Assess the principal reasons leading to the collapse of

Tsarism in February 1917.

Is it accurate to say that Tsarist Russia was torn apart

by great internal contradictions?

Remy Foster

Why did authority crumble in Petrograd?

• Workers

• Army

• Ruling Class

• Nicholas II

Why did authority crumble in Petrograd?Workers

• Labour Strikes and Lock-Outs in Petrograd factories

• 23rd February; Large bread queue in the Vyborg District becomes unruly

• Striking and Unemployed workers joined in protest against Government

• Economic depression is key

Protesters from Putilov Plant, Banner calls for increased pay to soldiers’

families

Why did authority crumble in Petrograd?Army

• Troops called in to put down protests

• Cossacks protect protesters from police

• Volinsky Guard Regiment disobey orders to fire on protesters then overthrow officers to join protest

• Collapse of Tsarist Support ‘Tripod’

Tsardom

Army Church Aristocracy

Ruling Class

•Duma attempted to restore power, but forced to create a new government to save Russia

•Guchkov

• Member of State Council

• Organised Strike and march on Duma

• Wanted Grand Duke Mikhail Aleksandrovich as Regent for Crown Prince Alexei

Alexander Guchkov 1862-1936

Why did authority crumble in Petrograd?

Why did authority crumble in Petrograd?Nicholas II

• Nicholas II away at Military Command in Mogilev

• Not told of severity of situation

• Unable to return to Petrograd

Katkov, 1967

How did Tsarist rule end?

• Creation of Provisional Government

• Abdication of Nicholas II

How did public outcry end Tsarist

rule?Creation of Provisional Government

• During Petrograd revolt, leaders of the Duma formed a temporary committee

• Tsarist ministers arrested leaving only the trustworthy

• Duma gained support of the Petrograd Soviet and formed a Provisional Government under the leadership of Prince Lvov

How did public outcry end Tsarist

rule?Abdication of Nicholas II

• Urged by Army Officers at Pskov High Command to abdicate

• Guchkov and Shulgin traveled from the Duma to convince Nicholas to abdicate in favour of a constitutional monarchy

• By 10:00 on the 2nd March, Nicholas abdicated in favour of Crown Prince Mikhail Aleksandrovich

• Aleksandrovich refused the throne

Internal Contradictions and the collapse of

Tsarism• Size

• Population

• Russifcation

• Production

• Politics

Internal Contradictions and the collapse of

TsarismSize

• Largest country

• 8,416,959 Sq Miles in 1916

• 1/6th of the Worlds landmass

•No defensive borders

• Long landlocked boundaries

• Lack of Rivers / Mountains

Internal Contradictions and the collapse of

TsarismPopulation

• One of the populations Largest in the World

• 125 Million People in 1897

• Large percentage were peasants

• 77% in 1897

• Large scale poverty and public discontent

• 52% of peasants could not sustain themselves in 1900

• Great social divide between Ruling classes and the lower classes

Internal Contradictions and the collapse of

TsarismRussification

• Russia was made up of Catholic Poles, Protestant Germans/Finns, Tukestani Muslims, Jews, Siberian tribes among others

• No violence toward other races, apart from Jews

• Instead races were subjected to Russian culture, laws, school teaching and language as well as Orthodox Christianity

• Led to nationalist movements and revolts in minority states

• By 1900 only 45% of the population were ethnic Russians

• Without Russian dominance, an Austria-Hungary style break up could have occurred

Internal Contradictions and the collapse of

TsarismProduction

• Vast natural resources yet labour force based around agriculture

• 1913 Iron output: 10,188 tons. 10.4 million tons in England

• 1913 income per person: 101.2 руб. 463 in England Riasanovsky and Steinberg, 2005

Internal Contradictions and the collapse of

TsarismPolitics

• Power from autocrat. No laws or guidelines to limit power

• Attempts by Tsars to improve liberalism and turn toward a constitutional monarchy

• Essential features of Romanov rule remained unchanged

• Alienation from Government as shown by the Army Chubarov, 1999

Conclusions

References• Browder, R. and Kerensky, A. (1961) The Russian Provisional Government 1917, Stanford,

Stanford University Press

• Chubarov, A. (1999) The Fragile Empire: A History of Imperial Russia, New York, Continuum

• Chubarov, A. The Beggarly Empire (2007) [online]. available from; <http://allrussias.com/tsarist_russia/fragile_1.asp> [accessed 26th October 2011]

• Ferro, M. (1972) The Russian Revolution of February 1917, London, Routledge

• Katkov, G. (1967) Russia 1917, The February Revolution, Oxford, Longmans

• Katkov, G., Oberländer, E., Poppe, N. and Von Rauch, G. (eds.) (1971) Russia Enters the Twentieth Century, London, Maurice Temple Smith Ltd

• Kulikov, S. (2009) ‘“Revolutions Invariably Come From Above”: The Fall of Tsarism through the Prism of the Elite Circulation Prism’, Russian Studies in History, 47, 4, 8-39

• Lockhart, R. (1991) ‘The February Revolution of 1917’, History Today, 41, 2, 34-42

• Riasanovsky, N. and Steinberg, M. (2005) A History of Russia, 7th edition, New York, Oxford University Press

• Westwood, J. (2002) Endurance and Endeavour: Russian History 1812-2001, 5th edition, Oxford, Oxford University Press