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Abdication of the Tsar - 2nd March 1917

Steps to Abdication
Lack of Reform after 1905

The Fundamental Laws 1906 article 87 (Tsar still to retain his power)
Initial Support for the Tsar for perhaps the first time since the invasion of Napoleon, the
people and their Tsar are one The Times + the DUMA dissolves itself as a show of support

War Impact within the country and How they are doing in the actual War

The death toll Russia loses 3.3 million men who are lost or missing in action which I the
highest of any nation + Tannenburg (70,000 killed right at the outset of war) dual impact
on the Tsar and the people at home.
By the end of 1914 a quarter of the men they had mobilised had been killed
End of the war the Russians had mobilised 15 million people
The page on which the Russian losses were written has been torn out. No one knows the
figure. All we know is that sometimes in our battles we had to remove the mounds of our
enemy corpses
Desertions start to occur on the frontline the Petrograd garrison had 15,000 troops but by
1917 only 3,000-4,000 remained.
horrible rumours of Russians manning the trenches with nothing but sticks in their hands
R.H Bruce Lockhart, British diplomat to Moscow shortages of equipment was also an
extremely vital issue
There were complaints about the quality of their generals in September 1915 he took
control of the army:
Accountable for all failures of the army
Cause bad relations with the army
Has no military experience
No control in Petragrad (his wife?) Down with the German woman + Rasputin is
turned and ministerial overturn happens:
o 1915-1917 -- 4 prime ministers
o 5 interior ministers
o 3 foreign ministers
o 3 war ministers
o 3 transport ministers
o 4 agricultural ministers
o 36 people in the key 13 posts

The Weather winter of 1916-1917 compounds problem


Infrastructure Breakdown

Break down in the distribution by 1916 there are 575 Russian stations are not capable of
taking freights due to war damage + military purposes + no locomotives
2,200 railway wagons of grain per month in 1914 go to Moscow, but this goes down to 300
About a third of what was needed reaches its destination grain and coal
Money starts to lose value as there were inflations from 1914-1917 there was a 300%
increase in the inflation rate as Russia printed more money

Government grows from 4 million roubles per annum to around before the war to 30 million
roubles per annum in 1917 restricts the sale of vodka + tax on vodka which makes lots of
money for the government already

Geographical Disintegration

6 million refugees and 67 million Russians come under German occupation


Empire are split and chaos begins to start break down of law and order

Alexandra and Rasputin

Member of the Khylysty movement spiritualists who can connect directly with God
Raunchy letters between them, but son has no haemophilia when Rasputin is around
Rasputin is a scapegoat for problems + starts to undermine the Romanov regime
Socialist Democrats whip up propaganda

Alienation of the Tsar from the Russian People

Nobility Rasputin + Ministerial leapfrog + conscripts have taken away their peasants (pay
higher wages) + slaughter of the officer core/ mutiny
Middle Class Inflation (economic stagnation) + treatment of the DUMA
Peasants War + tax on alcohol
The DUMA reconvenes in June 1915 to help the Tsar parties unite into the Progessive Bloc
(236/442 join from the DUMA) which try to organize the war effort + others setup the War
Industries Committee (by 1916, 2000% shell production increase)
What is it, stupidity or treason Paul Milyukov, November 1916, moderate who is cheered
beginning of the end?
By January 1916, even members of the ruling dynasty are starting to doubt the Tsar
increase in riots Tsar ignores it + dismisses it as a hooligan movement

Process of Abdication (1917)

Putilov Arms Factory Strike on the 22nd February 1917 locked out of factories
International Womens Day on the 23rd February - demonstrations + textile workers never go
back to work
24th February 200,000 people go on strike
26th February soldiers ordered to crush the revolution
27th February Volynskii Life Guard Regiment swayed in term of loyalty + creation of the
Petrograd soviet (body of workers and soldiers)
2nd March Provisional Government + stopped at Pskov b railway workers + Tsar abdicates
3rd March declaration from the Throne by Grand Duke Mikhail

Conclusion

To call this a RUSSIAN REVOLUTION would be a mistake, but is actually a PETROGRAD


REVOLUTION.
Without the war going badly then maybe the Tsar might have been saved

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