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By February 1917, the Russian people were starving due to the food shortages, freezing because of fuel shortages and worn out from the war struggle. They had enough of the Tsar's failing leadership and poor decisiveness to help those in desperate need. The First World War placed an unbearable strain on Russia's weak government and economy, resulting in mass supply shortages and famine. Reform was needed, and all major revolutionary leaders were abroad.
Turning misery into hope, the workers in Petrograd transformed their protests from general individual strikes into one mass general strike and brought the government to its knees. This sent a strong message to the Tsar, who was clearly unfit to govern such a nation, with such opposition. The four main factors that had the most influence on the February Revolution were the Tsars inability to relate to the masses, the struggle for victory in the war effort, the food and supply shortages, and the frigid weather conditions. The Tsar was the head of government at this time, which meant he had the most influence and power available to his disposal, which made his mistakes a predominate factor in causing the February revolution. During his reign as the Emperor of Russia between 1894 - 1917, Nicholas II, made numerous mistakes. The Tsars first mistake was when he took personal command of the army, which did not help the war effort and meant he was personally blamed for the all defeats...
whether soldier or civilian... had learnt to blame the Tsar for every disaster (The February Revolution by Ronald Hingley, page 57). Each defeat resulted in a loss of support the Russian people had for the Tsar and his Army. There was also a large unequally between the poor and the rich people. The Tsar did nothing to minimize this effect, which is why he was so hated over a widespread area. While the Tsar commanded the army he left his wife Alexandra, the tsarina, in charge.
However, the Tsarina was unfit for the position. She demonstrated this by letting Grigori Rasputin run the government. There was also the fact that she was German, which allowed rumours to circulate that she was trying to help Germans to win. During the war, the Tsar also did not recognize the intensity of the situation. For the duration of the Revolution, the Tsar continued to receive soothing reports from Protopopov, had no idea how charged the situation in the capital had become (The February Revolution by Richard Pipes, page 77).
By February 1917, the Russian people were against the autocracy that existed in Russia. On Feb 24, in Nevsky Prospect, the crowds shouted Down with autocracy! (The February Revolution by Richard Pipes, page 77). Some intellectuals pointed toward other countries which had more democratic style governments. But of course, the Tsar never took there advise seriously. The Tsar had the power to veto any legislation he did not like. He also had that very same power when it came to approving certain legislation, without anybody elses input.
What kind of freedom can you have under a dictatorship? (Anna Litveiko, page 54). This was how most of the Russian people though, in terms of government. The Tsar was also the lone person that infuriated the Russian people with his polices, his dictatorship style, and they wanted to put his reign over Russia to an end. Another factor of the February Revolution that infuriated the Russian people after three years, was the war. At the beginning, everyones moral was high and they saw it as a march to victory.
But as the war progressed, the equipment, supplies, and leadership fell short of what was needed to win. The first mistake in this battle was underestimating the duration, which ultimately lead to the shortfall of supplies and equipment. However, the leadership quality was poor from day one. The Tsars command over the army, lead to several losses. The Russian people supported the war until they were hit with extremely cold weather conditions, food and supply shortages.
They were upset that the Tsar made no real attempt to solve the problem directly. A quote from Glorious February captures the mood of the protesters in Petrograd, Down with the Tsar and Down with the War (Orlando Files, page 310). This illustrates how the Russian people felt during the Revolution. Another key component of the war struggle was the collapse of not only military moral, but civilian moral as well. A quote from the Europe textbook validates the low moral that was experienced by military members and the general public, ...
deprivations of the war was nearing exhaustion as 1917 opened (Terry Morris, page 210). Internally, the war effort led to the food and supply shortages at home, because whatever was sent into, or made in Russia, was immediately sent out to the front line. The war eventually led to an outcome, that hit the Russian people at hard at home. Food and supply shortage arose all across Russia, due to the high demand for supplies at the war front.
Another component that contributed to the food and supply shortages were the frigid weather conditions. Deliveries into the capital, Petrograd, became impossible. Temperatures plummeted to record lows. Bakeries had to close down due to either lack of flour or fuel.
This led to bread shortages, which created anger amongst the Russian people. The combination of those two factors led to the Russian workers and peasants to revolting and striking. We want bread! (The February Revolution by Ronald Hingley, page 57), would become the common chant amongst the crowds of people protesting. The energy that fuelled these protesters was that the bread was such a basic necessity to them. This quote literally describes the weather conditions at the time, ... temperature fell so low that peasant women refused to cart food to the towns (The February Revolution by Richard Pipes, page 75).
There is no doubt that the frigid weather conditions played a significant role, with regards to the food and supply shortages, which later led to the Revolution. The frigid weather conditions experienced by the Russian people leading up to the Revolution was quite severe. The below normal weather conditions were directly linked to the food and supply shortages. It was because of the brutal weather conditions, that peasant women refused to cart food into towns. Also, as mentioned in Glorious February, ...
blizzards had brought the railways to a virtual standstill (Orlando Files, page 307). This meant that there was no way of getting food and much needed supplies into the towns. Factories were closed and thousands of workers were laid off. However, the weather took a turn for the better in early February averaging out to - 14 C, therefore allowing for the strikes and riots to go on. The Tsarina sent this message to her husband on the day of the events, This is a hooligan movement... If the weather were very cold they would probably all stay home (The February Revolution by Richard Pipes, page 77).
There is also a similar comment made in the February Revolution by Ronald Hingley on page 60. The weather in the winter of 1916 - 17, coincidently played a more larger role then anticipated in the February Revolution. Four very influential factors, that shaped the outline of the February Revolution. The government, which was seriously flawed along with their leader, the Tsar, which was very inexperienced in combination with the war struggle, the food and fuel shortages, and ultimately the frigid weather conditions, proved to be to much working against the Tsar. Even the greatest of leaders, would have a difficult time recovering from all that had being going on. It could also have been broken down into three simple categories of causes: Political, social and economical.
Politically, the people of Russia resented the autocracy of Tsar Nicholas II. The losses that the Russians suffered during World War I further weakened Russias view of Nicholas. Socially, Russia stood well behind the rest of Europe in its industries and farming, resulting in few opportunities for fair advancement on the part of peasants and industrial workers. Economically, widespread inflation and famine in Russia contributed to the revolution. The outcome of the revolution would be the abdication of the Nicholas the Tsar. The February Revolution was never planned, but it was portrayed by Ronald Hingley as...
simply a collapse of authority (The February Revolution, page 57).
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