History Of Russia: From Tsardom To Soviet Republic

Russian Revolution and the fall of the monarchy

Write an essay on The Russian Revolution.
 

Russia is the largest country in the world in terms of landscape, spanning two continents, eleven time zones and various environmental zones. The history of Russia is found to be over 40,000 years old, with trade relations dating back to the 8^th Century BC.(Christian, 1998)  The country has undergone major territorial and political changes through the course of time; and today, it is a potential superpower, owing to its consistent growth in economic and social parameters. One of the striking events in the history of Russia was the Russian Revolution, which changed the course of the country’s politics by overthrowing monarchy and autocracy of the Russian Empire. The revolution took form by the growing social and political rebellion against the authoritarian rulers of Russia, and ended in Russia being declared a Republic. This revolution also saw the emergence of communist and socialist ideologies.

Tsardom in Russia, or the autocratic governance by the Slavic monarchs, originated in 1450 to 1500 AD, and continued till 1917, which saw its fall. Though Ivan III, who was ruled the country for the longest period of time was celebrated,(Kivelson, 2006) Nicholas II was infamously dictatorial and tyrannical, which led to growing internal unrest within the country, and the subsequent downfall of the monarchy. During the reign of Tsar Nicholas II, the economy of Russia was hindered by four major issues pertaining to agriculture, labour, nationality, and education. This ensued a rebellion known as the “Russian Revolution of 1905”. Though minor reforms in constitution were made, the purpose of the revolution was defeated; the tsar retained most of the powers, thus sowing the seeds for a major Russian Revolution. 

The First World War

The World War I commenced in 1914, with the Russian Empire forming the “Allies”. Russia seemed victorious initially, as there was a temporary cessation of internal conflicts and a surge of patriotism. However, as the war dragged on, the “Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary” had an upper hand, pushing Russia to lose many territories.(Sanborn, 2005) This was attributed to the inefficient military and industrial base, owing to which the soldiers could not sustain the prolonged war environment. Not only at the war-front, but the situation of the economy was at its worst, with food scarcity and price rise. The rising unrest of the people against the incompetent rule of the tsar Nicholas II and the Empress Alexandra[1], led to the February Revolution

A series of industrial strikes, rallies and anti-tsarist demonstrations were held in March[2] at Petrograd (now St. Petersburg), demanding food and better governance. The tsars ordered the army to suppress the rioters, but due to the inefficiency and unreliability of the army, the mutiny against the public failed.(Melancon, 2000) The powerless Tsar Nicholas II was forced to abdicate power, and was kept under house arrest with his family. With the official ending of the Russian tsardom, a temporary Provincial government was formed, which ruled the state alongside the Petrograd Soviet, a council of socialist workers. For a brief time span, a dual government existed in Russia, with the emergence of a lot of opposition parties that represented the various strata of people.

The World War I and its fallouts for Russia

This dual power was not very progressive on the development of Russia, as was bogged down by many internal conflicts.(Lenin & Chretien, 2015) The stance of the government on WWI was not widely appreciated, and this led to further defeats incurred on Russia by the German forces. The government faced protest from the soldiers who refused to fight, and there was a general unrest of the people against the Provincial government. Finally, the Bolshevik Party, which was led by Vladimir Lenin, passed a resolution that mandated the abolishment of the Provincial Government, leading to the October Revolution.(Riga, 2012 ) 

Massive industrial and agrarian strikes were held in various parts of Russia, which were met with penal actions from the federal government, and not the effective action as necessitated. This led to mass demonstrations and protests against the government.[3]  This was backed by the Bolshevik Party and the Petrograd Soviets, which launched a military attack on the government, capturing the Winter Palace. The revolution was largely peaceful, with the provincial government surrendering to the Bolsheviks and the Soviets. The Bolsheviks assumed power under the same name of “Provincial government”, and Russia was declared as a “Soviet Republic”. However, this decision was not unanimous, as a few of the Soviets were dissatisfied with the alleged illegal means of assuming power, and the rising anti-incumbency unrest led to the Russian Civil War, which was described as “the greatest national catastrophe of Europe” (Swain, 2013)

The newly formed Bolshevik Government under the leadership of Lenin demanded an end to the WW-I, initially refusing to agree to the terms of the Central Powers, but relenting once the German forces were too strong for them. In 1918, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed, which made many Russian territories vassals of the Germans. Even though the Treaty was nullified by the end of 1918 upon the German defeat to the Allies, the interim period served to lift a territorial burden on Russia, which was fighting its civil war. The civil war continued for many years, and ended with the anti-Bolsheviks and the rival socialist groups suffering huge defeats, thus establishing the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in 1922. Tsar Nicholas II and his entire family were publically executed, thus completely putting an end to the tsarist existence, whose tyranny and inefficient rule had led to the revolutions in the first place.

The emergence of Russia as a soviet republic saw the Bolshevik government rule by the method of “Rule by Decree”. This was highly significant, as the already unstable economy of Russia was very badly affected by the Revolutions, WW-I, and the Civil War. The economy was stabilized, and international debts were annulled by the state by seizing all private property and by the nationalization of private banks. Land was distributed among the peasants and workers. The New Economic Policy was introduced, which saw the rise of small scale industries. The working class was benefited by higher wages and shorter working hours. The methods adapted by Lenin were heavily criticized to be no less authoritarian than the tsarist rule. However, the situation of Russia showed slow improvements in economic growth than during the tsarist regime. (Corney, 1998)

Emergence of the Bolshevik Party and the October Revolution

After the death of Lenin, Russia was led by Joseph Stalin, who was the General Secretary of the Communist party. Though Stalin and Lenin were not in the best of terms, the latter came to power by eliminating his rivals. It was during Stalin’s dictatorship that Russia saw major changes from agriculture to developments in mass industrializations. Post World War II, the Soviet Russia emerged as the world’s superpowers, alongside the United States of America. Stalin was considered to be no less authoritarian than Lenin, and the number of deaths caused in his dictatorship run into millions; he was infamous for eliminating those who did not agree to his policies. However, the fact that he led the country through massive developments in all fields, from industrial to nuclear developments[4] cannot be ignored.(Goldman, 2007) 

Food Scarcity – The tsarist rule was allegedly indifferent to the deeply rooted food crisis in Russia. This was attributed to the rising inflation rates; even though the harvests were regular and plentiful, the rising costs of the produce made it difficult to ensure equality in food distribution.(Collier & Hoeffler, 2004) Hoarding of foodstuff was common, due to high demand and price rise, and there was a constant queue for basic food supplies. The subsequent February and October revolutions, The World War I, and the civil wars completely drained the country’s granaries, leading to extreme food scarcity and resultant food rioting. Immediately upon emergence of Russia as a republic, the rule of Lenin faced a major famine in 1921, which consumed the lives of many people.

War-weariness – The series of wars and internal conflicts took a toll on the physical, mental, and psychological endurance of the Russian soldiers. The soldiers and the generally public were tired of being on footage all the time, with very less or no support from the rulers in terms of military or technological advancements. This was one of the main reasons for the Russian losses in the First World War. It also led to the protest of the soldiers against the tsars, during the February Revolution.(Pickering, 2002)

Economical – The economical condition of the tsarist-ruled and the immediate Republican Russia was at its poorest, with high inflation, scarcity of food, poor housing facilities, improper sanitation, mis-treatment of the working staff, and reduced wages. The increasing population was a worrying factor, as it experienced an economic crunch. The situation was further worsened by the continuing wars and internal unrests, which resulted in loss of productivity and huge expenses to the government. The immediate action of Lenin on assuming power was to stabilize the economy and fill in the government coffers.(Dobb, 2012)

Political – The political scenario of Russia has been a hub for constant unrest, and yet no single method of rule was any different from the others.(Friedman, 2008) The Russian revolution put an end to the tsarist rule, which was infamous to be tyrannical and autocratic. After the abolition of Stardom, when Lenin took charge of the nation that was totally wrecked by poverty and famines, he set to stabilizing it using the “Rule by Decree”, which still bestowed all power in the hands of the government. After Lenin, when Stalin took over, Russia was made a super-power, however still by military rule.[5] During and immediately after the revolutions, the power was strongly in the hands of the rulers ruling Russia. 

The words of Plato “Democracy is born from tyranny” is suited for the Russia of today. Post-Revolution period, Russia has seen many events – its decisive role in the World War II as opposed to its defeat in WW I, its emergence as a super-power, the establishment and dissolution of the USSR,(Hale, 2005) change in governments and governances, political relationships, and the massive developments in various fields such as nuclear power, space research, military and intelligence, sports, etc. However, the revolution is a great landmark in the history of Russia, as it triggered the changes that have occurred and which resulted in Russia being what it is today. If not for the outbursts of unrests, Russia would still have remained under autocratic leaders, and not in a growing multi-party representative democracy like it is today.  

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Corney, F. C. (1998). Rethinking a Great Event: The October Revolution as Memory Project. Social Science History , 389-414.

Dobb, M. (2012). Russian Economic Development Since the Revolution. Routledge.

Friedman, G. (2008). THE GEOPOLITICS OF RUSSIA: Permanent Struggle . Stratfor.

Goldman, W. Z. (2007). Terror and Democracy in the Age of Stalin. he Social Dynamics of Repression. Cambridge .

Hale, H. E. (2005). The Makeup and Breakup of Ethnofederal States: Why Russia Survives Where the USSR Fell. Perspectives on Politics , 55-70.

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Lenin, V. I., & Chretien, T. (2015). State and Revolution. Haymarket Books.

Melancon, M. (2000). Rethinking Russia’s February Revolution: Anonymous Spontaneity or Socialist Agency? The Carl Beck Papers in Russian and East European Studies , 48.

Pickering, J. (2002). War-weariness and Cumulative Effects: Victors, Vanquished, and Subsequent Interstate Intervention. Journal of Peace Research , 313-337.

Riga, L. (2012 ). The Bolsheviks and the Russian Empire. Cambridge University Press.

Sanborn, J. A. (2005). Unsettling the Empire: Violent Migrations and Social Disaster in Russia during World War I . The Journal of Modern History , 290-324 .