Russia
Revision
Generic Essay Plans
Jessica Gregory
,1917: Russia before the Revolution
“The loss of royal authority by early 1917 was mostly due to Tsar
Nicholas II’s decision to make himself Commander in Chief in
1915.” Assess the validity of this view.
What were the impacts of making himself Commander in Chief? This
meant that any difficulties that came up as a result of the war were to be directly blamed
on Tsar Nicholas. This meant that when the war was failing, the Tsar was blamed for this.
What other causes were there for the loss of royal authority? Stalin was
somewhat cautious through his foreign policy. The Treaty of Berlin allowed more security
for the USSR through the use of Article 2 (if either country was attacked by a third
country, the other would remain neutral). However, Stalin heavily intervened in Chinese
government by siding with the GMD, which was far more reckless, as it meant that Stalin
was later criticised for his actions at the Party Congress of 1927 – this highlights that
foreign affairs would have an impact on internal affairs.
What is royal authority? Overall, largely successful. Stalin managed to secure the
Treaty of Berlin, as he had hoped, and he had managed to eliminate his rivals through his
supporting of the GMD in China. He may not have been consistently cautious, and there
may have been limited effects on his foreign policy, but he took actions that he deemed
necessary, and often these paid off.
Factors Within Theme
Economic Policy – the struggles of the country until now, famine, grain hoarding,
railway system, huge taxes
Foreign Policy – Battle of Tannenberg, Russia losing before he becomes Chief in
Command
Political challenges – Progressive bloc, state duma, Rasputin
Historiography
“The loss of royal authority by early 1917 was mostly due to Tsar
Nicholas II’s decision to make himself Commander in Chief in
1915.” Assess the validity of this view.
Conclusion: Overall, the view is somewhat valid that the loss of royal authority was
mostly due to the Tsar’s decision to make himself Commander in Chief. On one hand, this
decision left a lack of trust in the government’s capabilities and this exposed their
weaknesses. However, it would be unreasonable to state that this was the sole reason,
when considering the economic and political challenges that were present in Russia at
the time. There’s certainly a link between the Tsar’s poor choices politically and his
decision to make himself Commander in Chief, as this meant that all political and
economic errors could be blamed on him. Therefore, the view is somewhat valid.
Points
Tsar Nicholas’ decision to make himself Commander in Chief
Lacked military experience
o Responsible for everything that went wrong in the war
, o Already in a difficult position, which makes it hard to redeem his popularity
from this
Battle of Tannenberg in August 1914 – 300,000 Russians wounded
or killed
Suicide rate tripled
4,000,000 Russians dead
Alexandra left to govern Petrograd
o Accused her of being a Russian spy
Rasputin held a lot of influence
o Clearly unpopular as he was assassinated in December 1916 by Prince
Yusupov
o Petrograd renamed as Devil Town
Economic Challenges
Labour shortages on farms and factories due to conscription
o Reduced food supply
o 15 million Russian conscripts
Huge taxes raised by the government
Food shortages and manufactured products raised prices higher, leading to
inflation
o Inflation is 300% by 1917
Because of abandoning the Gold Standard and printing excess
money for WW1
Food prices x4 although wages only x2
Peasants hoarded grain
Food supplies prioritised for the army
Railway system used for military supplies rather than transporting goods
o Winter 1916, railway lines iced up
Barely any goods or products got into Petrograd
Political Challenges
Duma
o Tsar wouldn’t work with them
The people
o 100,000 on strike in Petrograd in October 1916
All Russion Union of Zemstva and Cities
o Chaired by Prince Lvov
o Nicholas refused to allow this civilian organisation to have any part in the
government’s management of war
, 1917: Developments between Revolutions
"The failure of the Provisional Government in 1917 was due to its
own mistakes." Assess the validity of this view.
What mistakes had the Provisional Government made? A couple of issues
that the Provisional Government faced were that they had failed to improve the
economy, failed to pull out of the war and lacked decisive leadership. It was officially
headed by Prince Lvov, but was considered as a temporary solution, and therefore, it
should be considered that they couldn’t largely implement their ideas, as they would not
be a long-term solution.
What external factors had failed the Provisional Government? One of the
key things was the workings of Dual Authority, which meant that the Petrograd Soviet
and Provisional Government had clashed in their ideas. Only Keresnky was a member of
both, and therefore, it’s clear that this was destined to fail from the beginning.
Additionally, the Provisional Government had not been elected, which could have alluded
to the Tsarist system (particularly as it was supported by the old tsarist civil service, army
officers and the police).
What was happening in other areas of politics that could influence this?
The Bolsheviks were growing increasingly popular, as they used the Provisional
Government’s mistakes to fuel their campaign. This can be seen in terms of food
shortages, involvement in WW1, and their impact on the Kornilov Coup. This had
increased their popularity, which meant that the mistakes of the Provisional Government
were constantly exemplified, and the Bolsheviks could appear as the saviours.
Factors Within Theme
Economy – food shortages, land distribution
Foreign Policy – not ending WW1
Political challenges – Kornilov Coup, the July Days, Bolshevik popularity
Historiography
"The failure of the Provisional Government in 1917 was due to its
own mistakes." Assess the validity of this view.
Conclusion: To conclude, the view is largely valid that the failure of the Provisional
Government was “due to its own mistakes”. There’s no doubt that they made mistakes
such as not ending involvement in WW1, not redistributing land and the Kornilov Coup. It
can be argued that the government was established as a short-term measure in a period
of crisis, and therefore, they were unable to react more to the events. However, their
mistakes were manipulated by the Bolsheviks to fuel their own campaign and increase
their popularity. Therefore, the view is largely valid as the Provisional Government made
mistakes, which contributed to its failure, although the Bolsheviks used these against
them for popularity, which ultimately led to their failure.
Points
The Provisional Government’s Mistakes
WW1
