How far were divisions among its opponents responsible for the survival of Tsarist rule in the years 1881-1905? Divisions among the Tsars opponents were important to the survival of Tsarist rule. However other elements also affected it, such as the belief in the Russian Orthodox Church and the belief that the Tsar was divinely appointed, poor communication across Russia this included the large the number of different languages and nationalities and the Cossacks which stayed loyal to the Tsar. The growing political opposition to the Tsar affected the stability of the Tsarist regime. Many Russian intellectuals were rising up against the Tsar; they believed that the regime was oppressive and that European countries had more freedom and felt that many Russians lacked basic freedoms seen in other European nations.
There were many factors that contributed to the downfall of the Romanovs – and Tsar Nicholas II was not responsible for all of them. Some of the issues that caused the collapse of the Romanovs’ reign had begun even before he had come into power. However, the many mistakes he made during his reign undoubtedly sealed their fate. Problems with Russia’s monarchy had begun long before Nicholas II came to the throne. For example, a large contributor towards the Romanovs’ steady deterioration was the dissatisfaction of the people of Russia, particularly the peasants.
Alexander II, along with most of Russia, acknowledged that the root of the problem lay in Serfdom; a form of modified slavery that was heavily implemented in Russia at the time. Serfs made up over half the population and many of them were forced to serve in the military despite being ill-equipped and under trained so it came as no surprise when Russia was defeated in the Crimean war. A national outcry then ensued for the Emancipation of Serfdom. The effects of the Emancipation cannot be overstated. Once serfdom was abolished in Russia in 1861 its economic growth ran at an average of 4.6 percent between 1862 and 1900, speeding up over the years.
These reforms made a significant change to the government as a weakened sense of autocracy replaced the traditional span of control the Tsar ruled over, due to freedom of serfs which ultimately creates opposition. Further consequences of war faced by the government can be illustrated in the assassination of Alexander 2nd and the severe social unrest following the Russo-Japanese war. These protests are suggested to be the beginning point of the 1905 revolution. This caused extreme damage to the government as it questioned the strength of leadership and citizens became more and more critical, eventually leading to further reforms and the initiation of changing the way Russian government was formatted. However, it can be argued that
As a result of this many peasants were in poverty. As the Tsar was an absolute monarch all the blame for starving people was put onto him. The climate of Russia had a huge impact in the quality of life Russians would lead, and to which their opinion of the Tsar would be based. The weather affected space for agriculture and space for human life. Serbia was inhospitable and the soil was not good for crops.
Assess the reasons for opposition and unrest in Russia from 1894 to 1905 During 1894-1905 Russia faced much opposition to its dictatorship rule by Tsar Nicholas II. There was social unrest throughout Russia within this time period, which was created by economic troubles, the loss in the Russo-Japanese war and political problems. The Tsar was also a very weak figure and there was Opposition to the autocratic system. Industrialisation in Russia helped Russia’s economy grow massively and in 1914 it was one of the causes of opposition and social unrest in Russia, as industrialisation caused a gap between the rich and poor. This caused the division of society between the countryside and towns.
However, opposition to the Tsar became even more divided when Lenin and Martov split the Social Democrats party as Martov accused Lenin of becoming a dictator. This division lead to the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks groups who both held marxist views to different degrees. All these groups threatened the stability of the Tsarist State but other factors such as the church, the belief of the divine right, the army and the Okhrana contributed to keeping the Tsar State in power. The isolation of each political group made them vulnerable; not only were they distracted by each other (especially rivalry between Bolsheviks and Mensheviks) but they were also easy to be ‘picked off’ separately by the Tsar. None of the groups were willing to change; had they been more lenient and considered changing their tactics they may have succeeded.
To what extent did Witte achieve economic modernisation in Russia? Sergei Witte was introduced as the Tsars financial minister at a time when Russia was in a state of social and economic backwardness. Witte successfully achieved economic modernisation in Russia to a certain extent. Witte’s policies lead to a ‘Great Spurt’ in economic modernisation as they increased the number of factories and led to vast improvements in infrastructure such as railways. However his policies were still very limiting as they did not address the backwardness of agriculture and caused frequent famines, leading to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people; keeping Russia economically and socially far behind the great European powers.
During Tsar Nicholas’s reign which last from 1894 – 1917, he faced many problems which led to his eventual abdication and the downfall of the Russian dynasty. These problems were widely ranged, some being personal, some political and some entirely out of his hands, like the climate and state of the country he was trying to rule. Personal problems included his indecisiveness and willingness to accept other judgements before he own – he was very easily persuaded. Political problems involved his inexperienced ministers, Russia’s involvement in the war with Japan, WWI and the 1905 revolution. Each of these problems snowballed into the revolution of March 1917, resulting in the Tsar stepping down.
World War 1 was the major factor which led to the collapse of the Romanov Dynasty and put an end to Tsardom in February, 1917. Without the war and the hardship and strain on the Russian economy and moral a revolution would not have happened at this point in time. This is not to say a revolution would not have eventually happened, as many of the ingredients needed were already present. However, what World War 1 did was to heighten the discontent throughout society enough for it to revolt the upper classes in society where annoyed because Nicholas II had left Russia to be ran effectively by Rasputin whilst he was away at the front line leading to bribery and corruption plaguing the Russian political system; the lower class in Russia where angered by the total war attitude of the