'"Tsar Nicholas II was responsible for his own downfall in February 1917." Assess the validity
of this view.'
The Romanov dynasty came to an end in 1917, in the aftermath of World war I. This was
due to Tsar Nicholas II’s poor decision making and lack of reform. However, other factors
such as the consequences of the war and the increasing opposition contributed to his
downfall.
Nicholas II acted as an autocratic monarch rather than a constitutional leader through his
bad decisions in reforms, a major factor in his eventual downfall and abdication. Nicholas II
never supported Witte’s or Stolypin’s reforms, he did not want the changes in society,
including protecting court power and the power of landowning classes. In addition, he sided
with right-wing groups who resisted reform and he only half-heartedly supported Stolypin’s
land reforms and refused the extension of the zemstva to western provinces. There were no
improvements to working conditions and he rejected trade unions or bodies representing
workers. This enraged the working class and peasantry, creating increasing tsarist
opposition within Russia. When the Duma was recalled during World War I, a group of
Octoberists and Kadets established the Progressive Bloc. This group wanted to have more
control over the war and in response, Nicholas repeatedly dissolved the Duma. This
alienated many liberals and allowed all the blame to be pinned on the Tsar. Therefore,
Nicholas II’s refusal to modernise Russia and improve the lives of his people led to his own
downfall.
Another major factor to his downfall was leaving Russia in the incapable hand of his wife,
Alexandra, who herself was greatly influenced by Rasputin. Rasputin was becoming more
and more popular with Alexandra for helping their only son, Alexis with his haemophilia, and
his strange but powerful brand of spirituality certainly affected the tsarist regime. To the
Russian people, Rasputin symbolised everything that was wrong with the imperial
government. The court and the royal family became objects of ridicule, to be despised.
Rasputin's murder by royalists came at the end of 1916, but was too late to undo the
damage he had caused. His decision to take control of the military gave the Russian people
to account for their suffering. In 1915, the Tsar had declared himself as Commander in Chief
for the army. This made him a suitable target for this discontent. He was increasingly seen
by the Russian people as having personal responsibility for the military disasters inflicted on
Russia.
The first world war can be seen as responsible for the downfall of Nicholas II. The effects of
the war were devastating and made the Tsarist regime seem weak. Almost two million
Russia soldiers were killed and a similar number of civilians also perished. Food shortages
occurred which caused bread rationing to be introduced, therefore morale during this time
was very low. The economy was also disrupted due to costly war effort. During this period,
there was an increase of 25% in the population, partially offsetting growth and increasing
unemployment. The Unions of the Zemstva and the Liberals stepped in to organise a lot of
the war effort, as the government was very ineffective. They undermined the tsarist regime
and the people were very critical of the Tsar. There was also growing discontent with the
military, and on 27th February of 1917, soldiers and sailors mutinied which created a full
scale revolution. It can be argued that the problems facing Russia after the war would be
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