Collapse of Tsarism and the personal weakness of Nicolas II
To what extent was the collapse of Tsarism due to the personal weakness of Nicholas II?"[The Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II,] was very much a family man and a loving father to his children. But this all meant that he was far removed from his subjects, with little understanding of the outside world; he was ignorant... and he helped to isolate the monarchy from the whole of Russian society". In many ways, the Tsar was unsuitable as a ruler, especially of a country that was undergoing drastic changes. As a result of the social and economic changes that had occurred in the 1900's, the autocracy would have to deal with a growing working class, a change of interest in rising privileged and educated classes and the drifting unity of the upper elites who traditionally supported the Tsar. The autocratic government could no longer preform its traditional role if it were to keep up with changing Russian society. Yet the Tsar's personal weakness in failing to recognise the need for a change in government and reforms, helped to explain the eventual arrival of the revolution in 1917 and the loss of Tsarist support by virtually all the groups that made up the Russian Empire. Due to his weak character and political naivety, Nicholas II was forc
Workers were dissatisfied with their poor living and working conditions. Under the drawing up of the Fundamental Laws, the Tsar significantly limited the power of the Duma, in support of his autocratic powers, which he believed were necessary to preserve traditional autocratic rule. " This was made possible by the Progressive-Bloc's influence and control over the media. It might have been possible for the Tsarist Government to have survived, however it is evident that due to the personal weakness of Nicholas II, the lack of reform in the government caused the downfall of the Romanvo Dynasty. After the October Manifesto, the Liberals spilt and many of the newly named Octoberists were satisfied with the Tsar's weak attempt to introduce a constitutional government. Nicholas' belief that most of Russia supported a Tsarist government was reinforced after the declaration of Russia's involvement in WWI on 20th July 1914. Both Alexandra and Rasputin were supportive of Nicholas not to relinquish his powers and to remain an autocratic ruler. However, after the October Manifesto in 1905, there was an attempt by Nicholas to construct a constitutional government with the creation of a Duma, under the instruction of Witte, whom Nicholas personally disliked. Instead of following their advice, Nicholas dismissed the ministers from government, replacing them with incompetent and weak ministers whom where unable to deal with the political complexity that the war had brought about in Russia. The Tsar did not take much interest in the political dealings of the country, which prevented him from understanding the complex political situation in which Russia found itself. " In 1912, 270 miners died when the Cossack troops suppressed worker strikes on the Lena Goldfields. Despite his personal weakness, the Tsar was not the only cause of the collapse. Stolypin, the Prime Minister from 1906, who introduced the agrarian reforms in November 1906. There were two major problems with this idea, which many ministers tried to point out to Nicholas.
Common topics in this essay:
Nicholas II,
Prime Minister,
Nicholas Tsar,
Romanvo Dynasty,
Octoberists Kadets,
Progressive-Bloc Tsar,
Alexandra Rasputin,
Tsar Duma,
Dynasty Russian,
Lena Goldfields,
personal weakness,
tsarist government,
nicholas ii,
russian society,
1905 revolution,
romanvo dynasty,
upper classes,
changing russian society,
support upper,
change government,
support emerging,
poor transport communication,
systems outbreak wwi,
communication systems outbreak,
transport communication systems,
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Acceptance Essays
