Russia

Why was there a revolution in Russia in February 1917?
By February 1917 Russia was in a severe state where protests and demonstrations were becoming more and more frequent as people were continually frustrated with the mistakes of the Tsar. Food shortages were the main cause of these protests and WWI had caused these food shortages as food was sent to the frontline instead of the Russian population. In just the space of three months Tsarist Russia had come to end, the Romanov family who had ruled the Russian Empire since the 1800’s were overthrown. The Tsar himself, the Duma, the armed forces and the protestors all had a role to play in bringing about the February revolution in 1917. This essay will analyse why there was a revolution in Russia in February 1917 and the essay will make a judgement on which reason was the most important.
The most important reason as to why there was a revolution in Russia in February 1917 was because of the mistakes that were made by Tsar Nicholas II and the Russian government. The Tsar constantly made poor decisions in the run up to the February revolution and WWI. The Tsar made himself Commander-in-Chief of the Russian armed forces in 1915 in the hope that the armed forces would be given inspiration however this wasn’t the case as Nicholas II knew nothing about the job of commanding the armed forces and the Russian defeats continued to occur. By making this decision, Nicholas II was seen by Russians to be taking personal responsibility for the defeats Russia suffered in WWI. The other decision made by the Tsar that affected Russia massively was the decision to leave the Tsarina in charge of running the country. The Tsarina let herself be influenced by the powerful Rasputin who took advantage of the situation by putting ministers into government who were not loyal to the Tsarist regime. The fact that the Tsarina was German was damaging to the Tsar because Russians began to think that she was aiding the German war effort from within...