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  • Essay / Russian Revolution of 1905 and fall of the Tsarist regime

    In the 19th century, Russia was changing. There was a lot of pressure to become more modern, as times were also changing and many neighboring countries had started their journey towards modernity. As changes occurred throughout the empire, new ideals also arose, which influenced the rise of industry and the growth of the arts. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essayRussia, at that time, was ruled by a tsar who held absolute power. Alexander I was the first in the 19th century and rose to power during the Napoleonic Wars, followed by four others until the revolution. Russia was generally an underdeveloped empire; however, it was large and densely populated, although only 50% of the population was Russian. Russia had many traits of a feudal society, 80% of its population still lived as peasants but it was also ruled solely by the Tsar, from whom all authority came. The tsar was also supported by the Orthodox Church. However, the most obvious difference between the Russian state and feudalism was that social control was governed by a state bureaucracy and the military. In 1905, a spontaneous and very poorly coordinated revolution occurred following the assassination of protesting St. Petersburg industrial workers, which became known as "Bloody Sunday". This revolution didn't exactly have a goal as such, but was a number of acts of rebellion carried out by several different classes and groups who had their own problems with Russia at that time, although there were mainly involved people who lived in cities. . These acts spread throughout the empire, including mutinies at naval bases. The revolutionary acts became so serious in 1905 that it seemed that the overthrow of the Tsar was incontestable, but the regime managed to survive thanks to promises of liberal reforms and the fact that the revolutionaries were quite unorganized and lacked cohesion and solidarity. objectivity. this essay implies that the main reason for the fall of the tsarist regime in 1917 was that it had failed to learn the lessons of 1905. The lessons it referred to were: the need for political reform, to avoid the war where possible, to restore discipline and morale in the army in order to end mutinies, to further help the peasants and working class with regard to debt and poverty in order to lessen discontent among the great groups of people and exert less force on people. It can be argued that although the Tsar implemented several reforms to try to resolve these problems, he failed because there was still great or even greater discontent among the Russian population due to several factors, including overpopulation and The fall of the tsarist regime could also be explained by the fact that the tsar at the time, Nicholas II, was not fit to lead an empire. An example of this is his indecision during the First World War (1914-1919). Another explanation could even be due to the influence of the Bolsheviks at the time. To address the problems raised in 1905, the Tsarist government introduced a series of reforms, such as army reform to restore discipline in the army. They increased the pay of Russian soldiers and limited punishments, such as beatings, to restore some morale. They also took education out of the churches and funded schooling for the poorest. They canceled the debts of peasants from the time of serfdom and declared that all peasants wereequal citizens in the eyes of the law. This allowed peasants to leave, buy and sell land without permission. They also introduced economic and financial reforms, created the Duma so that all classes were now represented and also introduced unemployment insurance. These measures were effective because there was an economic boom and there were no more mutinies in the army until After World War I, the empire freed itself from dependence on investment. foreigners, cultivated land increased by 15% and food production increased and 25% of Russian peasants had left their villages by 1914. However, these also failed because the towns then became overpopulated. and this created a larger group of malcontents due to limited jobs and housing, the Duma was dissolved when it and the Tsar had disagreements and it had limited functions anyway because it was not not allowed to become a truly democratic body. “Thus, the laws, which were not subject to debate, made it clear that the role of the new assembly was after all only consultative. » There was the Lena Goldfields strike in 1912 which ended in violence and many reforms were unsuccessful. Either way, I don't have enough time to make a difference. The Tsarist government was also extremely repressive as the Tsar had created his “secret police” who arrested anyone showing any form of rebellion against the Tsarist regime. The historian Lowe wrote of this: "The situation was particularly dangerous because the government had made the mistake of alienating three of the most important strata of society." (Lowe, N (2005)) He also spoke of peasants, workers and the educated class. This caused more unrest among the various classes who were not in favor of the Tsar. After 1914, with the outbreak of World War I, a series of events occurred that threatened the authority of the Tsar and the 300 years of Tsarist rule. During the reign of Nicholas II, strikes increased throughout the country and illegal unions proliferated. Nicholas II's uncle, Grand Duke Sergei, was also assassinated near the Kremlin in Moscow and a mutiny broke out among the sailors of the battleship Potemkin. Economic discontent was also a long-term cause of the revolution as more than three-quarters of the population were discontented. with their position in the empire. The empire's peasants and workers worked and lived in appalling conditions and this discontent continued to increase in the years leading up to the revolution. The people began demonstrations, illegal strikes and riots which all threatened the Tsarist regime. The discontent among the peasants was mainly because Russia had no income tax, so the Tsar taxed the peasants on the produce they grew in order to maintain their income. Under his regime, this taxation weighed heavily on the peasants who then earned no income and suffered as a result. This led to periodic riots. In 1861, Alexander II, then Tsar, freed peasants from this tax. However, to give the peasants their land, the government had to pay the landowners and in return, the peasants had to repay the money to the state. form of redemption payments. This led to an increase in the suffering of the peasants. They were also expected to produce surplus grain for export, even though they did not have enough to feed themselves, leading to widespread famine in 1901. Workers' discontent was due to working conditionsappalling and the banning of trade unionism. This was due to increased urbanization which led to an increase in population in Russian cities. Developers struggled to keep up with the demand for housing, which meant many lived in communal houses with shared kitchens, toilets and bathrooms and others were forced to sleep in the factories where they worked with little comfort. Protests and strikes increased greatly, and by 1905 they were widespread and severe. Political conditions also caused much discontent, ethnic minorities were greatly oppressed due to Russian policies, the Jewish people were persecuted by state-sanctioned pogroms, by 1900 officials were critical of Russian policies. The government was purged and increased industrialization and urbanization led to many social and economic problems for workers and peasants, all of which gave revolutionaries a cushion of support to create change. Starting in the 1880s, Marxist ideas began to gain popularity. Karl Marx's theories proposing that the proletariats would rebel and rise up to seize power from the ruling class spread throughout Russia. The social revolutionaries adopted Marxist and populist beliefs and wanted to overthrow the government and give power to the peasants. They committed around 2,000 assassinations of people in political power in the years leading up to the revolution. The social democrats focused their efforts on workers rather than workers. peasants and based their beliefs solely on Marxism. The group disbanded in 1903 due to ideological disagreements between the Mensheviks and Bolsheviks, but they managed to spread strikes and protests throughout the empire. It is clear that there were many conflicts surrounding Nicholas II and the way he ruled Russia. Orlando Figes argued that Nicholas II was not a fit person to rule the Russian Empire.” The last two tsars of Russia were deeply hostile to the idea of ​​a modern constitutional order…” and spoke of his indecision over the First World War. He was also extremely incapable of meeting the needs of his people. Russian citizens went to the Winter Palace, led by Georgy Gapon, a priest, to express their concerns to the Tsar on January 22, 1905 and were attacked by his guards, leaving many injured or dead. The tsar was not there at the time, but the attack tore apart the remaining bond between the Russian people and their leader. The Tsar and his family also did not help their people during World War I, when they found themselves with severe shortages of food and supplies, which also did not help maintain good relations between the people and Nicholas II. “Time and again, the Tsarist regime's stubborn refusal to accept reforms transformed what should have been a political problem into a revolutionary crisis. » Lowe also discussed the fact that Nicholas II had not kept the promises he made in his October Manifesto. “Unfortunately, Nicolas appears to have had very little intention of sticking to the spirit of the October Manifesto, having accepted it only because he had no choice.” This once again shows the selfishness that the Tsar showed during difficult times and unrest among his people. The idea that the tsarist regime fell because it failed to learn the lessons of 1905 is supported by the fact that the tsar kept few promises regarding reforms and many of them failed or were not implemented. didn't have time to do anything.