why did the tsarist regime collapse in 1917 (7A)

• 3 ways the tsar's govt crushed opponents

  • police has special force of 10,000 officers whose job was to concentrate on dealing with political opponents of the regime
  • tsar's secret police force, OKHRANA, sent thousands to prison/exile
  • governors appointed by the tsar had powers to arrest people, put down trouble, or sensor newspapers
• zemstvo

  they elected representatives that could help run the country
• why did people dislike the tsar?

  • encouraged rivalry between ministers because different govt departments refused to cooperate
  • refused to chair the council of ministers because he disliked confrontation
• structure of the Russian society in the countryside

  80% of the population were peasants. they were controlled by their landlords and didnt get paid. they worked in terrible conditions. peasants were in mirs, and each part of the land had a zemstvo/a. Many of them couldn't grow enough to feed their families, as they didnt have access to fertilisers or machinery for efficient crop yielding. kulaks had most of the good farmland
• working life

  workers were jammed into slum housing in the cities, had to share kitchens and toilets with multiple families and it was hard to maintain a normal diet. trade unions were illegal workers were jammed into slum housing in the cities, had to share kitchens and toilets with multiple families and it was hard to maintain a normal diet. trade unions were illegal so workers couldn't fight for their rights
• socialist revolutionaries 


  the SR's were a radical movement. they aimed to carve up the huge estates of nobility and hand them to peasants. they believed in violent struggle
• social Democratic Party


  they were a smaller more disciplined group. they followed the ideas of Karl Marx and in 1903 split into Bolsheviks and Mensheviks. Bolsheviks believed it was their job to create a revolution, whereas Mensheviks felt Russia wasn't ready for it
• why did revolution break out in Russia in 1905?

  Russia faced economic hardship, falling wages, and high unemployment led to strikes and unrest. Liberals sought democracy, peasants demanded shorter hours, better pay, and land, while students called for freedoms. Opposition aimed to overthrow the Tsar. On June 22, 200,000 protesters marched to the Winter Palace with a petition for better living conditions. Cossack forces opened fire, killing many. This brutal response eroded public respect for the Tsar. Defeats and casualties in the Russo-Japanese War further fueled anger and calls for revolt.
• how did people strike against the tsar?

  • sailors killed their officers, causing them to lose loyal forces
  • Lenin who was in exile ordered bolsheviks to encourage workers to take radical action against the govt
  • workers in Moscow joined together in armed rebellion in protest against the poor working/living conditions
  • soviets were formed and became strong
• how did the tsar survive

  • October manifesto: tsar was persuaded to issue it, where people got an elected parliament, the Duma, which gave right to free speech and to form political parties. this made everyone willing to end the revolution
  • army: to ensure their loyalty, he offered better pay and conditions. the army arrested the soviets and peasants. tsar promised the peasants a land bank to help them buy land
  • lack of united opposition: all the different political groups had different aims and never united together to bring down the tsar
• stolypin carrot 


  the prime minister who was elected used this method as an approach to Russias problems

  • carrot: he used this with peasants where the carrot was land that they craved. he introduced a series of agricultural reforms which allowed the kulaks to opt out of mir communes and buy larger more efficient farms. the land bank lent over 600m roubles to boost agricultural production
  • he also tried to boost Russian industries and there was impressive econ growth from 1908-1911
• stolypin stick

  • he was harsh on strikers, protestors etc. he sent some to exile and killed many, flowering opposition in the countryside for a while
  • discontent grew as industrial growth didnt benefit anyone. wages stayed low and housing and food prices rose, and profits were going to capitalists. living and working conditions were still appalling
  • tsar didnt like the duma and changed the rules so opponents couldn't win
• how far was the tsar weakened by WW1

  • rising discontent in army: they were poorly led by aristocrat officers. they were short of weaponary, causing them to stand little chance against germany
  • peasants/workers were alienated by war. there were huge casualty figures, leaving people needing state war pensions. prices were rising and there were food shortages
  • middle class joined war committees to send supplies to troops. industrialists complained that they couldn't fulfil war contracts due to raw material shortages
  • aristocrats angered by influence of Rasputin on govt, leading to his murder.
• Rasputin

  he was a womaniser, drinker and overall a strange figure. he even told tsar and tsarina how to run the country. also Rasputin was thought, thru hypnosis, that he could control a blood disease that the tsars son had, and tsarina thought it was a miracle. tsar's opponents seized on Rasputin as a sign of tsar's weakness and unfitness to rule Russia. he ruined tsar's image, as tsar didnt notice their concern or didn't care
• march 1917


  on the 7th of march, workers at steelworks in Petrograd went on strike and joined thousands of women and other discontented workers. there were 250,000 striking workers in the span of 3 days. the tsar ordered his army to put down the revolt by force. they refused. some soldiers shot their own officers, marched to the duma, and ordered that they take over the govt. revolutionaries set up the Petrograd soviet and began taking control of food supplies to the city. on march 15th, the tsar abdicated
• why did the tsar not survive

  • supporters lost faith in him
  • army became against him
  • discontented people went on strikes
  • tsarina and Rasputin damaged reputations
  • shortages of necessary needs
  • duma formed provisional govt