Russian Revolution of 1917

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Political

by AIRSTERRA

NAME: ULEBOR ESTHER ISIOMA.

PROGRAM: POLITICAL SCIENCE.

MATRIC. NO.: 11AI011605.

LEVEL: 300.

COURSE TITLE: REVOLUTION AND SOCIETY.

COURSE CODE: POS324.

LECTURER: MR GODWYN AGBUDE.

QUESTION: DISCUSS ANY OF THIS REVOLUTION.

1. RUSSIA REVOLUTION.

2. CUBA REVOLUTION.

3. ENGLISH REVOLUTION.

INTRODUCTION

One of the most significant single events in modern world history is undoubtedly the Russian Revolution

of 1917. It cannot be compared to any revolution (preceding or following it) in its scope. BACKGROUND

One of the most startling and far-reaching results of the First World War was the Russian Revolution. Not

only did it affect the largest nation on earth, it also had a huge impact on the rest of the world, helping

lead to both World War II and the Cold War following it. While World War I may have triggered this

Revolution, its roots go much further back into its history and geography in two ways. First of all,

Russia's flat and open terrain made it vulnerable to invasions that forced the Russian Czars to develop a

strong absolutist state in self-defense. Second, Russia's huge size, northerly location, and isolation from

Europe kept Russia cut off from the mainstream of political, economic and technological developments

taking place in Western Europe. Therefore, Russia's geography and history made it a slow moving,

autocratic, and backward giant that was constantly falling behind the more advanced societies in the

West. This triggered a vicious cycle of reforms to catch up with the West, a conservative backlash

against the reforms, Russia falling further behind the West, more reforms, and so on. Unfortunately, not

all Russians felt the West was worth copying. This led to a conservative backlash that would wreck the

reforms, causing Russia to fall further behind, and so on. Peter the Great in the early 1700's, Catherine

the Great in the later 1700's, Alexander I in the early 1800's, and Alexander II in the mid 1800's' all tried,

or at least espoused, the cause of reform which led to conservative backlashes and the cycle repeating.

That struggle is still going on in Russia today. By the 1890s Russians could no longer ignore the forces

of industrialization transforming the rest of Europe and leaving it further and further behind. Therefore,

reformers targeted Russia's repressive government that used secret police to track down socialist

dissidents, its backward social structure that kept the peasants in virtual, if not legal, serfdom, and its

equally backward economy just starting to industrialize. Two other factors also pushed Russia toward

change. One was the rising popularity of socialism. A more immediate catalyst for change was Russia's

humiliating defeat in a war with Japan (1903-5) that dramatized Russia's backwardness. All this set off

the Revolution of 1905, which took Czar Nicholas II by surprise and forced him to agree to both political

and economic reforms. The main political reform was the establishment of a Duma (parliament), which

attempted to turn the Czar's absolute government into a constitutional monarchy. However, once the

revolution settled down, the czar did all he could to crush and eliminate the Duma. Nevertheless, the

Duma, however limited in power, persisted in being a voice for reform even as political repression

reasserted itself. At the same time, substantial economic reforms were taking place. The Czar's chief

minister, Peter Stolypin, pushed through reforms that distributed land to some two million peasants. This

gave peasants an incentive to produce more, and, by World War I, 75% of Russia's crops were going to

market, with 40% of those crops going abroad. This, combined with Russia's political repression, created

a gap between its economic progress and political backwardness. All that was needed was a catalyst to

trigger a full-scale revolution. That catalyst was World War I. Many Russians, like other Europeans,

greeted war jubilantly in 1914, sure that they would win a quick and glorious victory. In fact, Russia was

poorly prepared for war. Its troops, although brave, were barely trained, poorly equipped (many not even

having rifles), and incompetently led. Their war minister boasted of not having read a new book on

military tactics in twenty-five years. As a result, Russian armies met with one disaster after another.

Aggravating the situation was the Czar, Nicholas II, a weak willed man who was controlled by his wife,

the Tsarina. She herself was German born and of suspect loyalty as far as many Russians were

concerned. She was also under the spell of Rasputin, a drunken, semi-literate Siberian peasant posing

as a monk. He did have the apparent ability to control the bleeding of the crown prince, who was a

hemophiliac, along with an apparent hypnotic power over women. While scandal reigned at court (at

least until Rasputin was murdered), Nicholas took personal command of the war effort, with catastrophic

results. CAUSES OF THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION

Various factors and forces led to the Russian Revolution of 1917.The economic factors were the main

factors contributing to the Revolution, as they resulted in poverty, misery and exploitation of the masses

by the nobility. 1. ECONOMIC FACTOR.

Russia was mainly a highly backward agricultural country before the revolution. The royal family, the

nobility and the clergy owned most of the agricultural land. Only between three and ten acres of land was

owned by 70% of the peasants. Many of them had to earn their livelihood only 2½ acres land or even

less. In addition they had to use primitive tools, implements and methods of cultivation, which were not

very productive. Further, the poor peasants became poorer as they had to pay huge sums of rent and

tributes to their landlords every year. This created great discontent among the farmers who were ready

to revolt against the Czarist government, in order to end this economic and social system.

2. INDUSTRIAL FACTOR.

In the industrial sphere too, Russia was backward and depended only on foreign capital. The workers

and laborers had to endure miserable working conditions. They received extremely low wages and

worked for 12 to 14 hours a day. They had to go without any medical relief in case of an accident while

on duty. They did not even have a weekly holiday. It was considered a crime to form trade unions.

Moreover, the government did not attempt to improve these conditions. Instead, the Russian villages and

cities suffered from poverty, dirt and disease caused by the exorbitant land revenue and the unbearably

high taxes and levies. 3. SOCIAL FACTOR.

There was an imbalance in the social structure, owing to the above economic factors. As a result 70% of

the Russian population was illiterate. The social structure of Russia was completely devoid of education,

medical relief and public health. The masses being poor, hungry, diseased and ignorant were highly

addicted to vodka, a very powerful intoxicant. Above all the system of flogging that prevailed in the whole

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Political by AIRSTERRA NAME: ULEBOR ESTHER ISIOMA. PROGRAM: POLITICAL SCIENCE. MATRIC. NO.: 11AI011605. LEVEL: 300. COURSE TITLE: REVOLUTION AND SOCIETY. COURSE CODE: POS324. LECTURER: MR GODWYN AGBUDE. QUESTION: DISCUSS ANY OF THIS REVOLUTION. 1. RUSSIA REVOLUTION. 2. CUBA REVOLUTION. 3. ENGLISH REVOLUTION. INTRODUCTION One of the most significant single events in modern world history is undoubtedly the Russian Revolution of 1917. It cannot be compared to any revolution (preceding or following it) in its scope. BACKGROUND One of the most startling and far-reaching results of the First World War was the Russian Revolution. Not only did it affect the largest nation on earth, it also had a huge impact on the rest of the world, helping lead to both World War II and the Cold War following it. While World War I may have triggered this Revolution, its roots go much further back into its history and geography in two ways. First of all, Russia's flat and open terrain made it vulnerable to invasions that forced the Russian Czars to develop a strong absolutist state in self-defense. Second, Russia's huge size, northerly location, and isolation from Europe kept Russia cut off from the mainstream of political, economic and technological developments taking place in Western Europe. Therefore, Russia's geography and history made it a slow moving, autocratic, and backward giant that was constantly falling behind the more advanced societies in the West. This triggered a vicious cycle of r ...
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