The Factors which Lead to the Abdication of Tsar Nicholas in March 1917

In March 1917 Tsar Nicholas abdicated his, and his sons position as tsar of Russia. It had become impossible for him to continue because of the vast discontent across all the social classes. This situation did not just arise overnight it was brewing for a long time. It is also impossible to attribute his abdication to one specific factor because it was down to many. War broke out in 1914 and in the beginning it actually united Russia, although this was only to last a short period of time. This was because the majority of people thought the war would last only a matter of months.

Pre World War One Russia was very divided and lacked national cohesion, the population hoped that the war would quickly and effectively unify the country. As the months went on and there was still no sign that the war was over people became very hostile towards the Tsar. This was not helped by the crippling financial situation the nation was in. In 1914 Russia had achieved remarkable financial stability but this was shattered by the war. Between 1914 and 1917 over one and a half billion roubles were spent on the war. The national budget increased from four million roubles in 1913 to thirty million in 1916.

Where was this money coming from? An increase in taxes and huge borrowings from other countries were only partially successful in supplying the money needed for the conflict. The government resorted to printing more money to make up the extra cash they needed. This caused hyperinflation and resulted in severe financial problems across the country. All classes were affected in some way. People couldn’t buy as much with their pay and saving were destroyed. The Tsarist government took a lot of criticism over the situation and there was growing unrest across the entire land.

During the war years workers were very poorly paid, in fact they were getting paid less than in 1903. They were also forced to work longer hours to cope with the demand of the war and to cope with the lack of men due to conscription. The Petrograd workers faced arguably the worst conditions because they also suffered food shortages. In 1917 Petrograd only received one third of its normal amount of food because the extra strain put on the rail network made it collapse. This obviously made the workers very angry and they turned their frustrations to the Tsarist regime.

Hyperinflation caused the peasants to hoard their food because the little saving they had were now worthless. This further increased the food shortages across the country. Like the proletariat the peasants were affected by conscription, this lead to a shortage of farm workers. The army also took farm horses, which meant it was nearly impossible to farm the land effectively. These factors infuriated this social class who blamed the tsar for the situation. Just as peasant conditions looked like they were improving with Stolypin Land Reforms, the war started and everything was put on hold.

There were also major problems with the army at this time. Soldiers’ morale was very low, mainly because most of them were only there through conscription. They also had a dreadfully low life expectancy due to the huge number of fatalities in the war. Furthermore the army was running low on basic equipment, some men had no boots and in other cases one rifle was shared between three! The army suffered food shortages and many soldiers went hungry. This resulted in the army, like many other groups, to turn against the Tsar.

Even the military commanders in the army turned against him because he appeared to undermine their authority when he took personal control of the troops in August 1915. Duma members were getting increasing frustrated with the situation. They had little role in government and as time went on there aggravation increased. This is a stark contrast to August 1914 when the Duma showed total support for the tsar by voting for its own suspension for the duration of the war. Within one year voices of opposition to the tsar were coming from the Duma.

When they saw the war was going badly they demanded its formation again. Nicholas agreed to this but rejects its appeal for the dismissal of his incompetent ministers. The Kadets and the Octobrists joined forces to form the “Progressive Bloc” in June 1915. This group became the focal point of the political opposition to the tsar. The SR’s did not join this group but its members voted with the Progressive Bloc within the Duma. By 1917 even the Elite Romanov family and Cabinet Ministers had turned against the tsar. This was mainly due to the role of Rasputin within the government.

Rasputin was a starets (holy man) from Siberia. It was rumoured that he belonged to a religious sect, the Kylysty. They believed religious ecstasy lay in the senses. Men and women flogged themselves and sometimes engaged in sexual acts. Rasputin’s involvement with the Romanov dynasty flourished because of his alleged healing powers. Alexis, the tsar’s eldest son was a haemophiliac so the slightest knock could cause internal bleeding. In 1907 it was thought he was dying and Rasputin was called in. after his visit Alexis started to recover. Rasputin became a close friend of the Royal family.

Rumours spread like wild fire, no one outside the royal family knew about Alexis’ condition, this lead to rumours of an affair, which undermined the autocracy. Furthermore Rasputin seemed to have direct control over Alexandra, who then had control over her husband. This caused uproar among the Elite and the Duma because a peasant looked as if he had control over the tsar’s decrees. Their anger boiled over in December 1916 when Prince Yusupov, a relation of the tsar, murdered Rasputin. This is very significant because it shows how infuriated the royal family were with the situation.

The populations fury bubbled over in February 1917 when a food riot turned quickly into a full scale revolution. Unlike the partial revolution of 1905 this revolution was both spontaneous and supported by all the social classes. In February 1917 Petrograd workers were on the verge of despair. The masses of industrial workers were nearing a food riot. The ban on labour meetings, the closer of trade unions, the prosecution of men taking part in the sick benefit funds and the suspension of labour newpapers just escalated the tension.

On the 18th February employees of Putilov steel works started a full-scale strike. During the next five days more and more workers joined them as rumours of a further cut in bread supplies circulated. On the 23rd February a great wave of strikes and food riots broke out, particularly in Petrorad. The troops sent in to quell the unrest ended up joining the rioters. There were mutiny’s in the navy at Kronstadt and army mutiny’s in Petrograd were 150, 000 troops deserted. This is very worrying because it is said among histories that a leader cannot survive if it does not have the support of military.

By 25th February there was a general strike. What did the members of the Duma make of this situation? As a whole they new that only major concessions could suppress the situation. Nicholas in his stubbornness decided to dissolve the Duma. It did so formally as an assembly but a group of twelve members disobeyed the order and set up as the Provisional Committee. This was the first constitutional defiance of the tsar. On 27th February a layer by the name of Alexander Kerensky then sensationally called for the tsar to stand down or be deposed.

Nicholas now faced an impossible situation. He had a crisis with his popularity basically everyone hated him. He had failed to deliver on his reforms in the past so even if he promised new ones he would be ignored. He had neglected the problems of the workers and peasants. World War One’s negative impact had exacerbated Russia’s existing problems. Finally the military had turned against him. On 28th February army commanders prevented Nicholas returning to the capital because of the current situation.

On the 4th March 1917 Nicholas abdicated his, and his sons position as tsar of Russia. So what was the main factor that lead to his abdication? In my opinion it was the war. Once it was clear Russia was not going to win everything spirals out of control for the tsar. If Russia had not entered the war and the tsar had made moderate reforms, like Stolypin’s land reforms, I think he might have survived. In conclusion this was a truly complex situation caused by many factors. The tsar had backed himself into a corner from which he had no choice but to step down.