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1 - The Nature of The Tsarist Regime

The document summarizes the causes of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. It describes how Tsar Nicholas II came to power in 1894 but was the last Tsar, abdicating in 1917. It then discusses the features of Imperial Russia including its vast size, diverse population, and the absolute power of the Tsar. The Tsar believed firmly in maintaining this system without political reform. However, Russia was politically backward compared to other European nations which had advanced to representative democracies, contributing to the failure of the Tsarist regime and the Bolsheviks rising to power.

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Janini Hettiaratchy
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180 views6 pages

1 - The Nature of The Tsarist Regime

The document summarizes the causes of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. It describes how Tsar Nicholas II came to power in 1894 but was the last Tsar, abdicating in 1917. It then discusses the features of Imperial Russia including its vast size, diverse population, and the absolute power of the Tsar. The Tsar believed firmly in maintaining this system without political reform. However, Russia was politically backward compared to other European nations which had advanced to representative democracies, contributing to the failure of the Tsarist regime and the Bolsheviks rising to power.

Uploaded by

Janini Hettiaratchy
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Causes of the Bolshevik Revolution

• Tsar Nicholas II came to the throne of the Russian Empire in 1894. His
was to be a tragic reign and he was to be the last tsar. By the time he
was murdered in 1918, Nicholas had abdicated, the Russian Empire
had collapsed and a new revolutionary force, the Bolsheviks, had
seized power.

• In order to understand how the Tsarist regime failed and the


Bolsheviks rose to power we must first understand:
• The main features of Imperial Russia: the land, the people and the character
of the tsarist system that Nicholas operated
• The problem of political and economic reform that Russia faced as it tried to
come to terms with the modern world
• The opponents of tsardom
The Russian Empire
• In 1894 Imperial Russia covered over eight million square miles, an area equivalent to
two and a half times the size of the USA today
• At its widest, from west to east, it stretched for 5000 miles; at its longest, north to south,
it measured 2000 miles. It covered a large part of two continents.
• The Russian population is estimated at 165 million people.
• The sheer size of the Russian Empire tended to give an impression of great strength. This
was misleading. The population contained a wide variety of peoples of different race,
language, religion and culture (see Table 1.1 - Access to History).
• Controlling such a variety of peoples over such a vast territory had long been a major
problem for Russian governments.
The Nature of the Tsarist Regime
• The peoples of the Russian Empire were governed by one person, the tsar
(emperor).
• The Russian monarchy was hereditary. Between 1613 and 1917, Russia
was ruled by members of the House of Romanov - The Romanov Dynasty.
• By law and tradition, the tsar was an absolute ruler. There were no
restrictions on his power. The people owed him total obedience.
• The tsar’s absolute rule was exercised through three official bodies:
1. The Imperial Council – a group of honorary advisers directly
responsible to the tsar
2. The Cabinet of Ministers – ran the various government departments
3. The Senate – supervised the operation of the law.
These bodies were much less powerful than their titles suggested. They were appointed,
not elected, and they did not govern; their role was merely to give advice. They had no
authority over the tsar, whose word was final in all governmental and legal matters.
The Tsar’s Beliefs
• He believed firmly in maintaining the Tsarist system of government
and keeping absolute power.
• He did not support political reform.
• He believed he had divine right to rule the Russian Empire.
• He promoted a policy of Russification - enforcing the Russian
Language and Orthodox Christianity across the empire.
• He blamed the Russian Jews for many of the troubles in Russia and
frequently subjected them to ‘pograms’
Russia’s Political Backwardness
• What the tsar’s power showed was how little Russia had advanced politically
compared with other European nations.
• By the beginning of the twentieth century all the major western-European
countries had some form of democratic or representative government.
• Not so Russia; although it had been frequently involved in European
diplomatic and military affairs, it had remained outside the mainstream of
European political thought.
• There was no parliament, and although political parties had been formed they
had no legal right to exist. There had never been a free press in Imperial
Russia. Government censorship was imposed on published books and journals

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