this seriously took a toll on the Tsarist regime.

    Read More

  • Russian Revolution Dbq Essay

    465 Words  | 1 Pages

    It was said that the educated people, the contact with other countries should contribute to the government policy. As said in document 1 , "By 1900 there were political parties raging from far right defenders of autocracy and russian power over all other ethnicities, to far left revolutionaries calling for the overthrow of the government." The government there was autocratic, which was when the tsar had all the power/control of the government. Another cause for the Russian Revolution was the outbreak of WW1. "Even before the war urban workers all over the Russian empire had been increasingly radical, but the war brought the government's incompentence and the people's grievances into sharper relief. The first months of the war were a disaster for Russia." It is much easier to overthrow a government than to try andcreate a new government. As said in document 2,"Chaos, conflict, uncertaunty; more violence are much more common and often led to centralized, authoritarian governments." There was celebration all over the streets after the indication that the tsar was overthrown after 300 years of a tsarist government ruling. "The problem was that, after the party, governing problems arose immediately.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Crane Brinton's The Anatomy Of Revolution

    1532 Words  | 4 Pages

    While most of Europe had develop strong central governments and weakened the power of the nobles, Russia had lagged behind the times and still had serfs as late as 1861. The economic development that followed the emancipation of peasants in the rest of Europe created strong industrial and tax bases in those nations. Russian monarchs had attempted some level of reforms to address this inequality for almost a century before, and were indeed on their way to “economic maturity” (32) on par with the rest of Europe. But they overextended themselves and the crushing defeats of the Russo-Japanese War in 1905 and the First World War in 1917 lost them the necessary support from their subjects and created “high prices and scarcity” which were by far “the most obvious factors in the general tension”

    Read More

  • Russia's Condition before the Bolshevik Revolution

    988 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the late 19th century Russia had been notably behind Europe economically, they weren’t in possession of the modern farming technologies that could efficiently provide for a large country. As a result 90% of the Russian population were peasants (Massey, 4). The serfs lived in deep poverty; they didn’t have the appropriate apparatus to produce enough crops and most of their landlords had unbelievably high demands. In an effort to reform the economy’s recession tsar Alexander II liberated the serfs. However this created more bad for both the serfs and the nobles. In the beginning the serfs saw this is a great victory and another reason to be thankful for their tsar. But as timed pass by the peasants saw this life of liberty and freedom to be increasingly difficult. The government directly compensated the nobles, while the less desirable land was sold to the peasants at a much higher price. They monthly rent they paid the nobles was replaced with paying the state (Massey, 5). And while the population nearly doubled between 1861-1917 poverty increased not only with the peasants but with the nobles as well. Nobles found it hard to assimilate them to a new life style where they would have to trade their lavish goods with farming tools and as result many of them acquired a large amount of debt. This period signifies a time where the people of Russia opened their eyes to the deep poverty and lives of oppression they were living. This is the point where the feelings of peasants who previously worshiped the tsar turned bitter. After consistent resistance to industrialization the tsar had finally given in, aggressive approaches were put in place and railroads grew more than 15,500 miles in 1880 (Massey,6). As the Industrial production con...

    Read More

  • The Russian Revolution of 1917

    1215 Words  | 3 Pages

    I recollect as a child how I cherished the way my mom took care of me and made all my executive decisions. I recall getting excited about my weekly allowances and about her picking out my clothes for school. However, when I became a teenager I wanted my independence. I know longer wanted her to buy my clothing and I wanted to financially support myself by getting a job. I was so tired of her telling me what to do and how to do it that I revolted. At first it was difficult trying to establish independence in my mother's house, but after a while it seemed as if I had won the battle. Unbeknownst to me that battle would be short-lived and ultimately my mom won the war. Basically, I had constructed my own crazy revolution against my mother. You see a revolution is “a fundamental change in political organization; especially: the overthrow or renunciation of one government or ruler and the substitution of another by the governed .Activity or movement designed to affect fundamental changes in the socioeconomic situation (Webster Dictionary).”One revolution that is said to have inspired communism was the Russian Revolutions of 1917.

    Read More

  • Tzar Nicholas II - Downfall of Russia

    1098 Words  | 3 Pages

    It was Tzar Nicholas 2 political naivete and extreme obstinance that led to the downfall of the Russia

    Read More

  • Rule of Lenin vs the Tsar

    721 Words  | 2 Pages

    the damage that the Tsar had done to the country. This was a huge task

    Read More

  • Comparing The Us Constitution

    1260 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the years leading up to World War I, social unrest among the Russian people was spreading rapidly. There was a huge social gulf between the peasants who were former serfs and the landowners. The peasants regarded anyone who did not work as a parasite. They had always regarded as all land belonging to them. They regarded any land retained by the landowners at the time serfs were freed as stolen and only force could prevent them from taking it back. By the time Russia entered the war, one peasant rebellion had already been suppressed and several socialist revolutionary movements were developing.

    Read More

  • Russia in World War Two

    3805 Words  | 8 Pages

    in the war in between 1939 and the end of 1941, was largely based on a

    Read More

  • Reasons For The Failure Of The Russian Revolution

    1494 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Russian Revolution was a historical moment that had occurred during the 1900s. It all started when the Czar of Russia was overthrown from his throne and was executed. Ever since, Russia 's government, economy, and society has changed. Five texts were provided to portray whether the French Revolution was a success or a failure. This paper will only focus on three of the sources, including Animal Farm, by George Orwell, “Education, Literacy, and the Russian Revolution”, by Megan Behrent, and “the Reasons For The Failure of The Russian Revolution”. All of these texts provide information for either claim, but are also limited in providing further examples. As a result, the Russian Revolution was a failure because the peasants of Russia lacked

    Read More

  • 1917 Russian Revolution Essay

    1101 Words  | 3 Pages

    These are some of the many reasons, along with the Romanov family’s inability to lead either troops in modern warfare or the Russian population into a modern industrialised society, that brought about the inevitability of the 1917 Russian revolution and thus, the USSR.

    Read More

More about Reasons that the Russian Empire was so Difficult to Rule in the Years Before the Outbreak of the First World War

Open Document