The Tsarist System of Government of Russia

The Tsarist System of Government of Russia

I believe that throughout history, the Tsars felt threatened. They

then reformed in order to stay in power, and to stay in for power

alone. However, this mindset only had an effect when the Tsar's power

was threatened. Nevertheless, I believe that to find the factors that

had an effect on the Russian system of government, one must look for

the reason why felt threatened. Here war was an important factor,

however it was not the only factor. Otherwise reform would not have

occurred without war. I believe that if these other aforementioned

factors were important enough to cause political change, then they

must rank alongside war in terms of importance.

However it was not "the locomotive of history". i Together with

discontent in the populace, and its manifestations (strikes,

revolutionary activity, and assassinations), I believe War invariably

changed the Russian political system.

I believe war had an impact for several reasons. Throughout the period

described Russia took part in three wars, in which they were crushed.

Firstly, when a country fails in war, some would see it as being a

sign that the country is less advanced in general. Firstly, the

realisation that one's country was backward and prone to invasion

threatened the Tsar's power, which then induced political change. He

realised that if something was not done to improve and modernise that

external enemies could be more of a danger than internal ones.

I have chosen an example to illustrate this. After the 1854-6 Crimean

War, Alexander II initiated the emancipation of the Serfs, the

creation of the Zemstvos, the Dumas, and the in...

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... is that because the workers knew that things could be

better, and that they were being exploited, that they could

subsequently improve their situation by pushing for reform, through

strikes or even through revolution.

These factors were of paramount importance in the Bloody Sunday rising

of 1905 and the subsequent October Manifesto, and later the February

revolution. Because the peasantry had become more revolutionary, they

supported the middle class that had emerged in the push for more

power. If

Father Gapon and the Provisional government had not carried with them

the support of the populace, then something similar to the abortive

Kapp Putsch in Germany, 1919 would have occurred. However, the workers

and even the soldiers were behind them, which meant that reform was

very necessary to keep the populace in check.