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
