Analysis Of The Russian Revolution Essay Research

Analysis Of The Russian Revolution Essay, Research Paper As the Russian revolution reached its preliminary stage class antagonism grew because of the Serfdom system put in place by the Czar, Ivan the Terrible. In order to compensate for the Czar taking power away from the nobles, the Czar increased the nobles power of their land and its occupants. By the time Catherine the Great became Czar she enjoyed virtually autocratic rule over the nobles, and the nobles had a virtually autocratic rule over the serfs, who by this time had been reduced to a state closer to slavery than to peasantry. As Russia became more industrialized, its political system experienced even greater strain. Attempts by the lower classes to gain more freedom provoked fears of anarchy, and the government

remained extremely conservative. In October 1905, a general strike swept through Russia which only ended when the Czar promised a constitution, and in December 1905, in response to the suppression of the Petrograd Soviet, the Moscow Soviet organized a disastrous insurrection that the government suppressed after five days. These two examples from 1905 demonstrate the class antagonism which was occurring in Russia at the time. This was a contributing factor to the commencement of the revolution, and led to the public?s growing lack of tolerance towards their inept ruler, and the insufficiency of their government. Another key factor of the preliminary stage in the Russian revolution was the ineptitude of the Czar Nicholas the Second. Although the Czar made many inept decisions

regarding his country the most significant decision was dragging ten million peasants into World War One in order to expand his empire. This led to his country becoming unable to support its citizens with sufficient food supplies, since the farmers were sent to war. Other examples of ineptitude on the part of the Czar occurred in 1906 when the Czar dissolved the promised parliament (Duma), when it produced an anti government majority. These decisions by the Czar left the Russian people with no food, no money, and definitely no sense of security while living in their country. The decision to involve Russia in World War One while the government was on the verge of bankruptcy, led to the majority of the Russian people being forced to starve. This occurred because of the lack of food

in the country, since the majority of the farmers were off at war. This act of government inefficiency also took the women off their farms and forced them to work in textile plants to feed themselves and their families. These acts demonstrated that the Russian government was performing inefficiently and there was a clear cause for concern regarding the well being of the country, and its people without a drastic change being made. In January 1905, Czarist troops opened fire on a peaceful demonstration of workers in St. Petersburg, and This was a clear illustration by the people that force by the Russian government would not stop them from seeking their civil rights. In fact the failure of force by the Russian government gave strength to those who were enlightening the Russian

citizens. These actions by the government caused many citizens to see that they were indeed entitled to more opportunity, and a better quality of life than they were being granted by the Russian government. By February 1917 the financial breakdown of Russia became apparent when long queues of women and boys were told that there was no longer enough bread to support the Russian people, and in fact there was practically no bread at all. The people refused to believe this, and began to riot. The police tried to stop the rioting people, but the people fought back, and the riots intensified. Many regard this as being the point at which the Russian people haphazardly began their revolt against the Czar. During in the month of February 1917 government protests began to become more