Causes Of Russian Revolution

"Russia is a cauldron of boiling water, tightly closed and placed on a fire that is becoming hotter and hotter. I fear an explosion." (As It Was Lived: 4-18) This very sentence was spoken by a French traveler who visited St. Petersburg. The dramatic change of government from an absolute monarchy to a communist government in Russia came to be because of a variety of different reasons. The revolution came about through a long phase of repression, unrest, and poverty for the average working-class Russian of the 20th Century. A long line of tyrannical Tsars had ruled the country self-interestedly for many centuries, and over 95% of the country lived under severe economic and social conditions. Like a bridge that has too much weight pressing down on it, the Russians were starting to break from the heavy burden of oppression and abysmal standard of living they were forced to endure. Tsar Nicholas II's reaction to the peaceful protest the workers staged, his inability to meet the demands of his people, and the rising prices and lowering conditions that came with World War I all led to the inevitable- a revolution.

"Peasants burned the estates of their landlords, destroying everything they could get their hands on." (As It Was Lived: 4-18) This was an accurate portrayal of the behavior of the peasants after the events of the 1905 revolution, also called Ð''Bloody Sunday'. The causes of this were severe food shortages, deteriorating living standards, and the fact that the Tsar did not allow any political involvement of the peasants. Famines and land shortages caused suffering of thousands. Also, Russia was losing the Russo- Japanese war, where the Russian army endured a series of defeats as they were ill-equipped, badly-armed, and poorly trained. The corruption and inefficiency of the government were exposed. Transportation broke down and the prices of bread soared. The monarchy was totally shamed in the eyes of the Russians. To combat their living condition, the Russian workers held a peaceful protest outside Tsar Nicholas II's Winter Palace, even holding up photos of him to express their loyalty to the monarchy. However, the Tsar's guards panicked and killed hundreds of protesters. The Tsar also had the remaining revolutionaries rounded up and executed. After this bloody slaughter, the Russians lost their age-old faith in the monarchyÐ'... and rebelled. As the news spread, workers rose up against their landlords and tried to take over the land that they had once worked on. This act unified them against Tsar Nicholas II, and soon they organized themselves into trade unions. In only four months, the workers had formed a Ð''Union of Unions', which arranged rebellions throughout the country. This was one of the most aggressive steps towards the overthrow of the long- detested monarchy.

"I am not prepared to be Tsar. I never wanted to become one. I know nothing of the business of ruling." (As It Was Lived: 4-18) Tsar Nicholas II uttered these very words on becoming Tsar in 1894, and he was right. The Tsar was a terrible leader. He was infuriatingly indecisive, and didn't know how to run the Russian government at all. Unable to manage the continuing strikes that had risen up all over Russia, he pretended that everything was all right and that the peasants were just making a fuss because they were Ð''bored'. When the Duma (the Russian people's elected parliament, which had little power) tried to warn him of the seriousness of the situation, he ignored and dissolved them instead. This brewed even more hatred toward the Tsar amongst his people. The Tsar was also influenced very easily by people around him, especially his wife, Tsarina Alexandra. She in turn was being manipulated by a Ð''holy man' called Rasputin, on whom she depended completely. Rasputin's influence grew through the Tsarina (whom the people hated), and even though he had little education, he gained recognition and authority in the Russian court. However, his influence was not one that was positive. Because of his bouts of drinking, womanizing, and ability to pressure the Tsar to do anything he wanted, he became one of the most hated men of the 20th Century. However, one