Grinding The Rail
The Socialist Uprising Of 1917
After the Great War of 1914, Russia was overcome with the Bolshevik uprising, which was the uprising of the socialist movement that would change the history of Russia during the twentieth century and lead to the creation of the Soviet state. While the country was not particularly stable prior to 1914 the effects of war were the primary cause of starting the revolution. The delay of the gradual increase of modernization, the increased social pressure on the Tsar due to war loses and his German Tsarina, and the outbreaks of food and fuel shortages in much of the Russian empire are the main causes of the revolution.
During the early 1900's Russia began a trend of modernization. Russia was seen as the least developed of the "great" nations. To catch up with the other powers, such as England, France, and Germany, the Russian Empire entered a stage of increased industrialization. The Russian plan of industrialization included the creation of factories and the ability to mass produce items especially for the military. The industrialization in Russian cities such as St. Petersburg did have growing pains but not enough to lead to a full scale revolution and overthrowing of the Tsar. For example, the citizens in St. Petersburg suffered from poor planning for factories. The factories were placed in residential areas to allow the workers to easily travel to work, however "The domestic water supply was a breeding ground for typhus and cholera." The Tsars own daughter, Tatyana, suffered from cholera, so this mistake can be seen as the Governments ignorance, as opposed to apathy, made by a newly industrial nation. However, for each misstep, Russia was making steps in the right direction. The Tran-Siberian railroad was created and used to its full potential. Not only being used to send crops across the empire, it was now able to be part of a growing network of an industrial trade. Had the war not intervened they would have been able to continue toward a stronger modernized domestic structure.
The process of industrialization was different to the Western European nations, in that the government played a large role as financial backer for the new large scale enterprises. The money was originally coming from Western European loans. Economic support had been gained by Russia changing their alliance from Germany to France in the Franco-Russian military alliance of 1894. The French signed the alliance with Russia in the hopes of forcing Germany to fight a war on two fronts, should a new war start over the rights of the area in Northeast France. The Russians gained military support should Germany attack the Russian empire and economic support for their industrial expansion. Some historians look at the signing of the Franco-Russian agreement by Tsar Nicholas II as the cause of the Bolshevik revolution.
In 1914 the Arch Duke Ferdinand was assassinated, prompting the start of the Great War. Nicholas II was warned by Prime Minister Vladimir Kokovtsov and Foreign Minister Sergey Sazonov that Russia was not ready to participate in a long drawn out war. The War Minister Vladimir Sukhomlinov, General Nikolai Yanushkevich and Minister of Agriculture A.V. Krivoshein disagreed, the latter stating "public opinion would fail to understand why, at the critical moment involving Russia's interests, the Imperial Government was reluctant to act boldly". Indeed the Russian people were demonstrating outside of the Austrian embassy in St. Petersburg due to their war in Serbia. This shows the unenviable position Nicholas II was in. If he chose to ignore the actions by the triple entente he would appear weak in the eyes of the Russian people. Between the Franco-Russian agreement and pressure from the people he had no option to enter the Great War. This would prove to be the downfall of the Tsarist regime in Russia.
The Russians sent millions of troops to fight the combined forces of Germany and Austria-Hungary. Many of these individuals had been working in factories, helping to build the industrial empire and bring a growing stable economy to the country. Upon leaving for war new industry took a back seat to supplying the war machine. The organization of these supply lines was very unorganized and led to the troops on the front line being under supplied. When the government turned to private business owners to attempt to fix the problem this undermined the authority and ability of the current regime. The business owners wanted official positions in return to fixing the mess, further adding to the domestic problems the government was facing caused by international war. The lack of knowledge of the new technology was also a problem troops endured due to entry into the war at this early stage of Russian modernization. The industrial growth had allowed the Russian military access to artillery shells that could be used in battle. Military leaders reverted to the ill advised bayonet charges that had led to huge losses in the Russo-Japanese war. This time was no different with Russian forces losing close to two million men before the war was over. This caused extreme tensions at home setting the stage for a Bolshevik revolution that would be nearly impossible to create during a peacetime period.
After taking over the role of Commander and Chief in 1915 due to the German occupation of Poland, Nicholas II spent most of his time during the Great War stationed on the battlefields. This left Tsarina Alexandra as the figurehead in St. Petersburg. The Tsarina was not a favorite of the Russian people due to her German heritage. The Russian people were also very skeptical about her involvement with the monk, Rasputin. Rasputin was seen by the Tsar and Tsarina as the only solution to cure their hemophiliac son Alexei. Their trust in Rasputin was not echoed by the people who saw him as unpatriotic influence at court or a German spy. Rasputin did gain more power in St. Petersburg by becoming the Tsarina's personal advisor. These two events shattered the Russian people's view of a unified patriotic Tsarist regime. Governmental changes made by the Alexandra with Rasputin's advice also did not help. By changing the interior Minister Shcherbatov to Khvostov who promised to "...silence all public criticism of the government. He stepped up police surveillance of the Duma politicians, banned meetings of public organizations, tightened censorship" the political parties joined the church and the Russian people with a dislike of Alexandra and Rasputin and the decisions they were making. The fact that Rasputin frequently visited prostitutes and got drunk led to criticism by the elite class. Each of these factors created a melting pot of unrest and distrust throughout Russia. This was the second factor during the Great War that led to the revolution of 1917.
The third reason the Great War caused the Bolshevik takeover was due to the food and fuel shortages that occurred during World War One. This was partly due to the collapse of the rail transportation and partly due to the blockades placed on sea ports in the Baltic and Black seas. The mismanagement of the supplies being sent to the troops also afflicted the regular Russian people. Without food to eat and fuels to keep themselves warm the people turned to strikes and riots. The strikes would prove to be counterproductive as with vital pieces of the process missing it led to further shortages. As riots began especially in St. Petersburg now known as Petrograd the army was dispatched to quell the disturbances. Unlike the riots of 1905 the army was more reluctant to fire on the protestors and in many cases turned their weapons over to the Russian people. This support for the resisters shows how little faith any of the Russian subjects had for the Tsars and how the country was being run. The involvement in the Great War on foreign soil had severely weakened the domestic infrastructure. It was the final mistake the Russian people would allow the Tsars to make. The country started actively looking to change the system.
While there had been discontent in the Russian empire since the turn of the century the revolution of 1917 was a direct result of Russian involvement in the Great War. The grinding halt of the industrialization and modernization prevented Russia from continuing a very promising movement. The dislike and distrust of Alexandra the Tsarina and her personal advisor Rasputin subjected the autocracy to a strain that it could not handle. The lack of food and fuel was the last straw for the Russian people already in a miserable frame of mind. Orlando Figes sums up the situation perfectly by remarking that "... four months of unrelieved gloom, with daily reports of defeat at the Front, industrial strikes, and growing social chaos, ..." The culmination of each event led the Russian people to turn to revolution to better their standards of living. The Bolsheviks were happy to assume this role and came to power in 1917 after the crumbling of the provisional government to launch a new era of the worker led Soviet Union.
Readings:
Figes, Orlando, A People's Tragedy (New York: Penguin Group, 1996),
Kennan, George, Fateful Alliance (Knopf Publishing Group, 1985),
Malia, Martin, The Soviet Tragedy (Free Press, 1994),
By Roger Thornton - Roger works full time in the healthcare industry but enjoys writing short fictional stories, reviews, and is working on a historical fiction novella - got to put this History BA to use somehow!|
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