Why Did the Tsar Abdicate in March 1917?
             The Tsar of Russia was known as the Little Father. He was an autocratic ruler of a vast country, which spanned across two continents, Europe and Asia. It had over 16 nationalities and very poor lines of communication; roads were mud tracks and there was only one railway line. All of this made it a very difficult country to rule. The Tsar was greatly respected by his people and he had total control. However, by 1917, this had all changed and the Tsar was forced to abdicate. In this essay I will explore the reasons why such a respected man several years later became a disgrace, was removed from office and killed, along with his family.
             1917 was not the first revolution Russia had ever seen, 12 years earlier in 1905 there was nearly a whole year of revolution. This revolution broke out for a number of reasons. Firstly, the long term reasons were there; working and living conditions for the peasants were very poor. Then Russia started a war with Japan; this could have been a good thing for if they had won it would have renewed faith in the Tsar. This was not the case, Russia suffered numerous defeats, soldiers got angry and started to mutiny, as on the battleship Potemkin.
             The Russian people were very angry and tension was growing all that was needed was a spark to explode the situation, this spark arose on the 22nd January 1905. A priest called Father Gapon led 200,000 peasants in a peaceful march that descended on the Tsar's winter palace, to give a list of demands. Thousands of them were reported to have been savagely murdered by troops. This ignited Russia's tensions and resulted in a year of revolution.
             The Tsar, without the full support of his troops, finally caved into the pressure in October. Here he issued the October Manifesto; in this he promised to give the people a Duma, which was an elected parliament. Civil rights and uncensored newspapers were also...