February Revolution of 1917
by Timothy Blazek, Period 2
Introduction
The February Revolution started on March 8, 1917 when 90,000 men and women went on strike when trying to receive bread rations. This demonstration led to the continuation and attempt to overthrow the czar and to impose new changes in Russia
What were the most significant causes of the February Revolution, and what led to its eventual success?
The Great War
The most immediate and effective cause of this revolution Russia's involvement in World War I. For one, the Russians was so disorganized and poorly ran that they were losing so many troops and resources to the highly industrialized Germany. Additionally, it ran down the economy. It took 15 million farmers off the farms, creating a food shortage, and put them in very inefficient railways, which did not have standardized cart widths. Not only did this stop the soldiers, but also disrupted the transportation of goods and resources across the nation. Food was not being properly allocated and caused a lot of unrest in the country. Rationing was a must, and on March 8, 1917 90,000 people went on strike in outrage.
Mistrust in Czars
The past two decades, the citizens have been angered by the tsarist control of the country. They have wanted redistribution of land to peasants for a while, but their words haven't been heard. This on top of other reforms that the people desire, but the tsar doesn't listen to them created tensions in the country. Tsar Nicholas II was an ineffective leader. He took charge of the army, hurting its strength, and left the power to the tsarina, furthering the issues in the country more. The people had enough of this chaos and desired a change. They wanted to overthrow Nicholas II.
What were the primary efforts for reform of Kerensky and the Mensheviks, and to what extent were they attainable?
Kerensky
Kerensky rose to power in 1917 after they overthrew Nicholas II and became the minister of justice and war, and a Prime Minister in the current Provisional government. Essentially, he was a very influential person for the country at the time. He focused on a lot of social reforms such as general amnesty, civil liberties, and for women rights. But his goals were not agreed with many other people. In fact, after they overthrew the Tsar, it became apparent that the Russians did not agree on the direction the country should take. Kerensky tried his best for these reforms, but soldiers were angered in the continuation of the war and not reorganizing the army.
Mensheviks
The Mensheviks worked closely with the Bolsheviks in the Russian Social- Democratic Workers' Party. They were brilliant people, however they were ineffective when it came to implementing reforms in the nation. Within the Mensheviks itself there were differing views such as a difference between marxists and democratic ideals. Some were for democracy while others favored communism for the nation. Discrepancies in their ideals led to inefficiency, and little to nothing happened for them. Additionally because they were supportive of the war effort, it led to diminishing support from the Russian people, similar to the case of the Kerensky administration.
Why did the February Revolution ultimately fail? What were the consequences for Russia of the failure of Kerensky’s Provisional Government?
World War
The Provisional government (run by Kerensky) was trying to continue the war effort in Russia. He attacked Austria-Hungary in June 1917 and lost. His support greatly decreased as Lenin became more popular with his slogan of "peace, bread, land". Therefore the initial overthrowing of Nicholas II was ineffective because the leader afterwards was still not liked by the public. Additionally, they felt like their word was not being heard by the provisional government and the Russians started to grow hatred towards Kerensky's government.
Disorganization
The Provisional Government was a collection of different ideas, as it was trying to practice democracy. However, because the country was so split about what to do, there were so many different ideas and values that the government became inefficient in that they agreed on very little. The government, however, did agree on the continuation of the war, but this idea was not so accepted by the Bolsheviks who were in charge of the army and navy. Ultimately disorganization and inability to agree on what to do led to the failure of the revolution.
Consequences
As a result of the disorganization of the government, the people of the country, especially the peasants, were not heard. Food rationing remained a great issue because the railways were still being very inefficient, peasants were still being taken away from the farms and an agrarian crisis started forming because of the unrest of the peasants who wanted redistribution of land. Meanwhile, the provisional government did not want to implement land reforms, which caused additional hatred towards the new government. Additional to this, some other consequences arose. One of the major ones being the state of the government, the people did not know what type of government would work best.
Bibliography
"Aleksandr Kerensky." World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2015. Web. 29 Sept. 2015.
Anin, David S. "The February Revolution: Was the Collapse Inevitable?"Soviet Studies 18.4 (1967): 435-57. JSTOR. Web. 26 Sept. 2015. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/149461>.
Nadis, Fred. "Russian Revolution (Overview)." World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2015. Web. 25 Sept. 2015.
"Russian Revolution." The Columbia Encyclopedia ed.6. Columbia University Press, Web. 26 Sept. 2015. <https://www.questiaschool.com/read/1E1-RussianR/russian-revolution>.
"Russian Social-Democratic Workers' Party." World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2015. Web. 29 Sept. 2015.