Bolshevik Revolution – Revision Through Revolution
Throughout the reign of the Romanovs, which started with Michael Romanov after the death of his father, Fyodor, in 1613 the tsars of Russia ruled as absolute monarchs over all of the country. During the 304 year incumbency, many tsars took their place as the rulers of Russia, all of which had their accomplishments and failures. This rule of the Russian Empire abruptly ended with two different revolutions in the year of 1917: one of which occurred in February, the other in October. After the February rebellion, the government attempted to control the masses through the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, ending the rule of the Romanovs forever. During this time, a new authoritative group, The Provisional Government, gained power through election by the nobility but did not hold favor with the people. Another group, The Petrograd Soviet, chosen to make decisions on the peoples behalf, gained peoples support but did not hold any real official authority. While the formation of these groups subdued the people for a few months, they would eventually rebel again in the fall. Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the Bolshevik party, headed this revolution with the support of Russian peasants, workers, and soldiers, all of whom opposed their government. Revolutionaries challenged traditional Russian culture and authority through defeats and successes, as a result of the governments failure to control the country in its politics, economics, and military.
The Russian government attempted to please its people by making changes, starting with the highest power held in the country: the power of Tsar Nicholas II. However, this only weakened its influence in the lives of the Russian people because the generals willingly removed the position that held the most authoritative role in the Russian government (Chamberlin, “The Russian Revolution 1917-1942”). The tsar lacked support because his father neglected to prepare him to rule the country. After his father’s death, Nicholas II returned from his global exploration forced by his father- unready to rule the country. At age 18, he ascended the throne without a clear purpose or vision for the country, and allowed Russia to lose its status as a major world power during the early 1900’s (Mazour 123,124). He then married Alexandra, formerly Princess Alix of Hesse-Darmstadt and granddaughter of Queen Victoria. This partly lead to the downfall because she showed signs of strength (Mazour 124). Not only disliked for his lack of experience, the tsar also married a queen that lacked support from the people as well. The continual fighting in World War I lead to the disliking of the Tsar in Russia as well. Conducted at a distance in Manchuria, the war resulted in the social unrest of the Russian people and enhanced the unhealthy state of affairs within the country (Mazour 126). Some generals and government officials believed that “only the abdication of Nicholas II might save the dynasty