The Collapse of Tsarist Russia: Revolutions of 1905 and February 1917

Tsarist Russia and the Road to Revolution (1900-1917)

The Structure of Tsarist Russia

The Empire of Nicholas II

In the early twentieth century, Russia was a vast multinational empire that stretched from the Baltic Sea to China and the Pacific. The Russians constituted the largest ethnic group, though they were less than 40% of the total population. The Russian administration imposed a policy of Russification on a mosaic of very different peoples, enforcing the Russian language and the Orthodox religion.

The various ethnic groups located throughout the Empire were united only under the authority of the emperor, Nicholas II (Tsar of all Russia from 1894), and the ruling Romanov dynasty, which had governed since the seventeenth century.

Economic and Political Backwardness

The Russian Empire was an economically and socially backward area. Over 80% of Russia's population were poor peasants living in a farming economy based on agriculture. Industrial development, delayed in Russia, accelerated significantly after 1880, driven by railway expansion, foreign capital, and state funding. However, industrialization was highly concentrated.

Tsarist Russia operated under an autocratic system, based entirely on the sovereign will of one person: the Tsar. Serving the Tsar were the traditional aristocracy, the Orthodox Church, a highly centralized bureaucracy, and a feared repressive apparatus headed by the political police.

Opposition and the 1905 Revolution

Causes and Bloody Sunday

The disastrous Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905) provoked widespread discontent, leading to the Revolution of 1905. On January 22, 1905, known as Bloody Sunday, a massacre was carried out by the Russian Imperial Guard against peaceful demonstrators. The Tsar's image as a benevolent father figure was severely damaged, initiating a wave of strikes.

These riots were leveraged for political change. Councils formed by factory workers (soviets) appeared. Liberals also mobilized, supported by students and the middle class. Their goal was to convince the Tsar to transition to a parliamentary monarchy. After several protests and riots, the Tsar promised an indirectly elected Duma (parliament) with limited powers and no ability to draw up a constitution.

Bolshevik Analysis of the 1905 Outcomes

Lenin and the Bolsheviks analyzed the revolution's outcomes, drawing three main conclusions:

• The bourgeoisie had been weak and timid; the working class could replace it and carry out a revolution without bourgeois intervention. According to the Bolsheviks, the soviets (and not the bourgeois parliament) should take control of the government in a future workers' state.
• The peasantry, though traditionally conservative, could become revolutionary and serve as an ally of the industrial workers.
• A highly disciplined party: Lenin and his supporters believed that the Bolshevik Party must lead the next stage of the Russian Revolution.

The February 1917 Revolution

The Fall of Tsar Nicholas II

Strikes occurred again, initially demanding "peace and bread," and subsequently demanding political reforms. On February 23, 1917, a general strike began, followed by rioting in the garrison, whose soldiers joined the workers on February 27.

A Soviet of workers and soldiers was formed. The liberal-controlled Duma established a Provisional Government, led by Prince Lvov, which forced Tsar Nicholas II to abdicate in February 1917. Kerensky became the Prime Minister in July 1917, aiming to form a Constituent Assembly.