Russian History Midterm Paper

RUSSIAN HISTORY MIDTERM PAPER

Richard Celli

10/5/2010

The economic issues that fueled the Russian Revolution had much to do with the Tsar's negligence, which was only made worse by World War I. The failure of the Tsar to resolve the economic distress in Russia and the Bolsheviks promise to do just that comprised the core of the Revolution. Almost 15 million men served in the Russian Army during World War I. As the men joined the army, it left an inadequate quantity of workers on the farms and in the factories. The consequence was extensive shortages of food and materials (needed to fight the war). The food supply dwindled because many peasants who worked the farms were called to fight in the army.

By 1915 the Germans had advanced on Poland and were threatening the Baltic States. This opened the floodgates for a swarm of refugees into Russia. With food already in short supply this only aggravated the situation more.

The remaining workers in the factories endured awful working conditions. These conditions included twelve to fourteen hour days and low wages. The beginning of 1917 gave rise to rampant inflation, the war going badly, and protest against the Tsar continued. As food and materials became scarce, costs skyrocketed. Wartime inflation ran rampant. What few provisions were accessible could not be effectively transported due to the poor railroad system. People began to protest. . By 1917, food shortages endangered most of the larger cities.

Because of the lack of food, problems mounted. Women had to wait in long lines for food so that they can feed their children. According to Russia in Revolution “On February 23 (March 8) International Women’s Day the Social Democrats distributed leaflets in St. Petersburg that condemned the tsar government as criminal and responsible for all the problems that Russians were suffering through.” The bread shortage was protested by the women. Workers in the factories saw this and joined the protest. The police wanting no part of the protest chose to leave and the revolution as the Microsoft document on Vancko Hall mentions “was on.”

A social cause of the Russian Revolution was due to one of two possibilities. One possibility was that the lower classes were being kept down by the Tsarist government. The second possibility was Nicholas’ failure to realize that his government was tyrannical. Figes alludes to the fact that Nicholas very seldom took part in government letting his administrators take care of legislation and taxes. His administrators would tell him that everything is alright and he just assumed that the Russian people loved him. A majority of the Russian people were peasants. These peasants were treated