The Causes of the Russian Revolution in March 1917

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The Causes of the Russian Revolution in March 1917

There were many causes to explain the outbreak of the Russian

Revolution in March 1917. Some of these can be defined as long term

causes as their origin goes way back to pre-revolutionary times.

Others are short-term reasons or even immediate effects, which act as

the last spark, to bring the tense situation out of control. In this

essay I will be looking at some of these long and short-term causes in

more detail.

The long term causes lead back to the time between the end of the 1905

revolution and the beginning of the war. What they are can be

summarized as the economic, social and political problems within

Russia. Economic causes are probably the most obvious. There was an

unbearable poverty amongst a large amount of peasants. The poorer,

non-land-owning peasants have lost their jobs shortly after the 1905

revolution due to the new creation of a middle, land-owning class.

Furthermore the farming methods were still old fashioned and life

barely rose above the starvation level. The peasants were dissatisfied

with the situation, leading to social difficulties within Russia.

Working conditions for both peasants and the working class have barely

improved, resulting an urge for change among many Russians. Their most

important desire was the longing for a new leader to replace the Tsar.

Although the creation of the Duma has promised political changes, few

of those proposals have actually become real. The Duma had little

power to enforce new laws or make important decisions. The Tsar always

had the final word. Therefore the people living in Russia were not

heard through the Duma, and ...

... middle of paper ...

... the war and the

conditions they were in. This made the demonstration of 1917 different

from anything that had happened before because for the first time the

Tsar had to fight against his own army.

As a conclusion I suggest that the war was the main cause of the

Russian Revolution. It is the origin of all the further problems that

were facing Russia at the time. If there had not been a war then

perhaps the Tsar could have concentrated on the co-operation with the

Duma and could have resulted changes for the better in Russia. However

we cannot be certain that this would have been the case. It is

possible that no changes would have occurred and in that case the

Revolution might have taken place anyhow. In my opinion the war was

like a catalyst which speeded up the outcome of all these crisis and

problems in Russia.

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