Was The First World War The Main Reason For The Downfall Of Tsarism?

Whilst the First World War was a contributing factor in the downfall of Tsarism it was not the main and sole reason for it. Other factors such as social and political problems also paid significant contributions in the downfall of Tsarism pre-1914 which built growing unrest amongst the proletariat. This unrest continued to grow until the First World War, and the problems and disasters which came with it, provided the tipping point in events for Tsarism to be brought down.

Firstly, social problems played a huge role in the downfall of Tsarism. With conditions for the proletariat in cities such as St Petersburg at miserable levels at the turn of the 20th century, social unrest was already beginning to form. This was further compounded with the 1904 war against Japan. Tsar Nicholas had been hoping that a quick victory in the war would make him popular and deflect some of the criticisms that his government had been facing. However, this was most certainly not the case. The Russian army suffered one terrible defeat after another and to make things worse, the Japanese fleet destroyed all but three Russian ships in the Russian Baltic fleet which had arrived in Japanese waters at the battle of Tsushima. The humiliating defeats were a disaster for Nicholas as they weakened his position with the people in Russia. With food supplies broken down, factories closing and conditions for working people worsening the war greatly affected the people of Russia in a negative way and this therefore encouraged a growing social unrest amongst the people.

In addition, what was to follow next sparked off a revolution which would have huge social issues for the Tsar to contend with. Sunday 22nd January 1905 saw a 200,000 strong crowd march through St Petersburg. They aimed to present Nicholas with a petition asking for better working and living conditions amongst other things. Scuffles broke out when the police and soldiers tried to stop the marchers and following this, the soldiers opened fire killing 500 with thousands more injured.The Bloody Sunday massacre caused great social unrest as news of it spread with riots in the countryside and strikes in the towns. The massacre had started a revolution against the Tsar. During the 1905 revolution, peasants rebelled in the countryside with many murdering their landlords and burning their farms. Soviets (councils) were formed in many towns as a form of alternative government. Whilst Nicholas made some concessions with the October Manifesto, these largely did nothing for the people and couldn t appease their unrest. Many realised through these events that Tsar Nicholas was a ruthless and untrustworthy leader who didn t inspire confidence.These two events which followed each other highlighted the deep rooted discontent of the Russian people which was to simmer and grow over the period in the build up to the First World War. These were the building blocks towards the downfall of Tsarism as it lost more and more popular support, if the leadership has no support then it cannot maintain it s power in the long run. Without these tensions, it is plausible that Tsarism wouldn t have been overthrown during WW1 as there would have been little discontent for the consequences of the war to add to, as it was the levels of discontent became too much for the Tsar to handle.

Also, political problems (which were heavily linked to and often caused social issues) also played their role in the downfall of Tsarism. As with the social unrest, political tensions were brewing over time in Russia as the First World War loomed. Tsar Nicholas creation of the Duma (an elected parliament) is a clear example of this. Upon the first Duma meeting in May 1906, Nicholas issued a set of Fundamental Laws which maintained Russia as an autocracy despite the fact it had a Duma and made it clear that the Duma would not be allowed any real power. The first Duma lasted for only seventy-five days and the second Duma only lasted for three months as it contained liberals, Socialist Revolutionaries and Social Democrats which was not to Nicholas liking. The third Duma lasted five years however this was because Nicholas had changed the voting laws to prevent revolutionaries from being elected to the Duma. All in all, the Dumas were nothing but a show of democracy to appease the people when , in reality, the Tsar was still fully autocratic and controlled all important matters. These political problems went some way to creating further unrest amongst the people, who began to feel like they couldn t trust the Tsar.

Whilst these factors were present in contributing to the downfall of Tsarism, the contributions of the First World War as the tipping point cannot be ignored. After all, despite the build up and growing of social and political tensions and problems, there needed to be a major spark which set the change and removal of Tsarism into motion. Initially the war was very popular as a wave of patriotism spread over the country with the mutual hatred of Germany, the Tsar gained support due to this. However, this was before the adverse effects of the war set in. Firstly, Russian armies suffered devastating defeats in 1914. By the end of 1914 the Russians had lost over one million men. Following this, the economy collapsed in 1915, the war meant half the number of men were working in factories and fields compared to what was needed and 600 factories had to close due to this. Russia s transport system was also crippled due to the fact there were not enough trains to keep the armies and townspeople supplied with food and materials. All this demoralised the Russian people and created unrest again, no longer was the war so popular.

Furthermore, Tsar Nicholas decision to take personal command of his armies during the war was a fatal error and also contributed to the downfall of Tsarism. This decision meant Alexandra, under the influence of Rasputin, was in charge of the government and she did more or less what she pleased sacking ministers who displeased her Russia had four different Prime Ministers during her 16 months in charge. All this meant the work of the government ground to a halt and food and fuel became almost unobtainable. This combined with further problems caused by freezing weather conditions in early 1917 provided the tipping point, with levels of discontent so excessive that a revolution became certain. The public had finally had enough and discontent turned into full scale revolution. During the revolution, putting the final nail in the coffin the Cossacks and military turned their backs on the Tsar leaving Tsarism completely unsupported. It can be seen from this that the problems that a Tsar backed WW1 effort brought about were effective in tipping the amount of discontent towards the leadership of the Tsar off the scales and significantly effective in pushing the Cossack and military to turn against them. All of which meant Tsarism was effectively outnumbered and abandoned forcing their abdication. However, whilst the effects of the First World War were significant, without the social and political problems which built gradual tension beforehand the strength of opposition would have been reduced and therefore revolution may have occurred later or not at all.

In conclusion, the First World War and the effects of it was one of a few reasons which contributed in the downfall of Tsarism. The First World War provided the tipping point in which the public and the Cossack and military just couldn t stand for the Tsar s leadership and revolted, with much more strength than in 1905. This tipping point came after years of building tension amongst the people due to a number of social and political problems which made life increasingly difficult for the public.