The Causes of the Revolution

Russia’s Political Failures

The monarchy was failing (political failures)
Tsar Nicholas II was incompetent; he failed to come to terms with Russia’s political reality
The current circumstances; while living and working conditions plummeted and the people called for political reform, Nicholas maintained his belief in the autocracy – refused to commit to anything that would reduce his power
As a consequence, the dragging on of WWI meant that Russia gave up on the Tsar

Homefront under Tsarina Alexandra

Quite unpopular from start, publicly awkward, german (War enemy)
Tsarina’s reputation worsened when she became close to Rasputin
Grigori Rasputin – a mystic healer from Siberia who supposedly cured their son from haemophilia
Alexandra placed an enormous amount of trust in Rasputin who Russians disliked for his antisocial behaviour and drunkenness – Rasputin accumulated vast political power
As a consequence, the monarchy became a joke; Rasputin symbolised everything that was wrong with the Royal Family

Russia’s Economic Crisis

Russian industry had almost entirely collapsed by February 1917 – due to ww1 raw materials that Russia needed to manufacture weapons, ammunition and other supplies couldn’t be imported – production came to a complete halt, mass shortages
Weak agricultural production – many peasants were conscripted, creating a labour shortage on peasant holdings – war affected the physical environment, destroying farmland in Poland and Lithuania
Failing transport infrastructure (already weak) – the majority of the railway system was diverted to the war effort – barely any food reaches the cities – in 1917, Petrograd only received enough food for half its inhabitants
Impact on people – these economic problems of industry, agriculture and transport made life almost impossible and created civil unrest
What was happening – peasants began to hoard grain, leading to food shortages in cities
Growth of urban populations exacerbated this problem and placed more pressure on housing and other essential services
As a consequence, the citizens of Russia became angrier and angrier

Impact of WWI

Russian inhabitants were sick of sacrificing land, people, money and time to a failing war
As commander-in-chief the tsar deserted the Homefront and failed to improve Russia’s war performance
Tsar became a target for Russian discontent