The War as the Main Cause to the February Revolution

794 Words2 Pages

The War as the Main Cause to the February Revolution

The February Revolution occurred in 1917. This was the collapse of the

Tsarist regime and the start of a democratic, republican government.

The war was still going on between Germany and the central powers.

There were many causes that led to the February Revolution and this

essay will consider the other factors to this build up.

1) The war contributed as one of the important factors that led to the

February Revolution. 2) Russia was not successful in the war as they

had lost many soldiers and was defeated at Tannenberg and Masurian

Lakes. The inadequate supplies also contributed to this failure as

soldiers could not even get the essentials they needed such as

ammunition and boots. 3) This had a knock-on effect on the people's

morale. The railways further made this worse as they could not meet

the demands of the war. The citizens of Russia all wanted an end to

the war as it was also causing inflation and food shortages back in

Russia. The army had top priority of food supplies which meant the

rest of the country would have insufficient supplies of food. Many

strikes were occurring on the home front because of the food shortages

such as the Putilov Steel Works on 18th February and International

Women's Day on 23rd February which was protesting also about the lack

of food and wanting an end to the war. This was all aimed at the

Tsarist system because of its inability to distribute the food evenly.

4) However, at the start of the war there had been a sudden rise of

patriotic enthusiasm and united the Russian people. The fact that the

war was failing meant an increase in opposition towards the Tsar and

would undoubtedly lead to a revolution.

1) The Tsar failed to address problems which led to the February

Revolution. 2) As the war was not going so well, the Tsar had decided

to take personal control of the Russian Army on the Eastern Front from

the influence of the Tsarina and Rasputin.

Open Document